Cool Fertility Friend iPhone app bells 'n' whistles

I've been tracking all this information using Fertility Friend's iPhone app. Previously, I was tracking only the start and end dates of my periods in order to prevent pregnancy, assuming that my luteal phase was about 14 days long and either abstaining or pulling out during the week in which I thought I'd be "in danger" of falling pregnant.

Now that we're actively TTC, I've started charting things like BBT, CM, CP, symptoms, and so forth in an effort to pinpoint ovulation and other events. If anything, it's been incredibly cool to see how things are going, especially the little changes you otherwise wouldn't notice. (Who knew that your temperature changes around the time and after you ovulate! And how slight variations can mean all the difference!)

Once those things are in there, FF's app starts using that information to populate new features, like your chart (which everyone have seen before), a fertility analyzer, cycle statistics, and pregnancy monitor. The more cycles you track, the more accurate and more informative each of these become.

First, Cycle Statistics.

Obviously, mine isn't terribly populated because my cycles, while I've been loosely tracking them for a couple years, weren't all that detailed. Therefore, only my cycle "length" is entirely populated and shows an average, as well as a minimum and maximum. The longer I chart my ovulation and my luteal phase (which are both pretty much dependent on my BBT), the more detailed this chart will become.

You'll notice that, along with other features through FF, some content is for VIP members only. This membership allows you to view and participate in their message boards and see additional information about your cycle, such as (at least on this screen) your DPO. It's not worth it for me to look into now, but for women who require this kind of information, the membership is pretty cheap and gives you loads of options!

Second, Fertility Analyzer.

This one has changed for me recently. When I was in my follicular phase, it would track my symptoms (CM, CP, CD, and so forth) to determine when I was not fertile, likely fertile, and most fertile. These would be represented by a red, yellow, or green light. I actually found it pretty accurate as it showed a solid green light at O-2, O-1, and ovulation itself. Pretty neat!

The Analyzer knows that one can be fertile for a couple days or more even after observing fertile CM, a fertile CP, or seeing fertile signs on OPKs, microscopes (ferning in saliva, for instance), and so forth. So even if data isn't entered that day, it uses past information to delineate when/if you're fertile.

This is meant to maximize your pregnancy prospects so a woman doesn't stop considering herself as potentially infertile too soon, thereby missing the window. Think of it as baby-makin' insurance!

Finally, Pregnancy Monitor.

This one is especially interesting. There are a few things this gives you:

Test Date: As you notice, mine gives me a test date of 23 January 2012, or CD36/19DPO, based on a week out from my expected period (17 January). Since I've really only been tracking one cycle in-depth, it's giving me a full week after a possible missed period to test for a potential pregnancy. While I'm certainly able to test earlier, getting a negative result before that time might end up being "false". To play it safe, FF gives me a date well after a possible missed period.

If this were to change with additional information, I don't know, but it'll be interesting to find out!

Intercourse Timing: This one notes the days during which DH and I had sex and "scores" these dates relative to the date of ovulation. Since we had sex pretty much every day leading up to O, our score is obviously very high. Having sex two days out of the four likely leads to a "Good", once to "Fair", and none... well, I don't know, but probably not a very good chance at all!

Temperatures above Cover Line: Should be pretty self-explanatory.

Top Signs: According to FF's FAQs, this tool scans your recorded signs at your current DPO and displays the frequency with which these signs occur on pregnancy charts. It does NOT take into account those charts that did NOT lead to pregnancy or that were anovulatory. These symptoms are listed from most to least frequent, and can be a good comparison tool.

It should be noted, though, that even if you have the same symptoms, this does not mean you might be pregnant. It's simply a comparison tool.

Pregnancy Test Probability: This tool displays the percentage of positive pregnancy tests recorded at or before your DPO, and can be useful if you want to see how early your test is compared to the community for those who got a BFP. Mine's a bit early (they recommend no earlier than 10DPO), so I got nothin'!

Spotting Factor: This tool displays the frequency of pregnancy charts showing spotting on the day you reported it. Since I haven't spotted (yet...?), there's no information here, but say I spotted at 12DPO: This tool would show the percentage of women who also spotted at 12DPO and received a positive pregnancy result (e.g., 4.5%).

Early Pregnancy Signs: This is probably the most interesting tool to me. On a scale of 0 to 100, this analyzer shows an estimate of the probability of your signs appearing on pregnancy charts in the chart gallery. While this can't tell you if you're pregnant (even if your analysis is 100!), the gauge can give clues to answer the question that everyone has on their mind when TTC: Did other women experience what I did and end up pregnant? Simply another piece of the puzzle!

The calculation is based on an analysis of over 100,000 charts from FF's archives and statistical models of the signs and symptoms based on them (i.e. special entry data tab, CF, CP, and spotting data) with respect to their occurrences on pregnancy charts. This information is compared to the individual's data, and they come out with a number.

These preliminary results show that charts with a display of 80 or more points are 70-90% more likely to be pregnant charts, with all other factors being equal. That means you can also find high value in this with no pregnancy and vice versa. FF is continually updating this feature.

Due Date: Again, kind of obvious. If you conceived this cycle, your EDD would be ________! In my case? 26 September 2012.

Summary: I don't have enough information for this one, but if I did, it would likely give me their opinion on my LP, FP, and other stats would be taken into account and they'd give me ideas as to how to better improve my chances of conception. Pretty neat, huh?

Of course, the ONLY way to determine a pregnancy is with a positive test (HPT or blood sample), so these should merely be used as tools. It's rather fun to see how this all changes, though, considering all the signs entered... and somehow, it helps with the obsessiveness! ;)