[larkedyflarp]

I just started NFP about 3 weeks ago, my son is almost 5 months and exclusively breastfed. However he started sleeping 6 hour stretches at night at 2 months, my daughter never did this.

Anyway there have been 3 days with 1-2 weeks between where I'll have a day of stretchy CM. What does this mean with breastfeeding and no period? Our NFP instructor said sometimes stress can change the CM

 

[larkedyflarp]

Do any of you experienced charters know if this means I'm fertile or it's stress? My temps are crazy with breastfeeding and I don't understand checking my cervix. I had a big baby. It always feels the same.

 

[annie2186]

Hi!

I am anything but expierienced, however, I am ALWAYS charting while BF, so I may be able to help

Basically while you are BF your body tries to build up to ovulation sometimes without actually getting there. Therefore, you may have several periods of fertile CM without actually ovulating OR getting a period OR getting pregnant!!

Can I ask if your normal CM is always a present sticky mucus or are you mostly always dry?

I have gotten to a place where I think I am getting a hold on this NFP while BF - and I would be more than happy to help you get there too!

P.S. - when did you get your first period after your last baby? or where you on hormonal Birth Control?

 

[larkedyflarp]

Thank you so much Annie!!!

I am really just getting a hang of this thing. Today is the 27th day of charting. I guess my normal CM is dry to tacky, but more dry I think. Day 2 was stretchy, day 8 was stretchier, but around these days and up until day 22 it was the constant dry, damp, tacky nothing. Day 22 was more wet, 23-24 were stretchy, 25 I thought was like egg white, 26 still stretchy and 27 seemed creamy I guess. I just realized in the Taking Control of your Fertility big book that creamy is also a little stretchy. Also I notice more CM when I first wake up the last few days so I can notice the quality, but the rest of the day it's harder to tell.

Also my cervix, I haven't a clue, it always seems the same to me and I guess it's always a little open after having my big boy. It's always sort of hard to reach is that because I have a tilted uterus? Or if it's high maybe I won't be able to reach it at all?

We are doing this NFP for religious purposes so there's no going back for us so I have to figure it all out.

Also I just started taking vaginal temps instead of mouth because I'm pretty certain I sleep with my mouth open. But my temps. are sort of all over the place because of breastfeeding I presume or because it's hard to take them at the same time having had 3 hours sleep before.

Sorry to ramble, I just really need some extra guidance. I think my NFP instructor believes I'm infertile with breastfeeding period, but I'm uncertain with the different signals going on with the stretchy CM sometimes, more the last few days.

Thank you so much for any guidance you can give.

I've never used hormonal BC, and my period came back about 3-4 months after fully weaning my daughter. She was exclusively breastfed 9.5 months but then I had to wean her to an elemental formula after she developed too many food allergies and I had lost too much weight avoiding them all. That's not going to happen this time though!

 

[annie2186]

Yes, I do realize that with LAM you are souposed to be 98% infertile - however, I have never been able to truly trust that - not sure why!!

If you want to be a little bit more on the safer side - this is what you do;

You basically have to figure out what infertile mucus is for you - if mostly you are dry/sticky dry/dry then any day you are NOT dry or sticky aka creamy or wet or lubracative or clear then you basically don't DTD for that day, and depending on how fertile the mucus was or how long it lasted you don't DTD for the 3 full days just like you ovulated........

OK - so I am realizing that this is totally insane amount of crap! I am also doing this for religious reasons so I sympathize with you!

Can you answer a few of my questions, and then I can give you more specialized advice.

1. if you had to answer, would you say that you are USUALLY completely dry (aka, no wet sensation when you wipe, and no CM you can pick up with your fingers), with occasional sticky CM and then SOMETIMES you even get creamy or wet.
OR
Are there hardly any days or even no days when you are completely dry and most of the time you are sticky?

P.S. Another little trick I have picked up in my never-ending quest to understand my body

is kinda gross, so sorry if I gross you out - but you sound alot like me, so I'm thinking you might appreciate it!
Non-fertile CM actually has a different taste than Fertile CM
If it is not fertile it has a very sharp and salty taste to it - Fertile CM has a much milder and almost sweet taste. I know - freaking gross - but hey!

 

[larkedyflarp]

Interesting, any little bit to figure this stuff out

I would say I'm the first one since I started charting, aside from the last four days, I'm generally dry when I wipe and sometimes a little sticky.

I don't know if this means anything either, but these last few days with the CM change I've been sort of feeling like I had PMS or something, easily frustrated and moody.

 

[annie2186]

ok - so you actually have it pretty easy.

I was taught that preovulatory (which is what you are the whole time until your first PPAF) you only DTD every other NIGHT after checking your CM all day.

Anyday you have a dry/littlesticky day is safe.

Anyday you have creamy/wet or basically anything that isn't your "normal" CM - then you are not safe that day.

Any day you have very fertile CM - aka - anything that is LUBRACATIVE, CLEAR, or STRETCHES MORE THAN AN INCH, you are not safe that day and then you count three more days as unsafe after the last day you see the very fertile CM and you can DTD that fourth night. (you kinda just assume you ovulated even though you might not have).

As far as temping - I've heard its kinda pointless to do it until after your first PPAF. So I think that is what I am going to do.

My cervix is totally a mystery to me too! A lot of women say its easier to understand their cervix after feeling it for a cycle or two - and of course we aren't really cycling!!!

I also did not get my PPAF until 2 or 3 months after completely weaning my DD1 - and I also got some consistent weird CM on and off - even spotted for a couple days in there (it ALL seems to have kinda gone away the last couple of weeks and I haven't got an AF and I'm not preggo)

So really - my advice is to read all you can about CM until you think you got a pretty good hold on what you are looking for - when in doubt dont DTD - and MOSTLY - don't stress out

FertilityFriend also has a free online course - I'm not sure how many lessons it is long - but I've gotten 1 email every day for the last two weeks. Might help!

Can I ask what method you are learning? It seems like your NFP teacher is kinda not teaching..........I learned the Creighton Method ( I quit before I got my cycles back 10 months later!) and she didn't just rely on LAM........

 

[larkedyflarp]

Okay, that makes sense about waiting 3 days if there's stretchy as though I ovulated even if I didn't.

Our class was the Sympto-Thermal Method. We did two classes and we have one more at the end of the month so we had some charting time to practice.

I just like to learn as much as I can about stuff, my husband says I'm making it more difficult than it is! I like our instructor a lot and she's definitely got experience; I just wish she would tell me more, I guess the class isn't long enough and I should email her for the lengthy sort of answers I'm seeking

I'm glad your cervix is a mystery too and you've had sporadic fertile seeming CM here and there too. Thanks to you I know I'm normal!

It's cool, after we read about the church's teaching on contraception my husband wants a big family; I've always wanted a big family too, but maybe it'll be bigger than I originally thought

Is the Creighton Method much different than basic Sympto-Thermal?

 

[annie2186]

Yes - all us BF are normal in that NOTHING is normal!

I am like you and am almost obsessed with learning everything possible

After about the first 6-8 months after my DD1 was born and my PPAF was still nowhere to be found - I pretty much gave up on charting and once my PPAF did show up I just didn't really chart at all.............and now my precious little DD2 is here! I would love to have a big family too - but I would like a break, and would also like to try for a boy next time - so we'll see!!

The Creighton Method is like the Billings method (they go by mucus only) only I would say the Creighton method is more "clinical" than the Billings - mostly I just learned the Creighton because that was the teacher I found and I didn't even know there were different kinds of NFP!!

I'm not sure if I am going to take classes for sympto-thermal after I get my fertility back or if I am just going to start temping.............my periods are long/irregular so I think I could learn more about them temping than just following CM

Anyways - there's my book!!

 

[larkedyflarp]

That's pretty cool that it can work with only CM. If CM stretches only a little would that be considered stretchy or tacky?

 

[annie2186]

From what creighton teaches (and I don't want to mess with your head - but I think its almost better to hear and learn ALL the ways the different methods say/teach things because sometimes one of them makes more sense!!) Anything that is not LUBRACATIVE - CLEAR - or STRETCHES MORE THAN AN INCH is all in the less fertile quality. So basically any day you have CM that is not lubracative (I would compare this feeling to wiping after DTD - semen has alot of the same qualities as fertile CM) clear, or stretches more than an inch - you just don't DTD that night. The next day if you are dry again you are safe.

If you have the less fertile mucus for 3 days or more THEN you do the 3 day rule.

Even if you just have one day of mucus that is lubracative, clear, or stretches more than an inch - you automatically do the 3 day rule. (of course if you have more days you just wait until you don't see it to start counting)

One more thing - is that if your CM is clear, but not lubracative, or lubracative and cloudy or stretches two inches but isn't clear or lubracative you still consider it very fertile and count three days. so any combination of those three - or one by itself is the same as getting all three at the same time.

sorry if that was confusing - just ask if you have any questions about any of it!!

 

[larkedyflarp]

At only one check yesterday there was a tiny stretch, not even 1/2 inch, so that is non-fertile most likely, is that tacky?

 

[annie2186]

yeah, as long as it wasn't lubracative I would say its pretty non-fertile.

Anything that stretches 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch is sticky. 3/4 is more tacky.

 

[larkedyflarp]

Thanks!