My first ever...

... positive pee stick! OK, so it was just an OPK, but I've never used them before.

After I had the scan on Wednesday, I went into a pharmacy to pick up the OPK. I was offered two choices - one was £4 cheaper, but the other was a digital one that gives you a smiley face when you get a positive result. I couldn't resist the lure of the smiley face, and what's £4 when you're spending several THOUSAND times that amount on treatments?

So I got up yesterday morning, and as has been the case for the last two or three weeks, my main concern was minimising the pain of crawling out of bed and getting myself ready for work. As I was brushing my teeth, I suddenly remembered that I hadn't peed on my stick. It crossed my mind that it was only CD 12 and perhaps I should just not bother, but then I reminded myself that I have often ovulated on day 12 in the past. So I just about managed to squeeze out a few drops, and then waited impatiently for the result to show up while I finished brushing my teeth.

And suddenly, the little flashing icon turned into a smiley face! So I have this unbroken record - never had a positive on a pregnancy test, never had a negative on an ovulation test!

I phoned the clinic later in the morning, as instructed. The nurse I spoke to was a little po-faced - I explained who I was and what my instructions had been, and then told her that I'd got a smiley face that morning. She rather frostily responded, "You mean your test detected the surge?"

Well, I'm sure I'm not the only person who refers to smiley faces, and I'm equally sure the nurses are familiar with the concept of these digital tests, so I thought she could have been a bit more friendly about it.

Still, if it was a friendly attitude I was looking for, I'd have stayed with the old clinic, where everybody knew my name - and Nurse First Time would even recognise my voice and know where I was up to in my treatment and when my next appointment was before I'd even said anything other than "Hello" on the phone. But friendly attitudes are just the frills - it's the science I'm after, because the nicest smile in the world isn't going to make me a baby. Although the happy smiley face on an OPK is a good start...