Tuesday, August 20, 2013

I Should B writing a review

I've decided I want to do some reviews on products or things women may want to use when TTC. This may be a regular thing or a one time thing. We will just see how it goes. Also, please bear with me as I get the hang of reviewing things. It might not be all official but it will be real.  


Before I start this review I want to share that I am in no way getting compensated for my statements in this post (but I'm not opposed to it. Lol).

Today I will be reviewing the Glow Fertility app. As of today it is only available on iOS devices. 

This is their logo

This app just launched at the beginning of August. It offers a guarantee  that you will get pregnant with this app in 10 months or they will help pay for fertility treatment. Naturally, like any IF sufferer I was immediately skeptical to anything that promises this. I downloaded it and read up on what Glow has to offer. 

The Glow app itself is entirely free to download. To get money towards fertility treatment you put $50 a month into a pool of money for 10 months. If by the end of the 10 months you are not pregnant then you and the other couples who started at the same time and also did not become pregnant will split the money. The photo below is how the Glow app explains it in simple terms 


This money is not sent to you but rather a Glow approved fertility clinc. In order to qualify for the money at the end you must use the Glow app on a daily basis, pay the $50 every month, and not be pregnant. After I learned more about this feature I thought it could not hurt to try it. Especially since that money would go towards fertility stuff anyways. So I clicked on the "join" button. Before I could be a part of this, I had to answer 3 questions to see if I qualify. I am using my memory to recall the questions since when I filled out the questionnaire I didn't know I'd be writing a review so I didn't jot them down. These are yes or no questions. 

1.have you or your partner ever had or been treated for an STD?

2. Have you and your partner been TTC for more than 6 months?

3. Have you or your partner ever been treated by a fertility doctor?

So, I answered the questions and it said there are 192 applications in front of me. I would be notified by email in regards to my acceptance/rejection. I think I'll get rejected since I answered "yes" to question 3. 

Next I thought I'd see what else this app has to offer a couple trying to conceive. This app is geared toward the couple not just the woman. If your partner also has iOS device(mine doesn't) then they can download the app as well and you can sync up. Essentially this will keep your partner up to date about what is going on with your body . I like the idea of not having to mention this stuff to DH and he is always in the know (as long as he actually looks at the app).  I have not seen if the partner app is any different but I assume it is not too different. Sadly, this is my favorite feature of this app and we can't use it since DH is anti-apple products and I'm pro-apple products. 

This app asks the woman the typical questions upon start up. Cycle length? Age? Length TTC? Length of menses? There might be a few more but you get the idea. 

The app is visually pleasing. It will tell you the percentage chance of you getting pregnant each day based off your data input. The more data it has, the more accurate the percentage. I also like this feature since it is right there when you open the app. However, I am skeptical about its accuracy. 
Below are some screen shots I took of the app. 

The pictures below are if the Log area. 


The "update period" section lets you adjust your period length with each cycle. It does not allow you to enter flow level on a daily basis. The "did you have sex" section obviously is asking if you had sex. If you select "yes" then it asks position of female during BD and if she orgasmed. 

The "performed CM check" section will show bars that you can slide the correct way to represent your CM. 


Next comes the precise info area. 
If you are experiencing "emotional discomfort" it asks you a very limited options. Clicking "other" does not allow you to type in the emotion. 


 For the "physical discomfort" section it does not have an area for cramps but says "ovarian pain". It does not allow for severity of pain to be entered for any of the options. 


Next is the OPK option. It is either pos or neg. there is not an option for a fertility monitor or the advanced OPKs that give a low/high/peak reading. 

Finally there is the BMI ( body mass index) section. You enter your height and weight and it gives you your BMI. 

The last button is self explanatory. "I am pregnant". 

That is pretty much all the app does. It does not let you input medications or vitamins you are taking. It does not show a chart to track your BBT althoughyou can get one emailed to yourself. It does not ask you what time you took your BBT. It only allows one decimal point value for the BBT. It does not allow note taking. It does not allow you to input spotting. 

This app leaves much to be desired. I have not used it a full cycle yet so I don't know if it will tell you if you ovulated based on BBT or an OPK result. Since OPKs cans be wonkey I hope it's not based solely on those. 

I will update y'all after I've used it for awhile. Maybe the app creators will give an amazing update and fix the stuff that isn't too great. Or maybe more options will open up for data once I've used it more (I doubt it).

Review of this app is a thumbs down 👎. 

This app might be useful for the average woman but not an avid TTCer and IF sufferer like myself. 

Personally I prefer the Fertility Friend (FF) app. It allows you to input so many details and analyzes them for you. Plus it has forums and chart comparison. FF offers so much more and then some than Glow. 




Hopefully, you found this review useful. Let me know if I need to change or improve in anything. 

Have a glorious day Bloggie world!

1 comment:

  1. Wow! That is a lot of info you put together. I personally am very skeptical of things like this. As soon as it asked me to pay $50 a month, I would have been out of there. The promise of paying for your fertility treatments after 10months is false. It depends on how many people are in the lot with you and how long they choose to stay. Seems like that right there determines how much they will "pay" you. And if you are sitting the cost with others, that amount is even less. You may end up with more money than you started, but that is not likely to cover IF treatments. In addition, do they give you a list of the Glow approved facilities beforehand so you can see if I e is near your location? It's hardly worth it if it requires you to travel out of state. Plus, if you miss ONE day of tracking in 10months, you are disqualified? No thank you. It was interesting reading your review, though! I'm just giving my own personal opinion based in the review. Otherwise, I know nothing about it! Lol

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