Trying to Get Pregnant
fishsticks-n-custard
member
Ava Bracelet - a review with screenshots
fishsticks-n-custard
member
Hey everyone, I've been using Ava for almost a complete cycle now and people have been asking me my thoughts so I decided to put it all together in one long, boring post.
TL;DR version: Works great as an expensive BBT thermometer when you transfer the data to Fertility Friend. Inherent software not great. Only recommended if you have some serious obstacles to use using a normal thermometer. Otherwise not worth the money.
Why I decided to try Ava: I work erratic shifts so temping regularly at the same time wasn’t working for me. Additionally,
*TW* I am still
breastfeeding which meant that I was often getting up 1-2 times per night and
rarely getting a 3 hour block prior to waking up in the morning. Plus, often
when I woke up, I had to immediately go get my toddler who was not patient
about waiting for mommy to temp. *end TW*
The Ava Bracelet was $199 retail and I ended up paying $179 after I found a $20 code online. It shipped pretty quickly; I ordered July 14th and it arrived July 19th.
First impressions out of the box: It really is very slickly packaged and designed. The included directions were pretty scant but there is a more detailed instruction manual available on the website that was helpful.
There are two main parts, a small module that actually contains the electronics portion and the strap itself. One major design flaw, you cannot charge the electronic module with the strap in place (see pictures in spoiler). You must remove it every day to connect it to the charger (and you must connect it to the charger to sync data).
As you can see, after a month of daily use, my strap is already showing some cracking and damage. (see pic in spoiler)
To me this is a pretty simple fix which could have really improved my user experience if you were able to charge/sync without removing the strap.
The strap itself is a soft material and pretty stretchy. In all honesty, I’m a little clumsy and it took me a few days to get used to putting it on. The strap comes with a small band which I didn’t use for the first week. But eventually I woke up one day and the bracelet had fallen off in my sleep and I figured out that’s what the band was there for. Since then, I have not had issues with it falling off (using the band over the clip that connects the strap). I do notice in the mornings that my skin will be slightly itchy and red if I put the strap on too tight at night, but this goes away over the course of the day.
One thing I will say if you do get Ava, the first day you go to charge it, it will seem to be charged rather quickly. I had a green light in a matter of minutes. Don’t believe it! Charge it for several hours. I used it the first night I had it after only charging it a few minutes and no data was collected. When I emailed support, it seemed like this was a known issue. After charging for several hours, I had no problem with data collection the second night.
Syncing and interpreting data:
My main issue was with getting the data to sync. Every morning, you must connect the module to your computer. You’ll get a flashing blue light. Then you need to open the ava app and, in theory, the data will sync. I find myself most mornings having to unpair and repair my ava to get the app to sense that there is data to sync.
The main screen of the app will look like this once data is synced:
Click on the heart icon below and you’ll see your data over time:
The blue columns are supposed to be my fertile window, but you’ll notice the software does it off of my typical cycle length assuming a 14 day LP. You’ll see it did see a clear temperature rise, but did not change the blue columns to reflect when my fertile days actually occurred. I have no idea if it will do this after several cycles, I’ll check back in.
Another big flaw is that there is no place to insert other fertility signs, ie: CM and OPKs. The sleep tracking isn’t as accurate as my fitbit. Resting pulse rate seemed to correspond with the values I was getting on my fitbit.
There is also a calendar view tab, but I did not find it particularly helpful because, as I said, they did not change my fertile window to reflect the data actually recorded.
So all that being said, what did I like about Ava: Well, when I transferred the temperature data to Fertility Friend, I was able to see a clear shift and pinpoint ovulation:
The recent thread brought up some points that measuring the temperature at the wrist is likely more at the mercy of environmental factors. I agree that’s probably true. In my experience in one month of using it, so not very generalizable, despite sleeping in varying conditions (day vs night sleeping; home vs call room) I was still able to see a temp rise. But again, this is my experience over one month and may not be true for everyone.
I hope you guys find this helpful.
Edited to remove personal info, because, stranger danger.
Me: 35, Hubbie: 33
Married DH: 2013
DD: Dec 2015
BFP 8/14/17 --> Due 4/27/2018
Married DH: 2013
DD: Dec 2015
BFP 8/14/17 --> Due 4/27/2018
Re: Ava Bracelet - a review with screenshots
Do you know if based on how it syncs it would be possible to resell it to someone or gift it to a friend/relative? Or would it be complicated to do based on how the device is registered? (if that makes sense)
Married DH: 2013
DD: Dec 2015
BFP 8/14/17 --> Due 4/27/2018
First off, the price is now $250! I got mine the week before they bumped the price so I just got an email that said Ava 1.2 is out and I was not happy because I thought I got the short end of the stick buying the old version but then I looked into it and all they did was "redesign" the band because everyone hated it, the tracker is still the same. I'm appalled that they raised the price by $50 to "cover the band redesign" (that's what the email said and it offered those of us who already have the old version to upgrade to the new band for $30). The "redesign" is just putting a regular watch band on it! How much design effort did that take?! If that many people were complaining about it, they should have just changed the band, left the price the same and sent replacements to existing customers. So, that's a definite minus for customer service.
I find the old band a little tricky to get on but it hasn't ever fallen off for me. For the tracker itself, I would say it's very sensitive and seems accurate, I've gotten results all but the first night (even if it looks charged, charge it for a few hours before the first night). It's very light and not bulky and hasn't bothered me sleeping with it on like my fitbit charge did. I have not had to remove it from the band to charge it because I use my phone charger plug which is thinner than the one they send so it fits with the band still on (hopefully preventing the band cracking problem that others have had taking the tracker in and out of the band every day). The problem with syncing has happened to me too but it seems to work best if you have the app fully closed on your phone overnight, in the morning you start the app and then plug in the charger and it typically works.
The other thing I would say is that the app is far too basic. One of their selling points is that you can track your cycle and look for patterns when you have headaches or cramps, etc. but right now you can't enter any of that in the app so you'd be tracking it separately and making your own graphs to compare. Fortunately, I emailed them and they said that a major app update will be released in the next few weeks that will have symptom tracking and graphical analysis (customer service plus - they replied to my email within the hour). So, that would make a big difference.
If I hadn't already bought it I would probably think twice about it especially with the price increase to $250. I decided to try it because it has good reviews, I love data, and even though it was $200, I had a $20 off coupon and it appears you can resell them for about $150 so to me it was worth it to try it out for $30. I'll update again after I've used it for a full cycle or two and let you know how accurate it seems to be and if I'm still liking it.
SD: 21 & SS: 17
BFP #2 6/3/2020
*Trigger Warning*
**Removed TOU Violation**
They’re not recommended for women with PCOS or irregular cycles, which I have, and I emailed customer service to ask when they are planning to release a version for those women. They said that the research is in the works but didn’t have a definite answer for when it would be available. I’m hoping that whenever it is, I will be able to just update the app rather than order a whole new bracelet.
knottiee613ed6307095d90 It's against guidelines to post referral links when you are benefiting monetarily.
My 7 Year Journey ***Tw in spoiler***
IVF #1 - September 2018; Follistim, Menopur, Cetrotide & Lupron/HCG combo trigger; PGS; ICSI
Back on Levothyroxine
FET #1 - October 2018; cancelled, all PGS aneuploid
FET #1 - November 30th, transferred anyway
Wondfo BFP 5dp5dt, CB Digi 6dpt,
1st Beta on 7dpt 93
2nd Beta on 10dpt 510!
TTC #1 since 2011. Tried for 5 years before we knew there was a one year rule.
Diag w/MS 2016; w/PCOS & IF 2017
New RE 2018; PCOS diagnosis taken away, IF due to ovary adhesions, but prev. RE insists PCOS IF
IUI
IUI #1 July 2017 w/100mg Clo+trigger; BFN; benched w/big cysts
IUI #2 October 2017 w/50mg Clo+trigger; BFN; benched w/big cysts
IUI #3 February 2018 w/5mg Femara+trigger; low P
BFP February; mc March; Subclinical hypothyroid started Levothyroxine
IUI #4 March 2018 w/7.5mg Femara+trigger; BFN
Medicated cycle & TI April 2018 w/7.5mg Femara+trigger; BFN
Tried several cycles on our own; all BFN