Krista won a Glow contest last year. This is her journey. 

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My life motto is “you don’t need a reason to help people.”

That is why, when I was 25 years old and recently married, I decided that this was the perfect time to become an egg donor. I was healthy, in great shape, mentally capable of handling the responsibility and had my husband to support me. But my hopes of giving someone this incredible gift were quickly dashed.

I still remember the phone call from the nurse following my screening blood work. I was told that I had “low AMH and high FSH.” As I jotted down the confusing acronyms, an uneasy feeling settled into the pit of my stomach. What did this all mean?

Soon I found out that not only was I a less than ideal candidate for egg donation but that I myself might have difficulty conceiving. I was referred to a reproductive endocrinologist (RE).

Once I shared the news, my husband and I decided I should get off the pill. We wanted children, children of our own if possible, so we started actively trying.

Months went by. And nothing happened. I felt that I had lost control. I felt like I was failing at something integral. We finally decided to see the RE, not sure what to expect. They ran similar tests as the egg donation facility and obtained similar results. They wanted to start me on a medication (Clomid) right away to stimulate more egg production each month. I was reluctant, and switched doctors. It’s not that I did not want to get treated. But I wanted to understand the root of the problem. And frankly, I was hesitant to spend so much money on treatments that were not covered by my insurance.

My new doctor was more sympathetic to my quest to understand my body. She recommended, “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler and I immediately bought the book. I can honestly say that this book changed my life. I never realized how inexperienced I was about my own body. I finally knew what “normal” was for me. It was okay that I had a 40 day cycle (not your average 28 day cycle). I wish someone recommended this book when I was 13. I began looking for apps that used the fertility awareness method to track basal body temperatures.

I downloaded one such app to track my temperature. Shortly after my 27th birthday, I received a positive pregnancy test. I told my mother-in-law on Mother’s Day that I was pregnant and my family was ecstatic. I continued to track my temperature throughout the pregnancy and unfortunately, I saw my temperatures dropping. When we had our 8 week appointment with my OB to hear the baby’s heartbeat, we realized the pregnancy was not viable. The news was heart wrenching. We loved this baby like there was no tomorrow and then one day, there wasn’t… In June, I took medication to induce a miscarriage but, it didn’t work, I was scheduled for a D&C in July. I was a wreck all summer.

Watching TV with my husband one night later that summer, we saw an interview with Max Levchin discussing the new <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glow.android">Glow app</a>, and I immediately signed up for the wait list. I received an email in August saying the app was ready for download in the iTunes store and downloaded it.

My husband, an interactive art director, was appreciative of the intuitive and stylish user interface, I was intrigued by the mass amount of data people would share and the knowledge that will hopefully be gained by this app to better people’s lives. At first I had to couple the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glow.android">Glow app</a> with my other app to watch for clues of ovulation but, once the updates to the app were developed I solely used Glow to track my fertility. I appreciated the clinically significant insights that Glow offered and the frequent reminders to take your temperature, when was a good time to have sex, and upbeat reminders like, “take a long walk with your partner today.” The little insights Glow offered, along with talking about my experience with others and the Glow Community helped heal the wound and allowed me to move on with my fertility path. I had to comprehend that nothing I did caused the miscarriage, 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage for unknown reasons, likely chromosomal anomalies, and I wish people discussed this fact more openly. I was tempted to sign up for Glow First to help pay for fertility treatments if we did not get pregnant again but, after 3 months of using the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glow.android">Glow app</a>, we received a second positive pregnancy test in October!

I still use Glow to read up on the success stories and to be there for others in the Glow community. So far, we’re 19 weeks along with a strong heartbeat. I hope Glow continues to help people and bring about needed innovations in the reproductive health arena. So far, this startup is doing a great job and I’m happy to have been part of the initial community.