https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 01 May 2026 22:36:26 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1371428 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 17:58:23 +0000 Mrs. Chickadee 1371428@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@HolisticMama: What a cute little scope! Slides would be handy, but any little piece of glass would probably work just fine. And it will be fun for looking at other things too! I have always enjoyed looking at flowers, leaves, seeds, jewelry (especially diamonds!), etc with little hand lenses :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1370641 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 13:49:19 +0000 HolisticMama 1370641@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Shutterbug: That is neat. I also did saliva testing. Did it measure your cortisol levels, as well? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1370613 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 13:40:08 +0000 Shutterbug 1370613@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've never tried saliva ferning, but my IVF clinic offers saliva testing in lieu of blood testing for estradiol, which I thought was pretty cool. I wrote about it here: <a href="http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-monitoring-with-spit-instead-of-blood" rel="nofollow">http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-monitoring-with-spit-instead-of-blood</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1370473 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 13:01:19 +0000 HolisticMama 1370473@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I ended up ordering this little microscope. It's only $6.75. Haha. But I can look at leaves and other fun nature things with it. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CTLKSO/" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CTLKSO/</a></p> <p>It comes with a little stand and everything. Oh. I should probably acquire some slides. -_- </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1370256 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 12:09:08 +0000 Mrs. Chickadee 1370256@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@HolisticMama @mrs. bird: Actually I work in a hospital and I have access to fancy microscopes so I made slides and looked on those. Sorry I can't recommend any home ones! Maybe Mrs. Bird can? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1370208 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 11:59:46 +0000 HolisticMama 1370208@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Chickadee: What type of microscope did you use? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1370197 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 11:58:02 +0000 Mrs. Chickadee 1370197@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@HolisticMama: The body is amazing! Ferning is a fun way to see something neat that your body does! The second I heard about it I had to run out and do it right away and then thought it was super cool when I saw it. It just didn't turn out to help with charting, but still worth checking out. The patterns are beautiful! Let us know if you try it :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1370071 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 11:27:50 +0000 HolisticMama 1370071@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Chickadee: @mrs. bird:<br /> I agree. I think the women's body is fascinating. Our cycles remind me a lot of the changing of the seasons and the lunar cycle, which I think is pretty special. I just wish I knew my cycle just a little bit more. Maybe ferning would give me some additional insight. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1370038 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 11:18:45 +0000 mrs. bird 1370038@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've done it! The human body is fascinating to me! Especially women's with the the changes taking place all the time. I thought it was interesting, but the saliva often took a long time to dry, so it was kind of a pain to wait for. I'm glad I did it, but I still love my cheapie OPK strips :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1370027 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 11:15:21 +0000 Mrs. Chickadee 1370027@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've done it!!! It's really works and it's really cool BUT I don't find it to be a great indicator of when to time BDing. I feel like it's a little ambiguous. I had a lot of partial ferning days and full ferning days. It might work better for some people, so it's worth a try. If nothing else, it's neat to look at. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1369736 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 10:08:51 +0000 pui 1369736@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've heard of it, but I never tried it. OPKs are simpler imo. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1369579 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 09:30:32 +0000 Snowdrop 1369579@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@HolisticMama: very true, good thinking! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1369573 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 09:29:31 +0000 HolisticMama 1369573@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Part of me just wants to get a regular microscope that future children can put leaves and bugs under. LOL. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1369571 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 09:29:13 +0000 HolisticMama 1369571@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Snowdrop: I think it does. So knowing my low estrogen...maybe I would never fern?<br /> Could give me an idea if certain supplements are working though? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1369539 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 09:22:55 +0000 Littlebit 1369539@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I thought it was interesting but never even considered doing it. I feel like there were easier ways for me to track ovulation (temps, opks, and cm) that I didn't really see the need. Maybe if I had had a hard time establishing when I was ovulating? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1369521 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 09:19:29 +0000 Snowdrop 1369521@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I did look into that, I do like how you don't have extra parts to buy. It just indicates oestrogen doesn't it? I think I would have tried it if I didn't start getting quite obvious oestrogen signs from CM. My first cycle off BCP I didn't get any decent cm until after positive opk. Ferrying would probably given me lots more notice of approaching fertility. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1369512 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 09:18:03 +0000 Happygal 1369512@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've heard of it and think it's interesting that our body has so many changes going on all the time! OPKs work well for me, so I haven't considered using it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/saliva-ferning-have-you-considered-it#post-1369481 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 09:09:35 +0000 HolisticMama 1369481@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Or even heard of it?<br /> Part of me really wants to try next cycle:<br /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fairhaven-Fertile-Focus-Ovulation-Microscope/dp/B000S2O1CI/" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Fairhaven-Fertile-Focus-Ovulation-Microscope/dp/B000S2O1CI/</a></p> <p>It is only around $30, which seems so cheap in the TTC scheme of things.<br /> Some people swear by it. Some people don't fern.<br /> But I think it is really interesting. </p> <p>I'm just getting fascinated (and mildly frustrated) by all things TTC. </p>