Why I wish femSense had existed earlier: Orla's story
Hi, my name is Orla and I work in digital marketing for femSense. Some of you might know me from Instagram, I send messages and “like” the pictures you post, I comment and am often inspired and touched by your stories. I thought it might be time to introduce myself and share my story with you, why I understand the frustrations some of you are experiencing, the emotional turmoil of trying to conceive and why I wish femSense had existed when I was starting my family.
I am the proud Mum of 3 gorgeous boys, who drive me crazy, eat me out of house and home, turn my house upside down and bring me so much joy every single day. Having always known I wanted to be a Mum I was ready to start a family immediately after I got married. I actually expected to get pregnant straight away, I had spent most of my adult life desperately trying NOT to get pregnant – this was going to be a piece of cake! My menstrual cycle was quite regular but longer than the average 28 days, I had never given it much thought because, to be honest, it never really mattered. Until it did.
My husband and I jumped into the “making babies” project with great enthusiasm! For the first few months we thoroughly enjoyed the excitement and the anticipation, specifically planning sex around ovulation to optimise our chances of getting pregnant. But, unfortunately 6 months later there was still no baby on the way and I was beginning to realise we might be doing something wrong. After 9 months I was convinced we had a problem and was obsessed with getting pregnant.
Everyone tells you to relax, think about something else, it will happen when it´s supposed to happen. But that´s simply not possible. Once you make the decision to have a baby you want it to happen immediately, and the longer it takes, the more it begins to take over your life. You see pregnant women everywhere, your month revolves around getting pregnant; it´s an emotional rollercoaster you can´t get off. Firstly, there is the disappointment of a negative pregnancy test closely followed by your period, then the build-up to ovulation, sex every day during the fertile window, headstands (yes, really!!) to ensure fertilisation and finally, the beginning of the two-week wait. Every day of these two weeks is full of hope – I think I feel a bit nauseous, my breasts are definitely sensitive, I clearly have a metallic taste in my mouth – and then the desolation when your period arrives. What are we doing wrong?
Luckily in my case it turned out to be something very simple. I had always thought I ovulated on day 14, that’s what I learned in school and I had no reason to question it. We started our baby making routine on day 11, just to be on the safe side ;-) continued everyday till day 15, and figured we had it covered. By day 16 we were glad of a rest, no matter how much I loved my husband, by day 16 I only wanted to cuddle for the next few days!
When finally, after a full year of trying, I went to my doctor for help, she suggested following my cycle with an ultrasound to see if I ovulated at all. It turned out that because my cycle was slightly longer than average (between 32 and 33 days) I actually ovulated on day 18/19 and we had missed it every time! My fertile window was 4 days later than I thought. We had started too early and finished too soon every cycle. We were only cuddling on my most fertile days! Such a basic mistake. Thankfully, as soon as I knew when I ovulated, I got pregnant straight away. If only femSense Ovulation Detection had existed back then, it would have saved me so much heartache – and money I wasted on negative pregnancy tests! The femSense app would have told me that I had not yet ovulated and to keep on trying. It would have confirmed ovulation eventually and I would have known that I ovulated later than expected. And it really is that simple, if you know when you ovulate it´s so much easier to get pregnant.
When I first heard about the femSense system I knew I had to be part of the team marketing it. It felt so personal to me. I knew I could market this product because my immediate reaction was “I was that woman”! It is a product I can be proud of because it will make life easier and getting pregnant less complicated and stressful for so many women. It should be your first choice when you want to plan a pregnancy or the first step when you have been trying for a few months and nothing is happening. Rather than expensive doctor´s appointments and hormonal or chemical products – get to know your cycle and when you ovulate using the femSense sensor patch . Hormone free help based on the same temperature method trusted by generations of women – only now, thanks to 21stcentury technology, it is absolutely exact and so easy to use. Apply the patch, read it out twice a day and wait for notification of ovulation. No more expensive and invasive gimmicks, peeing on sticks or frustrating charting.
The best of luck in your baby making endeavours, enjoy this special phase of your life and see you in Instagram ;-)
Orla
