charting to avoid September! - Page 2

[Sk8ermaiden]

Originally Posted by MarineWife

I read something interesting recently about hormonal BC. The article said that it can interfere with mate selection. Women are more likely to choose mates with a more similar genetic makeup when they are on hormonal BC. That means less genetic diversity and all the potential problems that can go along with that. Some people think we know so much about how the body works but we really know very little. I don't like the idea of messing with things when we don't really know what all the results will be.

I read that article!

That's how I felt on the pill. I just felt that it was somehow wrong to stuff a 40 day cycle into 28 days. My GYN said it was totally fine, but then again, last I heard, medical providers don't even know exactly why the pill works, they just know that it does.

[AnnieA]

Murphy's law: Post that your cycles are very predictable and they will suddenly become unpredictable.

I had a temp spike this morning and my CF has changed back to creamy which tends to be my BIP. So if my temps stay elevated, that would mean that I O'd on CD 11. Which is the earliest ever for me. Which means I'm down to basically 3 weeks between AF.

Guess I need to stay committed to temping.

[flapjack]

MarineWife, after my penultimate 3 pregnancies (ended at 8, 12 and 5 weeks respectively) I had short LPs. Flow this heavy is definitely AF, not coil-related, apparently.
On a personal note, have you considered getting your thyroid function checked?

Annie we cross-posted.

[ladyinred]

Originally Posted by MarineWife

ladyinred ~ That's a pretty chart.

Thanks! I made it myself lol I'm actually surprized how "textbook" it is this month considering all the travel and stress but I guess my body's more laid back than I am. AF should show up sometime today.... anytime now... helloo? My temp dropped this morning so I'm not really worried, I just have that nagging feeling since my lp's been a bit longer and we did DTD the day I o'd but with protection. We actually use condoms every time right now so I'm basically charting for fun and to learn more about my body. I adore TCOYF and was amazed at all the things I didn't know about! I actually prefer DTD with a condom, less messy, but eventually we will go back to not using them on the obviously safe days. DF is more paranoid than I am about having a baby right now. We can't afford a baby. Not yet. SOOON I HOPE!

[MarineWife]

Originally Posted by flapjack

MarineWife, after my penultimate 3 pregnancies (ended at 8, 12 and 5 weeks respectively) I had short LPs. Flow this heavy is definitely AF, not coil-related, apparently.
On a personal note, have you considered getting your thyroid function checked?

Ah ok.

No, I haven't considered getting anything checked right now. I'm only 15 months PP. My cycles are just now starting to come back. I'm still breastfeeding a lot. Any hormone tests would be skewed.

Why do you think I should get my thyroid checked? I've had it checked in the past a few times and it's always been normal. I'm always borderline anemic. That's why I'm thinking the fatigue could be related to the bleeding. I need to remember to take my iron pills. I'm terrible about remembering to take vitamins and such.

[cfiddlinmama]

Canid - texaspeach said what I would have said. There is just so many hormones floating around at a birth. I've had AF show up early, this is the first time O has showed up early though.

I had huge amounts of EWCM yesterday. I was really hoping for a temp spike today. It was lower than usual this morning. I've had 6 straight days of EW. Yikes. Hopefully tomorrow it will start drying up.

Shell - I'm not breastfeeding any more. My last cycle was my first complete cycle after weaning though. My dd nursed for 38 months! I've been told that after the weaning, cycles can go through more changes. She was nursing minimally at the end so I didn't think I had enough prolactin to effect my cycles. I'm curious if they will get more regular now. Yikes about not pumping for 15 hours. Were you full and sore?

My dh and I abstain during my fertile time. We have never used barriers. I think it would be really strange too. I like what you said Shell.

[texaspeach]

flapjack - didn't you take the morning after pill? the rapid withdrawal from the progesterone in it causes your period to start.

[CanidFL]

Originally Posted by cfiddlinmama

Canid - texaspeach said what I would have said. There is just so many hormones floating around at a birth. I've had AF show up early, this is the first time O has showed up early though.

well I'll be darned. I wonder how that affects midwives. Never thought about that before but if you are going to births regularly than it couldn't mess you up too much right?

We are on vacation and I'm not temping and waiting for AF.

[texaspeach]

I must be in the fertile phase now

I had an interesting dream.. staring our veterinarian (what? he's my age!) Of course, then I had a weird dream about dh's friend, but it was just weird

That combined with the fact that I just had the thought "DH needs to hurry up and decide he's ready to TTC, he'll be 40 in a few years" ack!

There was some discussion about finding men more attractive when you're fertile, I'm guessing that's the case for me

[Shell_Ell]

texaspeach: I teach it on my own. I did Katie Singer's study guide and I consider myself "seeking membership" in the Fertility Awareness Network. I also list on proTCOYF, and have gotten some of my clients that way. It's been back burner to doula work, but I do eventually want to join. I'm familiar with the rules of NFP and FAM but prefer to teach FAM because it is a secular method. I prefer to teach people without theology mixed in. I am willing to help anyone who needs it though. Occasionally I do get a client who's using the NFP rules and I'm always a little rusty. While I do consider myself Catholic, I'm non-practicing at best, and my husband isn't. We are on the same page though, which I think is really, really helpful.

cfiddlinmama: They were rocks. I need to remember to bring my pump in with me rather than leaving in the car in the parking garage. I hate pumping though. I'm curious how my cycles will play out, too, because we were doing natural child spacing between our first two rather than avoiding. I never got to see what my cycles would do nursing a toddler.

Annie:

[ladyinred]

AF showed up this morning finally. I'm a bit confused though. My first cycle my LP was 10 days and this month it was 13. Is the no more than 2 days difference a hard and fast rule or is it possible that either this month or the first month I o'd on a different day?

[MarineWife]

From the way it's presented in TCOYF, only a 2 day variance in lp seems to be a hard and fast rule. If it varies more than that, the book says that either your O day was off or maybe some other problem. My lp usually varies from 12-14 days, most often being 12 days. However, I have had one 11 day lp that I can't find an explanation for.

[Twinklefae]

Hey guys!

I"m back! I read all the posts from August, but as I
1)went back to work
2) Got married
3) went away for a week to the cottage where there is no internet.

I didn't have much time to post.

My cycle is now on day 50... I think all the stress delayed ovulation. I'm pretty sure I ovulated about 9 days ago though, despite all the holes in my chart!

Sk8ermaiden, would you mind sharing some of the Excel charts your husband made? I'd love to be able to print off my own charts, as my temps don't match the photocopy-able ones from the back of TCOYF

Originally Posted by Sk8ermaiden

That's how I felt on the pill. I just felt that it was somehow wrong to stuff a 40 day cycle into 28 days. My GYN said it was totally fine, but then again, last I heard, medical providers don't even know exactly why the pill works, they just know that it does.

I totally agree with this! I've only ever tried the pill once, but it was miserable.. came to find out later that I have 35 day cycles and no wonder I felt so cranky and weird!

[texaspeach]

Congratulations on your marriage Twinklefae!

[chi_mama]

Yikes!! the babybug just won't leave me alone this month!

[indiemamma]

Wwyd?

Hey Ladies!

So our family is leaving Monday for a big two-week trip up to Oregon for a week with DH's family and then a week with my folks in the Bay Area (CA). Even with tandem bfing, I'm only nursing about 4-6 times a day, and ?? times at night (DD co-sleeps and I don't know how often she nurses - I wake up with her still suckling in the morning) I have had one patch of fertile CM, but my temps have been all over the place. I know DS nurses more when we travel, and I'm guessing DD will be about the same. Charting on vacation doesn't sound too appealing to me, especially since I don't seem to be anywhere close to O-ing.

Although, while getting to the bottom of our laundry pile last night, I found a NB onezie of DD's and almost started crying that I didn't have a baby anymore. DH started freaking out. I don't WANT to get pregnant right now, but I do miss having a little babe in arms, you know?

So would you chart on vacation?

[Sk8ermaiden]

I always chart on vacation, but I don't find it a nusiance at all.

[AlbertaJes]

I'm going on vacation in a couple weeks, sans DH, and AF should be joining me on my return trip, so no real need, but I'm planning to continue just so I don't get out of the habit.

[Twinklefae]

Originally Posted by texaspeach

Congratulations on your marriage Twinklefae!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by indiemamma

Hey Ladies!

So our family is leaving Monday for a big two-week trip up to Oregon for a week with DH's family and then a week with my folks in the Bay Area (CA). ...

So would you chart on vacation?

Well, I didn't went we went away for a week, but we used condoms the whole time. (No honeymoon babies for us!) I don't paper chart right now, and we were at the cottage with no computer. It has left a big hole in my chart though, and I'll be happy to move onto next month.

[Twinklefae]

BTW, I went in and did override on FF, does anyone disagree with the fact that it kinda looks like I o'd? I know it's hard to tell with all the holes, butthe temp rise was pretty drastic.