New to charting. Bfing. no AF yet. Can I see someone elses chart like this?

[LionessMom]

the title says it all. lol. this morning was my 4th morning taking my temp. i set my alarm for 6 am. i have a digital so it saves my temp. i just roll over and take it then set it down and nurse baby back to sleep thhen get up.

i want to catch signs of returning ovulation. if i have another i want to plan it. and i dont want to take bc. so.... anybody like me have a chart i can look at? or anybody used to be like me that i can look at their past charts? please?

[MarineWife]

If you want to catch signs of returning ovulation/fertility, you should be tracking your CF and possibly your CP. Temps will only tell you after the fact if/when you did ovulate. They won't tell you when you are fertile or that ovulation is coming.

I have years worth of past charts. If you tell me more specifically what you want to see, I can put those charts on my homepage for you to see.

[LionessMom]

yeah, i am going to start doing cf and cp too but i figure one thing at a time. another week of temping and then i will start the other stuff. i am mostly just curious what other peoples first pp o looked like on their chart. if you have that. it would be cool. i know everybody is different and what not. thanks!

[MarineWife]

Here's my FF homepage. Don't pay attention to the first chart on the top. That's my current one. The bottom 3 are my PP charts. The June 2008 one is my first charted PP cycle after ds3. The bottom 2 are my first charted PP cycle, which was anovulatory, and my 2nd cycle after ds2. After those ovulatory cycles I still had alternating ovulatory and anovulatory cycles for a while.

With ds2, I started temping with that first bleed on December 2nd. With ds3, I had my first bleed at around 6 months PP but then nothing else for another 6 months, which is when I started temping again, the June 2008 chart. Hope that makes sense. I don't have any pre-PP bleed charts. I don't bother with that because they can go on forever.

[LionessMom]

thanks. i will go have a look!

[LisaN]

Originally Posted by MarineWife

I don't have any pre-PP bleed charts. I don't bother with that because they can go on forever.

I am also GF and newly PP. DS is 11 weeks old.

MW, are you saying that you do not even chart until you have your first AF after having a baby? Can you ovulate and not have a period? or Is that first cycle with AF ALWAYS anovulatory. I guess I don't want to accidentally get pregnant while I'm waiting for the first cycle. I'm about to start CTA. or I was planning to until I read this post.

Thanks!!

[MarineWife]

Originally Posted by LisaN

I am also GF and newly PP. DS is 11 weeks old.

MW, are you saying that you do not even chart until you have your first AF after having a baby? Can you ovulate and not have a period? or Is that first cycle with AF ALWAYS anovulatory. I guess I don't want to accidentally get pregnant while I'm waiting for the first cycle. I'm about to start CTA. or I was planning to until I read this post.

Thanks!!

Do you know much about lactational amenorrhea (LAM) or ecological breastfeeding? If you are exclusively breastfeeding (baby does not suck on anything other than your breast, no pacifiers, no bottles, no other food of any kind) on demand around the clock, are less than 6 months PP and have not had a PP bleed, you can rely on LAM to prevent pg. It's at least as effective as the pill. If you use a pacifier or feed with a bottle sometimes or if baby goes for more than 4 hours during the day or 6 hours at night without nursing, your chances of getting pg increase slightly. Ecological breastfeeding is a bit more strict. I think there's a rule about always sleeping with baby, including naps, and maybe some other things.

The answer to your question is, yes, you can ovulate before getting a PP but if you are breastfeeding the way nature intended, it's very unlikely. TCOYF has a section on breastfeeding or long anov periods and charting that explains how to determine your BIP. If you are a little scared to rely solely on LAM, once you determine your BIP you can track your CF and abstain or use protection whenever you have CF other than your BIP.

Disclaimer: Please don't take the link for ecological breastfeeding as a plug for religion or the Catholic Church or anything like that. Not that I'm opposed to it if that's your personal choice but I'm atheist so certainly not trying to convert anyone.

[LisaN]

Working outside the home

I stayed at home with my first son until he was 5 months and relied on LAM. Although he did take a pacifier, he never slept more than 4 hours at night and we coslept and napped together. Now, I am workingoutside the home and pump during the day. Despite wanting to be a cosleeping family, I have found that EVERYONE sleeps better with baby in his own bed. Most nights right now DS2 is going 5-6 hours before wanting ot nurse.

I occaisionally let DS2 have some non nutritive sucking time on the weekends or early in the morning after nursing, but not much. SO, I don't hink I can rely on breastfeeding for very long. In fact, it was a few symptoms that made me decide I needed to start looking into family planning. (I think I felt O pain and now I feel like I have PMS - moody and craving chocolate, no cramps though - maybe it's just PP hormones in general though.)

I'm going to start charting this week and see what I can come up with. Thanks so much for your response.

[MarineWife]

In that case, Lisa, the most important thing is to track your CF for now so you will know when you are potentially fertile. Temps only tell you after the fact that you've Oed. If you are trying to avoid pg, by then it's too late. You need at least CF data and possibly CP data so you can know when you might be close to O and can take precautions.

[HulaJenn]

I wouldn't encourage anyone to rely on LAM. The odd person gets fertility back regardless of how much they exclusively nurse or co-sleep etc...I got my AF 6 weeks post partum after DD1 and I followed LAM "rules" to a T.
The best thing to watch for is EWCM because that happens before O. I agree that temping is only an after the fact thing so you aren't going to see anything until it is too late. So i would chart CM and temps. Also watching for increased sexual desire is a good indicator.
But the most effective is using back up (either condoms or withdrawal) until you get your first PPAF and then charting from there.

[LisaN]

Thanks

I didn't make it to the library or bookstore this weekend, so I still don't know how to determine my CP, but I can start charting CF, Thanks for all the help.

OP, sorry I took over yor post. I am just in almost the same situation as you. Hope answers to my questions were bneficial for you as well.

[LionessMom]

yeah it helped. i havent gotten around to actually feeling up my cervix. ahaha. but i have been checking my CF externally. i am not exspecting af for at least another month. i started havin some cramps after a recent high temp. but they went away after my tempo dropped. so i think i am gearing up to start again. after DD1 it took 15 month at least to start again. and DD2 is only 10 months. i just dont want to get preg before i am reasdy.....