a) The more you know the better. If anything odd occurs, you will have better knowledge and experience to interpret it. This may come into play during any times of stress, and certainly during any postpartum months before your cycle is back to normal. Understanding your cycle well now will help later. It will also help if you change from wanting to avoid to wanting to conceive at some time.Using the sempto thermal method…If my spouse and I know when phase 3 starts, I’d there a reason we’d want to know when the other phases are?
Especially if we’re not planning on doing anything during fertile periods for the time being?
Why would phase 1 be the most common phase for sex? From what I understand it’s a very short period of infertility (like a few days)?a) The more you know the better. If anything odd occurs, you will have better knowledge and experience to interpret it. This may come into play during any times of stress, and certainly during any postpartum months before your cycle is back to normal. Understanding your cycle well now will help later. It will also help if you change from wanting to avoid to wanting to conceive at some time.
b) Most couples choose to have sex during phase 1, rather than restricting only to phase 3. That’s up to you of course. Obviously restricting to phase 3 is the more conservative approach; it also obviously offers fewer opportunities for marital relations.
From what I have gathered from my own experience and what I have read here, those that have a very serious reason to avoid becoming pregnant, avoid relations during phase 1.Why would phase 1 be the most common phase for sex? From what I understand it’s a very short period of infertility (like a few days)?
Not the most common - I think you misunderstood what I said.Why would phase 1 be the most common phase for sex? From what I understand it’s a very short period of infertility (like a few days)?
These days, we call it quits on Day 4. I think I’ve had ovulations on Day 12 and we did have one of those 7-day miracle conceptions some years ago (sex on Day 7, ovulation Day 14, or something like that), so even Day 4 is a little far, but that’s our current comfort level.I think it seriously depends on how long your cycles are and how serious you are when it comes to TTA.
Some women have short cycles and will ovulate earlier then the so-called 14 day-halfway mark. Some women begin to notice signs of phase two almost immediately after their period ends.
There are also plenty of studies that demonstrate how some sperm can live upwards of 7 days inside a woman’s uterus.
Based on all of these arguments it may be easy to argue that there is little reason to distinguish between phase 1 and 2 at all if you really want to avoid pregnancy.
That being said…I think it does make sense to figure out all of your phases…because adding an additional 5-7 days worth of abstinence makes something that is already difficult to be that much harder.
I am one of those women who have shorter cycles and I’ve been known to ovulate around day 11 or day 12. Given the facts that sperm can survive upwards of 7 days…it can be considered risky to have relations at any point during phase 1.
Still, it’s too hard for my husband and I to abstain that much. We usually take a small risk and use cycle day 5 or 6 and then wait until phase 3 begins.
It depends on the woman and the cycle. Some couples do not mind even if they’re not “fully past” yet.So on day 4 are you still bleeding or are you fully past your period?