Written by Maddie Miles

Hi! It’s me, Maddie Miles AKA the Hormone Guru. When I was younger, I had quite a few hormonal problems myself. But adopting cyclical living through charting my fertility has allowed me to maximize my own hormonal power. Being in tune with my body and my ever-flowing cycle has been incredibly eye opening. It's also helped me to make adjustments in certain areas of my life - personal, spiritual, business, and social - to optimize my overall health and reduce bad PMS along with other issues. I saw this great quote that sums my feelings up well:

"You wouldn’t leave the house without checking the weather. So why live blindly without monitoring the flow of our hormones?"
- Carolyn Kay, M.D.

Charting your fertility is all about learning how to understand what your body is telling you every single day. And today I want to tell you about why I love tracking my cycle and using Tempdrop.

Like I said, I've been using Tempdrop to help me track my cycle. I have tried various other basal body temperature (BBT) trackers but had a hard time remembering to measure my temperature before getting out of bed in the morning. So, many mornings, I was unable to collect temperature and other menstrual cycle data, which was essential for me to understand my overall health. Tempdrop has been a game changer in this department since it's easy to wear while you sleep. So why do I love my Tempdrop so far? I'll tell you!

1. No more stressing about temping

One caveat about tracking your cycle with a fertility awareness method has always been that in order to get accurate temperatures, you have to take your temperature at the same time, every morning, before you get up out of bed. And so many little things have the potential of affecting your temperature and making the measurement unusable for a given day.

But Tempdrop has come to change the requirement! With Tempdrop, if you need to make a bathroom run before you take it off, that's fine. Oversleep? Not an issue. And all those pesky things disrupting your temperature like staying up late, drinking alcohol, or having poor sleep quality? Say goodbye to all of them with Tempdrop! Now I can just put my Tempdrop on, go to sleep, then wake up in the morning and sync it with my phone, and wind up with an accurate temperature in my chart. So easy, and so much less stress!

2. Tempdrop's charting app

There are a lot of ways to chart - on printed charts, on an app, or even creating your own charts. Tempdrop has a wonderful app (Android/iOS) that allows you to chart your data your way - you can mark everything manually if you want! Or if you're still learning and want some help and direction, the Tempdrop app has an option to help you mark up your chart. 

If you aren't sure what exactly charting entails, symptothermal methods use a combination of symptoms (sympto) and temperature (thermal). The Tempdrop app allows you to chart the following all in one place:

• menstruation,
• cervical mucus,
• basal body temperature,
• cervical position,
• intercourse,
• hormone testing,
• mood, and
• cycle disturbances.

On top of all of your data being in the same place and easily accessible, this is the same app you sync your Tempdrop device to every morning in order to get your reading from the night before, so no more messing with multiple apps for just one piece of data!

Why is it amazing to have your charts on an app? Well, because this data is so helpful, you'll want to have it everywhere you go! It's easily accessible if you're going to a health appointment, or if you're traveling and not sure what's up with your cycle. For those with regular cycles, having that data at your fingertips might even help you plan events and vacations to happen during the parts of your cycle you'd like to!

3. Completely safe

One of my first concerns when I heard about Tempdrop was the fact that in order to sync it, you have to use Bluetooth. But once I learned about how it worked, I realized I had no reason to be concerned! If you want to read about the safety of Tempdrop, you can learn more here, but I've included a quick read version for you below:

1. Tempdrop uses Bluetooth 4.0 which gives off a very low energy signal.
2. Tempdrop only transmits via Bluetooth when you manually tell it to - and it only takes about 30 seconds to sync it in the morning!

In addition, the materials used in the device are high quality. It's made of medical grade materials, has no nickel, and just uses a standard watch battery when it's on.

I am still getting used to my new Tempdrop but it sure does seem awesome! I also have a private wellness practice and have been recommending it to my 1-1 clients. Between Tempdrop, my herbal nutraceutical for PMS, and my cycle calendar, I have been tracking my menstrual cycle with ease to first correct, then prevent any hormone imbalances!

Hi there! I am Maddie Miles, founder and CEO of peace. love. hormones. (PLH), a brand that educates and empowers menstruators to take back control of their health through education and top-quality supplements.
I created PLH after going through the ringer with my own health. I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, insomnia, anorexia, and even lymes disease during my young adult life. I was able to heal my body, spirit, and mind naturally and now it is my mission to help you all do the same.
The PLH Philosophy:

• Using an integrative approach to healing the body, naturally
• Getting to the root causes of your hormonal imbalances
• Quality supplements that WORK!
• Educate and empower menstruators
• BREAK the period stigma