The term "fertility tracking" brings to mind an image of me, dressed in a safari suit and wielding a machete in one hand and butterfly net in the other, tiptoeing ever closer to the elusive ovum.
It's been 6 weeks since my little daughter was born, and I'm about to start monitoring my fertility again. It's tricky in the post-partum period for breastfeeding mothers. The breastfeeding keeps the prolactin levels up, which tends to keep FSH - and in consequence, estrogen down - but the estrogen is trying to get through as the body considers re-establishing the monthly cycle.
Fortunately, I have a wonderful little gadget called the Clearblue Fertility Monitor. In the USA it's approved by the FDA for achieving pregnancy purposes only, although a similar gadget called Persona by the same company is approved in the UK for avoiding pregnancy also.
The time post-partum when regular cycles have not yet been re-established is one where traditional methods of natural family planning that rely on temperature (BBT) checks and/or cervical fluid checks are not so efficacious. This is where an extra data point like the monitor readings really come in handy. It's also good if, even after the re-establishment of cycles, the production of cervical fluid is all over the place. This was the case after my last pregnancy, and it was a pain in the bee-yoo-tee-tee. In addition, mothers of infants are not often getting the kind of regular and lengthy sleep required for adequate temperature monitoring.
Huzzah for technology! I am into a natural approach, whenever reasonably possible, to things that affect my body, like family planning and childbirth. I am also a gadget girl, so this monitor caters to both preferences. Technology can be used for both good and evil, or if you prefer, in positive and negative ways. Flooding the body with synthetic hormones for non-therapuetic purposes doesn't strike me as positive.
A non-invasive test that supports the ability of women to know and track their own fertility as it is each month? Thank you, science. :-)
