This is a review I’m very excited to write as I have been waiting a long time to be able to share what I’ve discovered with women and couples everywhere- a natural way to both prevent pregnancy and then get pregnant easily when you want to- the Lady-Comp Baby!
I’ve put a lot of thought over the years into the best way to care for my body and I was able to get rid of everything I felt was foreign and dangerous from of my diet and environment, except… the pill. The last nagging thing I felt disrupting the natural way my body wanted to function was birth control. At the time it seemed like the only thing to do- even though you could classify me as a “granola girl” otherwise, natural methods of birth control just seemed like a way to possibly end up with a baby and I knew I wasn’t ready for that! I just thought it was kind of a crapshoot since a lot of people I knew had several unplanned children from not using traditional contraception and so I never took it seriously.
Stuck With Side Effects
Once I tried an injection which was recalled immediately after, making it quite a disconcerting experience. Then I was prescribed various pills from giant pharmaceutical companies I know don’t care about my well-being. The pills made me sick as a dog- vomiting several times a night for the few first pills in the pack, and then mildly nauseous and carsick the rest of the time. Then I switched to a “low-dosage” attempting to alleviate these problems. The pill I was on was supposed to be great for your skin, but whereas I didn’t have many breakouts before, I actually developed painful cystic acne, mostly on my chin and sometimes on my neck or back. I also had mood swings and terrible bouts of depressive thinking and low sex drive. Difficult on your marriage, and difficult for yourself in so many ways. But my least favorite side effect has to be the 20 lbs I quickly gained with no other explanation!
This Can’t Be Right
Then I started to really think about those vellum-like pages of warnings in tiny print that come with each pack of pills. And not just about chance of pregnancy- tumors, heart attack, stroke, blood clots… I started to read more about the connection between hormone imbalance and breast cancer, and the link between thyroid function, weight maintenance, happiness and hormones. The more I realized how these synthetic hormones were not meant to be in my body, the more I realized it was time to pitch the pills and find another way. When I finally brought it up to my husband, Joel, he immediately agreed and said that I wasn’t totally myself on the pill and that we should figure something out together. I mean, I knew he would be supportive, but it was such a relief. It was also hard to realize that he had quietly and patiently observed the changes in me and already wanted something to change too.
“Blood clots are a well-known side effect of birth control pills.
I did some research online which further confirmed my own suspicions: horrific and tragic accounts are all over the web from women detailing everything from unplanned pregnancies to miscarriages; from frustrating weight gain to serious medical conditions; from mood swings to suicidal thoughts, all side effects of their search to simply find effective family planning. While I pored over my options and read of so many serious issues with every single pill, patch, ring and shot out there I decided any hormonal form was not for me, which ruled out most. A few horror stories later, I decided I didn’t want anything that had to be implanted or inserted. I knew from my years working at Barnes & Noble that there was a very popular book called Taking Charge of Your Fertility, which I’d had in my hands many times, but I always figured it was just for women trying to get pregnant and figured it could wait a couple years. Now I know it entails so much more than that- it’s the go-to guide for getting in tune with your own body.
Well, fortunate as I always am, the universe guided me to friends who know a lot about this subject, and then to a site where, after all my best efforts at previously researching, there was a still method I had never even imagined existed. From the first day I found out about the Lady-Comp, I knew it was what I had been searching for. Ever since then, I’ve been busting out the subject in conversation, and oh yes, in mixed company. This is one of those things that once you know about it, you wish you had known much sooner and want to shout it from the mountaintop.
I feel strongly that this is a subject that is long overdue for a new conversation, an issue of our times that is ready for a revolution. If women and couples don’t take the time to help each other know what’s out there, this awakening will be needlessly postponed.
The Birth Control of the Future
The Lady-Comp Baby, to me, seemed straight out of a time machine- well, really it’s just straight from Europe. While I’m mostly proud to be an American, I’ll admit I’m often ashamed of our resistance and fear progress and saddened by our lack of real education. Our submission to daily brainwashing via marketing from all angles is not serving us. And let’s face it, as much as we’d like to think that pharmaceuticals and surgery are big advancements in medicine, I think it’s pretty obvious that as a country, we’re sicker than ever. It seems that the kind of knowledge that should have been passed between mothers and daughters, sisters and friends, has been largely lost in the shuffle.
So What Is It?
The Lady-Comp is a sophisticated little computer with a built-in thermometer. It tracks your daily temperature, what they call basal temperature, right when you wake up, and this information is stored and analyzed so that the computer can track and predict your monthly cycle, including your fertile days and your non-fertile days. In Europe it is approved as a contraceptive device/fertility monitor. Keep in mind that here in the states, it is only approved by the FDA as a “fertility monitor.”
There’s also the option of a software upgrade called the Lady-Comp Baby which add features that can help you get pregnant by displaying the days when you are most fertile- it even helps predict the best days to conceive a boy or a girl! I know so many couples who have stressed while trying to get pregnant and this would just be such a blessing. It’s also fun and totally enlightening to suddenly have such control and understanding, both as a woman and together as a couple. I’ve come to realize that part of what I liked about taking hormonal birth control was that it let me predict the rhythm and control the length of my cycle. I was never one to mark a calendar or have any desire to put effort into tracking anything- in fact I don’t think I would be able to chart everything out and be successful using a method that required much tracking. I love that the Lady-Comp does it all for me- it couldn’t be much easier.
But Is It Effective?
The Lady-Comp is accurate at reading your fertile and non-fertile days from day one at 99.3%! This is nearly the same or better than many methods of contraception, especially when condoms and pills aren’t always easy to use perfectly. I personally know several couples who have babies who were conceived accidentally while the woman was taking birth control, so I know there’s never really a 100% guarantee, unless you follow the advice of your 6th grade sex-ed teacher and/or your preacher and practice abstinence- which of course I have nothing against and think is a wonderful thing before marriage, or before you’re ready. Once you’ve found the one, but may not be ready for making babies on your honeymoon, it’s nice to have control!
How Does It Work?
The Lady-Comp has a built-in alarm that’s easy to set and wakes you gently, with a little beep and then louder beeps if necessary, and right then and there lying in bed you take your temperature orally which only takes maybe 20 seconds. Joel doesn’t even wake up to this, and then I have the choice of getting up for the day, or snoozing until my phone alarm.
While the computer starts to understand your cycle right away and is programmed with 700,000 other womens’ cycles for comparison, it is very conservative at first while it is still “learning” to predict your fertility, which put me at ease. The device has lights that indicate whether you are fertile (red light), not currently fertile (green light) or it’s still in the learning phase (yellow light, which means its a no-go on unprotected sex if you’re trying not to get pregnant, just to be sure.)
At first it was hard to trust that I could actually get off birth control and not get pregnant, but then I was able to relax and know that tens of thousands of women have made the transition to a natural approach to family planning with wonderful results. I have learned so much about my cycle and my body and now it feels silly that I didn’t know before. The literature that comes with the device and the instruction manual (which you can actually download for free here) are both extremely informative and easy to understand. I keep them in the original box along with the charger (which you only have to use once every few weeks) because it’s good for reference and also to show people when they want to know more about it, which happens a lot now.
If you’ve read my articles before, you’ll know that I have no problem talking about sex, menstruation, enemas, breasts, or anything else that I feel should have already breezed past being taboo. I can now be found teaching men and women alike all about it; I’m just so tickled to understand how our bodies truly work, and I’ve never had more respect for mother nature. We are truly incredible machines. Speaking of which, I’m so happy that, once given a year to completely recover and normalize, my body is now in balance again- my weight has finally dropped back to my pre-birth control weight (and not like I wasn’t trying before), my periods are totally predictable around 28 days, and and my skin has never felt better. Even my persistent keratosis pilaris has cleared up little by little- it’s 90% gone now! Now that I have the power to know my body, control when I start a family, and maintain the natural balance of hormones in my body, I wish for the same awakening for every woman on earth!
Where Can I Get One, and Isn’t It Expensive?
Valley Electronics is where you can find the Lady-Comp, Lady-Comp Baby and more information and testimonials from women who have made the switch. At $485-685, it seems like a hefty price tag, but when you think of what we spend on pills, condoms, doctor’s visits, weight loss attempts, acne creams, depression medication, books on fertility, and implanted devices like Mirena, and IUDs, (and let’s not forget the medical expense of a pregnancy and the cost of a baby you’re not quite ready for) it’s obviously a small up-front investment in your health. And let me tell you, the peace of mind is priceless. Valley Electronics even offers payment plans. There are cheaper ways to track your fertility naturally using the Fertility Awareness Method, which I have friends who use successfully, but you have to be very dedicated to tracking your temperature and dates with pen and paper, which as I mentioned, I’m not into. I love that all I have to do is take my temp and I’m done. The computer is said to last 10 years, so it pays for itself rather easily.
Joel and I knew that whatever it took, we were going to figure this out and make it happen as a team, and someday we’ll use the same approach as parents. Stay tuned for an update after one year, and then another after two years when we’ll start trying for a baby. I’m excited to share this journey honestly with you and would love to hear your stories, wherever they fall in this spectrum of decisions! Please feel free to reach out to me at suzanne@kaleuniversity.org with questions, testimonials, and anything else.
If you do decide to buy the Lady-Comp or Lady-Comp Baby let me know how it goes. And yes, for those of you who have asked to support us, I’ve now set up Kale U as an affiliate for this product- click any of the links in this article to get started on your own natural journey and also support us at Kale University. Thank you & much love! -Suzanne
A Note From Joel
The Lady-Comp Baby has really made life easier for us. I felt horrible when Suzanne was taking birth control pills because it affected her so much. Not having to worry about Suzanne’s health is a big bonus for me. Also, not having to worry about getting pregnant for now is amazing. When we are ready for children, we’ll be able to predict the times when we can conceive. I am very happy with the Lady-Comp Baby and wholeheartedly recommend it to any couple looking for natural birth control.
