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Charting, Trying, Hoping to Avoid: July 2006

post #1 of 72
7/3/06 at 4:40pm
Thread Starter 
Hay, the newbie gets to start the new post for the month!!

But I also have a question. I'd like to know how many cycles did it take you to get "the hang" of it so that you stop using a barrier method during those non-fertile times?

Granted, I've only been charting for like 5 days now, so im prolly going to keep protected for the next couple of cycles, but when did you feel like, ok yea, i know im fertile now and no im not fertile now and just DTD all carefree-like? LOL!

Im guessing, I won't be comfortable until I have at least 4 good cycles under my belt. How about u?

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post #2 of 72
7/3/06 at 6:20pm
3 or 4 cycles. But you know, even though I've been at this a while, there are still times when I'm unsure about stuff, it doesn't happen as often as it did in the beginning though. I think it probably would have been easier had we taken a class.
post #3 of 72
7/3/06 at 6:48pm
Jumping back in (assuming I'm not PG) I stopped charting for about three months; just hadn't been getting enough sleep and my temps were all over the place. I'm regretting that now, b/c I'm on CD39 (typically 26-30 day cycles) and I have no idea what's going on with my body! I tested last night and got a negative; not sure if I should start temping tomorrow just to see where I'm at or wait around for AF to show?!? Where is she??

I learned my lesson though even if my temps are off I'll keep charting, at least then I'll have some clue about what's going on!
post #4 of 72
7/3/06 at 8:22pm
subbing...

At some point DS might let me catch up!
post #5 of 72
7/4/06 at 9:52am
Can somebody please take a look at my chart? : Based on CM and CP, I think I ovulated several days ago and I should be "safe" now- but according to my temps nothing's happening.
post #6 of 72
7/4/06 at 4:36pm
Thread Starter 
To ME in my charting novice eyes, it looks like u ovulated on CD 19, but don't listen to me, Im guessing, we'll see what the pros have to say, lol

I also have a question, in TCOYF it tells you that if you have any alcohol the night before you have to throw out your temp the next day....is that really true? I mean, hubby and I have recently found a hobby in sippin and discovering different types of wines together and now that im charting, im scared to sip the wine for fear I will mess up my temps the next day.

Does the book mean ANY alcohol or just drinking after a certain time at night or what? Im really confused on this, lol. I never drink enough to even get buzzed either.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruthla
Can somebody please take a look at my chart? : Based on CM and CP, I think I ovulated several days ago and I should be "safe" now- but according to my temps nothing's happening.
post #7 of 72
7/4/06 at 7:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruthla
Can somebody please take a look at my chart? : Based on CM and CP, I think I ovulated several days ago and I should be "safe" now- but according to my temps nothing's happening.
I don't think you've ovulated yet. If you omit the temp on cd 20, only 1 of the temps is above your coverline. When I have missing or discarded temps, I still count back to the previous 6 temps. I'm not sure if that's the correct way, but I think that's what you do. If you do that, if you leave the temp on cd 20 in and say ovulation happened on cd19, you won't have any temps above the coverline. I would treat it like you haven't ovulated yet.
post #8 of 72
7/4/06 at 7:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brown Lioness
I also have a question, in TCOYF it tells you that if you have any alcohol the night before you have to throw out your temp the next day....is that really true? I mean, hubby and I have recently found a hobby in sippin and discovering different types of wines together and now that im charting, im scared to sip the wine for fear I will mess up my temps the next day.

Does the book mean ANY alcohol or just drinking after a certain time at night or what? Im really confused on this, lol. I never drink enough to even get buzzed either.
For me, I have to wake up with a hangover for the alcohol to effect my temp. I mark it on my chart that I had a glass of wine (or 2 or 3 lol!) but don't discard unless it is obviously out of place. I also try not to drink too much when I might be ovulating.. I broke that rule last month and it was hard for me to tell if my temp shift was because of all the alcohol or from ovulation.
post #9 of 72
7/4/06 at 8:32pm
Thanks for the input ladies.

At this point, it's probably more likely that I'm having an infertile cycle than that I'm going to ovulate late. It just seems so weird- all the signs that I check seem to point to O, but then the temp doesn't confirm it. This means that I can't assume I'm "safe".
post #10 of 72
7/5/06 at 10:59am
I to have had to continue to use teh barrier methids until I get the "hang" of it. I am having similiar issues with irregular cycles and strange phenomenons. Can ANYBODY help me?
post #11 of 72
7/5/06 at 11:20am
So, I'm not PG. My cycle was 40 days though, I've never had a cycle that long--even my first regular cycle after giving birth was only 36 days?!?

Not sure what the heck is going on with my body; but I'm charting again and we're also using condoms during my entire cycle until I figure things out.
post #12 of 72
7/5/06 at 11:01pm
afishwithabike, I can try to help, no promises on answers though! What's going on?

mamato2boys, *whew*
post #13 of 72
7/6/06 at 9:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruthla
Can somebody please take a look at my chart? : Based on CM and CP, I think I ovulated several days ago and I should be "safe" now- but according to my temps nothing's happening.
Can you take another look? Now FF thinks I O'd a full week after my cervix and CM signs say I did- and why is my coverline a dotted line instead of a solid one?
post #14 of 72
7/6/06 at 9:53am
I think they use the dotted line to show that your temp signs aren't matching up with your cervix signs...so they're basically guessing about O.

It looks to me like your haven't O'ed this month.
post #15 of 72
7/6/06 at 11:11am
Ruthla, I don't think you've O'ed yet either. It looks like your body was trying to on CD 19-20 and then it didn't. Bodies are so frustrating sometimes!

You all remember how wonky my temps were in June when I was asking for advice? Well, I never figured out why they were so erratic but I finally did O on CD 21. : Now I'm 9 DPO, which is a long LP for me. I had a big dip at 4 DPO. There's no way that could be an implantation dip, could it? I know it's unlikely, but : Please tell me what you think!
post #16 of 72
7/6/06 at 11:40am
Tara- 4 days in a row of exactly 97.3- are you sure your thermometer is working properly? Based on your temps, I can't say it's even certain you O'd this month.
post #17 of 72
7/6/06 at 12:14pm
Well, it's kind of funny about the temps. They were so erratic earlier that I didn't think my thermometer was working so I started taking my temp with two thermometers at once (looks very funny I'm sure ). But the second thermometer just confirmed them! They actually are accurate temps. Just strange ones!

I do think I O'ed though. When you discard the temps on CD 17 and 20 (restless nights with DD) the pattern looks more clear.
post #18 of 72
7/7/06 at 12:52am
Subbing! Thanks for starting the new thread, Brownlioness.

Yeah, I would say it took me 3 or 4 cycles. My third cycle was very long and wonky, so that threw me off. But after the 4th it settled in and I got the hang of it.

Ruth, I think you may have O'd on CD 23, 24 or 25 - based on the CP change and temp change. The stray high temps are hard - I tend to have those on the weekends (when I inevitably sleep in), so it is easy for me to ID those and toss them out.

Tara - I'm not sure about an implantation dip that large. Was there anything else that could cause a low temp that day? I ask b/c this past weekend we were staying in hotels, and I woke up freezing the one morning (impossible to control the room temp in those places!) and my temp was very low - a 1.1^ drop!

Oh, and Brownlioness, I wouldn't worry about a small amount of alcohol making a difference. You may note it on your chart just to see if it affects you in the long run, but I think any temp change would be minor (especially for only a small amount of alcohol!)
post #19 of 72
7/7/06 at 2:00pm
subbing. Hey, I had five days in a row with the same temp this past cycle too. It was starting to wierd me out, but was accurate, and the cycle has ended up being fairly normal overall. Our bodies are wierd but truly wonderful things.
post #20 of 72
7/7/06 at 3:07pm
Subbing!
I seem to have a creamy BIP. Anyone else? This is my first cycle of relying solely on FAM, so I want to get this right. What do you do when you have days and days of creamy/lotiony CM? Abstain or use a barrier method? Do a little guesswork? (I have long cycles so we've been taking a few chances early on in this cycle...plus we plan to TTC in a few months so a PG would be fine, just a bit earlier than we planned on.) Any other info you can offer about this?
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Pregnancy and Birth › Fertility › Family Planning › Charting, Trying, Hoping to Avoid: July 2006