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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

my early Christmas present

 

 

I received an email offering “unsolicited advice” a few days ago that started a fun chain reaction filled with girl gab, online shopping, a big purchase and starting tomorrow morning, I will continue the chain reaction with peeing on a stick.

It’s exciting, really.

I never planned on taking this big a leap into baby makin’ this early in the game, but thanks to Tiffany at & Baby Blackwell Makes Three, I have officially gone technological on the baby business.

Out with the ‘good old fashioned’ way, in with the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor:

 

 

Tiffany actually titled her email to me “Unsolicited Advice” – as if I wouldn’t be open to someone’s help in this matter I know nothing about! ha! Someone else maybe, but I am floored by anyone willing to take the time to offer kind advice to this stranger in a comment on this blog, let alone in email form.

I got her email last Thursday night and by Friday evening, this do-dad was on it’s way to my house via amazon.com. Tiffany has been amazing to answer my endless questions regarding pee sticks and periods. We have definitely struck up a friendship over this monitor and other bodily functions ;)

If nothing else comes of this big purchase, I will at least have a new friend!

ha =)

 

 

Anywho, back to my splurge…

Have you seen this thing? I had my doubts after reading the spill the website has but after reading the hundreds of reviews on Amazon and other sites – holy moly! Here’s my credit card, get that thing in my bathroom now so I can start peeing on it, ASAP!

{You should know you don’t actually pee on it, but on the nice expensive pee sticks that go into the monitor. Details, details. You get my drift how excited I was.}

 

But you ask: Lady, it’s only been 4 months, don’t you think it’s still a little early to be ditching the old fashioned way?

 

I dunno really, but I do know this – it really wasn’t the ‘good old fashioned way’ to begin with.

{No, we weren’t doing some wild Karma Sutra positions. Get your mind outta the gutter ;)}

It was the educationally informed good old fashioned way.

It was reading TCOYF {wonderful book!} and charting basal body temperatures, checking cervical mucous and googling conception tips and tricks. It was peeing on ovulation test strips, getting a big bold positive and still coming up empty handed.

This wasn’t the way our grandparents did it, people. I was already leaving good old fashioned behind in the dust.

And if you’ve read TCOYF, you may remember that she advises you to seek the advice of a doctor if you’ve been adequately charting and trying for 3-4 cycles with no pregnancy.

That’s us. That’s scary.

Some people say that the Clearblue Easy people say to give the monitor 3 cycles of use and TTC before seeking a medical professional’s help. All I could find in my manual was the advice of waiting 6 cycles. I’m giving it another 3-4 and then I’m checking in with the doc.

 

 

To finish my long drawn out story, the day I ordered it, I was at work for 12 hours. For 12 hours I researched and read in every spare moment I had, doing my best to toggle screens so no co-worker would see what I was looking at and be suspicious of my womb woes. It was a Friday and the first day of my cycle, I had to decide quick if I wanted it for this month – even with next day shipping it would only arrive by Monday and you have to start using it no later than the 5th day of your cycle or the whole month is out the window and it’s try again next time…

Talk about pressure at decision time.

I had reached a conclusion and was just about ready to complete my order when I felt the urge for my husband’s approval.

We’re not the couple that asks each other, “Honey, may I buy this?” because we trust each other as responsible, frugal adults with low tolerances for wasteful living.

{Don’t we sound fun?!}

But when I felt the need for back-up, for the most important person in my life to tell me it wasn’t a crazy, desperate, impulse buy – or at least to know that he wouldn’t judge me for my crazy, desperate, impulse buy – I texted. After all, I’d been at work all day, I hadn’t even mentioned to him I was thinking about it, and Lord knows the man had never heard of such a gadget even existing in his lifetime.

 

 

 

Our texts that evening:

{Mind you, I’m texting him out of the blue about this and we hadn’t spoken for most of the day.}

Me: Can I buy a high tech fertility monitor everyone recommends???

{Internal dialogue: “Everyone” as in a really nice girl I’ve never met before except in blogworld recommended it to me along with a few hundred other people that did a product review.}

Him: If it’s gonna help us create an heir to the thrown, you bet.

{Internal dialogue: He’s a nut.}

Me: Really?? It’s $137…

{Internal dialogue: $137 before tax and next day air shipping…}

Him: Does it help?

Me: It has glowing reviews of tons of ppl saying it worked the first month and I got an email from a blogger who reads my preggo blog telling me she was trying longer than we have been thinking they were doing everything right and never got pregnant till the first month they bought this. And we can reuse it for the next 6 kids =)

{Side note: That last part is pure joking. Not that you can’t reuse it, just that we’re not having 6 kids.}

Him: If it helps then I think you should get it.

 

Point blank: I LOVE THIS MAN♥

 

 

 

 

As for the price – I’m telling you READ THE REVIEWS. They are amazing. People trying for months and months, even years and being much older in age and saying the monitor helped them in the first month! Many said they used it as a last ditch effort before settling for the even larger bills from the specialist’s office or when going, that their doctor even recommended it themselves.

I buy products based on reviews – I have a hard time pulling the trigger without a positive review. These reviews sold me.

{I’m not expecting a miracle in the first month of use like many of these people, though I’d love to be pleasantly surprised. It’s also important to note, this machine will not get you pregnant itself, though many have probably had to restrain from showing it much appreciated affection when they finally got their BFP…}

As for Tiffany, she only had to use it one month. Go figure, I’m excited!

 

Does anyone else out there have any experience, good or bad, with this monitor or any of the others on the market? I’d love to here your reviews, as I’m sure others who read this blog would too! Thanks!

10 comments:

  1. Aww-that's too cute! You have no clue how much I wish I had the same problems you do right now. :)

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  2. I used it (a gf gave hers to me since she never had to use it- lucky!), and it does help. It still took us awhile, but we have a theory about why that is, but I won't share it on a public comment forum. It's worth it I think, even if it's just to give you the peace of mind that you're "doing" something. That helped me. Good luck!

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  3. You have an amazing husband... And as for the monitor. We tried for 4 months before getting one. The first month we tried with the monitor, I got pregnant. With identical twins. I kid you not. Good luck!

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  4. So excited for you! It's always nice to try something new. I went to see my doc after we had tried for 3 or 4 months...and she laughed when I asked if we should get tests done. She said come see me if you aren't pregnant in a year!! I was mad at her. We tried another 3 months...nothing...then I bought an ovulation kit that gives you a smiley face...and we got pregnant that cycle! 7 months for us...but I would definitely recommend the fertility monitor...that would have been my next buy!

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  5. I didn't buy the monitor (I'm too cheap) but my dr recommended the clear blue easy ovulation sticks. I had checked them out at CVS and thought, why would I pee on a $40 item? Ridiculous! I waited a few more months (had a few wonky/crazy long cycles), went to my dr freaking out that something was wrong, and he, again, told me about the sticks. I gave in and bought a box (the larger box because my period was wonky so I didn't know how long I'd need to use it). After a few days, I got the little "smiley face", my husband and I did the deed that night. Life got in the way and we didn't get around to doing anything again for another week or so. I just assumed whatever, we'll try again next month.

    The next week I had an appt with my dr to see a reproductive endrocronologist to make sure everything was actually okay. Just for fun, I took a digital pregnancy test that morning (12 dpo) and got a "YES!" I was floored to say the least. I'm currently about 12.5 weeks along now and super excited.

    I tell eveyone to just get the darn clear blue easy sticks - it's a digital smiley face or a circle - nice and easy to read.

    I'm sure the monitor can only work better! Good luck!

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  6. I think I posted about this in my very first comment on one of your very first posts! I don't know if you read all the comments you get, but I swear I have recommended this to you 2-3 times before! I hated everything about that TCOYF book and temping and the month I threw temping out the window and only relied on the CBEFM, we got a BFP (month 7 after going off birth contol). We're expecting our little boy in February - so I love that thing and am a huge fan and think it's way more accurate than wasting money on cheap ovulation sticks and pregnancy tests at the drug store. But I swear a few of us recommended it way back when when you were asking about what worked, etc :)

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  7. I have the same monitor. I got pregnant on the third month of using it after having not gotten pregnant for several months of using the cheapo pee sticks alone. I'm due in April! :)

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  8. I too have the same monitor. My cycles were super wonky when I came off birth control (we were moving to Natural Family Planning and our NFP counselor let us use one to know when 'not' to do it). A year later we decided it was time to use it for what it was made for. We got pregnant the first go round and we are now eagerly waiting on our little girl to join us in April. I definitely recommend the monitor! Good pick!

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  9. WE own this as well..and I just like you read the reviews because I was hesitant at first and seriously the reviews that said it worked ther first month I thought were bogus..but 2 TIMES for us it worked the first month...GOOD LUCK..I'm praying it works wonderfully QUICK for you as well!

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  10. I am praying and hoping and wishing for you both!!! Even though I don't know WHO I am praying for?? Ha! Best wishes and happy trying...

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