NFP Mucous Question

[Carjack1]

Yesterday I was on the toilet and I wiped and noticed this HUGE glob. It was white and stretchy. I would have thought it was the ovulation mucous, except it was big and globby. Any insight would be appreciated. If you have any questions, I will clarify

 

[Shiann]

White and stretchy isn’t as fertile as eggwhite mucous, so I’d hesitate to say it was ovulation mucous. But sound like you’re working up to ovulation. Keep watching for it to thin out, get really stretchy and slimy and clear(ish).

 

[Carjack1]

White and stretchy isn’t as fertile as eggwhite mucous, so I’d hesitate to say it was ovulation mucous. But sound like you’re working up to ovulation. Keep watching for it to thin out, get really stretchy and slimy and clear(ish).

Ok. This is my first cycle, so I don’t know what to expect lol. Thank you.

 

[kevinsgirl]

White and stretchy isn’t as fertile as eggwhite mucous, so I’d hesitate to say it was ovulation mucous. But sound like you’re working up to ovulation. Keep watching for it to thin out, get really stretchy and slimy and clear(ish).

I agree with Shiann.

Since you’re just starting charting, though, I’d treat it as fertile mucous (i.e. if you are trying to avoid pregnancy, don’t take chances especially if you are having copious amounts of white mucous) because some women have different fertile mucous patterns. Some women may experience a very watery clear mucous, others a stretchy clear mucous, and still others may find that their most fertile is similar to what you described. It will take a few cycles to figure your body out…but once you do it’s awesome!

Also, some women with PCOS have annovulatory cycles or irregular cycles because their body keeps “gearing up” to ovulate, but doesn’t until a couple tries. So you may find that you have a pattern of several days of mucous followed by a couple dry days followed by a more mucous days, etc. If your’e taking your temps, though, then you can see if you have a temperature shift to confirm that what you experienced was ovulation and not a mucous patch.

HTH!

 

[nfpworks]

I would definitely treat this as fertile mucus. Remember sperm thrive on the mucus for 3-5 days. So, if mucus is present and you have intercourse, you can become pregnant, even if you don’t ovulate for a few more days.

 

[Rachel_Malloy]

My understanding is not all mucous is fertile. IOW, some CM is actually ‘anti-sperm’ because of the pH, and molecular structure.

With that said, I agree with Kevinsgirl that depending on your own cycle, you should treat it as fertile… Though as your first cycle, I think you’re taught to abstain anyway until you have a few cycles under your belt (that is unless you don’t mind if you get pregnant!)

I assume you’re learning Creighton? Have you spoken to your instructor?

 

[lizaanne]

I have not used NFP in YEARS, so someone PLEASE correct me if I’m totally off base on this…

It is important as well to not go entirely by what you see when you wipe (depending on what method of mucus checking you are using - internal/external). Sometimes mucus can be sort of “squeezed out” during a bowl movement which may cause more to appear that would if you were to only urinate and wipe to find the mucus. Remember to track everything, including if you see more than usual, and if so, what were the circumstances at the time so you can understand if it was as a result of a BM, or if that is normal for you.

This is not to say that you should not count this as a fertile time as others have said, I totally agree with that assessment. But from a standpoint of understanding what is more normal for you, it is good to consider the circumstances of when you find the mucus. Even being sick or very dehydrated can effect your mucus quality.

When I worked at a large fertility center many years ago we would tell the women to make sure they were drinking a lot of water when going through fertility treatments to ensure their body was properly hydrated. Hydrated body means well working mucus membranes - well working mucus membranes means (in normal women) means good clear mucus with good ferning. Ferning is what the sperm swim in, like little channels or tunnels and it is most pronounced and present during peak fertile periods, such as when you have “eggwhite” mucus.

Hope that makes sense!

~Liza

 

[Carjack1]

I am doing a sympto-thermal method that I learned from a book called “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler. But I was shocked because that type of mucuos wasn’t mentioned in the book. I was expecting. dry,sticky/crumbly/gummy, lotion/milky/creamy, and stretchy, clear, or wet. So I thought maybe I don’t recognize it because I never looked before

Thanks for the advice.

 

[gettingthere]

I usually get a glob of white and stretchy mucus a day or two before I start seeing eggwhite mucous. I would still consider it fertile.

 

[Em_in_FL]

Yesterday I was on the toilet and I wiped and noticed this HUGE glob. It was white and stretchy. I would have thought it was the ovulation mucous, except it was big and globby. Any insight would be appreciated. If you have any questions, I will clarify

I usually get a glob of white and stretchy mucus a day or two before I start seeing eggwhite mucous. I would still consider it fertile.

I agree with this post…

When I learned the STM (used a diocese handbook, not official text), our teachers described ovulation as a process… that usually starts out with whitish/sticky/thick mucous and then eventually turns into clearn/slippery/stretchy/eggwhite mucous.
So, if the timing is right in your cycle (maybe 7-10 days into your cycle), then I’d treat it as fertile mucous… because the sperm can live in the thicker mucous also.

Continue watching it and charting… it gets easier each month!

 

[irishfan1113]

Sometimes mucus can be sort of “squeezed out” during a bowl movement which may cause more to appear that would if you were to only urinate and wipe to find the mucus.

This has happened to me and can someone please explain if I should count this on my STM chart? I know its a little weird but this happens sometimes in the middle of phase 3 or way in the beginning of phase 1.

Thanks!

 

[kevinsgirl]

Sometimes mucus can be sort of “squeezed out” during a bowl movement which may cause more to appear that would if you were to only urinate and wipe to find the mucus.

This has happened to me and can someone please explain if I should count this on my STM chart? I know its a little weird but this happens sometimes in the middle of phase 3 or way in the beginning of phase 1.

Thanks!

Yep, you should definitely show it on your chart. Having a BM doesn’t make more mucous…it just may nudge it from the cervix closer to where you will observe it.