The Journey to a Little One to Call Our Own

One gal's experiences dealing with IF, pregnancy, the birth of our first son, parenthood, and doing it all over again with our second son... here is our journey.


Saturday, May 1, 2010

I *heart* my CBFM

One of the best purchases I made a few months ago was my ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor (CBFM). After months of spending $35 per month on a box of disposable ovulation sticks/OPKs (I literally think I went through 8 boxes), and after my miscarriage, it was game on. I wanted the best. And for $199, my CBFM and a box of 30 test sticks was mine.

CBFM has a test window of 6 hours. Selecting and setting my optimal test time at 6:30 a.m. means I can take the test anytime between 3:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. My body automatically wakes up at 6:30 or so - no matter the day of the week.

Last month was my first month using it. I was also on Clomid, which can mean that you can get more "high" fertility days than someone not taking Clomid. I learned something very interesting with this monitor that I was never able to detect through BBT or my disposable OPKs. I ovultate very late - my "peak" fertility status (meaning I am at my most fertile point of the month) showed up on Day 19 and 20. I wasn pretty thankful that I even saw a "peak" - this meant that the monitor detected a surge and that I likely ovulated (later confirmed on Day 21 by a blood test at my Doctor). The only bummer is that the monitor asked me to test 20 times... usually, during a cycle, the CBFM will only request 10 tests. Last month, CBFM prompted me to start testing on Day 6. So, by Day 16 (10 tests later), I had seen "high" fertility, but not "peak".

I am on Day 7 of this cycle, and the CBFM hasn't requested me to start testing yet, so it must be using my pattern of history to project when I will need to start testing (later in my cycle this time).

It's a pretty slick tool. I'll admit, I almost jump out of bed around testing time to turn it on and see what it displays for the day. When I got a "peak" last month, I about tackled Mr. D in bed with excitement. :)

Here's to "peak" fertility days!

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