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Learning Your Body: How Oova Helped Kristen Understand her Fertility

Isabella Brown

Kristen is an Oova user who got pregnant after using Oova for two cycles — after she already tried to conceive for over year. Here's her story.

Published:

Nov 29, 2021

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Oova insight: Kristen is an Oova user who got pregnant after using Oova for two cycles — after she already tried to conceive for over year. If you're experiencing difficulties understanding your cycle and fertile window when trying to conceive, Kristen's story may resonate.

When Kristen and her husband got engaged, they envisioned a big wedding and romantic honeymoon. Their plans were forced to change when COVID-19 started running rampantly around the world, altering life as we knew it. The two were supposed to get married in June of 2020, but when circumstances changed drastically, they had to move things around. They had a very small wedding, because they didn’t want to put off starting their life together. However, they rescheduled their big wedding reception, with all of their friends, family, and loved ones. This impacted many other aspects of their lives as well.

“Our original plan was to get married, go on our honeymoon, come back and start our family," Kristen said. "We had to keep canceling our wedding, so that pushed back our trying to conceive.”

A change of plans

The pandemic greatly impacted family planning in the US and around the world. One study revealed that more than 40% of women in the US changed their plans about when to have children, or how many children to have, due to the pandemic.

Kristen and her husband fell into this category. The path they imagined they’d take was suddenly different. However, after they canceled their wedding for a second time, they decided it was okay to change their original plan.

“Why are we holding back on something we know we want to try? We didn’t know if we would even be able to have the wedding, or go on the honeymoon. So, we decided to start trying,” Kristen said.

The two began trying to conceive in September of 2020.

Getting off birth control

When Kristen stopped taking her birth control, she remembers feeling like everything would happen quickly. “I just thought, you get pregnant after that. But that’s not how it works,” she said.

Months went by of them trying, but nothing happened. Kristen wasn’t sure why, and this was both frustrating and scary. She didn’t feel like she was learning much about her cycle, or her fertility in general. She used multiple types of ovulation predictor kits but she didn’t understand the results she was getting, and she didn’t know if she was using them at the right time of the month.

She spent hours reading tips and tricks online. She read about what to eat and drink, what supplements to take, how and when to have sex, but none of that made a difference. The whole process was irritating.

>>MORE: Preconception Care in Your 30s: Tips For Trying To Conceive Naturally

Getting a clearer picture of her fertility

In April of 2020, Kristen decided to try something new. She began going to acupuncture regularly.

“I had heard good things about how it naturally balances your hormones, and helps with fertility,” she said.

She told her provider there that she felt like she wasn’t getting anywhere in her fertility journey. She wanted to learn more about what her body was doing, but she didn’t know how.

Her provider then recommended Oova. She said Oova would give Kristen more answers about what was really going on with her. Kristen decided to give it a try.

Finding her fertile window

When Kristen started to use Oova, she realized she had been testing her ovulation at the wrong point in her cycle.

Oova’s algorithm is able to predict when a woman will be ovulating based on her cycle and hormone levels. While other fertility tests compare women to an outdated standard of when they will be ovulating, Oova uses the user’s data to find their most fertile time.

Kristen also contacted Oova’s support to make sure she was using Oova on the right days of her cycle, and the team helped her to make sure she didn’t miss her window.

She began testing earlier in her cycle, and sure enough, she was able to find her ovulation.

“I only used Oova for two cycles,” Kristen said, “In the second cycle, I got pregnant.”

At that point, she had been trying to conceive for about a year. She was so excited to be able to finally understand her body, and ultimately reach her goals.

Learning from your unique hormone levels

Kristen doesn’t know for sure why it took her a year to conceive, but she thinks it may be because she didn’t know exactly when she was ovulating. She had been testing for ovulation right in the middle of her cycle, but by then it was too late. For other women, that could be the right time to test, but every woman is different.

“It was nice to see the actual hormone percentages. Seeing that increase in [luteinizing hormone] LH and then progesterone at the end of the cycle was really helpful to me,” she said.

"Armed with medically accurate data about her body, Kristen was able to take action to make her dreams a reality."

About the author

Isabella Brown is an experienced communications and marketing professional at top health companies. She currently serves as the External Communications Lead at Oscar Health. Prior to this role, Isabella held positions as an Associate in Social Media and Content at Oscar Health and as a Marketing Associate and Content Marketing Intern at Oova.

Sources

About the Oova Blog:
‍Our content is developed with a commitment to high editorial standards and reliability. We prioritize referencing reputable sources and sharing where our insights come from. The Oova Blog is intended for informational purposes only and is never a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult a healthcare provider before making any health decisions.

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