The Clearblue Fertility Monitor

A bunch of my friends have asked me to explain how the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor
works and if it is worth the money.

To understand the investment, it costs about $150 for the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor itself which should last you years and shouldn’t need replacement. Then you need to buy the Clearblue Easy Fertility Test Sticks. These come in a pack of 30 and they say that most women need 10 a month. I always need 20 because I had a long cycle. The machine will either ask you to use ten or twenty, but no other number. Therefore, I was buying 2 boxes every three cycles. They also tell you not to mix boxes, but I did and it worked. Also, once you get your first peak, you can stop using the sticks. It will automatically give you a second peak the following day, a high the day after that, and low fertility the days after until you finish your set of 10 or 20.

What makes the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor
different than conventional ovulation sticks (side note: I always recommend digital over regular because your need a PhD in hieroglyphics to decipher the lines on the regular ones) is the monitor measures two hormones, estrogen and LH. The regulation ovulation sticks just measure LH.

So what does all this mean?
· When your cycle starts, your estrogen level is low and there is just a trace of LH in your system. This would read as “low fertility” on the monitor, just one bar. At this point, you have little to no chance of getting pregnant.

· As you get closer to ovulation, estrogen levels increase, but the LH hasn’t surged yet. This is considered “high fertility” on the monitor and you will see two bars. It means your might be fertile, so your should seize the opportunity by doing the baby dance, or as they say in the baby-making biz, BD.

· The last thing your body does to gear up for the big day, aka ovulation, is release a surge of LH in your system. This is what generates a positive OPK (ovulation prediction kit) or a “peak” reading on the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor. This is designated by a beautiful egg in the third bar. When you get it, you will spontaneously break out into the happy dance and mandate your man to be amorous that night.

I had an interesting experience with the monitor and totally believe in it.

When I started using the monitor, my cycles were between 35 and 39 days. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to figure out when I ovulated. I believe the machine says it is effective up to 42 days. If your cycle is longer, I think you can beat the system by testing later (if this is a concern of yours, shoot me a comment and I can explain further).
The first day of your cycle, you set the monitor to day one. Be careful when you set it because when you press the button you are setting a 6 hour test window for that whole cycle. Miss this window and you can’t test that day. I made mine for 6am. That way if I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night I would be covered starting at 3am and if I slept in on the weekends I would be within my window, up to 9 am. The first month it will ask you on day 6 to start peeing on a stick. Each morning you turn on the monitor, a test stick symbol shows up on the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor screen on the days it wants you to test.

After the first month, especially if you cycle is longer, it will start asking between days 9 and 11 for the first stick.

My first month, I didn’t get a peak at all. It could be because LH surges often take place in the afternoon and the monitor might have missed it. I think this is uncommon. The odd this is, I did ovulate because I got pregnant that cycle. If you read my earlier posts, you saw that I thought I had gotten my period, starting my next cycle, but in fact, I was pregnant. I honestly wouldn’t have known if the monitor on my second month hadn’t gone straight from low fertility to peak. The pregnancy hormone, HCG, can often mimic LH. This also happened with my second pregnancy.

After the miscarriage and the time off we took, I started using the monitor again. My peaks coincided with my temperature shift (which I documented on fertilityfriend.com). I found it to be very accurate.
The last time I used the monitor, I thought I would peak day 20 or 23 and I didn’t. I figured I didn’t ovulate that cycle. Finally on day 27, I got a peak and as a result I got pregnant. Had it not been for the monitor, we wouldn’t have been trying at all. The monitor was the only reason I got pregnant. Sadly, lost that one too, flipping fibroid.
If you are in a rush to get pregnant, nervous you might not be ovulating, have irregular cycles, it really might be worth the investment. I know the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor
gave me peace of mind.
Once we start trying again, I will absolutely use it.