Charting to Avoid / Fertility Awareness-February

[TrishWSU]

Welcome to a new month, new year, and new thread keeper (I hope I don't mess this up!)

 February 2011 

Last Month's Thread 

Welcome to the February 2011 charting to avoid and fertility awareness thread. We are all at different stages in family planning and our own fertility. Some of us are very ardently Charting to Avoid (CTA); some are CTA but would be thrilled with a BFP; and we even have a few who are "whatevering" or pregnant and continue to hang out here.

If you did not post in January, you may have been deleted from the list. If you have joined recently, please double check I have your chart linked correctly. If you were mistakenly deleted, you would like to be added/removed, or you spot anything you would like me to change, please post or PM me to let me know. Remember, you must post in February if you want to be on the March list!

To those who are new, welcome! 

    Who We Are

Angelorum

badgerbaby

Barefoot Girl

cecelia7

Devaya

eirual

emma00

fnpmama 

goinggreengirl  (CTA 3 months) 
HulaJenn  (CTA since May 2009)

jenmegc

JMJ
justKate  (CTA since November 2010)

Juste Leblanc
lactatinggirl

librarygirl 

miss_honeyb   (CTA 25 cycles)

mommy2two babes

phathui5

RavaAvis

SamiPolizzi

starsprouts
theboysmama 
Toolip 

TrishWSU  (CTA 27 months)

Graduates

Pregnant! 

OSUvet (Feb. 2011)
echospiritwarrior (Feb. 2011)
lyterae (Feb. 2011)
dex_millie (Feb. 2011)
annie2186 (April 2011)
katiedidbug (May 2011)
BarefootScientist (June 2011)
Smokering (June 2011)

AnnieA (July 2011)

shells_n_cheese (July 2011)
Baby_Cakes
MovingMomma

capretta (October 2011)
 

No Longer TTA

jeninejessica 

LionessMom 

Mummoth 

Good luck to those now TTC! 


 

 Summary of FAM Rules

(sympto-thermal)

Pre-ovulation rules:

1) First 5 Days Rule: You are safe the first 5 days of your menstrual cycle if you had an obvious temp shift 12-16 days before.

2) Dry Day Rule: You are safe to DTD after 6PM if you have been dry all day.


Post ovulation rules:

1) Peak Day Rule: The last day of fertile mucus is called the peak day (the day before your mucus begins to dry up). You are safe to DTD on the fourth consecutive day after the peak day. If another patch of more fertile mucus appears, start your count over.

2) Temperature Shift Rule: You are safe the evening of the third consecutive day your temp is above your coverline. If your temp falls at or below the coverline during the 3 day count, begin your count again.

BOTH rules must be satisfied to be considered in your infertile phase.


How to set a coverline:

When you see a temperature shift of at least 0.2° F above the highest of the previous 6 temps, draw a line 0.1° F above that highest temp.


 

 Resources

Books

Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler
Garden of Fertility by Katie Singer
Honoring Our Cycles (workbook) by Katie Singer
The Art of Natural Family Planning by John and Sheila Kippley
Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing by Sheila Kippley
Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon


Websites

TCOYF (Ovusoft) charting software, and brief fertility library
Fertility Friend charting software, and ttc charting guide
myfertilitycharts.com free software for ttc or tta
Garden of Fertility author Katie Singer's website
Mothering Magazine article by Katie Singer
Billings Ovulation Method info
Billings Ovulation Method Association, USA
Billings Centre, CA
Couple to Couple League (find an NFP instructor)
Creighton Model


Abbreviations

AF: Aunt Flo, menses, your period
BBT: basal body temperature
BC: birth control
BIP: basic infertile pattern
CD: cycle day
CF: cervical fluid (same as CM)
CHs: crosshairs (intersection of coverline and ovulation)
CL: coverline
CM: cervical mucus (same as CF)
CO: cervical opening
CP: cervical position
CTA: charting to avoid
CTW: charting to "whatever" (not avoiding, not preventing)
DPO: days past ovulation
DTD: do the dead (sex)
EWCM: eggwhite cervical mucus/fluid
FAM: fertility awareness method
FF: Fertility Friend (website, see above)
HBC: hormonal birth control
HTL: high temp level (0.4°F above LTL, temp rise needed to indicate O)
LAM: lactational amenorrhea method (breastfeeding as birth control)
LP: luteal phase (between ovulation and menses, average 10-16 days)
LTL: low temp level (highest of the 6 temps immediately before temp rise)
NFP: natural family planning
O: ovulation
SHOW: soft, high, open, wet (characteristics of the cervix near ovulation)
SR: seminal residue
TCOYF: Taking Charge of Your Fertility (book and website, see above)
TTA: trying to avoid
TTW: trying to whatever
other common abbreviations


 

 Happy Charting Everyone!

Edited by TrishWSU - 2/21/11 at 4:00pm

[TrishWSU]

And now you have the February thread!! Welcome to a new month!

I've been totally lazy about charting this last cycle-no temps, just tracking cm/cp. I haven't even done that since like 4 DPO. Oh well, I have nothing to avoid right now so I'm just trying to keep track of my cycle more or less.

[justKate]

Does it make me hugely dorky to chart on FF and on paper?  At work? 

[goinggreengirl]

Hey all! I started my period the day we moved to our new town. Thankfully I knew where the tampons were packed! Also, hormones on top of moving stress is not fun! Poor DH.

[TrishWSU]

Ok, so WTF?! AF just decided to show up...4 days early! That means I only had a 24 day cycle, so not cool!

[mommy2two babes]

First full pp cycle done. Af came yesterday cd 41 and joined me on vacation in Florida. 8 day leuteal phase.
Same as my first few pp cycles after ds1

[Toolip]

Thanks for the new thread!! 

[JMJ]

Originally Posted by mommy2two babes 

First full pp cycle done. Af came yesterday cd 41 and joined me on vacation in Florida. 8 day leuteal phase.
Same as my first few pp cycles after ds1

For those of you who charted the return of fertility, how long did it take once you started your period to get normal, fertile cycles back?  I had an 8 day LP before my first PP period and another 8 day LP in my first full PP cycle.  How old was you baby when you went back to normal?  I was hoping to TTC pretty soon, but I'm CTA so I'm not worrying about miscarriages due to inadequate LP's.  How many days in your LP would you consider to be fertile?  I'm thinking that 10 is probably enough, but I'd rather have 12+.

[goinggreengirl]

Originally Posted by JMJ 

Originally Posted by mommy2two babes 

First full pp cycle done. Af came yesterday cd 41 and joined me on vacation in Florida. 8 day leuteal phase.
Same as my first few pp cycles after ds1

For those of you who charted the return of fertility, how long did it take once you started your period to get normal, fertile cycles back?  I had an 8 day LP before my first PP period and another 8 day LP in my first full PP cycle.  How old was you baby when you went back to normal?  I was hoping to TTC pretty soon, but I'm CTA so I'm not worrying about miscarriages due to inadequate LP's.  How many days in your LP would you consider to be fertile?  I'm thinking that 10 is probably enough, but I'd rather have 12+.

This is only my third cycle charting temps but the past two have had 10 and 11 day LPs. This is my 5th cycle since I got my first PP AF when baby was 4 months. (I was REALLY hoping for longer!)

[capretta]

Hiya. OK, Trish, you can move me. First month not CTA produced this chart!

[justKate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by capretta 

Hiya. OK, Trish, you can move me. First month not CTA produced this chart!

Wow, congratulations!! 

JMJ, I have had 5 PP cycles since DD's birth 2 years ago (almost exactly!) and only the last two have been clearly ovulatory.  Last cycle, 11 day LP; previous cycle, ~15 day LP.  Things are still trying to even out, it seems....

[mommy2two babes]

Last time ds1 was 20 mos or so and it took me 4 pp ovulatory cycles with a short lf until I got a normal 12 day Lf. That is when my cycle shortened to a more normal for me 29 days. Ds 2 is only 15 mos but af is back

[miss_honeyb]

Originally Posted by justKate 

Does it make me hugely dorky to chart on FF and on paper?  At work? 

I love charting on paper.   I like having something concrete in my hands... and I just enjoy paper and pens, lol. But I also use FF just for the "back up" and help detecting O. So if that's dorky, we can be dorky together.

Originally Posted by JMJ 

For those of you who charted the return of fertility, how long did it take once you started your period to get normal, fertile cycles back?  I had an 8 day LP before my first PP period and another 8 day LP in my first full PP cycle.  How old was you baby when you went back to normal?  I was hoping to TTC pretty soon, but I'm CTA so I'm not worrying about miscarriages due to inadequate LP's.  How many days in your LP would you consider to be fertile?  I'm thinking that 10 is probably enough, but I'd rather have 12+.

I'm on my 4th PP cycle, my LP's have been 7 days, 9 days and 12 days, respectively. So I'm pretty sure I'm back to normal! Although my normal LP is 11 days or 13 days, so I tend to have shorter ones anyways and it hasn't affected my ability to get pregnant.

Originally Posted by capretta 

Hiya. OK, Trish, you can move me. First month not CTA produced this chart!

  Holy cow! That was easy.

[TrishWSU]

Originally Posted by JMJ 

For those of you who charted the return of fertility, how long did it take once you started your period to get normal, fertile cycles back?  I had an 8 day LP before my first PP period and another 8 day LP in my first full PP cycle.  How old was you baby when you went back to normal?  I was hoping to TTC pretty soon, but I'm CTA so I'm not worrying about miscarriages due to inadequate LP's.  How many days in your LP would you consider to be fertile?  I'm thinking that 10 is probably enough, but I'd rather have 12+.

With my DD I only had a 6 day LP, but still managed to get pregnant, and with one of my surrogate babies my LP was only 9 days. It's "better" to have at least a 10 day LP, but you can still get pregnant if it's shorter.

I need to look into increasing my LP again. Last cycle was 25 days with a 9 day LP, this one was 24 days with an 8 day LP. I don't like the way this is going (not to mention it sucks to AF show up that soon!) I'm going to see what happens this cycle before doing anything. I'm still thinking my hormones are a little off from the Mirena.
 

Originally Posted by capretta 

AHiya. OK, Trish, you can move me. First month [I]not[/I] CTA produced [URL=http://www.tcoyf.com/members/capretta/charts/6.aspx]this chart[/URL]!

Yay, yay YAY!! Huge congrats!! So that makes an Ocotber baby?

 

[miss_honeyb]

So my 4.5 year old DS was standing outside the bathroom door earlier while I was using the toilet and he saw me check my CM... he says, "Is that snot?!" and I said "Noooo" but decided not to go into more explanation unless he asked.  He stood there quietly thinking for a minute and then said, "Oh, are boys and girls different?" I said "yeah, they are." He just nodded and walked away, end of story!   DD1 at 11 years old already has WAY more of a clear idea of how women's cycles work than I did at that age (or even into my 20's!), and I think the boys probably will be pretty knowledgeable too! Hopefully they'll be good at helping their wives chart someday.

[SamiPolizzi]

Hello! Can I join in the fun?

I just started charting a few days ago. I started in the middle of my cycle, so I'm not taking it super seriously right now, I'm just sort of getting used to taking my temperature in the morning. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be! I have a toddler in my bed wiggling all over the place and wanting to nurse like crazy in the morning. 

I'm not even sure if I'm going to have any sort of "normal" cycles at this point. I had my first PP AF about 3 months ago. After that I had all sort of random bleeding and my midwife put me on provera for 10 days, the result of which was about a week straight of bleeding. That was about 2 weeks ago, so now I'm really hoping things will return to normal (whatever that is.) I feel very enlightened after reading TCOYF and I can't wait to have some insight into what my body is doing every month.

[capretta]

Trish: Yup, beginning of October.

Happy charting to all!

[mirpmama]

wondering if anyone can help - i am about to be a charter - charting to avoid now, and get familiar with it - will be ttc over the summer - anyway this is my question:

my nursling wakes up during the night, not a ton, he is almost 2, but a few times, then for sure usually around 6, but we go back to sleep, then up for the day around 8 - which time do i take my temp? 6 or 8? thanks! 

[justKate]

Do you usually get a 3 hour stretch prior to the 6:00 waking?  If so, I'd use that one.   Just before my DD weaned, she would wake at 10-11 (when I went to sleep), then at 2 or 3, then again around 6:30.  If your pattern is anything like that, I'd go with the 6:00 waking. I end up setting an alarm because I've found that an hour  or so difference does make a big difference in my temps.  It doesn't for everyone though.

[miss_honeyb]

Originally Posted by mirpmama 

wondering if anyone can help - i am about to be a charter - charting to avoid now, and get familiar with it - will be ttc over the summer - anyway this is my question:

my nursling wakes up during the night, not a ton, he is almost 2, but a few times, then for sure usually around 6, but we go back to sleep, then up for the day around 8 - which time do i take my temp? 6 or 8? thanks! 

IMO it probably doesn't matter that much (as long as you don't get out of bed at 6am) which time you take your temp, as long as that's the time that you *always* take your temp. I set my alarm for 6:30am every day (even weekends when I don't have to get up at that time - I just take my temp and go back to sleep) and sometimes my nursling will have woken up to nurse around 6am. I still take my temp at 6:30 and it doesn't seem to throw anything off.