October 2009 Charting to Avoid Thread - Page 7

[Smylingeyz]

Originally Posted by MarineWife

smyling ~ Do you know when you Oed? Was your lp 4 days longer than normal or do you not know when you Oed so all you can say was that your cycle was longer?

Sorry I should have mentioned that part before. I Oed on CD 18. My cycle ended up being 33 days. Normally I O on CD 17 or 18 and have a cycle of 28 or occasionally 29 days.

[MarineWife]

Originally Posted by Smylingeyz

Sorry I should have mentioned that part before. I Oed on CD 18. My cycle ended up being 33 days. Normally I O on CD 17 or 18 and have a cycle of 28 or occasionally 29 days.

That makes a difference. Your lp shouldn't vary by more than 2 days. If you had unprotected sex at any time within 6 days of O and you are certain of your O day, I'd say it's very possible you had an early m/c (aka chemical pg).

annnie ~ Anything that stretches an inch or more (according to TCOYF) is considered ewcf regardless of what it looks like. I've been getting gobs of snotty looking CF, not clear. It's very stretchy and slippery so I know it's ew. Sometimes I get just a little shiny, slippery CF. It doesn't look anything like this globby stuff does. But since it's very slippery I know it's ew, too.

According to TCOYF, nothing wetter than sticky can be considered a BIP. I think that's because sperm can survive in creamy CF a lot better than sticky and creamy can turn to ew very quickly.. So, if you dtd on a creamy day because you've had creamy for 2 weeks and O 6 days later, you could get pg.

I didn't sleep well last night. I was up half the night fantasizing about pregnancy and babies. I must be getting ready to O soon. I have a question because of that.

Do you record sleep-deprived only when you haven't had at least 3 consecutive hours of sleep right before you temped or whenever you just haven't slept well and wake up feeling tired?

[Smylingeyz]

Originally Posted by MarineWife

That makes a difference. Your lp shouldn't vary by more than 2 days. If you had unprotected sex at any time within 6 days of O and you are certain of your O day, I'd say it's very possible you had an early m/c (aka chemical pg).

OH I need to get my charts up online so ya'll can reference it when I have a question like this. I looked at my chart, and we dtd on cd17 w a condom, and again on the 19th using withdrawal and then a condom... I'm a retard apparently. We're separated and I know better than to take such a risk, and we NEVER do it even that much esp around O. Gives me extra incentive for self control I guess... I'll go over my chart in detail later when I have time and see if that's the likely answer. That's sad if it was that :'( Thanks MW.

[BarefootScientist]

Huh. To me, my temps look pretty different from last cycle. Or at least they did last night. Last cycle they weren't triphasic and topped out at 98.1. This cycle they were triphasic and the third level of temps bottoms out around 98.1. But this morning my temp was a little lower. Anyway, just posting that it was getting to me of course made me feel better (and a little silly) and I am now not concerned at all again and awaiting AF. But come on - the least you guys could do is freak out with me a bit! j/k

Smylingeyz - I guess you had an early miscarriage? If your LP was 4 days longer than normal that seems probable. I have heard they can be heavier OR lighter than normal. But also, I think a heavy cycle can happen every now and then for no real reason - if it happens again this cycle maybe you should see a doctor.

MW - I use the sleep-deprived button in FF if I have a wacko temperature which I think can be explained by some issues with how I slept that night, whether I got up a lot, tossed and turned, or whatever.

Chart link.

[Eresh]

Back from my trip and AF just started today. So this was my first somewhat normal cycle after having my Mirena removed. It was 33 days with 13 or 14 days LP (depending on whether I believe FF on when I O'd or not). We DTD last week with no protection though I know I should do several cycles of monitoring my fertility signs first ... and I didn't get that 4th post O temp. Living dangerously? Well, maybe hoping for an oops and I *did* tell DH I wasn't 100% certain. He actually installed a fertility app on his iPhone though it's not comprehensive and flexible like FF.

Oh ... my chart.

[MovingMomma]

BFS: While your highest temps are 2/10ths higher than they were last cycle, so is your CL.

Eresh: You should be good on the 3rd high temp. Why are you concerned about waiting for 4? Just b/c you're new to CTA?

[Eresh]

MM: Oh, I didn't include that ... I did not get 3 hrs uninterrupted sleep on CD 21 so while FF put O as CD 20, my CF seemed to indicate to me that O could have been CD 21 if I disregarded the CD 21 temp, which would make CD 24 the 3rd post-O temp. Does that make any sense?

I honestly didn't worry about it too much since I was fairly confident I'd O'd on CD 20 or CD 21, just not sure which. And since we flew out the morning of CD 24 I had no real sleep and was up and about really freaking early in the morning, so no temping.

[BarefootScientist]

Originally Posted by MovingMomma

BFS: While your highest temps are 2/10ths higher than they were last cycle, so is your CL.

Yeah I know, it was the clearly triphasic thing that was bothering me.

Related...how do you guys feel about the end-of-LP freak out time? I know others of you have confessed to having it. Do you think it is a disadvantage of charting? I was thinking about this...I really LOVE charting, and I don't really mind wondering every cycle if mayyybe I'm pregnant (probably because becoming pregnant wouldn't be a complete disaster), but I just get frustrated by how much mental energy I waste thinking about it, yk? I mean, when I was on the Pill, I never worried about pregnancy, even though the Pill also has a failure rate. It would never even have crossed my mind until my period showed up late. And maybe that is partly just the stage of my life I was in then, but I think part of it has to do with the respective birth control methods. Whether it's more information or just hormones that causes this whole thing...what do you guys think??

[MovingMomma]

Originally Posted by BarefootScientist

Related...how do you guys feel about the end-of-LP freak out time?

My cycles are so irregular that w/out charting I would be spending a huge amount of time in "freak out" mode. Unless I went on the pill, I suppose, but that just has never been an option I've ever considered. My recent variable LP is very annoying, but I'd still be testing at the end of every LP w/even the most remote chance of PG b/c I've decided I want to know about early miscarriages. And while I may "freak" when I post on here, I really don't expend a lot of mental energy on it. So, I guess I don't mind it at all, and I think, for me, things would only be worse with most other methods of BC.

Eresh: Sorry, I guess I totally misunderstood!

[momtokimari]

ugh. Anyone else break out when they ovulate? It irritates me. It's seriously just the few days with the most fertile mucus, I happen to also be breaking out. Every month. It can't be a coincidence. I'm on CD20... Last cycle I O'd on CD21 and had a 7 day LP. So this cycle is almost over.

[AnnieA]

Originally Posted by BarefootScientist

Yeah I know, it was the clearly triphasic thing that was bothering me.

Related...how do you guys feel about the end-of-LP freak out time? I know others of you have confessed to having it. Do you think it is a disadvantage of charting? I was thinking about this...I really LOVE charting, and I don't really mind wondering every cycle if mayyybe I'm pregnant (probably because becoming pregnant wouldn't be a complete disaster), but I just get frustrated by how much mental energy I waste thinking about it, yk? I mean, when I was on the Pill, I never worried about pregnancy, even though the Pill also has a failure rate. It would never even have crossed my mind until my period showed up late. And maybe that is partly just the stage of my life I was in then, but I think part of it has to do with the respective birth control methods. Whether it's more information or just hormones that causes this whole thing...what do you guys think??

I LOVE charting too but I agree with you...when I was on the Pill, I never gave it a thought even though looking back, we were SUPER risky without even knowing it! I seriously do not know how I did not get pregnant. I would forget days, take the pill at different times, etc.

But now, I spend most of the time during my LP hoping and praying for an "oops". Like I spend waaaaaaay too much time thinking about it. Even when there is no possible way because DH has perfect execution when it comes to W/D. So in some ways, I wish I didn't have so much information. Whenever my temp creeps up, I think "Maybe???" and then I get my hopes crushed everytime AF shows up.

[hippy mum]

I break out too and badly. I haven't found anything that works for it except this stuff from Target that is like Proactive, but less exp.

BFS-you're supposed to get af tomorrow too right? I normally wake up with af, or only a few hours later am spotting, and then it's full on almost right off. So tomorrow will tell.

Temp dropped some today, but I temped at 5:30-earlier than normal, so have an open circle.

As far as getting antcy at the end of lp-me too. Not horribly, because I wouldn't care if we got preg, but I still get ancy. This cycle we bd 3 days prior to O, and dh got things sort of around the area, but I figure the chances are slim.
I don't feel pmsy at all. Quite the opposite. I feel like I do before O-want to bd, no mood swings, I have this c/ewcf stuff. I think maybe having a cold or what ever this is, is confusing my body.

[MarineWife]

Lots to cover. Let's see if I can get it all.

BFS ~ What Shannon said about your temps.

smyling ~ It seems unlikely that you'd get pg if the only sex you had during your fertile window was with a condom. Of course, condoms still have a 4% failure rate, right? And that's with perfect use.

I break out at O and AF every time. I'm 39 freakin' years old! I shouldn't get pimples anymore. It annoys the heck out of me but I guess it's a good secondary fertility sign for me.

I don't really freak out one way or the other at the end of my lp. If I think there's any chance I could be pg, I usually start testing by 7dpo so I already know one way or the other by the end. Although I do hope that I will get pg, I don't freak out about it. I don't know how I'd be if I really did not want to be pg since I've never been there. I didn't think about that sort of stuff when I was on the pill but I think that was more because of where I was in life. Pregnancy and children just wasn't something that entered my mind really.

So, it'll be interesting to see what my temp does in the next few days. I had a little ewcf first thing this morning but nothing since.

[Smylingeyz]

MW - 4 percent??? I thought it was around 1 or 2. Geez... well actually the 2nd time we dtd we didn't put the condom on till a few minutes in, which is how we also got our daughter. So again, I'm a huge idiot Gonna look at my chart again in a bit, and try to figure out how to start posting them online.

[BarefootScientist]

Yep, I also break out around ovulation, and also typically just before AF comes. Although I'm not this cycle. It's a pain, I hate feeling like a teenager.

bbrandonsmom - Yep, AF due tomorrow. We are still cycle buddies. I usually have a 12 day LP, but it has been 13 days before too, so anytime from now until Friday. I feel like she's coming soon although I don't really have any specific PMS symptoms this cycle.

[MarineWife]

Originally Posted by Smylingeyz

MW - 4 percent??? I thought it was around 1 or 2. Geez... well actually the 2nd time we dtd we didn't put the condom on till a few minutes in, which is how we also got our daughter. So again, I'm a huge idiot Gonna look at my chart again in a bit, and try to figure out how to start posting them online.

Oops. According to the info in TCOYF, male condom without spermicides has a method failure rate of 3% and a typical user failure rate of 14%. It's withdrawal, which I use, that has a method failure rate of 4%. DTD a 2nd time without the male urinating between and not using a condom from the beginning could definitely result in a pg.

[BarefootScientist]

Originally Posted by MarineWife

DTD a 2nd time without the male urinating between and not using a condom from the beginning could definitely result in a pg.

Ok this brings up a question. If withdrawal is effective as long as the man has urinated and washed in between, why would starting without a condom be a risk? I mean, unless the man hasn't urinated and washed since the last time, per the rules of withdrawal? We start without a condom all the time.

[Smylingeyz]

Originally Posted by MarineWife

Oops. According to the info in TCOYF, male condom without spermicides has a method failure rate of 3% and a typical user failure rate of 14%. It's withdrawal, which I use, that has a method failure rate of 4%. DTD a 2nd time without the male urinating between and not using a condom from the beginning could definitely result in a pg.

Originally Posted by BarefootScientist

Ok this brings up a question. If withdrawal is effective as long as the man has urinated and washed in between, why would starting without a condom be a risk? I mean, unless the man hasn't urinated and washed since the last time, per the rules of withdrawal? We start without a condom all the time.

Good to know the percentages, I thought it was less for the condoms and more for withdrawal. And as I understand it, starting without a condom is a big risk because pre-cum can come out even during foreplay. Note that this has nothing to do with pre-ejaculation, it's the normal reaction of every aroused guy and he doesn't necessarily feel it, at least not every time. I got pregnant for DD off pre-cum, even though I think the risk is fairly low. The risk would be higher if he hadn't washed and urinated in between, but there is still definite risk to ALL unprotected intercourse even if you switch to a condom. Believe me, I have a child to prove it. (which I don't regret, but still

[MarineWife]

Originally Posted by BarefootScientist

Ok this brings up a question. If withdrawal is effective as long as the man has urinated and washed in between, why would starting without a condom be a risk? I mean, unless the man hasn't urinated and washed since the last time, per the rules of withdrawal? We start without a condom all the time.

Starting without a condom isn't a risk if the guy has flushed his system in between. I thought smyling said they dtd twice in a row and didn't use a condom at first the 2nd time. That's what I was responding to. Did I misunderstand that?

[BarefootScientist]

MW - Oh you are probably right about her situation. I guess I have just heard that before, how you shouldn't start without the condom, but yet at the same time, withdrawal is an effective method. Isn't starting without a condom pretty much withdrawal + condom put together? So I guess it would have the higher failure rate of the two. I don't know...