Countdown to Pregnancy Review

Countdown to Pregnancy — 

My husband and I are trying to start a family, and I have been using Countdown to Pregnancy for about the last year.  A free website, Countdown to Pregnancy offers a variety of resources that can be accessed by anyone who visits the site.  By setting up a free membership, you can get your own personal profile page and track each cycle and symptoms.  More on the tracking in a moment...some of the main items on the site include:

• Pregnancy test statistics
• Most common symptoms
• Success stories
• General information about fertility aids and pregnancy symptoms
• Ovulation and Due Date calculators

The section I have utilized the most is the Symptom Tracker.  For each cycle, you track any symptoms you experience on a daily basis that are out of the norm.  The site gives a list of over 65 symptoms that are commonly experienced during pregnancy...some you might not even think of!  Who would have thought a stuffy nose was common during early pregnancy?  The great thing about tracking is that even if you mark down things that seem out of the ordinary but really aren't, you learn to pay better attention to your body.  I never realized I could actually feel ovulation, but since tracking, I have noticed that I DO feel it, so I'm better able to predict my cycle.  Of course, on the flip side, tracking every little symptoms gets your hopes up, thinking what you felt was a "twinge" that might mean you're pregnant when it was just gas.  It can make you a little too attentive to your body!

A cute little feature is the ability to leave another member a sentiment, wishing them congratulations, sticky vibes, or other sweet messages with colorful icons.  There's no other interaction with community members, which is fine by me!  I'm pretty picky about what kind of discussion boards I post on.  Personal profile pages can be made public or private, so you can disclose information only if you want to.  Any symptom you track or pregnancy test result you post does get counted into the site's tallies, but it cannot be connected back to you unless you make your home page public.

If you're trying to conceive, this is a great online resource.  It won't cost you a penny, and you'll have great information to keep yourself organized and to share with your doctor.  Baby dust to everyone who's trying to conceive!