A while back, I was having a conversation with a friend who was trying to get pregnant. She, like so many women, assumed because she was healthy and in her early 30s, getting pregnant would be a breeze.
Until it wasn’t.
Months and months went by without a positive pregnancy test, which left her confused.
Her periods were pretty regular. She had no known health issues that she was aware could impact her ability to get pregnant. This wasn’t supposed to be happening.
She wasn’t sure what to do next so she reached out to me.
“I don’t want to see a doctor yet. It’s not that bad. I think we just need a few more months and it’ll work,” she told me.
Like so many women who don’t have any known fertility challenges, this is a really common thought. Let’s give it more time and it will work.
Unfortunately, in the reproductive world, more time means smaller window - for women AND men. While I’m all for doing fertility testing early for both you and your male partner to see what might be going on, I know that’s not the right option for everyone.
So I reviewed with her all the different ways she can track her cycles on her own to make sure she and her husband were actually timing intercourse within the right window.
He reaction was not what I expected.
“I don’t want to do any of that,” she said. “That sounds like….so.much.work.”
She’s not a lazy woman by any means but I knew what she meant.
Tracking, temping, charting...it makes intercourse and baby-making way more clinical than she was ready for.
I know she’s not the only woman to feel this way. Some are too busy to track and chart because of work or responsibilities like taking care of other children. Others are just not interested in making this a “thing” like my friend called it.
The world's first hand's free, clinically-proven fertility tracker to help you get pregnant quickly
That’s why I’m so excited to share with you a brand new product that crossed my radar just a few months back. It’s the world’s first hands free fertility tracker. That’s right. Totally hands free. No temping. No charting. No sticking your fingers up anywhere to check for cervical mucus.
Set it. Forget it. And let it tell you when you’re most fertile.
I got a sneak peek at this device. Click here or the image below to learn about:
The specs of this fertility tracker and how it works
Who it’s for
Who it’s not for
The pros and cons of all fertility tracking methods (including temping, charting and tracking cervical mucus) and how this device addresses almost all the cons
What it can do and how it figures out your most fertile days without you doing anything
The metric this tracks that not a single other fertility tracking method monitors, which is KEY to helping you understand your cycles
Click the image above to get a comprehensive overview on what the product is all about and if it could be a great option for you to consider.
Lessons learned when I tried it myself
As you saw in the video, I’m not trying to get pregnant. But I did want to test out the product myself to give you even more insight into how it works.
The installation
When I was getting ready to put it under my matter, I have to be honest, I was skeptical. Our mattress is huge and really thick. There’s NO way it’s going to be able to track me through almost 8 inches of material.
Still, I put it under using the guide that is provided with the device to show you exactly where it needs to go under the mattress. That night, I went to bed, worried about how I was going to write this review when I’d have no data in the morning.
Lo and behold, when I got up the next morning, I opened the app and there was data!
My average breaths per minute. My average heart rate. How many hours I slept. How peacefully I was asleep (tracked by how much I was tossing and turning). It was all there!
I couldn’t believe it. I was so sure this thing would not be able to pick up anything given how huge our mattress is. Considering the time it logged me as asleep was totally accurate, I assumed the rest of the measures were accurate as well.
The app and the tech
Each night, I went to be excited. I wanted to see what would happen this night but also see if I could spot any patterns in my health.
Two days into my experiment, I woke up eager to see what it had logged. My iPad had shut off in the middle of the night so I plugged it in to check the app.
TIME ASLEEP: 0:15
Fifteen minutes?! Um nope. I was not asleep for 15 minutes that night. I actually had a fever that night so I was asleep for a solid 9 hours.
Then it occurred to me that the iPad must have died about 15 minutes after I had gone to sleep and thus stopped recording any data.
I have to say, that was a big disappointment.
I love that this fertility tracker is so hands off, but having to remember to charge a device that I don’t even use daily was a bit of a bummer.
It felt like one more thing I’d have to remember to do at night. Not a big deal but when you’re busy, overwhelmed, traveling or you’ve got 10837 things on your mind, it would be nice to know that this device worked by sending data over a cloud so that even if your phone or tablet turned off, it was still tracking.
I couldn’t imagine how frustrated I would feel if I were trying to get pregnant and I lost an entire night’s data.
The next day, still feverish, I was sitting in bed catching up on some work for much of the afternoon. That night, I went to bed as usual (after checking to make sure the iPad was charged!) and the next morning I saw that it logged 15 HOURS of sleep.
That was 100% not true...again!
Quickly, I realized it was because I was sitting on the edge of the bed where the device was placed under the mattress. Since I was sitting and not moving around much, it assumed I was asleep and collected that data with the heartrate, respiratory rate and hours asleep from that night as well.
Lesson learned - if you’re going to sit in bed and watch TV or work or crochet….remove the device. Or sit somewhere else if you don’t want it to mess with your data.
It was also a great reminder of the caveat Early Sense provides with the device that it won’t give you accurate data unless you’re the only one that sleeps on that side of the bed. That means, if you have pets that sleep with you or other children who are with you, it will mess with the data.
Details to keep in mind
There are a number of things Early Sense Percept Fertility Tracker does not do.
For one, it shares very clearly in the app and on their FAQs that it is not meant to be used as a contraceptive.
According to the FAQs, the device is “clinically proven to accurately predict your ovulation and fertile window, its intended use is as an aid for conception and is not intended for contraceptive use.”
How do hormonal abnormalities and birth control impact it’s efficacy?
The FAQs on the app say that IUDs, hormonal medications and imbalanced hormones might affect the device’s accuracy. This does not surprise me. This device, though a smart device that adapts and learns about your body (see video for more details), is working under the assumption that there are patterns to your cycle.
If you have completely irregular cycles or some other hormonal issues, I can see that it may not give you very accurate data. Is it worth it to try? If you’re not ready to see a doctor then sure. But if you know of irregularities in your cycles, it’s probably a better idea to get some bloodwork done first before you invest in a product that may not give you much more information because of a possibly underlying health issue you have.
A viewer of the video when I did it live asked if birth control would impact how the device worked. When I reached out to the company, this was their response:
"Birth control will not affect this monitor and it’s results."
Another viewer asked if this device could help couples who are not trying to get pregnant but want to track stress or sleep patterns.
The company’s answer was this:
"Couples can certainly use this as a sleep monitor to gather data but we do not promote it that way as earlysense actually has another product, Earlysense Live, that does exactly that."
My overall impressions
I wasn’t trying this out as a fertility tracker for myself and I wouldn’t be the ideal customer for this device because of health issues that I know impact my cycles.
That said, for women who have relatively regular cycles, who are too busy or not interested in the hands-on approach for cycle tracking OR who have tried the traditional routes for tracking without a positive pregnancy test, I think this device is a great option.
I love that it is a smart device that learns and adapts to your personal cycles and body patterns the longer you use it.
Being hands-off is also a great way to relieve some stress about baby-making and why you aren’t pregnant yet. There’s less chance of overanalyzing your charts or mucus and gets you out of your head when you’re trying to figure out why another month has gone by without a positive pregnancy test.
It’s also a great option to have to collect data to take to your OB/Gyn about your cycles and patterns when you are ready to have that conversation with them about why you aren’t getting pregnant. This can help you figure out your next steps with your doctor much more quickly without wasting more time.
One of the downsides, as I shared above, is tech related.
It would be really nice to have this data stored in a cloud somewhere so that the device works even if your tablet or phone die in the middle of the night.
Additionally, I don’t think this is a great option for women who have irregular periods, known health complications like endometriosis, adenoymosis, PCOS or other hormonal problems that are impacting your ability to get pregnant.
Finally, as I shared in the video demo above, this only tracks a woman’s cycle and only points to female factors that are impacting your ability to get pregnant. It says nothing about male factors that are playing a role.
So if you are trying to get pregnant for many months and it’s not working, and you want to try this product, I still think it’s worth having your male partner tested to make sure there’s nothing going on there that’s affecting your ability to get pregnant.
How do you get your own Early Sense Percept Fertility Tracker?
The Early Sense Fertility Tracker is priced at $199. You can purchase it on Amazon or on their website.
(These links are not affiliate links and I do not get a percentage of any sales that come from links clicked on this blog.)
It comes packaged really nicely in a box and comes with a charger as well as instructions on how to download the app, set up the app and a guide to help you position the tracker under your mattress for the most accurate data.
What do you think?
Are you interested in this device? Leave me a yes or no below and let me know why!
What additional questions do you have about this product? Leave your questions below and if I can’t answer them, I’ll reach out to the company and get answers for you!
#PregnancyAfterPrematurity #Fertility #Infertility #PregnancyAfterLoss