Arrows at the top of some screens allow you to change month (calendar), day (symptom recording), or cycle (charts).
Navigate through the app features using the toolbar buttons at the bottom. Those with multiple
options generate a pop up to select from.
Select "Connect" and "Startup Tutorial" to open this tutorial again later.
Record Your First Cycle
Startup Tutorial (Part 2 of 9)
First record the start of your cycle. From the calendar view, touch the date your last period started.
Expand the "Basic Symptoms" section and check the "Menstruation" box.
Use the right arrow at the top to advance to the next date to record menstruation again. Repeat for each day of your period.
Consider Daily Symptoms
Startup Tutorial (Part 3 of 9)
After recording menstruation, the calendar will show numbered cycle days (numbers in parenthesis),
your estimated ovulation date (pink circle), and when your next cycle is predicted (light pink).
To get the most out of this app, you need to record daily symptoms!
Given only menstruation dates (like above), ovulation prediction uses the rhythm method. This is not very accurate although many
apps rely solely on it. To best predict ovulation and fertility, you need to record daily fertility symptoms.
This app is designed to help you do that.
Symptoms to consider tracking:
Basal Body Temperatures: How: Use an accurate BBT thermometer to take your temperature immediately after waking (even before getting out of bed).
Why: It identifies ovulation after it occurs. This is useful to tell when your fertility levels are subsiding.
It also indicates whether you are ovulating regularly, which may help assess fertility problems.
More Info:http://www.fertilityinstructor.com/bbt.html
Cervical Mucus: How: Use white tissue paper to take a sample of mucus from the vagina. Note the color, thickness, and consistency of the mucus. Additionally note vaginal sensation.
Why: It identifies ovulation before it occurs. This is useful to spot the start of your fertile window. If you are
trying to conceive, fertile mucus indicates the best times to try to achieve pregnancy.
More Info:http://www.fertilityinstructor.com/cm.html
LH Ovulation Testing: How: Follow instructions on a purchased Ovulation Test and record the result. Many are urinary tests.
You do not necessarily need to test daily, particularly if you are tracking other symptoms.
Why: An ovulation test identifies ovulation right before it occurs. It can confirm that ovulation
is occurring and help identify the best time to try to get pregnant.
More Info:http://www.fertilityinstructor.com/ovtests.html
Fertility Monitor: How: Follow the instructions on the fertility monitor and record the result on a daily basis. This requires buying a ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor.
Why: The monitor detects the start and end of fertility. It identifies ovulation similar to an LH Ovulation Test, but with more advance notice.
More Info:http://www.fertilityinstructor.com/monitor.html
Cervix: How: Insert a finger in your vagina to examine the position, consistency, and diameter of the cervix.
Why: Like mucus, the cervix identifies ovulation before it occurs. It is useful to identify the best times to try to achieve pregnancy.
It is commonly tracked as a cross-check of other symptoms.
More Info:http://www.fertilityinstructor.com/cervix.html
The most commonly tracked combination is Basal Body Temperature (BBT) and Cervical Mucus (CM).
Recording Daily Symptoms
Startup Tutorial (Part 4 of 9)
Select a date on the calendar. Expand the sections to record various fertility symptoms. You can also optionally record personal notes and events for future reference.
After recording daily symptoms, the calendar will start to show detailed fertility (assuming your MyFertilityCharts.com account supports full analysis).
Fertility Charting
Startup Tutorial (Part 5 of 9)
Viewing your symptoms on a chart is another useful way to analyze your fertility. Select "Charts" (navigation toolbar) and "Chart" (pop-up menu) to view your Fertility Chart.
You may be prompted to pick a cycle (or can select "Pick Another Cycle" from the pop-up menu if you want to chart another cycle).
Each cycle has its own chart. Rows correspond to tracked symptoms and columns to dates. Ovulation and fertility are also indicated. To understand
the indicators on your chart, expand the "Charting Notation Legend" section beneath your chart.
Ovulation Dates
Startup Tutorial (Part 6 of 9)
MyFertilityCharts analyzes your fertility given your tracked symptoms. Symptoms are analyzed both separately
and collectively. An overall ovulation date and fertile window appears on your chart. Additionally each
symptom is analyzed independently to calculate ovulation based on it alone. These estimates are shown as a listing
of Ovulation Dates. Select "Charts" and "Ovulation Dates" to view.
The overall ovulation date is a single estimate based on ALL recorded symptoms. If you disagree with the calculated date,
you can manually select a different date.
Multiple algorithms analyze your basal body temperatures. These
produce multiple estimates. You can select which method to use or leave it to be automatically chosen.
When the methods all detect a similar ovulation date, it indicates greater confidence in it.
Multiple algorithms are also run on cervical mucus data. Each estimate is shown and can be chosen.
Calculated ovulation dates for all other symptoms also appear below.
Confidence and Fertility Window
Startup Tutorial (Part 7 of 9)
Insightful information about the analysis is provided by Confidence Scores and the Fertility Window Explanation.
Select "Charts" and then "Confidence & Fertile Window" to view these.
Confidence Scores indicate how well your symptoms indicate ovulation. Other apps' estimates fail to provide any
indication of its likelihood of being correct. 1 star (poor) to 5 stars (good) are used to indicate how conclusively your symptoms indicate ovulation.
Completeness: This indicates whether all tracked symptoms have had a chance to weigh in on ovulation. An ovulation
date based on only 1 of several tracked symptom types has low completeness (1-2 stars). It would be like
calling an election before counting all votes. 5 stars indicates that all methods have finished analysis.
Certainty: This indicates how well all tracked symptoms agree. When multiple symptoms all point to the same
ovulation date, the certainty is high (5 stars).
Quality: This considers what symptoms are being used. If you are tracking symptoms such as BBT and CM with more scientific support as indicators
of ovulation, you will have a higher quality score (4-5 stars).
For more help understanding these concepts, you may find the video explanation for the website helpful.
The Fertile Window indicates the part of the cycle where pregnancy is statistically likely. The explanation
indicates what symptoms determine the start and end of the window.
Recording Events
Startup Tutorial (Part 8 of 9)
You can also track various events. To do so, select a date from the calendar and expand the "Events" section.
Check the events you wish to record for the given date. Events generally do not factor into fertility and ovulation analysis.
Recorded events appear at the bottom of your fertility chart.
You can record numerous events. Not all of them are shown by default though. To select among all
available events, select "Settings" and "Configure Events".
All possible events appear in categories. Expand to view. Checking a box will make that
event visible for daily recording. Unchecking it will hide it. You can also create up to 20 custom events.
Specify a name for your custom event and check the box so that it is displayed for daily recording.
Cloud Synchronization
Startup Tutorial (Part 9 of 9)
You can access your charts and data from a computer. This allows printing and saving of charts. You can also
view and record data from a second or third mobile device by installing the app and using the same username and
password. This way couples can have shared access on their own devices. Some advanced settings and features are
only available at MyFertilityCharts.com. You can access them using a browser on your computer or mobile device. Login
using the same username and password used in this app.
This app automatically synchronizes with the cloud. Some fertility analysis is also performed in the cloud for you.
Whenever you view the calendar or a chart, synchronization happens automatically in the background. A black box in the upper right
corner indicates status. This box disappears when cloud synchronization and analysis is complete. You can also force synchronization
at any time by touching the Sync button on the navigation toolbar.