EP 299 Which method should you choose to track your fertile window?

The Wholesome Fertility Podcast

In today's episode, I'll be discussing different methods to track your fertile window, highlighting the pros and cons of each. We'll explore:

• Smartphone apps for tracking cycles
• Ovulation predictor kits (OPKs)
• The fertility awareness method
• Basal body temperature tracking
• Cervical mucus observation
• Wearable fertility trackers
• Hormonal urine tests

By the end of this episode, you'll have a clearer understanding of how to accurately determine your fertile window and optimize your chances of conception. If you’d like discount codes to Mira and other helpful fertility resources, you can visit: https://www.thewholesomelotusfertility.com/fertilityresources Check out Michelle’s latest book here: https://www.michelleoravitz.com/thewayoffertility Follow Michelle on Instagram @thewholesomelotusfertility Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/ for more tips and updates. For more information about Michelle, visit: www.michelleoravitz.com The Wholesome FertilityFacebook group is where you can find free resources and support: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2149554308396504/ Transcript: fertility window [00:00:00] On today's episode, I'm going to talk about different methods that you can use to track your fertile window, which ones are good and the pros and cons of all of them, because I know that this is actually a very common question. And a lot of times I actually see patients, when I first see them, we find out that they weren't really having sex at the right time. So they were waiting too late or they weren't tracking as well, or they thought that it was exactly a certain time and they didn't have it any other time. So I do find that a lot of people get confused exactly as to how to track their fertile window, when they should have sex. And I think that one of the biggest reasons why people get confused is because of the movies, those comedies and shows that we've seen. They make it seem like it's like within an hour, that's the time to have sex and you got to go and let's go. So, I am going to talk about different ways that you can track your [00:01:00] cycle and the pros and cons for each. So the first thing that I'm going to go over is Over is smartphone apps. So just apps basically tracking your cycle and you can find lots of those people use like low or flow. You can find tons. The list goes on and yes, even though by themselves. They are not the most effective thing. You can use them as a tool to help you track your cycle. And what I love about them is that it is like a really nice app and it makes it easy to put information down and store information, but like anything, it really depends on the type of information you put in, how detailed it is, and also not relying on its algorithm, because if you are only putting your, Time of your period and basically tracking the first day of each period it's going to automatically generate an algorithm Where [00:02:00] it guesses what your fertile window is now It's pretty obvious why that would be a problem because some people might ovulate early and other people might ovulate late So, how does this algorithm possibly know what's going on with your cycle? So that is basically where if you used a loan, it definitely does not give you enough information and enough data. And so I have seen many people, mistake their fertile window by just relying on the apps. So I do want to mention that the apps are great, but it just all depends on the kind of information you put in there. and how you use it. So it could be a great tool, just really depending on how it's used and also not being used solely as the only way you can find your fertile window. So the second way that people use, and I say people, because it's not necessarily what I recommend, although again, if it's used in [00:03:00] conjunction with other things, it can be a good tool. And that is ovulation predictor kits. So basically you can find them At drugstores and grocery stores, you can find them really everywhere and you'll find things like clear blue digital ovulation tests, first response ovulation tests, many different ovulation tests out there. And what they do is they will only measure one hormone and that is luteinizing hormone. What luteinizing hormone is, is it's a hormone that gets released from your pituitary gland in your brain. And what that does is it basically your brain has its own pulse and cycles, and when it releases that, LH, which is luteinizing hormone. It signals the ovaries to ovulate. The problem is, is that these ovulation predicting kits are only showing the prediction based on the [00:04:00] brain. And the hormone that's released by the pituitary in the brain, but that doesn't tell you whether the ovaries responded or not. So it really doesn't confirm ovulation, but it does give you an idea of when your brain is trying to signal for the body to ovulate. where that could be an incredible tool is if you already have confirmed other ways that you are in fact ovulating every single month. So most likely if you already confirmed that you're ovulating, it's a great extra tool to get an idea of when you're moving towards that direction, get an idea within that month that your body is trying again. So since you already confirmed it and you see that you have a rhythm and a pretty normal cycle. So then you can use it as a tool, but again, this is not something that I would recommend using alone because it just doesn't give you the kind of information that you want to know and it doesn't really confirm ovulation and it doesn't confirm it with other[00:05:00] hormones. So the third method, which is, it's really a couple of methods within one method, which goes under the fertility awareness method, although that is one style and it's a specific method of looking at the body. But in general, It pretty much teaches ways to understand and read your body and your reproductive health and your cycle and to understand what's happening based on a couple of different measurements. , so the measurements used are, a lot of them are based on different tracking apps. So it's similar to what we talked about before, but Kendara Ovia fertility and Daisy, and then a lot of these have thermometers that actually come with them and they sync up with a phone. So it makes it a little easier. It's just one less step to basically taking your temperature in the morning. And having to put it into the phone. So this does it automatically for you. , so according to this [00:06:00] method, there are many different ways that you could look at your body. recognize if you're within the fertile window, the first method of really understanding your full cycle. And I recommend doing this at least a couple of times or a couple of months, meaning so a couple of cycles is tracking your basal body temperature. And you can do that with a basal body thermometer. You don't necessarily have to have one that's Bluetooth and that connects to the app. Not necessarily. You could use the app just to input information and data. And that is where the app can be very helpful because you're putting the information in there. And then you start to understand more or less what that big picture of your menstrual cycle looks like within a month. There are definitely conditions that make the measurement more accurate. And one of them is sleeping for at least three hours before you check your temperature. And you cannot check your temperature in the morning after you [00:07:00] get out of the bed. So you can't get out of bed before you check your temperature. So the first thing you do in the morning, you wake up, and hopefully you were sleeping at least three hours before you checked, and you didn't get up to go to the bathroom within that three hour time. and hopefully you also wake up around the same exact time. However, I suggest not to let that discourage you. If you don't wake up exactly the same time, don't let that discourage you because you're still going to get a lot of good data. It may not be as accurate. And so with this, I want to say that there are certain things that are ideal, but they're not absolutely necessary. It's not absolutely something that you need to do. So one of the things that would be ideal is that you'd wake up around the same time every morning. Another thing that would be ideal is that you were sleeping for three hours. Now if you happen to wake up and go to the pee and then came back, I don't know, an hour, hour and a half before, [00:08:00] don't let that stop you. because it's still going to give you some data. So it's really progress over perfection. And you know, you don't want to like be paralyzed by the perfection, have everything perfectly or nothing, because that's going to stop you from really tracking. So ideally, Besides the three hours before you wake up, besides having it exactly the same time every day, you also want to, and I say this ideally because it's not an absolute must, but you also want to keep the thermometer. It's a digital thermometer in your mouth for five to 10 minutes before you actually turn it on, because that is going to give you again, a really, really good accurate read. So those are the big guidelines and that's going to help you to really get a good picture on what's happening in your body. And typically you're going to want the first part of the cycle, which is the follicular phase. And that is day one of your menstrual cycle. That's your first [00:09:00] day of your full bleed until the day of ovulation. That is considered your follicular phase when the follicle grows and is preparing itself to release the egg and ovulate. The second part of your menstrual cycle is the time of ovulation until the first day of your next cycle, or it just keeps going if there's pregnancy. And that is called your luteal phase. So the luteal phase should be about 98 degrees. So you'll find that it's going to go from the follicular phase being like 97. And it's going to be like 97. 1, 97. 3, 97. 2, 97. 5. You know, it might go up and down a bunch of times, but it's going to stay generally speaking around 97. The luteal phase after ovulation will increase and it increases. It's a little bit more of a yang time. Well, the first part, which is the follicular [00:10:00] phase is more yin and more cooling. The second part, which is the luteal phase is going to be around 98 degrees. If you see that your period is late and you continue being 98 degrees and it doesn't go lower, there is a good chance that there's pregnancy. If that is unusual for you. And this is why I. I highly suggest looking into tracking for a couple of months because once you do that, even though it can be a little bit more work, it's going to give you so much information and you're going to be kind of like your own little experiment to, looking into your own rhythm and how your body is processing, whether it's moving and pulsing in a regular rhythm or it's irregular and something is a little off. So it's going to give you a lot of insight on what's going on. And it's also going to give you an idea of generally speaking, especially if you are regular, when you're ovulating. So you might ovulate a little early or a little late, [00:11:00] but you'll really get familiar on your exact cycle. If you do this for a couple of months, another thing that can help you know if you're within that fertile window is cervical mucus. So the fertility awareness method, they teach a lot about for a cervical mucus and it'll shift and change really. And there's peak cervical mucus that happens around your ovulation that is the egg white consistency that everybody talks about. So before that you'll still have mucus, but it's not going to look quite as slippery. So it starts out a little bit more like lotiony and then it starts to get more and more moist around that time. I would definitely highly suggest drinking water because it is pretty much a lot of it is made up of water. And it need, you need a lot of water and hydration in order for your body to produce more cervical mucus. So that is like kind of one little trick that people don't realize is that it's important to be hydrated [00:12:00] during your ovulation. It is a very yin time. This is when you have all the cervical mucus and lots of fluids. So yin is all about moisture and it's all about fluid. So you want to help your body out. So not just drinking to hydrate, but you can also eat foods that have water. So lots of vegetables that retain water because your body's actually able to really hydrate when you have food that has water. So if you don't have food that has water and it's too dry, your body will need more water. It's much easier if you have that hydration also from food. Other fertility signs that they look at or, fertile window signs are position of your cervix and feeling whether it is soft or firm. So you can actually put your fingers and feel your cervix. But I remember when I first heard it, I was like, what? So I tried it and it was really fascinating because you do feel around the time [00:13:00] of ovulation or when you're fertile, it feels soft. It feels like lips. And when you're not in your fertile window, it feels like the tip of your nose. So you feel almost, more like a, like a hard plastic. Now that is totally optional. Some people prefer not to do this and some people want to really look into everything. I think it's a good thing to try just so that you could really understand your body and then you could really feel the difference because it's pretty fascinating the contrast between the times that you are fertile and when your body's not in that fertile cycle. So the pros are, I personally believe that, this method can give you a lot of insight and it really does confirm your ovulation because you can see it in the temperature and the temperature needs to be consistently elevated and then you know that you're definitely in the luteal phase and that you have in fact, ovulated. So it does give [00:14:00] you a little bit more detailed information. It is something that also can tell you whether your temperature is off. If you're too cool. Which is something that a lot of times if you're seeing an acupuncturist, we can help because we can increase yang energy in a person's body. Also, if you have a short luteal phase, which is pretty common, we can increase young herbs, you know, give herbals. to increase that. So it really depends. Obviously, if you have a short luteal phase, it's not necessarily always yang deficiency. So it is something though that we can take a look at and really get an idea of what your body would need in order to regulate your menstrual cycle. So I find this method to be great, not just for seeing what's going on, but also in working with other people, especially people who are familiar with it, like many acupuncturists or maybe even functional medicine doctors or naturopathic doctors. And the [00:15:00] cons would be that it is a strict method and it takes a little bit more time and you have to be really consistent. , it's not as bad as it originally feels like in the beginning because I consider it like brushing your teeth. You brush your teeth, you don't think twice and it's just a habit. So it could be something that you'll eventually just do effortlessly. In the beginning it might take a little more time and a little bit more intention in your day. but over time it gets a lot easier. So some people look at this and they think it is way too stressful and it's not worth it. It really depends on you. I always suggest, try it out one month, two months. If it's so stressful that you're just like, I can't, then it's not worth it. And other ways to do this is a wearable fertility trackers. So they have these bracelets or armbands. Many different companies do this and what they do is they basically monitor [00:16:00] your skin temperature and some of them even monitor your heart rate and there are many benefits to it because they require very little effort on your part. All they do is they basically track you and in the morning they connect with the app. and they record all of that. So there's not a lot to do with that. The only thing is, is that they do tend to get expensive and so that's something to consider. And some people complain that they feel uncomfortable. I've had some patients that use the aura ring and they love it and that could also be used for, monitoring your fertile window. So that's an option. So there's also something called obvious sense, which personally, not the biggest fan of, you have to keep it in your vagina all night and it might be really uncomfortable. , plus I just, I don't know, I don't know if it has radiation. You don't want to put that up there. I know with [00:17:00] other trackers, it measures, and then it will only emit radiation when it's connecting with the phone, but I just, I don't know. This one specific way or method just doesn't seem like it would be comfortable for me, so that's my opinion about it. And it's also something that is expensive as well. And There are hormonal urine tests that you can take Monthly, so one example, which I love and I will be putting this in the episode notes I have a link to a discount is with Mira and Mira is a device that basically measures urinary progesterone The LH, which is what you'll find with OPK kits, but it also measures urinary progesterone, which you'll measure in your luteal phase as well as estrogen metabolites. And it has a 99 percent accuracy. And so you pee on a stick and it measures it throughout the cycle and it connects with the [00:18:00] app and then it gives you a really pretty chart and you can share that with the people that you're working with, any practitioners. I have a lot of people, a lot of my patients showing it to me or people that I work with online. So I love the fact that it measures multiple hormone levels and gives you a really nice picture of what's happening. It also can predict fertile days based on your normal, , rhythm, and then it also can confirm ovulation. So you want to make sure that you actually did in fact ovulate and by measuring urinary progesterone, you are getting that confirmation. So I guess the con would be that it is expensive and you will need to buy multiple refills. So it can be expensive and continuously expensive. So that's one of the drawbacks. I personally love it because it gives you a really nice picture and it is something that you can really measure hormonally, what's going on and get a map [00:19:00] throughout your cycle. And if you do that for at least a couple of cycles, that's another thing that can really give you a lot of information. Other hormonal tests are. Inito and then you can also look into something called Proov or Oova and they do pretty much the same so you can look at all of those and just really get an idea of the pros and cons. , so those are the different methods that you can do. The ones that I recommend personally, if you really want to get an idea of what's going on with your body and really optimize the fertile window is to really do, I think, a little bit of all of them. But the ones that I would say do not miss is the method where you do your BBT charting and you really start to look at your cervical mucus and really understand your body. I definitely highly recommend doing that for at least a month or two. And if you don't like doing that, Then I definitely suggest either the wearable fertility [00:20:00] trackers or the urine hormone tests. But the ones that are more than just the LH, the ones that are like Mira, Inito, Proov or Oova where you can track progesterone metabolites and other hormones to see what's happening and get a clearer picture of your overall cycle. And then, of course, having somewhere where you can record your information and input your data, but not relying on the algorithm. And also, the LH is great, but it's much better if it's in combination with other hormones as well. So if there are any other questions that pop up in your mind as you're listening to this, I am so open to coming up with lots of different ideas for podcasts. If there are questions that I haven't really addressed that you're wondering, you can always reach out to me on my Instagram. And my handle is at thewholesomelotusfertility. You can DM me. for listening. [00:21:00] And I would love to hear from you. If you have any questions, I can always consider that for a future episode. So thank you so much for tuning in today and I hope you have a beautiful day.