With so many different fertility monitors on the market, it can be hard to determine which monitor is best suited for you. Most don't work well for women with irregular cycles or have limitations for short or long cycles. When trying-to-conceive, timing is everything – the OvaCue Wireless Fertility Monitor can help with prediction and confirmation of when ovulation is taking place, even for those with irregular menstrual cycles. For women with irregular cycles, the use of the OvaCue's oral sensor and optional Vaginal Sensor is ideal because the monitor is able to adjust accordingly to the irregularities that may occur that month. Irregular cycles are often related to a hormonal imbalance, which can make it difficult to use most monitors as they predict ovulation based on pre-determined levels of a specific hormone (which some women may not reach due to an imbalance). The OvaCue is different in the sense that it interprets each daily reading in correlation to previous readings, instead of having to reach a certain pre-determined level. The OvaCue uses an electrolyte method of detecting ovulation – reproductive hormones affect your electrolyte levels, allowing the monitor to detect the selection of your dominant follicle by interpreting the rise and fall of your electrolyte levels. The oral sensor uses your average cycle length to determine when to look for specific trends in your oral readings. Once this trend is detected (also known as your 'cue peak'), OvaCue is able to predict when ovulation may occur, which generally happens about 5-7 days past the detection of the 'cue peak'. The 'cue peak' is indicated by a light blue square (the selection of your dominant follicle) and signifies the beginning of your fertile window. However, women with irregular cycles or ovulatory disorders may stray from the average and ovulate a little early or late from the original prediction. The vaginal sensor allows additional information to be interpreted and cross reference data received from the oral sensor. The vaginal sensor is monitoring electrolyte levels in your cervical mucus – the rise and fall of both estrogen and progesterone. It can detect when estrogen levels increase just prior to ovulation and when your estrogen levels decrease and progesterone increases – signaling ovulation. For women with a hormonal imbalance – ovulation may actually occur earlier or later than the average 5-7 days (after the dominant follicle is selected). The vaginal sensor is able to notify you a day or two in advance of when ovulation occurs. If ovulation is occurring earlier than predicted – the colored day will turn to a high/peak fertility day (dark blue) when I may have previously been a 'possible' fertility day. If ovulation ends up occurring later than first predicted, your fertile window will actually be extended out (continued dark blue days) until ovulation is confirmed with a pink square. Some women may experience ovulation confirmed twice on the OvaCue, which indicates Secondary Fertility. The OvaCue can help you detect this secondary fertility when you use both the oral and vaginal sensor.
