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See the full transcript of the conversation below!
Aimee Raupp:
Hello, hello, hello. How is everyone? Let's let some people join. I'm Aimee Raupp and I'm coming to you live to talk about ovulation and the importance of ovulation, especially not just for getting pregnant but for optimal hormone levels. So you can feel your best. And I'm also going to share with you, there's a really awesome new tool out there to track your ovulation. Let's see.
Aimee Raupp:
So, we're going to bring on, here we go. Let's see. We're going to see if I can add someone to my video. Let's give it a shot. There we go. Hi Amy!
Amy:
Hi Aimee.
Aimee Raupp:
How are you?
Amy:
Good, how are you?
Aimee Raupp:
I am doing well. Thank you. We have people rolling on. Super psyched. So I was telling them that we're going to talk about the importance of ovulation, whether or not you're trying to get pregnant and those hormones and why don't you introduce yourself?
Aimee Raupp:
So, tell us a little bit about you and Oova life and we'll get into all the goodies.
Amy:
Sure. As a little bit about myself, I have a PhD in biomedical sciences from Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, but before that I actually come from industry. So I was a data scientist at Rosch for a few years and the a researcher at Bissell Myers Scrub prior to that. So I love biology and I love large sets of data. So anything in that set is perfect for me.
Amy:
So a little about Oova, what we've built is an at home test that monitors two hormones. Luteinizing hormone and progesterone. I'm sure we'll talk about the importance of those in a little bit, but we track them quantitatively and over time.
Amy:
So a woman uses our test every day for 15 days and then we track those hormone levels every day to learn her personal fertility profile. So we don't compare her to some standard threshold or that perfect woman who we all know doesn't exist. We're all perfect in our own way and Oova embraces that.
Aimee Raupp:
And tell us why you designed Oova. What is your passion behind it? I think that's important for everyone to hear.
Amy:
Sure. So I had a really tough time conceiving my son. We expected it to be difficult because we were both in our 30s and I've never had regular cycles my entire life. On top of that, I've been diagnosed with Celiac Disease and infertility is always been thought to be affiliated with that.
Amy:
So me and my husband had a really tough conversation early on that if we didn't conceive naturally then we didn't want to go the invasive route. It was actually easier for me to make peace with possibly never being a mother than it was to go through a potential miscarriage or a failed cycle.
Amy:
18 months later, I luckily conceived my son but those 18 months were the most devastating months of my life and I'm sure a lot of women [crosstalk 00:02:59]
Aimee Raupp:
A lot of women can relate. Yeah.
Amy:
Understand that. So I did everything right. I peed on a stick every morning. I took my body temperature at 4:30 AM every day and I used every fertility tracking app that was available and what was so frustrating was that after 18 months of collecting all this data, I'm a data person, I had all these numbers in my hand, I really was no smarter than I was on day one.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah.
Amy:
All I learned was that I had irregular cycles. So I started trying to hack these tools. All these ovulation kits and apps that were designed for the perfect woman. I tried to hack them for myself and I couldn't. They were literally designed for a woman with 28 day cycles. So the biologist in me came out and I was like, Let's figure out a way to measure these hormones at home because that's what dictates our reproductive systems.” And that's where Oova was born.
Aimee Raupp:
Amazing. So let's get into the difference between Oova and the ovulation predictor kits at home. What are you measuring versus what they're measuring and why is that significant?
Amy:
Sure. So Oova is the only test that measures both LH and progesterone at home in a single unit. You can buy multiple products that track both these hormones individually, but you can't do them in unison. So that's the first differentiator. The second is we're completely personalized. So we track these hormones, we factor in what your personal baseline hormone level is and then we detect fluctuations in your hormones by comparing to that.
Amy:
So how can we actually do that? This is the third differentiator. We're quantitative.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. Tell us what quantitative means because there's a lot of non-sciencey out there.
Amy:
Sure. Sure. So currently if you look at any ovulation predictor kit, they're threshold based. So you have to hit a certain threshold and then you get a positive result.
Aimee Raupp:
So LH over a nine or something like that, right?
Amy:
Yes. So whatever their threshold is, you have to have a hormone level above that.
Aimee Raupp:
That's how the OPKs work. They're just detecting a rise in LH and same thing the progesterone kits. It's usually over a three I think or a five that-
Amy:
Five, typically.
Aimee Raupp:
And then there's an indicator, “Okay you ovulated,” because progesterone doesn't … But we don't know how high progesterone went or how high LH went. Okay.
Amy:
Exactly. So the problem though is if you have irregular hormone levels or irregular cycles, you may never reach those thresholds or you may be consistently above those thresholds. So for me-
Aimee Raupp:
As those girls that always get the peak fertility, but never actually see the actual one or yeah. People with high circulating levels of LH.
Amy:
Exactly.
Aimee Raupp:
Or maybe their LH doesn't jump the way it should but they are actually ovulating. Right. Okay.
Amy:
So that's me. I never got a positive on a Clearblue. I'm like, “How can I go 16 months and not ovulate? That's not right.” Now after Oova-
Aimee Raupp:
Especially if you were getting periods. I knew you had lost cycles. We talked about your cycles, but if you get a period, chances are, 14 days prior you ovulated but that was never picking it up correct.
Amy:
It was never picking it up. So with Oova, I found out my LH surge is actually quite low. But I do ovulate.
Aimee Raupp:
I'm sure a lot of girls on here can relate to that where they get so … This is one of the things I hear like, “Which kits are the best? I get so frustrated. How do I know? Why is it not working for me?”
Amy:
Yeah.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah so Oova really solves for a lot of those issues.
Amy:
Yeah. So we really want to embrace your individuality and we've built this tool for the irregular woman because we consider her to be the new perfect.
Aimee Raupp:
Yes.
Amy:
So what I was saying is-
Aimee Raupp:
I like that. A new perfect. I like that.
Amy:
So we were defining what quantitative means and what that is is we're actually getting the hormone measurement. So by capturing your baseline levels, we figure out what your baseline. So your lowest level of those hormones are for this cycles and then when your hormone levels start to surpass that baseline, we can start tracking then and seeing when your surge actually happens.
Aimee Raupp:
Yes.
Amy:
Then we have a whole machine learning algorithm on the back to make it smarter with every use.
Aimee Raupp:
Right. So tell us how because if you want to check out the product, go to aimeeraupp.com/oova. O-O-V-A and you can check out the product. Tell us, because I think this is the number one question I'm going to get, why is it so expensive? I don't think it's that expensive, but I know girls are going to say, “I normally pay 15 bucks for my ovulation sticks. Why is this $200?” So explain that to us.
Amy:
Sure. So if you're going to do self care or you're monitoring your hormones at home, it's going to cost $200 and it's because you're measuring two hormones and we're learning your cycle with every data point that you enter. So whether that's subjective information that you're capturing through our daily logs or you're doing quantitative hormone measurements, we're capturing, we're learning every single day.
Amy:
Now the great thing is, and we've worked with clinicians throughout our entire product development because what we wanted was if a woman was to go to her doctor with Oova data, they didn't just flip through the data and then put it to the side. And then start from their own protocol. We wanted them to use Oova as a stepping stone for the next step.
Amy:
So you can literally take your Oova reports, take that to your doctor and they'll know what to do next. The reason is because now if you haven't had a progesterone surge in a few months, that means you might have low reserve. You're not releasing eggs regularly. Something's wrong there. So let's evaluate that before we just jump into IVF or jump into an IUI. Because honestly if you're not releasing eggs, IUI is probably not going to work for you anyway and you're going to waste a ton of money.
Aimee Raupp:
And I think this is important to share too that you guys weren't planning to launch right now, but then COVID happened and you have a lot of relationships with fertility doctors and they basically called you and said, “We need your product now because I can't get girls into the clinic.” This is how reliable this information is. It's basically like your reproductive endocrinologist would be monitoring your hormones and planning accordingly or telling you when to time intercourse.
Amy:
That's exactly it.
Aimee Raupp:
So this is basically taking the fertility clinic home with you.
Amy:
Yep.
Aimee Raupp:
For $200 a month or there's the other option too which I'll let you share all that.
Amy:
Sure. So the $200 option is basically you doing this at home. Now if you want your doctor to be involved, that's $399 a month and the reason here it's so expensive is because your doctor is getting real time hormone measurements. So what does that mean? Every time you provide a urine sample on a test strip, your doctor is seeing the hormone measurements in their dashboard. So whether they're remote or they're physically at a clinic, they're able to access it anywhere that they want.
Amy:
So now they can call you on specific days to do certain things such as time your intercourse or hey I need you to come in for a certain transfer or whatever what have you. They can actually tailor their care based off of the Oova results.
Aimee Raupp:
And do that care virtually too. Which I think is really important especially even now. So I can be a clinician for Oova, right? So my girls could use this, register under me and then I can monitor even as their acupuncturist and herbalist and adjust their care based on what I see going on hormonally as well.
Amy:
Exactly. I think this is going to be so interesting to see how you're able to actually massage their care according to their actual hormone levels because this is just something that's never been done before.
Aimee Raupp:
It's amazing.
Amy:
We know that the hormones are critical to our entire cycle. So it's …
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. And so tell me too, because this is something when we had our private conversation that I thought was really important for everybody to understand too is that we're not peeing on a stick, then taking a picture, then emailing it to someone at Oova who then reads it based on how good our camera is or the lighting. So tell us what you get with this Oova purchase.
Amy:
Sure. So there's several things you get in the box. You get a countertop holder that looks like this. Keep in mind everything is white because we did do an early release of the product.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah she's stuck on the branding a bit. It old her the branding is perfect. But this was to get it out to you guys because of this environment that we're in and we're limiting our doctors visits. Yeah.
Amy:
Exactly. You get this handle to increase your lever arm to provide a sample. There's an eject button so you never have to interact with the sample itself. Then you get this box with a month supply of disposable cartridges. So I'm going to show you one of the cartridges. They're individually sealed. You take one out. This is what I looks like.
Amy:
So you would basically click this on to your handle. You could provide a sample either mid stream if you prefer or as a dip test. If you want to pee in a cup and then dip it in there. Whatever you prefer.
Amy:
You basically provide the urine sample here. Now this product works alongside and iOS app. Currently we're only available on iPhone. We're working on Android hopefully in the next few months. We'll have that ready.
Aimee Raupp:
I just downloaded the app. I like it. It's very pretty. And I like how it asks individualized questions a bit too. Like your weight and are you trying to conceive and all the things.
Amy:
Yeah so it's really important that you fill out that registration form as accurately as possible because that's what's going to dictate how you use Oova. Our algorithm will walk you through everything. So thank you for saying that. So when you register, we actually take out all the guesswork of the process. So you don't have to think, “Okay my cycle is 28 days. So I should use a strip on day 11, day 10, day 7. You don't know.”
Amy:
Oova removes all that guess work so we'll tell you when your scanning window actually opens up.
Aimee Raupp:
My window opens up today and I'm hoping mine arrives today so I can [crosstalk 00:12:09]
Amy:
It should, it should.
Aimee Raupp:
I think it should arrive today. I got the notice that it was shipping so today or tomorrow. That's okay. I'm excited to learn. So I'm cycle day 8 I think now or no I'm cycle day 10 now. Yeah I'm cycle day 10.
Amy:
Okay. Yeah so you should be really great. So when you provide the urine sample, you basically start the timer on the app. It goes on for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, it's going to open up the camera directly on your smartphone. So if you look at this-
Aimee Raupp:
Okay so you pee on the stick, you tell the app I just peed on the stick, it sets the timer automatically. Okay.
Amy:
Correct. Then once the timer goes off, the camera on your phone opens up directly. So there's no attachment. There's no dongle or anything you have to put on and then you would basically align this to the outline that you see in the app. It's very similar to doing a mobile deposit.
Amy:
There'll be a little purple box. You put it around this QR code and when it turns green, a scan goes through. So you're not taking a picture. You're not doing anything. You literally scan this and then within seconds, you're taken to your results screen. So we do all the analytics for you.
Amy:
You're not having to think is my line darker, lighter, is it present, not. None of that. We do all of it for you.
Aimee Raupp:
Then do they get the actual numbers? No. They're just going to get notification of the significant difference in the rise, right?
Amy:
Right. So we actually take all those numbers and we contextualize it into a result that you will understand. So is it low, high, peak ovulation? Have you released an egg this cycle? How many days until ovulation? What have you. But at the end of your cycle, you are provided with a report that will show you what your trends look like and that's something-
Aimee Raupp:
So like a BBT kind of report? Will it be like a graph or-
Amy:
It's a graph. It's a graph, yeah. Then we dive into specifics about your cycle. So like was your ovulation period, your fertile window super long? Was it really narrow? Was it really short? Did it happen very quickly? We dive into a lot of specifics about your curve. So you really walk out of our platform more educated about your cycle so if you have to go to a doctor, you can have a much more informed conversation.
Aimee Raupp:
Then if you have the clinician level, the $400 a month, right? Is it $400?
Amy:
Yeah. It's $400.
Aimee Raupp:
Then I would get the exact number of LH. Like a 9 or a 30 and the exact progesterone and that type of thing. Then so someone just asked a question, [Ravvi 00:14:18] asked how about if your cycles are very irregular? So I think you can answer this because you were that girl. So this speaks right to you. Yeah.
Amy:
Yeah that's me. So you should have an idea of how long your cycle is. Now if you don't, you put your best guess in on average what you think it is and then we will learn after that. So every cycle we get smarter. So let's say you put in 28 days and that's on average what your cycle is, but this month it ends up being 35 days. We're going to figure out, “Okay her surge happened way later. We need to have her start scanning much later.”
Amy:
And so next month, we'll adjust our algorithm accordingly to tell you what to do. So we don't just lump you into whatever you fill in in registration. That's just our starting point.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. And now is an 18 day cycle normal in order to conceive? 18 is a bit short, so I think maybe you meant to type in 28. But yeah 18 is a bit short. That means you're ovulating on CD 6 or something like that. That's another question too that comes up for me sometimes. Girls will have me look at, and we talked about this privately took, girls will have me look at their BBTs and recently someone was like, “My luteal phase is getting longer. It's 17 days.”
Aimee Raupp:
Now I know from all of my experience and my research and my work that that's kind of impossible. A luteal phase really shouldn't be longer than about 14, maybe we'll get a 15 day cycle. So I said, “Show me the BBT.” And she's got a couple spikes in there. What I call an inefficient ovulation basically.
Aimee Raupp:
I don't know if that's a real term, but that's what I call it clinically and it's like the body is trying. So that's like the LH is trying, it's trying. You see the BBT go up a little bit and she's getting a positive. Well, no sorry. She had stopped using the predictor kits because they weren't working for her, but she's seen cervical mucous so she's seeing all the signs, but I looked at the chart and I said, “I actually think you ovulated on 16, not 14.”
Aimee Raupp:
So two days and then the luteal phase is actually the 14 or 15. But so you guys, how would your Oova handle that case?
Amy:
So this is great. So the one gap that was missing from your whole data set was the hormone levels. Because that would have been the nail in the coffin like this is exactly what's happening.
Aimee Raupp:
Because I'm guessing too. What I always do is I just subtract 14 and I say, “This is when you ovulated. It has to be.” Might not make sense on the chart, but that's when it has to have happened. But yet-
Amy:
You're deducting, basically.
Aimee Raupp:
But it'd be really nice to have the data. Yeah.
Amy:
So we get that objective hormone measurements but then a woman, say you know how to read a BBT chart and you know how to understand cervical mucous. She can log all that into the app as well so now we're marrying objective hormone measurements with these subjective traits that you're very keen on understanding. So now when you're evaluating your hormone measurements, you can really understand what's going on with your cycle.
Aimee Raupp:
Yes. Like, oh, I see CM four days before I actually ovulate versus I see CM two days even after I ovulate. Everybody's different. Because you can have cervical mucous for seven days and it be totally normal. You could have it for two days and it be totally normal.
Amy:
Exactly. So now you would learn exactly what's going on with her cycle so now you can also personalize her care even more.
Aimee Raupp:
I love that. Then another question came up for me just a second ago about that conversation. It'll come back to me but there's another question in here. Do you feel that eggs can be overripe? Oh this is what I wanted to ask you before I get to that. Who's reading the data? Who's taking that subjective and objective analysis? Who are these people and what are they trained to do?
Amy:
So that's our algorithm. So we've literally worked with some of the top clinicians in endocrinology, reproductive endocrinology, OBGYN to build our algorithm and ensure that everything makes sense. So we've tested the bejeebers out of this thing. We've tested it on so many datasets and we've built our own.
Amy:
We've had a lot of people try to troubleshoot this thing and so far, it's come out on top. We've been pretty accurate with all of our predictions. Now more data we get, the smarter it's going to get.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah.
Amy:
So it's just getting more and more powered every day. We have a lot of women using it already and they've been getting very useful information, the feedback that we're getting.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah I love it. So then I'm going to go back to that over ripe question. Do you think eggs could be over ripe? If there's a super long follicular phase, I might be concerned about the quality of that egg for certain, but I also think that you can have a dormant early on follicular phase and then estrogen and everything starts to pick up. So this over ripeness, I think not necessarily. I think it would depend case by case. I'm not sure if you have an opinion on that, Amy.
Amy:
I think it would. So in this case, the egg still wouldn't have been released from the ovary. So I think what would have ended up happening is you would have seen a longer estrogen surge and then the LH surge would probably still be relatively normal because you would still have to see that spike.
Aimee Raupp:
That's it. That's exactly it. So the LH still has to happen. The ovulation still has to happen basically. So I don't know that necessarily that egg … Because I've had girls, especially PCOS and you might have fallen into this case too where they ovulated on CD 30 and they got pregnant with a healthy child.
Aimee Raupp:
So it just more was catching the window versus the follicular phase being too long or the egg being too ripe.
Amy:
Yeah I think every case is going to be different but-
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. That's this imperfect is the new perfect. It's like, how did you say it?
Amy:
Yeah. Imperfect is the new perfect. Exactly.
Aimee Raupp:
So there was another question. Let's see. Do you have to order an entirely new kit every month or just the cartridges?
Amy:
So we would be sending you just the refill kit cartridges. You don't need the new handle and holder unless if you want it.
Aimee Raupp:
Then that's still $200 a month though?
Amy:
Yeah.
Aimee Raupp:
Okay.
Amy:
No I'm sorry. So if you're working with a clinician, it's still the same price because we still need the data to go into the doctor's office, but if you're doing self care, then the refill kits are going to be $170 or $169.
Aimee Raupp:
Okay so you save 30 bucks. Okay that's cool.
Amy:
Just give us some time. We're going to be having a subscription model and everything that's going to be out.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah that's what I figured. They really threw this together last minute. Not the data, not the research, not all that [crosstalk 00:20:23] but more the consumer, the A to B has been thrown together somewhat or B to C I guess you would call it, business to consumer has been thrown together because of the times, but their reliability and the data and the functionality has all been really tested.
Aimee Raupp:
So now they're just trying to figure out the best way to serve the consumers. If you always have a 28 day cycle and you have ovulation signs at 13, 14 and have used OPKs and they were accurate, what could this tell me in regards to fertility when trying to conceive?
Amy:
So there's several things. One, are you sure that you release an egg that cycle? You may not. Some women have a 28 day cycle where they're having a period every 28 days. However, they're not releasing an egg and this especially happens as a woman ages, unfortunately. They still have to go through the pain of a period but you're not actually able to get pregnant.
Amy:
So it's really informative for that. Now let's say you're trying to conceive and you do have those regular cycle, but you're not getting pregnant. You really want to understand okay is it because my surge is too short? Is it because my surge is too wide? Am I releasing quality eggs? There's a lot of things that you can get from the Oova data and if you're still unsuccessful, at least you're going to your doctor armed with data that they will trust and move forward with rather than just notebooks and folders of pictures and [inaudible 00:21:40] numbers.
Aimee Raupp:
What type of information does Oova provide that you think correlates to egg quality or is there any?
Amy:
It's more about confirming that an egg was released. So now if your progesterone level stays up, then you know that you released an egg this cycle and it'll fall back down if you don't conceive. So I wouldn't say egg quality because you do need certain other hormones in here, which we hope to add in the future.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. Oh so you'll look at FSH or could you do AMH through urine or no?
Amy:
We're evaluating. We're evaluating it. From the research I've seen, it's much better correlated in blood than it is in urine so I don't know if we want to go with that route.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. Because that seems … We talked about too because I had said, “What about those test kits that you take the picture and you email them?” You had such a great reaction. She was like, “Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We don't do that.”
Amy:
We're not doing that.
Aimee Raupp:
Too many variables. She's such a scientist where she was like, “Absolutely not. That way too many variables into the mix to get accurate results.” And I see that a lot too with the strip test where it's like, “Oh is the line darker today? Is it not darker?” That's insanity making. I'm to the point in my career, I've been practicing 15 years, 16 years helping women conceive, I don't always recommend BBTs anymore and I don't always recommend OPKs anymore because the insanity making.
Aimee Raupp:
And I love every one of my women. I'm not saying anybody's insane, but that it just really starts to mess with your brain.
Amy:
Oh yeah. I remember going through this and it was like a second full time job that I cared more about than my actual job because it was like, “Okay this is my routine. Every morning I need to do this, this, this, this.”
Amy:
Log this data. All right now when I get on the train, I'm going to evaluate what my data looked like. And honestly there was nothing to evaluate. There was nothing that I was learning but it was my obsession every morning. I think obsession is more keen than insanity because you're just constantly thinking about it.
Aimee Raupp:
And it's all you think about. I do think that BBT does that to you too where it's like, “What's my temp going to be today?” And not thinking about oh, but if you had spicy food for dinner last night, it actually might throw off your BBT in the morning or if you had an extra glass of wine, guess what? Wine really throws off the BBT.
Aimee Raupp:
So it does become this it's very obsessive and it starts to rule your life. So this takes the guesswork out of it which is really nice for women. Because even if say we were under extreme stress around trying to conceive, I don't know. Because scientifically too or physiologically, that stress may delay ovulation and it may impact LH so you're not going to see that same rise.
Amy:
100% and-
Aimee Raupp:
At some point, you guys should do cortisol levels with it.
Amy:
I know. I know.
Aimee Raupp:
That's what I think you should do.
Amy:
Something we're thinking about too. So we do have other things that you can track in the app like your stress levels, your mood, your energy and all of that can get fed into our algorithm to kind of see if stress if having an impact, but yeah I know cortisol would be great. You're talking my language right now.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah because it's such a good tracker because we talked about this on our call tool, I'll use the DUTCH test a lot with my clients if I'm trying to figure out these missing pieces like why does she have irregular cycle? What's going on? Why is she still not getting pregnant? And you'll see that the cortisol levels are extremely just imbalanced we'll say.
Aimee Raupp:
Some can be high, some can be low. It just depends and there is that physiological fact that if the body doesn't feel safe, it will not either ovulate or it will not conceive. It will not set up the right parameters for that. And safety could be high stress levels that is basically just an intense job or intensity trying to conceive. So it doesn't have to be that the lion is chasing you through the woods.
Aimee Raupp:
But this fight or flight response really kicks off and that can really trigger hormonal imbalances as well and the inability to conceive. So yeah I think that would be a good measurement at some point. So this is basically like the timed intercourse kind of piece. That's what you're really helping with.
Amy:
It's that and then also I don't want to just leave it at that because that just puts us into an ovulation predictor kit category and we're a lot more than that. So yes we can help you figure out when you should try to conceive but we also confirm that you release an egg and I think-
Aimee Raupp:
Yes. Which is really important to know.
Amy:
Yeah you need to know why you didn't conceive this cycle. Is it because I missed my window or is it because I didn't release an egg?
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah.
Amy:
I think that's-
Aimee Raupp:
Looking at your data, because I have different data that I've seen but I'm curious with the more recent data that you've looked at, how often is a woman not releasing an egg?
Amy:
So I measured myself for two and a half months. I didn't release an egg one cycle. So that's one data point right there.
Aimee Raupp:
How old are you?
Amy:
I'm going to be 36 in two months.
Aimee Raupp:
Okay.
Amy:
Yeah so I'm 35.
Aimee Raupp:
So because I've heard anovulatory cycles every woman has at least one a year is what I've heard data. Maybe-
Amy:
Oh I have much more.
Aimee Raupp:
[crosstalk 00:26:40] but you could have normal cycles, but you're just skipping an ovulation. At least once a year.
Amy:
So I have completely irregular cycles so I'm not a good source of that to speak to that point, but we have heard of a lot of women that are getting a lower progesterone level because they're not releasing eggs.
Aimee Raupp:
So the progesterone … Yeah.
Amy:
No. So I think it's just a lot more common than the stat you just said if you're above 30. If you're much younger, I think they're right. Maybe one to two. Two might be a lot actually if you're under 30.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah so one anovulatory. I've heard under 35. So 35 and under it's one anovulatory a year you can kind of assume. Then yeah probably gets a little more irregular. The percentage points I think are small, maybe a 10% jump. 35, 37.
Amy:
But there's so many factors. If you have irregular cycles, then it's difficult to even say to fit into that [inaudible 00:27:35].
Aimee Raupp:
Or if you have a high stress period it doesn't really matter your age, you're going to be having an anovulatory cycle. I think the two most important things for ovulation are enough calories and safety. So you could have an off month where you're super stressed and you're not eating enough. Guess what? You're not going to ovulate and could still be 28 or you could be 38. Right?
Aimee Raupp:
So I think that's really where I come in with a lot of the work I do is the lifestyle support and the diet and the supplements and all the things that we can support basically the body to have all the goods it needs to actually carry out a healthy ovulation which will then trigger a healthy progesterone level.
Amy:
That's so important because I remember when I was going through my journey, I was like, “Okay I'm going to get healthy now,” and you Google all these things that you should be doing.
Aimee Raupp:
I know. What is healthy? Yeah.
Amy:
Yeah and it's like you adopt all these new habits that may not even be good for you. So having a sane mind telling you this is what you need to do to regulate your cycle or regulate your hormones to get pregnant or give you the best chance is critical.
Aimee Raupp:
I know. Thank you. Someone asked do you ship to the UK?
Amy:
Not yet. Hopefully by the end of the year. We're working on it.
Aimee Raupp:
Okay.
Amy:
We've had a lot of requests.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. Good. Good. Will it also be available in Europe? So that's the same question. What marks that you have ovulated? All clinics I've gone to spend all the time pushing IUI or IVF versus any cycle tracking. Yes. So this is a good question.
Amy:
Yeah so let me answer the first part. So we know that you've ovulated by … Well, first of all, we're measuring the two hormones. Luteinizing hormone and progesterone quantitatively. So we can tell you when your most fertile window is by tracking your LH surge. And we do that by comparing to your personal baseline levels. So we're not-
Aimee Raupp:
But do you need to use the test for one whole month before you actually know?
Amy:
You don't. So we have you only using it for 15 days in a cycle anyway. We just move those 15 days according to the data that we capture in your cycle length. So we'll be able to tell you when your most fertile days are and then we'll confirm whether you released an egg or not by measuring your progesterone levels.
Aimee Raupp:
Yep.
Amy:
So that answers the first part of the question. And the second part was the fertility clinic.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah.
Amy:
So what Aimee actually started off the call with was that we've gotten a lot of inbound interest from doctors. And it's because of the validity of the data that we're capturing. So what we've gotten a lot of interest for is not only remote tracking of hormones, but also just coming in with a lot of information so you know what to do next.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah.
Amy:
So let's say your progesterone levels aren't going up month after month for maybe two or three months and you go to your fertility doctor, they're going to know that IUI is probably not going to work for you and we should either look into donation or we should go into IVF. So you save yourself those two, three IUI cycles that you would have to go through that would be unsuccessful anyway.
Aimee Raupp:
Right.
Amy:
So I think it's really critical to have that Oova report to take to your doctor.
Aimee Raupp:
And then to see exactly what's going on. And then someone wants to know too how did it help you? You developed this after, right? Or before?
Amy:
I wish I had Oova when I was trying to get pregnant. But you know what it was? I had so much trouble getting pregnant, it fueled all of the gaps that I found in the current process and that's what went into Oova.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. So she gave birth to something else on the way to her child which is something we talk about a lot in my community is the emotional aspect. Like what else are you giving birth to? Where are you creating? And you created all of this en route to baby. Okay. All of this information is so helpful. Is this appropriate for endometriosis patients? I would think 100%, right? As long as you're an ovulating woman or a woman actively trying to conceive.
Aimee Raupp:
But even if you're not trying to conceive, ovulation is just so important to bodily function across the board and progesterone levels are super important too and that's one of the biggest things that decreases as a woman ages is the progesterone and that's typically because what you're saying is they're anovulatory cycles.
Aimee Raupp:
And so if we regulate ovulation in a woman who's even in her 40s and still menstruating, she just feels better overall.
Amy:
Absolutely. I think your next interview or person you're doing the Instagram live with was talking about the fifth vital sign.
Aimee Raupp:
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Lisa.
Amy:
This is so critical for that. I can't vouch for that anymore than you just did.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah yeah. It's so critical to just see. Because some people just think, “Oh, it's just like going on the pill. Oh I don't need to ovulate because I'm not trying to have a baby” and it's like oh my gosh. There's so many other reasons why you should be ovulating. There's so many other reasons why estrogen should be where it's at, LH should surge, progesterone should be where it's at. It's very, very important to really every aspect of a female physiology.
Aimee Raupp:
My last cycle of 50 days and I thought I was pregnant, but I am not. How will I track my ovulation in this cycle? My normal period is 30 to 37.
Amy:
Well, so you would basically enter that into your registration. So like what your normal period cycle is 37 days. We have a drop down, you select whatever value you think is best for you and then we start tracking and then-
Aimee Raupp:
And you'll catch the window because those two weeks, you'll catch it. Yeah.
Amy:
We'll catch it. Yeah. So we ask you to log your period religiously in the app because that's really what dictates our algorithm pretty heavily. We would adjust the window accordingly. So let's say your typical cycle is 30 to 37 days. That's still a pretty wide window that you're providing me with.
Amy:
If it goes from 30 to 35, we're going to adjust our scanning window accordingly because we now know what's going on and we learn every cycle. So it's okay if it shifts month to month. Not every woman has a typical 28 day cycle to the date every month.
Aimee Raupp:
Right. Right. I love it. I love it. Okay so if you guys want more information, again aimeeraupp.com/oova, O-O-V-A and we're registering me as a clinician now too so you guys could do the clinician account or the what would we call it? Just the at home services for yourself and maybe that's a great place to start for a lot of people and then they see if they want the clinician involvement or if they need it.
Aimee Raupp:
And then do they need to have a doctor registered when they register under the clinician account? Do they have to reach out to their RE to see if they're involved?
Amy:
They do.
Aimee Raupp:
Okay.
Amy:
Yeah so we're actively bringing clinicians on every day. So if your doctor is interested in using Oova, just put them in touch with us. They can email me directly. Amy@oova.life. So A-M-Y at O-O-V-A.life and I'll be happy to get them on board.
Aimee Raupp:
I love it. I love it. All right. Let's see. Any other questions? This was so active. Lots of great questions. Let me just see. Okay. Let's see. If you ovulate on day 14, let's say do you always get your period 14 days later or can that vary?
Amy:
That can totally vary. That can 100% vary. If you know you ovulate on day 14, I think you're super lucky because you know that, but even that changes for a lot of women.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. That changes. I would just say that luteal phase isn't typically very long. Longer than 14, 15, 16. So it's more about what I always do in the clinic is a woman will say to me, “I always ovulate on 14, but this month I had a 36 day cycle.” And I don't have all the data obviously. I don't have all your numbers and so I typically say, “I think that's impossible.” And I subtract 36 minus 14 and say, “i actually think you must have ovulated closer to 22.”
Aimee Raupp:
So that's what I see a lot clinically is the woman gets that one surge and then she stops testing and she stops trying and she completely misses the window. So you guys can take all that guesswork out.
Amy:
Exactly. Exactly. That's the beauty of this. We want to take out all the guesswork so you're dealing with objective measurements and know exactly what's happening with your cycle. You as the clinician and the patient as well. So you guys can have an informed conversation together.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. Then someone asked would I review it for the first month? Yeah you can put me as your clinician Jaime, absolutely. If I get minor ovulation pain, what could my body be telling me? That can be normal. The mittelschmerz is pretty normal. Sometimes I think it's a sign too maybe the ovary is working a little harder. It depends on the intensity of the pain.
Aimee Raupp:
But minor pain is fairly normal. If my period is like brown spots, does it mean I didn't ovulate last month? Again, we'd have to guess, but it doesn't tell us there's … I think about automatically the uterine lining didn't grow the way it should've so estrogen was low and perhaps then it didn't shed the way it should've so I don't think the whole thing kicked into gear.
Aimee Raupp:
So perhaps you didn't ovulate and that's usually what I'll say to a woman. She's like, “Well, every other cycle I'm having this weird brown spotting,” and I usually say, “Well, then I think you're actually not ovulating on those cycles.”
Amy:
I think it'd be interesting to see how her progesterone levels correlate with that.
Aimee Raupp:
We would really know and that's usually the first thing I do is I actually have them either BBT or just get a six day DPO progesterone and we may can try to figure that out, but we really just pay attention to signs and try to put the pieces together. This again takes that guesswork right out.
Aimee Raupp:
I think for even if they were just doing the at home, the $200 or the $400 a month, it's so worth it personally because I see women too. They spend a ton of money on those Clearblue digitals. They spend a lot of money on those. What number progesterone level says you ovulated?
Aimee Raupp:
So it has to go above a three or a five, but then it's supposed to climb and continue to climb and then stay up. That's the key that we know it definitely happened.
Amy:
Yep. I would also caveat that with it also has to go up a certain percentage above whatever your baseline levels are. So we're finding that a lot of women actually do have baseline progesterone levels during their follicular phase.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. Well they should. Progesterone is there. It's there, it's just low. Estrogen is a lot higher, but progesterone is important all month long and then we want to see that jump. Yeah.
Amy:
So what's great is because it's only one test, we're capturing a lot of your progesterone baseline during your follicular phase. So when you get to your luteal phase, we can actually detect that surge that happened for progesterone levels and make sure it's staying up.
Aimee Raupp:
Yes. Now this is a big question. If I don't have the iPhone, can I get the results?
Amy:
No. Not right now. It really works with scanning. That's the whole process so you don't have to think about this and you don't have to try to interpret it yourself. We're really working hard to get that Android out. Give us a few months. I'm sorry. I really wish we could have the Android available today.
Aimee Raupp:
Or find someone who has an iPhone that you could put the app on there maybe. My husband is an Android and I'm an iPhone so-
Amy:
Yeah. You need one in the family.
Aimee Raupp:
Yes. Exactly. We just need one iPhone in the family. What about if you had … Could you do it with an iPad because you could put the device-
Amy:
It's not available through iPad yet. It's best on the phone so cameras are slightly different.
Aimee Raupp:
[crosstalk 00:38:20] got you. Okay.
Amy:
So we're looking at doing an iPad version, but as of right now, it's only iPhone.
Aimee Raupp:
Okay. Okay guys, so aimeeraupp.com/oova, O-O-V-A and I'm getting my set hopefully today so I'm going to be using it and I'll be keeping you guys in the loop of my experience and so I'm excited about that and I'm excited to see the back end and the data and all those things. And let's see. Is it FSA eligible? I think that's a great question and I think it is, right?
Amy:
It is. It is.
Aimee Raupp:
It is FSA eligible. So that's a great point. Yeah because that's just like with acupuncture where it's like I'm not cheap to see, but if you're FSA, that's great so it's tax free money. You put it aside. Is all ovulation tracker strips accurate? Again that's kind of what we touched upon in the beginning what the biggest differentiation I think with the Oova is where not just looking at a threshold.
Aimee Raupp:
Like oh your LH went above a 10 versus what's the differential and that is really telling us then ovulation happened and then what progesterone is doing. So ovulation strips are only looking at one hormone not both.
Amy:
Yep. Well, I want to caveat that with Clearblue looks at estrogen and LH, but they're only focusing on the fertile window. They're not looking at your whole fertility cycle and that's what Oova is really focusing on.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. If your baseline body temp is rising after ovulation, does this mean your progesterone's levels are raising normally? Typically that's what we would hope the BBT would be indicating. I think what, again, Oova is taking out the guesswork and saying, “Yeah but this is the percentage that you went up and that you stayed up,” but typically yeah.
Aimee Raupp:
If we see that real biphasic curve in a BBT, we're pretty confident that you ovulated and you stayed in that luteal phase. But again, do we know that 100%? Not necessarily unless we have the hormones.
Amy:
Yep.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah. Okay. All right. Amy this was so great and so much interaction, guys I love it. So again, if you want more information, go to aimeeraupp.com/oova and then I am registered as a clinician now too so you guys can go and take advantage of that if you want me to be your clinician and I'll jump into learning the back end real fast.
Aimee Raupp:
I know you gave me the information. I just have to go and log in to the portal. I'm going to test it out with my own self first and learn so hopefully this month I'll learn and I'll keep you guys posted.
Amy:
Great. Well thank you guys so much.
Aimee Raupp:
Okay Amy. Thank you so much and we'll have you on again soon when you guys are full on up and running and then we'll do it again. That way we can help promote it again because I think, I do I know it's costly initially for girls to think about, but I think the amount of relief that it provides and certainty is priceless. So that's the point where it's worth it.
Aimee Raupp:
Then even the FSA eligibility is really a great piece as well.
Amy:
Yeah. Absolutely. We just want to empower as many as we can and if we can help you achieve your fertility goal in the process, great.
Aimee Raupp:
Yeah I love it. Well thank you so much Amy. Okay. I'll talk to you soon. Have a great day. Bye everybody.
Amy:
Bye. Bye.
Aimee Raupp is a licensed herbalist, natural fertility expert and acupuncturist in NYC, offering natural fertility treatment, care & coaching solutions to women who want to get pregnant! Get pregnant fast with natural fertility care, Aimee’s online fertility shop & coaching solutions. Aimee Raupp has helped hundreds of women to get pregnant naturally! Aimee and her team are experts in Chinese Medicine, Massage & Eastern Nutrition! Get pregnant naturally, achieve optimal health & vitality, take control of your health! Aimee is excited to work with you at one of the Aimee Raupp Wellness Centers NYC. Aimee's Fertility Coaching Program is a personal guidance along your fertility journey. If you are trying to get pregnant naturally, this program is for you! Aimee Raupp offers holistic, wellness and natural fertility books. Learn how to enhance your fertility and get pregnant naturally with Aimee’s cookbooks and diet guides! Shop Aimee Raupp's natural fertility shop with online workshops, videos, consultation and coaching on fertility, meditation and healthy nutrition! Shop Aimee Raupp Beauty – Natural Hormone Balancing Skincare. Achieve natural hormone balancing with the Aimee Raupp Beauty Line of organic, gluten-free, dairy-free & cruelty-free skincare products! FREE US shipping! Natural Oils, Creams & Balms for Face And Body. Unbeatable anti-aging results!
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