Let's face it, sexual health can be a minefield. Between confusing symptoms and the fear of what might be wrong, it's easy to let worry spiral. But here's the good news: many common sexual health concerns are treatable, and Nurx can help you address them discreetly and conveniently.

1. Pregnancy Panic? No Sweat.

We've all been there: a late period can send shivers down your spine if you're not planning on a baby. If you're using hormonal birth control and take it as directed, the risk of unintended pregnancy is very low. But even the most conscientious people can miss a pill or two.

Fear Fix: Nurx offers online consultations with licensed healthcare professionals who can prescribe birth control that perfectly fits your needs and lifestyle. Whether you prefer the convenience of the pill, the long-lasting protection of an IUD, or the set-it-and-forget-it approach of the birth control ring, Nurx has you covered.

2. Undiagnosed STIs: Knowledge is Power

Left untreated, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can lead to serious health problems. The good news is that most STIs are easily diagnosed and treated. However, the fear of getting tested can be a barrier.

Fear Fix: Nurx provides at-home STI testing kits for common infections like chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. The kits are confidential, easy to use, and come with clear instructions. If you test positive, Nurx connects you with a healthcare professional who can prescribe the right medication to get you back on track.

3. Herpes Outbreaks: You're Not Alone

Herpes is a surprisingly common skin condition, and there's no shame in having it. Outbreaks can be uncomfortable, but there are ways to manage them.

Fear Fix: Nurx can prescribe medication to shorten outbreaks and reduce their frequency. This can give you more control over your symptoms and peace of mind.

4. Broken Condom? Don't Panic.

Accidents happen. If a condom breaks during sex, the fear of unintended pregnancy or STIs can be overwhelming.

Fear Fix: Nurx can help. They offer online consultations for emergency contraception, allowing you to access medication like Ella quickly and discreetly.

Empowering Your Sexual Health Journey

Nurx is committed to making sexual healthcare accessible and approachable. With online consultations, home testing kits, and discreet delivery of medication, they take the fear out of addressing your concerns.

So, the next time a sexual health scare pops up, remember: you're not alone. Nurx is here to help you navigate these situations with confidence and get the care you deserve. Visit their website or download the app to learn more and take charge of your sexual health today.

The post Peace of Mind Delivered: Addressing Sexual Health Concerns with Nurx first appeared on Glow.

For those actively trying to conceive, Dr. Tanouye recommends Glow, a fertility tracker app that puts a big focus on fertility and tracking fertility signs.

Livestrong.com | The 5 Best Period-Tracker Apps, According to an Ob-gyn

Navigating the tender paths of fertility and ovulation is a journey of hope, love, and the quest for life’s most delicate miracle. In an age adorned with technological marvels, fertility trackers, and ovulation tracking apps emerge as gentle beacons of guidance and empowerment, meticulously crafted to nurture your dreams of embracing motherhood. Join us as we unveil the tapestry of benefits, scientific affirmations, and the epitome of apps that stand as pillars of support and illumination in your fertility journey in 2023.

1. Understanding Fertility and Ovulation Trackers: A Symphony of Insight

Fertility and ovulation trackers are digital companions that facilitate a deeper understanding and awareness of your body’s rhythms and cycles. They nurture a space where you can monitor, track, and gain insights into various aspects of reproductive health, such as menstrual cycles, ovulation periods, and fertility windows.

Research paints a canvas of profound benefits offered by fertility and ovulation tracking apps. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, such apps can significantly enhance fertility awareness, enabling women to understand and harness their menstrual cycles for conception with enriched clarity and confidence.

2. How to Use the Glow Fertility Tracker App: A Guided Walkthrough

Glow: Evolving as the pinnacle of fertility and ovulation tracking, Glow is an orchestra of features, insights, and personalized care. It stands as an unwavering ally in your journey towards pregnancy, curating a realm of support and understanding.

• Downloading and Beginning: Invite Glow into your journey from the App Store or Google Play Store.
• Crafting Your Profile: Create a sanctuary of personalization by setting up your profile with details that allow the app to tailor its guidance and insights to resonate with your unique journey.
• Navigating Features: Explore a realm of features, from menstrual cycle tracking to fertility window predictions, each designed to empower your journey with informed awareness.
• Engaging with Community: Glow also blossoms with a community where shared experiences, support, and wisdom flourish, enriching your pathway with collective insights.

3. The Benefits of Harnessing a Fertility and Ovulation Tracker: A Garden of Empowerment

• Enhanced Awareness: Fertility trackers unveil a landscape of enhanced awareness and understanding regarding your body's cycles and rhythms.
• Informed Planning: They foster a space where informed planning and decision-making flourish, empowered by insights into fertile windows and ovulation periods.
• Emotional Support and Community: Engaging with trackers like Glow opens doors to supportive communities, nurturing your journey with shared experiences and emotional camaraderie.
• Personalized Insights: Harness the power of personalized insights and guidance, tailored to resonate with your unique body and reproductive health journey.
• Ease of Navigation: Opt for apps that exude warmth and simplicity in the user interface, ensuring that your journey is smooth and intuitively guided.
• Rich in Features: An app adorned with a wealth of features, from detailed cycle tracking to personalized insights, enhance your pathway to understanding and nurturing fertility.
• Upholding Privacy: Given the intimate essence of fertility tracking, choose apps that are fortresses of privacy, ensuring that your journey is safeguarded with respect and confidentiality.

Conclusion: Embracing the Radiance of Fertility and Ovulation Tracking

Fertility and ovulation tracking apps unveil themselves as radiant companions, illuminating your journey with scientific wisdom, empathetic features, and an embrace of technological brilliance. With Glow heralding a realm of mastery and support, the pathways to nurturing fertility and cherishing the journey toward pregnancy are lovingly illuminated with hope, clarity, and profound understanding.

Glow was also recommended by the following publications:

Healthline: The Best Fertility Tracker Apps
Real Simple: 8 Helpful Fertility Apps That Take the Guesswork Out of Tracking Your Cycle
Mira: The 9 Best Ovulation Tracker Apps in 2023
VeryWell Family: Best Fertility Apps of 2023
Parents: The 8 Best Period and Ovulation Tracker Apps
Health News: Best Fertility Tracker Apps in 2023

The post The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy first appeared on Glow.

1. Optimistic Beginnings

When couples first decide to start trying for a baby, the mood is often filled with excitement and optimism. There's a sense of embarking on a new journey together, and the anticipation of welcoming a new life into the world can be exhilarating.

2. Getting to Know Your Cycle

Most couples, especially women, will find themselves diving into the world of menstrual cycles, ovulation, and fertile windows. This can involve tracking menstrual cycles, monitoring basal body temperature, and using ovulation predictor kits.

3. Lifestyle Changes

TTC often brings about various lifestyle changes. This can include healthier eating, more regular exercise, reducing stress, cutting down on caffeine and alcohol, and quitting smoking. Both men and women may need to make these changes as lifestyle can affect fertility in both sexes.

4. The Two-Week Wait

Often referred to as the "TWW" in TTC communities, the two-week wait is the period between ovulation and the time when a pregnancy test can be taken. This period can be filled with hope, anxiety, and impatience as couples wait to see if conception has occurred.

5. Disappointment and Setbacks

Not every cycle will result in pregnancy, and dealing with disappointment is a common part of the TTC journey. It's important to remember that it's normal for conception to take several months, and each setback is an opportunity to learn more about one's body and fertility.

6. The Medical Check-Up

If pregnancy doesn't occur after several months of trying, many couples will seek medical advice. This can involve fertility tests for both partners and consultations to discuss any potential issues and possible treatments.

7. The Emotional Rollercoaster

The TTC journey can be an emotional one, with highs and lows. There may be feelings of hope, frustration, anxiety, disappointment, and joy. It's important to acknowledge these feelings and support each other through the process.

8. The Effect on Your Relationship

TTC can put a strain on relationships. It can change the dynamics of intimacy and bring stress and anxiety. However, it can also bring couples closer together as they navigate this journey as a team.

9. Deciding When to Share

Deciding when and whom to tell about TTC can be a difficult decision. Some couples choose to keep it private until they conceive, while others may seek support from family and friends during the process.

10. The Joy of a Positive Test

Finally, seeing a positive pregnancy test can be an incredibly joyful and emotional moment. All the waiting, hoping, and trying suddenly seems worth it, and a new chapter begins.

Remember, every couple's TTC journey is unique and can take longer than expected. It's okay to ask for help and seek support during this time. After all, it's not just about the destination, but also the journey towards creating a new life.

The post 10 things all hetero-couples go through while TTC 😮😱🤔 first appeared on Glow.

Newsflash: Getting pregnant can actually be a bit more involved than your ninth-grade health teacher suggested. Yes, there is sex (lots and lots of sex). But there are a number of other things you can do to set yourself up for success.

We’ve consolidated tips and tricks from the fantastic Glow Community to bring you the ultimate step-by-step guide to trying to conceive. Here is how to get pregnant FAST!

CYCLE 1 - RAMPING UP

DAY 1

• Download the Glow app (free on iOS & Android phones)
• Start tracking your period. Log your symptoms. The first day of cycle is cycle day 1, or CD1.
• Start taking over-the-counter prenatal vitamins.
• Schedule an OB-GYN appointment for a preconception check-up. Bring up any current medications with your doctor to see if they are safe to take while trying to get pregnant. Your doctor may give you a prenatal vitamin prescription at this appointment, too!
• Cut down to less than 2 coffees and/or caffeinated sodas a day.
• No smoking. No drinking. No drugs. (That goes for your partner, too).
• Exercise in moderation (so keep doing whatever you’ve already been doing--no need to ramp up).

DAYS 2 – 7

• Monitor the length and heaviness of your period. If it lasts too long (7+ days) or is too short (2 days or less), it’s worth mentioning to your doctor. If your period is too heavy or very light, if it ‘can’t-get-out-of-bed’ hurts, or if you have unexplained diarrhea throughout, mention that to your doctor, too.

DAYS 8 – Whenever your period comes next

• Buy Pre-seed or another fertility-friendly lubricant. Stop using KY-jelly or other non-fertility friendly lubricants.
• Enjoy sex (baby dancing) with your partner every other day, or even every day if you feel like it! Your position does not matter. You do not have to lie there afterwards, but you can if you want.
• Concentrate on healthy living. Eat well. Go for walks. Do things you enjoy. If you just got off of birth control, your cycle may be anywhere from 22 to 60+ days long. It would be A-MAZING if you got pregnant this first cycle, but it is best to keep your expectations low.
• Buy pregnancy tests in bulk.  Try online retailers.

CYCLE 2 – LEARNING ABOUT CM

In your second month, it’s time to learn about cervical mucus (CM). It sounds gross, but it’s really not, and cervical mucus is an important part of understanding your own fertility.

Your body secretes different amounts of fluids depending on where you are in your cycle. If you can identify the type of fluid that is most conducive to conceiving, then you can better pinpoint the best time to have sex.

There have been entire guides written about checking CM, but the important steps to remember are:

1. Before having sex, stick a clean finger into your vagina. Pull it out and examine the residue left on your finger under a light.
2. If the residue feels slippery, watery, and stretchy and looks clear, then it’s go time! If it is clumpy, white or gooey, then you’re welcome to have sex, but you are most likely not at optimal fertility.

CYCLE  3 – START CHARTING BBT

Charting your Basal Body Temperature (BBT) helps you understand the mechanics of your fertile cycle. After ovulation, your BBT will spike. This jump in temperature will help you confirm the timing of your body’s rhythms.

Charting your BBT is super simple:

1. Purchase a BBT thermometer from your drugstore. Make sure it has 2 digits after the decimal place.
2. Take your temperature every morning before you get out of bed.
3. Record it in the Glow app.

If you do not see a spike for more than 2 cycles in a row, this is yet another important thing to mention to your doctor.

CYCLE  4 – PURCHASE OPKs.

Ovulation prediction kits (OPKs) can be expensive, but they are also extremely helpful in pinpointing ovulation.

Start using OPKs as soon as your period ends and use them daily until you get a positive. Check to see whether your positive OPK matches your BBT spike and your fertile CM. If these three align, then it’s a very good sign! If they don’t, start to keep track of what’s off over your next couple of cycles. Is your CM not matching your OPK positive? Do you not get a BBT spike when the OPK says you should? Keep track of this information will help you better understand your body, and it will be also be helpful if you choose to see a fertility specialist sometime down the line.

CYCLE 5 to 11 - ALL SYSTEMS GO

By the start of your fifth cycle, you should be monitoring your BBT, your CM and peeing on all sorts of sticks (OPKs, pregnancy tests, etc!). You should continue to do all of this through Cycle 11.

We have to admit, from Cycle 5 onwards, the name of the game is “stress management.” It is normal at this point to feel a bit overwhelmed and panicky and start wondering if something is wrong. Chances are everything is perfectly fine. According to the ASRM, 80% of couples get pregnant within one year of trying and 90% after 2 years of trying.

CYCLE 6 or 12 – ONE LAST HURRAH

On day 1 of your twelfth cycle, (or your sixth cycle if you are over the age of 35)  call a fertility specialist and make an appointment during the first few days of your next cycle. Glow Pages can help you find good fertility specialists in your area.

Once the appointment is scheduled, go ahead and enjoy a cycle of carefree fun with your partner. No BBT, no CM tracking, no OPKS - just some good old-fashioned sex, all the while knowing that you will get more of the help you need from this point on.

So, that’s it!  We wish you a healthy and happy year of babymaking! With any luck, you will be downloading our Glow Nurture pregnancy app in no time!

The post The Step-By-Step Guide to Trying to Conceive first appeared on Glow.

Often, discussions about health focus primarily on physical fitness and diet. However, a truly holistic approach to health must also consider aspects of emotional well-being, mental health, and interpersonal relationships. One such critical area is the role of intimacy and sex in overall health. This article aims to shed light on the profound impact of these factors on your well-being, highlighting how they can enhance physical health, emotional balance, and mental resilience.

1. Physical Health: The Tangible Benefits

The physical benefits of a healthy sex life are numerous. Regular sexual activity has been found to improve cardiovascular health, strengthen the immune system, reduce pain, and even boost longevity. During sex, the body releases endorphins, natural painkillers that can alleviate headaches and other types of discomfort. Additionally, the physical exertion involved in sexual activity counts as exercise, burning calories, and increasing heart rate.

Furthermore, orgasms can lead to better sleep due to the release of the hormone prolactin, promoting feelings of relaxation and drowsiness. A good night's sleep is crucial for overall health, contributing to a stronger immune system, better mood, and improved mental function.

2. Emotional Health: Fostering Connection and Happiness

Intimacy and sex play a significant role in emotional health. Engaging in sexual activity and experiencing orgasms release a cocktail of hormones that promote bonding, improve mood, and reduce stress.

Oxytocin, often referred to as the "love hormone," enhances feelings of affection and attachment, fostering a deeper connection with your partner. This emotional bond can contribute to a sense of happiness and fulfillment, key factors in emotional well-being.

Moreover, intimacy—both physical and emotional—can provide a crucial support system, helping you navigate through life's challenges and reduce feelings of loneliness or isolation.

3. Mental Health: Enhancing Self-Esteem and Cognitive Function

A satisfying sex life can also have a positive impact on mental health. It can enhance self-esteem and body image by reinforcing the idea that you are desirable and capable of giving and receiving pleasure.

Moreover, research has suggested that regular sexual activity can improve cognitive function. A study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior found a correlation between frequent sexual activity and improved performance on memory tasks in older adults.

4. The Intersection of Sexual Health and Overall Health

Sexual health is intrinsically linked to overall health. Issues like erectile dysfunction, painful intercourse, or lack of sexual desire can sometimes be early indicators of broader health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, or hormonal imbalances. Therefore, maintaining an open dialogue with your healthcare provider about your sexual health is essential.

Furthermore, practicing safe sex is a crucial aspect of sexual health, helping prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancies. Both of which can have profound impacts on your overall health.

The post Exploring the Connection: How Intimacy and Sex Influence Your Total Well-being first appeared on Glow.

Huh? Online TTC (Trying To Conceive) communities basically have their own language, which is totally confusing and overwhelming when you’re a newbie trying to figure out what the heck is going on.  (She’s a Single Anemic Hufflepuff Mormon and OMG, please help me with the rest of this sentence...)

Not to worry though, we’ve cracked the code for you since we know you’ve got better things to deal with besides trying to decipher online message board acronyms. Check out our alphabetized list below that will help you keep up with all the topics TTC’ers are talking about.

AF: Aunt Flo, your period (This one is particularly confusing since AF means something quite different in another context)

Baby dust: This is kind of like fairy dust for conception, typically used as a way to wish someone good luck! (i.e. no not dust that accumulates on babies if they lay in one spot for too long, if you are moving your baby around regularly that should not be a thing)

BD: Baby dance (having intercourse for conception purposes or by extension any form of insemination)

BFN: Big fat negative (on a pregnancy test)

BFP: Big fat positive (on a pregnancy test)

CD: Cycle day (Also, if  you still think “compact disc” let us introduce you to the wonderful world of digital music, welcome to the future!)

CL: Coverline

CM: Cervical mucus, a.k.a. cervical fluid

CP: Cervical position

DH, DD, DS: Dear Husband, Dear Daughter, Dear Son

DPO: Days past ovulation (i.e. Not the name of a Star Wars robot)

EWCM: Egg-white cervical mucus (same as egg-white cervical fluid)

FSH: Follicle stimulating hormone

HPT: Home pregnancy test  

IUI: Intra-uterine insemination

IVF: In-vitro fertilization

LH: Luteinizing hormone (whatever that is?)

LMP: Last menstrual period (the first day of your last period)

LP: Luteal phase (NOT a phase of the moon)

M/C: Miscarriage

OPK: Ovulation Predictor Kit (totally fine if the first 4 times you read it you immediately think “Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries” but no, they are very different)

POAS: Pee on a stick (preferably a pregnancy test and not an actual stick but hey, you do you)

Rainbow baby: The baby you are trying for after a pregnancy loss

RE: Reproductive Endocrinologist- Fertility Specialist

TTC: Trying to conceive

2WW: Two-week wait (The time btwn ovulation and when you can take a pregnancy test!)

The post 🤓 📖 Learn the talk behind baby-making 📖 🤓 first appeared on Glow.