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Trying to become pregnant again after a miscarriage can be difficult. However, there is hope (and a better chance for success) if you’re able to track your “fertile window.”

In part 1, we covered how to track basal body temperature yourself and different ways your body changes throughout your cycle. In this article, part 2, covers technologies that help make all of these easier and more accurate.

Because every woman is different, it can be confusing to figure out the fertility window at first. Also, trying to get an accurate basal body temperature (BBT) reading every day can be tricky because so many factors can change your BBT. For example, if you haven’t been asleep for 3 hours, your temperature could go up. Alcohol, stress, travel, and night shifts can also make BBT charting less accurate. This is why many fertility trackers, monitors, and home tests have been developed to make finding your fertility window easier, more straightforward, and more accurate.

These trackers may measure the following:

• Changes in body temperature or basal body temperature
• Property changes in your vaginal fluids and saliva
• Home testing strips that measure your hormone levels in your blood, saliva, or urine
• Other physiologic changes such as sleep, breathing, and pulse rates

They can be wearable, which allows you to wear one throughout the day and/or night, or non-wearable which allows you to take single measurements.

Fertility and Ovulation Tracking Terminologies:

In researching these devices and apps, you may come across these terms.

Wearables are devices that you can wear on you for hours or days at a time on your wrist, arm, or fingers. They’re usually connected to your phone via Bluetooth to collect data. These may also measure heart rate, sleep quality, and heart rate variability, which measures stress levels.

Thermometers are devices that measure temperature. Some measure core body temperature, while others measure peripheral body temperature on the skin. Thermometers could be wearable, such as Tempdrop, or non-wearable, such as external thermometers you get from the pharmacy.

Monthly Testing Strips use urine testing wands that measure current hormone levels. Many of them work by changing colors. Then, the phone app can estimate your hormone levels based on the intensity of the color change.

Best fertility and ovulation tracker devices

Here are some of the best fertility and ovulation trackers currently on the market (as of April 2022).

Tempdrop

What is it? BBT tracking armband and mobile app

Tracks: basal body temperature, sleep habits, and quality

How to use: wear the armband overnight and track the results in the app

Tempdrop is a non-invasive wearable smart sensor you wear on your arm that tracks core temperature near your armpit. It works with a cycle charting app, although you can also integrate data from the Temp Drop device with many other fertility tracking apps.

BBT is only accurate if you have been asleep for at least 3 hours and track it at the same time each day. So, many women who work night shifts or wake up at night struggle to get accurate BBT, especially with a simple thermometer to take a single daily measurement.

By continuously monitoring your temperature with a sensitive sensor, Tempdrop can get an accurate BBT reading despite these factors. It also has a machine learning algorithm that takes into account your sleep patterns and filters out other lifestyle variables that can affect your BBT, such as travel, alcohol, and poor sleep. It also measures your sleep quality and provides you with a sleep score. In the app, you can track cervical mucus, cervical height, ovulation predictor kit results, cyclical symptoms, sex, and pregnancy results. All of these make Temp Drop more accurate than trying to chart your BBT with a thermometer.

Use this link www.tempdrop.com/discount/MISCARRIAGEHOPEDESK to receive 10% off your Tempdrop purchase.

Oova

Miscarriage Hope Desk is an Oova affiliate. Thank you for your support!

What is it? Monthly urine testing strips

Tracks: Urine progesterone and luteinizing hormone (LH)

How to use: Pee on the test strip in the morning, plug it into the device, wait 10 minutes, scan with the phone app, then check the results in the app

Oova is an at-home urine test for progesterone and LH with similar accuracy to that of blood tests. It helps you accurately confirm ovulation and fertile window without uncertainties like that of BBT measurements.

Each monthly kit contains 15 strips, so every other day, you can apply your urine sample to the test strip and scan it with the device, which then sends the test results to your smartphone app. The app then reveals your actual progesterone and LH numbers, along with explanations of where you are in your cycle.

To predict your fertile window, the Oova app analyzes your test results and other manually tracked physical signs for the entire cycle. These signs include pain, temperature, bowel movement, period days, sleep, and more. The app also provides practical steps you and your partner can take each day to maximize your chance of success.

Use this link oova.life/?ref=MiscarriageHopeDesk to take 10% off the Oova device.

Ava

What is it? Cycle tracking bracelet

Tracks: breathing, pulse rate, and skin temperature

How to use: wear the Ava sensor for at least 4 hours during sleep

Ava is a clinically-proven fertility and menstrual cycle tracking bracelet. It also contains add-on features such as a vibrating alarm.

The Ava sensor tracks the following parameters during sleep:

• Skin temperature
• Heart rate
• Breathing rate
• Blood circulation
• Heart rate variability, which is a key measure of stress
• Sleep parameters

You can also manually track sex, mood, cervical fluid, LH test results, period flow, and other physical changes inside the Ava app. According to a study involving 237 participants with cycles of 24-35 days, the Ava machine learning algorithm is up to 90% accurate in predicting the fertile window ¹.

Once you conceive, you can also track days of pregnancy, weight gain, and other physical symptoms.

Glow

What is it? Cycle tracking app

Tracks: period and cycle-related symptoms

How to use: Record changes in your mental and physical symptoms throughout your cycle into the app

The Glow app is a fertility tracking app that helps you track your physical changes throughout your cycle, including changes in

• Body pain
• Appetite
• Digestion and digestive symptoms
• Hot flashes
• Sex drive
• Energy level
• Mood
• Temperature
• Periods
• Cervical mucus

The predictions for your fertile window will become more refined the more data you enter into the app. The app also has features for the male partner, including emotional health, sperm health, erection, and other physical changes related to fertility.

Modern Fertility

What is it? Cycle tracking app + monthly urinary & blood hormone testing

Tracks: Period, ovulation, and (optional) LH

How to use: Log when you get your period and flow, and apply your urine on the LH strip and scan with your phone to confirm ovulation

Modern Fertility logs your flow and spotting, ovulation test, pregnancy test, and sex. Based on these manually logged data, it tells you when to confirm ovulation with an LH strip so you’re not testing throughout your cycle. You can also affordably purchase the ovulation LH test strips through them to confirm your ovulation. Based on this information, the app predicts your fertile window.

The company also sells finger prick fertility hormone tests that are customized based on your birth control use, along with medical reviews of the test. You can also buy ovulation LH strip tests to confirm your ovulation and read the results into the app with your phone camera. The app allows you to do these things all in one place.

Natalist

Miscarriage Hope Desk is a Natalist affiliate. Thank you for your support!

What is it? Monthly urine testing strip + paper tracker
Tracks: Ovulation through urine LH surge, and pregnancy

How to use: Apply your urine to the LH test strip each morning, read the results, attach the strip to your tracker, and journal other symptoms

Natalist provides daily ovulation test kits, which include 30 test strips for a cycle, along with silicone urine cups and paper cycle trackers. You can attach your LH strip for each day in their paper cycle tracker. Also, you can also write down the other information such as date, time, and other symptoms on their tracker. The company also sells their fertility bundle that includes blood spot tests for key fertility hormones including

• Blood spot tests for estradiol, LH, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and total testosterone.
• 4 pregnancy tests
• 30 ovulation test kits
• Conception 101 book

Proov

Miscarriage Hope Desk is a Proov affiliate. Thank you for your support!

What is it? Monthly Urine Testing Strips for LH, FSH, and Pregnanediol-3a-glucuronide (PdG, the main progesterone metabolite in the urine), a mobile app that scores your ovulation health based on the hormone levels

Tracks: Ovulation through urine LH surge and urinary progesterone (PdG) & fertility reserve through FSH and PdG

How to use: Measure your hormones according to the kit’s instructions and scan the test results into the app to get your results and daily recommendation

Getting pregnant is not just a matter of ovulating–your fertility reserve and uterine readiness for implantation matter too. Proov is a truly innovative test that goes beyond just confirming ovulation but also measures hormones that reflect the health of your eggs and your uterine lining in its ovulation score. The score is calculated based on all three hormone measurements. By improving your ovulation score, you improve your chance of pregnancy and carrying the pregnancy to term.

The Proov Insight app tracks your hormones and symptoms across your cycle to predict ovulation. It also provides lifestyle and nutrition recommendations to help you improve your ovulation score. They also sell an at-home sperm health testing kit.

If you struggle with recurrent miscarriages, I believe Proov tests might be the best option since it also looks at potential low progesterone, egg health issues, and luteal phase defects.

You can use this link proovtest.com/?wly=62068 or the coupon code MHD is for to take 20% off the following tests and products from Proov: Confirm PdG tests, Predict & Confirm, Predict LH tests, Assess FSH tests, Balancing Oil and Luteal Love kits.

Comparison table between different ovulation tracking devices

How accurate are fertility and ovulation monitors?

Fertility and ovulation trackers and monitors have been around since the 1990s, and their technology has grown exponentially over the years. An Italian study in 2003 determined that a monitor was 94% effective at predicting the first day of the fertile window and 97.5% accurate in determining the last ².

A similar 2001 study looked at a different fertility monitor and found that 97% of the time, ovulation occurred within the two days of peak fertility ³.

More modern research is needed for each type of tracker, however, the ones listed above under our “Best” list are a perfect place to start.

To learn more about all the different ways your body changes throughout your cycle, check out part 1 of this 2-part series: ovulation tracking and basal body temperature.

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