These tests can be a little tricky... I have seen so many questions lately from women who don't know how to use them or are using them improperly and are nit getting the readings they should be. Through research, reading the instructions many times, and trial and error, I have finally figured them out and figured I would share. Here is what I have learned.

To get a high reading (flashing smiley):

Every woman has a different baseline level of estrogen that can be detected in urine. When you take your first test for a month the digital handle part remembers that as your baseline level of estrogen. Estrogen rises as you approach ovulation. If the test sees an increase in estrogen then it will display a blinking smiley, if it detects the same level of estrogen it will show the empty circle. If you begin testing too late into the month then the first level of estrogen it sees will be a high level. It will assume that your peak level of estrogen is your normal estrogen level and will continue to show you the empty circle. For an average cycle you HAVE to start testing around CD 8 or 9. For longer cycles it can be later (the instructions in the box can tell you the exact date for your cycle). I have a long cycle but I still start testing around CD 9 or 10. I get more days of high readings but it makes sure I don't miss it.

To get a peak reading (solid smiley):

This is where I had trouble. The instructions tell you to test every day with first morning urine but this didn't work for me. Some very lucky women can get a LH surge in the wee hours of the morning and it can be detected in FMU. However, most women, including myself, will not get their LH surge until later in the morning and it won't be detectable at all in FMU. If you don't get a long surge you won't get a peak reading the next morning either. You can completely miss a peak reading this way. To get my peak I tested every morning and once I got a reading of high I started testing twice per day. Once in the morning and once in the late afternoon around 3-5pm with held urine for at least 3 hours. I also looked at the ejected sticks to see how close I was to having two solid matching lines. The test line was almost white every morning including on my peak day. However, on my peak day my afternoon test had two lines almost the same color but it still wasn't peak. I tested a third time that day at 7:30pm because I knew I was close and finally got my peak :)