Charting, Trying, Hoping TO AVOID: August 2005 - Page 4

[CrunchyMamaToBe]

BumbleBena, another good book is Taking Charge of Your Fertility, if you haven't already read it. Pictures of CM and everything! The Art of Natural Family Planning is more detailed and has more rules that you can apply in specific situation, but it's harder to wrap your head around. At least, it was for me!

I started with reading TCOYF and charting for three cycles, using condoms all the time, before we moved to unprotected sex during safe times.

[BumbleBena]

Awesome! Thank you!

I'm going to stop by the used book store, and I'm having DP scout all the bookstores in Tally. I just came off the pill, and am trying hard to understand all this. I have this nagging fear that I'm going to be fertile all day for every cycle. :LOL

Is that normal?

[BumbleBena]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

Well, it only took me a couple of months to become fairly familiar. Once you have 6 mo then you can start using some rules based on experience. Well, the easiest way is just to start charting. Checking your cm everytime you go to the bm and then taking your temp every morning and right it down, not much too that. Then you can consult your book for how to intepret. Does your book have good pics of the different types of mucus? That is pretty important!

We have about 8 mos before the wedding. We're 250 miles apart now, so abstaining isn't a problem. :LOL

I took my temp this morning, and DP has a calendar we're going to use to track my temps. The book doesn't have any pics of cm, it just describes them, which isn't as good for me, because I'm a visual learner. We're going to try to buy TCOYF.

Thanks!

[Harmony96]

Originally Posted by BumbleBena

I just came off the pill, and am trying hard to understand all this. I have this nagging fear that I'm going to be fertile all day for every cycle. :LOL

Is that normal?

Hi Bena,

I'm still pretty new here too but this is my first month off the pill too. I had been on the pill for 6 years, and had bought the TCOYF book sometime while I was on the pill. I was going to "save" the book until DH and I were going to start TTCing and I would read the part about temping and cervical mucous and it didn't feel like it applied to me since I had an artificial cycle at the time, ya know? And furthermore, I got ON the pill when I was 21 and didn't remember having any CM prior to that. We aren't TTC until January so I can be a SAHM so I was a little nervous getting off the pill so early. Since I didn't remember having an CM before going on the pill I worried that I wouldn't have any noticable CM now, etc.

But, my first cycle is actually looking fairly normal. I am on CD 16 now and hope to ovulate today or tomorrow. Without trying to be TMI... I had a few days of a snot-type CM, which after much research and reading on other boards, I've decided to classify as "sticky". Then I did have about a day or so of creamy, and then this morning when I checked I had my first real eggwhite. It had about a 3" stretch and was slippery. It was a little scanty still and had a bunch of creamy mixed in with it, but it was there. I was so happy. (is it weird that I'm happy about CM?) :LOL I did drink a lot of water yesterday (usually I get only about 5-6 glasses but I got in 8 yesterday) so that probably helped out a little.

Anyway just know that you're not alone in this and we're all here to help you out. Also, if you go to TCOYF.com, then there are PDF charts that you can print out so you can graph your temperature, etc.

Ok this post is long enough now. :P

[BumbleBena]

Awesome! Thank you!!!

[CrunchyMamaToBe]

Whew, did you see that? That was my last consiously avoided egg slipping by!

I ovulated on Tuesday or Wednesday this week, DP is leaving in a week and a half for China, and when we're reunited in December, there'll be no more avoiding for us!

[momtokay]

Originally Posted by CrunchyMamaToBe

Whew, did you see that? That was my last consiously avoided egg slipping by!

I ovulated on Tuesday or Wednesday this week, DP is leaving in a week and a half for China, and when we're reunited in December, there'll be no more avoiding for us!

ooooh, congrats on avoiding that last egg!!! i'm so excited for you as well as a bit jealous. will this be your first? what an exciting time it was with the first baby. good luck to you. i hope your ttc journey is short and successful.

as for my update, i'm just hanging out on CD28 waiting for AF. i'm guessing she'll be arriving right "on time" tomorrow morning. it's hard to believe AF will just be here every 28 days or so for the next 20 years or so. boring!!! no more moving on to ttc, pg, bf, etc. hmmm, guess i'm more than a bit jealous. but seriously all the best to you. hope you can put that hard earned charting knowledge to good use on the other side of the TTC/TTA fence.

[Azreial]

Ok if I join in here? DH are planning on using nfp for a few years until we ttc #3. This will be my first time charting. Of course we are in the middle of moving right now and my copy of tcoyf is packed : and I just had my 2nd pp af. I'm not sure if I've O'd yet or not since my af's have only been 2 very light days and then a day or 2 of very light spotting after. I took my temp this am for the first time
I did use the cm to help get pg with dd (6mths), I'm just hoping I really did know what was going on and I can use it to tta
I would also like to use cp but umm,...... I don't know how to find my cervix : anyone care to enlighten me?

[momtokay]

Welcome Azreial!! I'm not help when it comes to checking cervixes, but wanted to wish you all the best.

Oh and since I'm posting, I'm CD1...again...my LP seems to be lenghtening a bit though. DD has cut way back to almost nothing on nursing so I guess my hormones must be regulating a bit! Yippee!!

[Undercover Hippie]

Hi everyone! Hi new CTA'ers! This is a busy thread this month!

CrunchyMamaToBe--woohoo! Congrats on avoiding that last egg!

Azreial, I check my CP every day. I always check in the same position (sitting on the toilet) and at the same times of the day(first thing in morning and before bed). I just reach in there with 2 fingers and I pay attention to how soft my cervix is, how open, and how far I have to reach to find it. Then I sweep my cervix to get the most fertile CM out to look at and I'm done. probably takes less than 30 seconds and it's like second nature now. It takes time to get to know the various cervical positions your body goes through, but I like having this additional fertility sign to check.

News from me: I thought I might have O'ed last week because my temp got high, but with no other signs of O. It was right after we DTD too so I was a little : for a few days and then 7 days after that I had a dip so I was really but it was back down to normal this morning (9 days later) so I think it was nothing. Still anovulatory I guess. Speaking of, I looked into those anovulatory rules again and just to clarify, she says that while partially bf'ing and if you've had no bleeding after 56 days postpartum, to follow the anovulatory rules. Establish a basic infertile pattern of mucus, then you are safe on the evening of every day where you have your BIP, and if you change to a more fertile type of mucus you are not safe again until the 4th evening after the fertile CM peaks. So we have been following it correctly but man it is hard for me to tell sometimes.

It's really got me thinking about how serious I am about CTA though. I have several friends who are PG and two who are TTC'ing so the possibility of a third baby was on my mind a lot. But really, I don't want to PG and this was a good revelation. Makes CTA'ing easier.

[CrunchyMamaToBe]

Thanks for the good wishes, adenlilysmama and momtokay!!! This wouldl be our first baby, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything we've learned about TTA will help us TTC within the first few cycles trying.

Azreial, It's pretty easy to find your cervix - it's the only thing "up there" as it were. I am pretty good about checking mine pre-ovulation in any given cycle, but get lazy about it once temperature and CM dry-up have confirmed that I've ovulated.

[Azreial]

Thanks for the cervix tips. I think I'll start checking that tomorrow am.
I have a question on temping. I've been takign it when I get up in the am. DD usually has her big sleep in the first part of the night and then we nurse every 2 couple hours or so after that, should I take my temp after her big sleep? I ask becuase how long she sleeps is erratic. Some nights its 3 hours and some its 6 or more. So I wouldn't be taking my temp at the same time every day

[Alison]

Originally Posted by Azreial

Thanks for the cervix tips. I think I'll start checking that tomorrow am.
I have a question on temping. I've been takign it when I get up in the am. DD usually has her big sleep in the first part of the night and then we nurse every 2 couple hours or so after that, should I take my temp after her big sleep? I ask becuase how long she sleeps is erratic. Some nights its 3 hours and some its 6 or more. So I wouldn't be taking my temp at the same time every day

I always took mine after the first big sleep. When I first started charting that meant I was temping somewhere between 1 am and 4 am most nights! Now, thank goodness, he's finally starting to sleep through most nights, so I'm temping somewhere between 5 and 6 am usually. Looking at my charts though, they all still had a very clear temp rise at ovulation, even with my erratic temperature taking times. It seemed to make more sene to me to be irregular on time but to at least know that I had been asleep for a decent chunk of time rather than pick the same time every day, when I might have been tossing and turning and nursing for 4 hours at that point!

Alison

[Azreial]

thanks alison I think I'll start temping then. I does make more sence

[Harmony96]

My cycle is still hanging on and isn't quite so normal.

So my last post was a week ago. And now I'm on CD 22 and my temp has steadily dropped. I haven't had an O yet. I don't know what's going on. This is my first cycle off the pill but we wanted to TTC in January... I just hope I get a little more regular and predictible before then.

Too bad I'm not a :. They have it easy w/ regard to getting pregnant. :LOL Just DTD while they're fertile and that causes them to ovulate. LOL.

But on the other hand... I probably wouldn't want to have 3-9 children with each pregnancy.

Trying to make light of having an unexpectedly weird first post-pill cycle. I was regular before I went on the pill, for 29-32 days each. *sigh*

Andrea

[MizLiz]

Harmony96 - I'm now on my third cycle since I stopped taking the pill and things are now very normal... the first one after coming off was crazy, though! My temp was all over the place and my cycle was 68 days long! Since then it has really become fairly normal... my last cycle was 34 days (my cycles have always been on the long end) and there is a clear temp rise after O. Hang in there and keep patient!

[paisley]

Azreial - if you are having trouble finding your cervix, remember that since it is higher up near O, it is harder to locate than when you are at the begining or end of your cycle and it's long and low. A position that works well for me to find it when all else fails is to lie down on my back with my knees to my chest. My midwives always tell me that my cervix is hard to find because my uterus is slightly tipped back, and so my cervix is not right in the center at the top.

CD5 over here and I have encountered a new problem - ds hid my thermometer and I cannot find it ANYWHERE! I am trying to come to terms with the fact that I should just go buy another one but I know as soon as I do the old one will magically resurface. Never a dull moment over here, lol!

[Alison]

Originally Posted by MizLiz

Harmony96 - I'm now on my third cycle since I stopped taking the pill and things are now very normal... the first one after coming off was crazy, though! My temp was all over the place and my cycle was 68 days long! Since then it has really become fairly normal... my last cycle was 34 days (my cycles have always been on the long end) and there is a clear temp rise after O. Hang in there and keep patient!

I had the opposite experience, my first cycle off the pill was only 17 days long, very short. And then I got pg before having another AF, so I have no idea how long they would have taken to get back to normal!

Alison

[Azreial]

I found my cervix ths morning IT was very easy to find, I did it on the toilet. I got all exctied when I found it (I've never actually tried to find it before)

mama2toodles bummer about your thermometer I have mine but I've got a problem with it. My old one (that got lost) had a memory so when I turned it on it showed the last temp my new one doesn't have that and I took my temp in the middle of the night, in the dark. I didn't even try to look at the temp becuase I ASSumed this one had a memory also : so no temp for me today. I'm on CD6

[Undercover Hippie]

Started a new thread for September...