For the past couple of months I have been wearing a little blue bracelet that made everyone around me ask a series of questions from: ‘what is that thing that’s definitely not a watch?’ to ‘why are you wearing it? Is it any good? Is it like a Fitbit?’ When I replied it’s actually a fertility bracelet, everyone just assumed we’re already planning on having more children. Yet, given its obvious name (fertility!) I do see why 😉
Truth is we would love another child, but not just yet. Meanwhile there is so much more about my postpartum body that I need to understand and eventually improve, and by this I don’t mean only post-baby weight wise (which is a bit of a struggle to get rid of after my second baby), but improving sleep and general lifestyle are now priorities.
So, question is, have I learnt anything new from the bracelet? Is it really a wise investment? Let’s see my findings after months of wearing it.
The pros
Ava bracelet is a clinically tested device which uses sensor technology to reveal 1. what’s really happening with one’s cycle while trying to conceive, 2. if one’s already pregnant, 3. or if one just wishes to understand better her body (keeping in mind that it has been tested for cycles 24 – 35 days, if you know you’re within this window, the results should be more than accurate).
1. It effortlessly syncs with my iPhone Ava app (also compatible to Android)
To get started, all it needs is pairing it with the phone after purchasing it and not forgetting to charge it every night before use. One must wear the device for a minimum of 4 hours per sleep in order to collect sufficient nightly data. Voila, it’s that easy!
2. It does the job of several apps you may already have in your phone. And yet, so much more!
I should have mentioned that for the past few years, I tracked my period through another app called Period Tracker where I used to log in period details such as starting and ending dates, moods and symptoms, plus I was using a couple more apps to track my pregnancies progress. It was a good way to have a period calendar really, however since I started wearing the bracelet, I discarded them all simply because the Ava app is already doing all that in a single place, and to be honest (I can’t stress enough on this) it’s doing so much, much more. I know it is often compared to a Fitbit, and given the reasons, I see why. It is however a device which is mainly designed as a convenient tool for women to understand better their fertility window and eventually maximize their chances of conceiving.
3. It’s not only a clever fertility bracelet
For me, personally, it’s been a great gadget which brought me more knowledge on my sleeping pattern and helped me understand that my general lifestyle was not as healthy as I initially thought. I see now my sleeping routine is poor not only due the fact that I have a baby who doesn’t sleep through the entire night, but working from home, and especially working a lot during nighttime, has been having a very negative impact on my sleep. The first readings were a huge wakeup call when I saw I was barely getting 4 hours of sleep per night while 76% of it actually fell under the light sleep analysis. On top of this, there’s also data collection on physiological stress levels, and resting heart rate, so you can see whether your lifestyle is supporting optimal health.
Any cons?
I honestly don’t see a single reason why one should not be using Ava. The only thing more challenging to me, personally, remains the charging part (might need to add a phone alarm to do it on time!), other than that the bracelet has been a strong reminder that a healthier sleep routine should be on my priorities list! Ava reminds me that investing more time and energy in changing my current lifestyle is actually a MUST.
Last, but not least, I might repeat myself here, but one should know that wearing the Ava bracelet has to be done during nighttime only. The few reasons for which I have it in different photo scenarios is because in the beginning I was often forgetting to take it off my wrist (I’ll invoke the baby brain excuse again, however, thank you, Anna, for pixalising it along the cherry blooms!) ;).
This article has been written in partnership with Ava Woman and all my opinions are resulting from my own trial of the bracelet over the past few months. I have been recommending it to all my friends and family, because I do believe in the reliable tech behind the project.
