Fertility Tracking: Friend or Foe?
I have recently been talking to many friends in my life and on Twitter and it has become clear that fertility tracking is not for everyone; but in the same fashion as learning styles everyone of course is different. Many couples will find the apps useful especially if they are not familiar with their cycle; many of these apps are intuitive and find a pattern after logging a few months of data, this in turn offers predictions for coming cycles. There is of course a line that can be crossed; so I have found myself asking at what point does it become a bad habit?
I’ve been exploring the pro’s and con’s of fertility apps and calendars in the hope that I can take on board the advise and come up with a method which is right for me. As you may know I have been using Fertility Friend for 5 months now and in comparison is the best in terms of features. Every app has good and bad sides, many have subscriptions to access the full features.
So what are the pro’s and con’s :
Pro’s
- Offers insight into your cycle
- You know when to test for ovulation
- You can track your BBT to offer trigger patterns in your cycle
- Reminds you to take my vitamins daily
- Knowing when you ovulated can tell you how long that cycle will be especially if you have iregular cycles
- You can compare your current cycle with previous cycles which help you tune into your body and tells you what is normal for you.
- You can look ahead in the calendar to see when social events clash with AF/fertile week
- This in turn helps you be prepared such as packing supplies etc.
- No surprises. You are in control.
Con’s
- Can take over your life
- Can be obsessive especially when tracking symptoms
- Drive yourself mad comparing what you have done and when
- BBT can be stressful after ovulation as you over analyse every temp drop, maybe ignorance is bliss at this stage.
- This becomes your focus rather than living in the moment
- Did we do enough?
- Why wasn’t it enough?
- What did we do wrong?
There are more pro’s in the list than con’s but are the value of the con’s more important? I guess it’s all about using the data you want without letting it take over, from now for me it’s going to be a case of using BBT and tests to confirm ovulation but then once confirmed stop temping and take a step back. There’s a lot to be said of living in the moment and not stressing or thinking about what has or could go wrong.
I have seen many women who say the apps help but then so many couples trying for months and falling pregnant the month they stop using the apps; whether in either of those cases the app was the contributing factor we will never know but I would never say it was or wasn’t.
Staying as positive as possible is important you will have negative moments but you don’t want the negativity to take over. If I had regular cycles and knew when ovuation was every month I would probaby not be using the apps in the first place; but every month from one to the next is different. I just need to find the happy medium and stay positive.
Blogging about being a mummy after surviving miscarriage. Lover of cheeky wipes and organisation.
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