Learning fertility signs and cycle...advice and prayers

[Convert_in_99]

After a recent bought with painful and crippling ovarian cysts I decided it is time to learn my fertility signs and cycle. I feel that it may just help save my life one day…as I have several health issues as it is.

I have to learn on my own as teachers and courses are far too expensive right now. I figure since it’s not urgent or life threatening that I learn my cycles perfectly, I can learn enough to get a general picture. Which is what I am after. A general picture of health (I hope and pray!)

I am starting in the middle of a cycle…so I don’t expect to learn much this month…just getting a basic feel of things. Which has been a pretty…and :blushing: type of moment.

This is the third day I have been at this, and its still very confusing. I pray that it will be much easier next cycle starting from the beginning.

I am daily charting Basal Temps, External Cervical Fluid, and (for now) cervical position/texture. This last one is very painful for me (because of health problems) so I won’t be doing it regularly as I am doing it for cross checking only right now.

**My main problems now are distinguishing the various cervical fluids and the cervical position and texture. The first one is coming slowly, the last two I am REALLY struggling with. **

My cervix has been high for three days. (I can’t distinguish a texture yet… ) My temps have been consistently low (within a hundredth of a degree of each other) for three days. And my CF have been very dry save one day (Saturday) of the wet/egg white (couldn’t quite tell which it was.)

**My guess is I ovulated somewhere, but the temps are the same with no rise. However, I know I started mid cycle and can’t make an accurate assessment of anything that way. But I thought I should practice charting anyways…and hope to get more normal readings next cycle. With infertility troubles…I am not expecting “normality” whatever that might be defined as. **

I am a very visual learner. I wish there was a web page that showed actual pics ( gross I know) of the different fluids, cervix, and cervical positions and textures. So if anyone knows of these that would be very helpful.

Any advice as I am starting out. Like things you wish you would have known when you were starting out, or things learned only in a classroom, would be most appreciated also.

**Also, of course, prayers please for the next several months as I learn my body, fertility and cycles. And prayers that everything is working properly and is healthy. **

 

[BeeSweet]

Convert, I’ve been hoping you would start doing this. I think ALL women should know what their bodies are doing, it’s a shame that we’re not taught as a matter of course. Look @ this website: nfpandmore.org/ It’s put together by the Kippley’s, who are founding members of the Couple to Couple League. You will find a link to print out a blank chart for you to use, and a booklet that’s the basics of how to begin using NFP.

Let me look around a bit to see if I can find some pics of charting mucus for you. If I can’t, I’ll scan the pics I have in my book Love and Fertility, and I’ll e-mail the scanned docs to you. Keep in mind this is a slow process. You’re not going to learn how to do this in a couple of weeks, it will take a minimum of three full cycles for you to get a handle on your symptoms. If you’re irregular, that can mean it may take a LONG time!!

God bless your efforts! I hope so much you’re able to learn how to manage your health concerns, and eventually conceive a baby!

 

[masondoggy]

I think after you chart a cycle or two, things will make a lot more sense, you’ll see the big picture. And it can also take several cycles to really “get” what mucus is what. So, take a step back and take this slowly.

Imo, if it’s causing so much confusion, skip the cervix check for now. It’s not really all that necessary for accuracy. It can help, but if it’s confusing you then it’s not helping, is it? I don’t even check mine anymore because since I’ve had Jacob, my cervix is literally all over the place and it just serves no useful purpose right now. I get plenty of data from my external mucus and temp signs. Once your comfortable with your mucus sign (usually after a few cycles it will make sense), then you can start checking your cervix. Maybe even start off just checking it without trying to interpret it or chart it. Just to get an overall “feel” for what it’s doing. After a few cycles of doing that, it’ll make more sense to you to chart it.

 

[Living4Him]

Most Barnes & Noble carry Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Tony Weschler. She has pictures in her book. It’s not a Catholic book though. Also, there’s a forum she has tcoyf.com/ where you can ask all kinds of questions. It’s a very active forum. If you don’t like charting on paper you have an option of buying the software(I think it’s a $40.00 one time fee) & you can chart online & the software figures out your ovulation day for you. It’s a very nice program. I love charting with the software. Also, if you have questions about your chart there’s a little icon you can upload that will bring up your chart for forum members to look at and assess.

 

[Patrickulating]

It sounds like you are well on your way.

Remember that the temperature shift shows that ovulation has already finished. You will probably need at least a few cycles and some retrospect to get it perfect. It comes in good time.

 

[pumpkinbeast]

Only three days probably won’t give you much info quite yet. I’m really glad that you’re learning about your body, only good can come from knowing simply knowing how you body works and what the heck it does every month!!! You’ll have to chart for at least one full cycle, from the start of your period to the start of the next, before you see anything really interesting. With each cycle after that, you’ll learn more and more about how your body functions. www.fertilityfriend.com is a great site I used to learn the basics, and I just did the Creighton intro session this afternoon! Yay! ^^
So, this coming from a new charter who isn’t even married: keep going, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

 

[Teakafrog]

I am so glad you decided to do this! It is very informative on health issues, and many well-trained docs (well, ok, at least those trained at PPVI) can diagnose a lot of your hormonal or other issues just based on your charts.

I second the idea of Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. It is a wonderful reference. Just ignore the non-Catholic parts about using barrier methods on your fertile days . Otherwise, very thorough, concise, and easy to follow. Has several variations of charts in the back that you can photocopy to use as well. It is well worth the money, you can use it as a reference book for years. I still occaisionally use mine that way, even though I’ve moved on to Creighton method.