Truelife: I'm Trying to Make a Baby - Oct 1 2015

Hi, my Name is Alyssa and I am trying to make a baby. 

Making a baby is hard. I realize for some it is easy, but that's what makes it so damn hard. For some you just do the deed, maybe you had a glass of wine, maybe it was a Sunday afternoon...good for you. Did you use an ovulation test because you wanted to make that baby on the first try...good for you. You are one lucky duck and I am very happy for you because that's the way it should be! So raise the roof and thank the baby-dance, you made a human.

That is 100% not my life. 

Have you ever left an event because your monitor says it's go-time? Have you ever spent $150 at CVS for things that you PEE on? Have you ever balled your eyes out because of a horrible drug that makes you forget how to be happy for other people? That is my life...

...and this is my bathroom

So pictured above is my most recent run to CVS where I spent roughly $150. Some items are not pictured but let me run through my list...

1) Clomid

2) Clearblue monitor strips (I've had the monitor for a while now)

3) Prenatal vitamins (which I have been on for almost TWO YEARS)

4) Sterile Specimen cup

5) First Response Pregnancy Test

6) Tampons (Not pictured)

7) Diva Soft cups (Not pictured)

8) Decaf coffee (Not pictured)

9) Chocolate (not pictured....I ate it...I eat my feelings) 

These are the tools of my trade. I do not stock up on Tampons....I think a piece of me refuses to believe I will need them but it's worse when I realize the evil red demon is coming and I am unprepared.

I hate decaf coffee, but I also hate what caffeine does to fertility.  If I start out with decaf in the AM I can treat myself to a fully loaded cup when I start to drag during the day. But ONE cup only!

Soft cups. If you follow this blog you should know what they are. I didn't want to scare anyone, so they arent pictured. You're welcome :)

Other tools of my trade can be found right on my phone. I use not ONE, not TWO, but THREE fertility apps. My plan was to only use two so I will choose one to eliminate.

App One: Period Tracker

So you've heard me talk about PT before. It's a sturdy little app and I used it long before I started TTC. I would recommend it to any lady. It has super cute options for the home page. During the summer I choose the Beach Theme and during my fertile week little starfish appear on the shore. This one is the Outdoorsy Theme and the flowers around the tent bloom and little bees buzz during my fertile week.

 

(Cute right?)

There is also the very helpful calendar view. From this page you can add Symptoms, intimate days, notes, etc.  It's very user friendly for the busy busy lady on the go! There is also a social aspect where you can post. I like this app's social groups best because there are fewer threads and it works more like the AIM (I am so old). Because of the one on one contact of the AIM-like chats, I actually have "friends" on this app and I've enjoyed watching their journeys.

App Two: Glow 

So I am brand new to Glow. It is super fancy and is really a fertility app rather than a period app. The calendar is not my favorite, But I do like that you can revise information from this page. It is cool that you can see exactly how fertile you are right on the home page. (Also- sorry, I realize you are all seeing exactly where I am in my cycle).

So as you can see here the focus is really on fertility. 

Another feature of Glow is all the places to record your data. For those doing Cervical Mucus checks or Basil Body Temping....this is the app for you. Anything you think could possibly effect your fertility is accounted for here.

This page goes on and on! You can even add all the food/drink you've consumed because of course you are on a strict fertility diet. This isn't your first rodeo! And that's exactly how I feel about this app. This app is for some serious fertility trackers. I am actually a little overwhelmed by it. The social pages are also extremely overwhelming. The groups are very specific and they have RULES. So be careful there. Angry ladies on fertility drugs really hate rule-breakers....trust me!

Note: I am actually deleting the app....sorry GLOW...Three apps is too many!

App 3: Ovia
So I used the Ovia Pregnancy App while I was expecting and I LOVED it. It was the first thing I looked at in the morning so I could get my daily fun-fact. I was obsessed with the little hand on the app that grew each week...so cute...I HIGHLY recommend that Ovia Pregnancy App.

But this is the fertility App so it's pretty different. Like the Glow App this is for those tracking fertility. It gives you a score rather than a percentage like on Glow. It also shows weather and has fun articles.

There is also a fun "MyQ" bottom which has hundreds of questions. By answering these questions they can tailor the app to you. This is a super cool feature and I've answered at least 200 questions at this point.

Like Glow, this app lets you record symptoms, moods, and lots of fertility info.  I love the layout (big colorful buttons!). If I had to choose between Ovia and Glow I would choose Ovia. It's a little less intense and I like that it gets to know me to tailor my experience. 

Conclusions

So why the heck do I do all of this and use multiple Apps? All of this effort gives me a little peace of mind. It gives me something to do every single day. Sure, maybe it wont actually help me get pregnant, but at least it feels like I am DOING something. The more I learn about fertility, the better I feel about where I am. I haven't had to do IUI or IVF and my issue is not a "Male Factor". There is also the fact that I was actually able to get pregnant so chances are good that I will get pregnant again. The trick is to stay positive even though it's super hard. I've found that regressing into childhood movies, crafting, and new fan-doms has kept me pretty positive. So three cheers to Dr. Hooves :) because he makes me smile.