Charting to Avoid/ Fertility Awareness August - Page 3

[jodi5]

Butterfly mama - I don't think I would put you in the infertile phase of your cycle yet, especially with what else is happening besides temp.  You temperatures are also quite low.  Is that normal for you?  Mine go up to about 97.8 after ovulation and I know I tend to be lower than many.  Mine do tend to do kind of a jump from the 96.8-97 range, up to the 97.4 type range when I start to get fertile and see CM etc. and then make the real jump upwards again when I ovulate so perhaps something like that is happening.  Your blanket could be affecting you but it may not.  I know I've had days when I've woken up sweaty and thought my temp would be way up and it isn't.  Maybe see what happens with your cm etc. the next couple of days. 

Lionessmom - I would give it a couple of more days to see if you temps stay high to confirm ovulation.  You do have 3 temperatures above the last 6 so could possibly be ovulating right now but with having had a little to drink last night, I would wait and see the next couple of days.  I don't think you would get any result on a pregnancy test at this point as it is too early.

[JMJ]

Lionessmom, a temperature jump like that usually means ovulation, not necessarily pregnancy.  You'll want to wait for 3 days in a row above 97.4 before you assume that you are infertile, or really, if the next 2 temps are definitely "elevated," you could use the 5 day temp only rule, but that's looking pretty good.  I think you may have ovulated around CD 21-24, so pregnancy would be dependent on what happened during and shortly prior to that time frame.

Butterflymomma, I would agree with jodi and wait a little longer to consider yourself infertile.  This is exactly what I meant on the other thread when I was talking about it being harder to tell disturbed temperatures that look like a temperature rise.  Things will become clear in just a few days.  I really have no idea what TCOYF is "thinking" on this one.  If yesterday was Peak day, you're likely looking at Sunday evening as your first infertile time.  (Depending on what temps so and how sure you are about them being accurate, we may be able to call you infertile Saturday night, but if you're wondering about temps, I would wait until Sunday if you continue to experience higher temps and CM dry up.)

A note on OPK's: They are helpful for some women, but I don't think very highly of them for depending on them.  I've seen a lot of false positives on women whose bodies try to ovulate over and over again in a cycle, and every time they try to ovulate, they get positive OPK's.  It's also very possible to miss the LH surge.  Some women have a lower LH surge than what the test calls positive, and some women have such a quick LH surge that they would need to be testing many times a day to get a positive result.  Just because you did not get any positive OPK's does not necessarily mean that you did not ovulate.

Jodi, it looks like CyclePro is calling CD 17 Peak day, and I would agree based on your TCOYF chart.  It looks like you had a double peak with the first peak looking more fertile, which is not terribly uncommon, but the second peak is usually the one associated with ovulation.  I know several people who have conceived babies on their second peak because they didn't wait enough days of dry up.  Also considering that while you had a nice temperature rise, your temps seem to be in a falling pattern, I would give it another day just to be sure.

[buterflymomma]

Jodi~ My normal temp during the day is around 97.6. I have always had a low body temperature. I am thinking my resting one is correct, however, I don't have anymore data to compare it to. After my m/c last July I ovulated on CD21 and got pregnant again right away. I am wondering if the m/c may have changed my cycles up.

It's a long story, but this is what has happened since I had my baby 13 weeks ago. I am not bfing. I pumped for about a week, but she never latched. I also needed to be on medication daily that is passed through my BM, so we put her on formula. I got my first PPAF at around 8 weeks PP. I started the Nuvaring immediately after my PPAF, but only left it in for about a week. I did not like the side effects, so took it out. That induced another full period of about 5 days.(normal for me). My OB prescribed the BC pill to replace the ring ,so I started that the Sunday after my ring induced AF. I only took the pill for three days. I found out that one of the medications I was on made it pretty much useless. We were going to have to use condoms throughout my cycle anyway, so I decided to stop taking it. I figured it would be better to chart and use condoms around my fertile time rather than take the pill (which made me feel awful BTW) and use condoms all month long. So, that induced another period which lasted around 5 days. This is really my first full cycle since having my daughter in May. Did you get all that...lol.

So now my cycle is totally wonky. I was beginning to wonder if something may have been wrong with my thermometer, but I had my DH take his and it was correct for him. So, I think it is ok and the temps are accurate.

I have been cramping since CD 14, my breasts seem fuller (they are still leaking though), they have also been tingly off and on throughout the day. We had an oops on CD11. So I am worried that I may be pregnant.

[reborn]

Hi there,

I'm almost 6 weeks postpartum and exclusively breastfeeding at this point.  Thinking about joining you ladies here. :)  I read TCOYF and took an NFP class about two years ago when we started TTC.  I charted for about a year.  Anyways, I was just wondering if it's even worth trying to chart right now?   Will my charts give me any useful information?  I looked through my old NFP books and there's very little info about charting to avoid during breastfeeding.  Also, I remember being told that you have to have six consecutive hours of sleep before taking your BMT in the morning in order to get a consistently accurate temp. Let's just say, that is definitely not going to happen for a while!!! LOL... so would my temps even be worth taking because of that?

I'm really feeling overwhelmed by this but I don't want to get on chemical birth control and I def don't want to get preggo for at least a year.  Advice?? :)

[JMJ]

Welcome, reborn!

You actually have a lot more options than you might think.  Check out this wiki for details.  If you qualify for LAM, I wouldn't worry about charting until your baby is 6 months old, starts solids or using bottles (even if it is breast milk), or you experience any spotting or bleeding.  Eventually, you may decide to start charting, and it will be confusing for a while.  Your CM information will be most important because it will help you know when you might get pregnant.  Temperature can't help you until after you ovulate, so the only thing that temping would do is to confirm ovulation.  The 6 hours thing is that you need to have gone to bed for 6 hours, not that you need to have slept through the night.  Most women can get good temperature information while nursing through the night, especially if the mom doesn't have to get out of bed to nurse.

[WifeofAnt]

Originally Posted by LionessMom 

no i was just using the online. but i also use ff, i just like getting the 2nd opinion. i dont know what to think of this chart. i did drink a little last night and forgot to turn on the fan but last time i did that i did not spike like this. i am about ready to take a test. it would be just my luck to get pregnant right away. arrrgh.

(picture removed to conserve space)

Ummm... That's my chart?

[FaithHopeLove29]

LionessMom, I noticed that TCOYF online takes a looooong time to load/save, so I tried out FF - much easier interface.

ButterflyMomma, I'm having a similar problem for the second month. TCOYF sets my fertile and infertile phases without reference to O, which is weird (my first chart still shows I'm fertile from two weeks before to two days before O, not during/after at all). I found that FF will suggest the fertile days based on CM, but not "fertile windows" so much. According to TCOYF, I'm several days into the infertile window as well (with fertile starting at least a week ago) and I don't think O was til today (I won't know for a few more days - today was my first higher temp). I'm wondering if TCOYF uses history less than symptoms to estimate fertile windows? I don't have enough history yet, and have rather long cycles, so my fertile windows shown on the chart are probably more for the average cycle. Maybe in a few cycles it will be more accurate for me.

[jodi5]

Thanks JMJ.  From what you said, I went into the Marquette tracking on their site and entered day 17 as a peak day instead of just high and it extended my fertile window until the end of today which matches CCL.  I guess when in doubt about my cm, I will default to that.  I am still learning about my cm so not always sure how to chart it.  I just had a blob of cm just now again.  Not slippery but kind of creamy coloured. I hope I get a nice strong temp tomorrow so I can be more comfortable about saying we are good.  I do tend to have a low temperature on my 5th temperarue post o in my cycles, then come up for a day or two and then slowly decline from then on towards AF.  We'll see if I follow that pattern again.  

Originally Posted by JMJ 

Jodi, it looks like CyclePro is calling CD 17 Peak day, and I would agree based on your TCOYF chart.  It looks like you had a double peak with the first peak looking more fertile, which is not terribly uncommon, but the second peak is usually the one associated with ovulation.  I know several people who have conceived babies on their second peak because they didn't wait enough days of dry up.  Also considering that while you had a nice temperature rise, your temps seem to be in a falling pattern, I would give it another day just to be sure.

[jodi5]

butterflymomma - your body has had to go through a lot so it may be readjusting.  Give a few days and see what happens.  You'll have a better picture soon if this is a true temp shift for ovulation.  It may continue to rise again.  I had that in my first cycle postpartum where for 3 or 4 days, my temp continued to rise a little each day.    That cycle it only stayed up at a high level for a couple of days and then started falling.  It only dropped below coverline once, but was not much above it until AF arrived.

[jodi5]

Just thought I would update this morning.  The checked my book and the cm I saw yesterday would be Tacky.  My temperature went up to 98 this morning, pretty high for me but my temps have been getting better each cycle as I go further into my postpartum so that is nice to see. We'll see if that continues. 

[buterflymomma]

Thanks so much for all the help. I really appreciate it. Since I am so new to charting it is really nice to have a place to go to ask questions. Hopefully I will be able to return the favor as I chart more and get better at it.

Well my temp dropped again today. I am thinking that my two days of higher temps was due to sleeping with my comforter on and waking up warmer than normal. TCOYF still has me in my infertile phase. However, I still plan on temping, checking my CM & CP and logging any other signs. I am due for AF in a week. Hopefully next cycle will be better.

[JMJ]

Butterflymomma, with the temp today (I don't see any CM for yesterday), it looks like you probably have not ovulated.  Your period will not likely come until you ovulate, but you won't get pregnant without ovulating either.  Just hang tight, and things will become more clear.  Unless there is something seriously messing with your temp (and it doesn't look like there is), you are currently waiting to O, you are not pregnant, you are potentially fertile, and your period is not on its way until after you O.

jodi, when your CM seems to go away and then come back to "high" instead of "peak" (to use MM's terms), I think it's wise to count the return to "high" as peak day just to be safe.  It's quite possible that you would have been safe before, but I don't encourage taking guesses when it comes to determining the end of the fertile phase.  When in doubt, choose the later peak day or first day of temp rise (though don't freak out if that makes your LP look short) if you are serious about postponing pregnancy.

[LionessMom]

haha. sorry about the chart confusion. i forgot to copy the sharing one. :baghead.

sorry i freaked out there. :) i am just nervous. i did take out my pessary and we havent dtd since. i forgot to mark down i felt slippery today. lol. but now ff is pinpointing my o at cd 22 but tcoyf isnt marking anything. lets try this...

 

so i think ff worked but tcoyf might not

 

[JMJ]

I'm not sure about your ovulation or not, Lionessmom.  You'll need to still consider yourself to be potentially fertile for right now, and things will become more clear soon.

[jodi5]

Thanks JMJ, I had come to that conclusion as well (to choose P if I have a high day post monitor peak).  I don;t mind waiting the extra day or so when needed, much better than worrying, lol.  We have always conceived easily so would rather play it safe. 

Jodi

[jodi5]

Just thought I would let you ladies know that Marquette is working on a new website/app that will allow you to add temperature in their charting.  That should be interesting when it happens.  I'll be curious to see if they make any adjustments to the protocol based on temperature.  I do really like how the monitor warns me I'm about to ovulate and then temperature usually happens about 2 days later, to let me know it happened.  This helps to avoid any false positives that could happen with the monitor.

[physics girl]

Originally Posted by LionessMom 

so now a question about condoms. usually they give me the itchies. does anybody else get that? do you think it could be the latex or the spermicidal lube? what kind do you recc?

My favorite condoms are Durex Avanti Bare, which are made of polyisoprene, a stretchy synthetic that's less allergenic than latex. Lifestyles Skyn are also polyisoprene, but I didn't like their lubrication and my partner complained about a lack of sensitivity.

Are you using a separate spermicide or just spermicidally lubricated condoms? I read in Consumer Reports several years ago that spermicidal condoms don't have enough spermicide to make much of a difference if a condom were to break or leak so you might as well avoid them, especially if they make you itch. As far as spermicides go, I've had no problems, or at least nothing worse than occasional very minor itching, with Conceptrol gel and VCF films, but thoroughly painful burning with Encare, even though they all have nonoxynol-9 as their active ingredient, so if spermicide is important to you, you might consider trying a couple of different formulations. Keep in mind, however, that condoms used consistently and correctly with proper lubrication have an annual efficacy of 98% so they are still a fairly effective method even if you have a sensitivity to spermicide and end up forgoing it entirely.
 

[buterflymomma]

JMJ~Thanks for the help! I have never had an anovulatory cycle before that I know of. I have been regular like clockwork, since I first started AF, after each pregnancy and after BC pills. This is a first for me. Sorry if I am a bit obsessed..lol. Thanks again! I appreciate it!

[JMJ]

Butterflymomma, anovulatory cycles are very rare.  I have never had one either and I normally have pretty strange cycles.  This isn't looking like an anovulatory cycle.  It's looking like you're gearing up to O right now.  The fact that you are normally regular should give you a lot of hope that this will get a lot easier, but even if things are really strange like they are in this cycle, you can still use charting effectively.

[FaithHopeLove29]

Question for users of Fertility Friend online - is there an easy way to chart when we use back-up protection? Or do I just have to keep track with a note? I did some searching on the FF site and didn't see anything.