Fertility Awareness Method and Charting

[anniepie]

OK, so I've just come off the pill, mainly due to the side effects becoming unbareable, but also in preparation for TTC later this year. I'm planning on using condoms during this period up to TTC, but maybe also FAM (it wouldn't really matter if we fell earlier). But whatever I use, I want to chart as I think it's good to know your body and it'll also be helpful when TTC. I bought the book "taking charge of your fertility" a couple of weeks ago and think it's a really great and well written book (although I should have bought it about a year ago in prep for charting it's so long!). I'm not yet charting properly as I've not yet had my first bleed since coming off the pill (and actually have not had a bleed in almost 18 months!), but am trying to get used to taking the different readings. Just wondering if anyone has any advice. The things I'm finding I'm a little unsure about are the CM and cervical position (in particular the latter), but I'm hoping that these will become a little easier to identify once I've been through a cycle and have noted all the different things to look out for...

 

[puppymom]

I am not sure I will be of any help, but wanted to share that I have also read that book and think it is wonderful! I plan on using the FAM method when I come off the pill, mainly to avoid pregnancy until we are ready. What I have decided is that when I first come off, I will just use tempting, and possibly CM (if I remember). I will likely not add in the CM until I get used to tempting - one step at a time! From what I have read, I will not do CP unless I absolutely feel the need - that is too time consuming, and likely not necessary unless everything is all over the place!

 

[ShireLass]

I can't help with charting, cus I never did it as I'm far too lazy but we used the standard days method to avoid pregnancy for maybe a year and a half.

My cycles go from 28 to 31 days. We only used condoms on cycle days 8 to 19, and nothing the rest of the time. You could be caught out if you ovulate late in the cycle still, but it worked for us.

 

[swanxxsong]

I love that book. as per my sig, I chart on TCOYF.com (and FF as well) and I personally love their chart setup more than anything else I've tried.

I actually started this cycle swearing I wouldn't even try to feel for my cervix changing, but finally decided to out of curiosity right around when I was sure I was about to ovulate and whoa! I did notice the difference in how it was higher and softer - though closed v open was not happening. my brain couldn't process how to determine that. I think really, from what I understand, you just get better with identifying it each cycle. as long as you're diligent with it, you'll slowly learn to better recognize your body's indications.

I felt, at first, that charting was 'too tedious' and such but personally, it's now part of my routine. my alarm goes off every morning at 6, I temp and return to bed unless I need to be up for work. I don't check my CP daily - I plan on checking it when I'm getting close to O, just to make sure it's moving. plus that only takes me ten seconds in the shower to check. and CM is easy enough to check too when I'm running to the bathroom. I've learned to just ask tons of questions and be diligent and I've gotten great results. I know exactly when I ovulated this cycle, I know I'm going to get my period today or tomorrow because my temp dropped.

But everyone's different - I'm a diligent charter who swears by it. Other people choose not to chart and it works for them. I'm just fascinated by it, so I do it. LOL. If you have questions, feel free to PM me here or on TCOYF (requiemfordreams there).

 

[anniepie]

Hi Ladies- thanks for the replies

I am not sure I will be of any help, but wanted to share that I have also read that book and think it is wonderful! I plan on using the FAM method when I come off the pill, mainly to avoid pregnancy until we are ready. What I have decided is that when I first come off, I will just use tempting, and possibly CM (if I remember). I will likely not add in the CM until I get used to tempting - one step at a time! From what I have read, I will not do CP unless I absolutely feel the need - that is too time consuming, and likely not necessary unless everything is all over the place!

I think, from what I have understood so far (but still a long way to go in the book) you need to do both temp and CM for it to be effective. CP is optional and just a way of confirming the other ways. Temping can only tell you when you have already OV'd, so you won't know if you're about to and therefore won't know if you're in your fertile period (esp important as sperm stay alive for 5 days in fertile CM). I figure the CM can't be too complicated once you get to recognise the different types and get to know what they mean!

I can't help with charting, cus I never did it as I'm far too lazy but we used the standard days method to avoid pregnancy for maybe a year and a half.

My cycles go from 28 to 31 days. We only used condoms on cycle days 8 to 19, and nothing the rest of the time. You could be caught out if you ovulate late in the cycle still, but it worked for us.

Wow- you've gone a year and a half using standard days without charting!? From what I've read in the book, even if you usually have "standard" cycles, it is very common to OV at different times in the cycle, and therefore would be fertile at different stages... apparently, this is why this method fails for so many women...

I love that book. as per my sig, I chart on TCOYF.com (and FF as well) and I personally love their chart setup more than anything else I've tried.

I actually started this cycle swearing I wouldn't even try to feel for my cervix changing, but finally decided to out of curiosity right around when I was sure I was about to ovulate and whoa! I did notice the difference in how it was higher and softer - though closed v open was not happening. my brain couldn't process how to determine that. I think really, from what I understand, you just get better with identifying it each cycle. as long as you're diligent with it, you'll slowly learn to better recognize your body's indications.

I felt, at first, that charting was 'too tedious' and such but personally, it's now part of my routine. my alarm goes off every morning at 6, I temp and return to bed unless I need to be up for work. I don't check my CP daily - I plan on checking it when I'm getting close to O, just to make sure it's moving. plus that only takes me ten seconds in the shower to check. and CM is easy enough to check too when I'm running to the bathroom. I've learned to just ask tons of questions and be diligent and I've gotten great results. I know exactly when I ovulated this cycle, I know I'm going to get my period today or tomorrow because my temp dropped.

But everyone's different - I'm a diligent charter who swears by it. Other people choose not to chart and it works for them. I'm just fascinated by it, so I do it. LOL. If you have questions, feel free to PM me here or on TCOYF (requiemfordreams there).

Thanks for this swanxxsong- it's really helpful, and I may well come calling on your BnB door for assistance!! I've signed up to FF so far, and have their ap on my iPhone, and their tutorial course on my iPhone. I've not checked out TCYOF yet, but will do. My FF is a little pointless ATM as I've not had a bleed since coming off. But I'm just keep to get going and practice recording these things. I don't see it as a big effort to quickly take my temp first thing, and just be observant with my CM- and as you say, CP only takes a moment in the shower. I like tracking things, and knowing what's going on like this, so like you, just fascination will carry me along! Even if I don't use it as contraception, I'm just interested...

I'm also a little unconvinced I'll EVER be able to determine the open vs closed cervix, but I guess some people can and I'll just get to see if I can or not. Hoping that, as you say, I'll get to know the CP as I go along- even though it's not necessary, I would still like to be able to do it!!

 

[xsadiex]

Just a word of warning...I was using Natural Family Planning but managed to get pregnant after ovulating two weeks early, so be careful!!! x

 

[anniepie]

Thanks! Did you chart temps and CM? Or where you just going with standard cycle times?

For me, if I use it as a contraception, it doesn't really matter if I fall pregnant earlier- I've put on my ticker end of year to TTC, though OH and I have really decided on after our hol in Maderia (4 months time), with the view it doesn't really matter if we fall before....

Chances are we'll probably just stick with condoms anyway for the next few months...

 

[Twag]

Hey Anniepie, as I have said before I chart my temp and CM and other observations as well like headache/backache/skin breakouts/pains etc through my cycle and they seem to match up month on month

I temping and checking CM I know my cycles on average 25 days with O being day 14 and lutel phase being 11 days this is my 5th cycle and now and other than 1 month (freaky month) they have been spot on

I love knowing what my body is doing and I take my temp when my alarm goes off before I get up and check CM when I go to the toilet in the day (sorry if TMI)

 

[anniepie]

When they say to take your temp at the same time each day- how close to the same time do people use? I usually (when alarm isn't set) wake within an hour or so of the time my alarm would go off midweek (6am)- wonder if a couple of hours really makes that much difference? Also, my girls often wake me an hour or so before I would normally wake, and they say you should have 3 hours continuous sleep before temping- again- do people adhere to this?

 

[Twag]

OK so my alarm goes off at the same time during the week and so I do my temp then! If I am awake half hour or so before then I don't think it makes a huge difference! at the weekend I take it when I wake up so not the same time as during the week but still when I have woken up and to be honest I do not think it has made a huge amount of difference to my results as my charts are still pretty similar month on month!

 

[anniepie]

Thanks hun! Not sure my OH would be too happy if I were to set my alarm for 6am at weekends and on hols just for my cycle charting!!

 

[xsadiex]

I was looking at CM and listening to my body mainly, I just had an anomoly in that cycle, I guess it was meant to be because I'm really happy about it all now
Hope all goes well for you! x

 

[anniepie]

I was looking at CM and listening to my body mainly, I just had an anomoly in that cycle, I guess it was meant to be because I'm really happy about it all now
Hope all goes well for you! x

Thanks- and congrats on the pregnancy!

 

[swanxxsong]

I set my alarm for the same time every day, to answer your question. Hubby is a sound sleeper, so he zonks right back (sometimes does not even hear it) on weekends. And weekdays too, for that matter, since I wake earlier than he does.

If I must, I temp and return to bed. But yeah. I didn't set my alarm once or twice and took my temp within an hour of normal and it wasn't off at all, or by much. So you should be good.

 

[MrsGruffalo]

I learnt to chart with the Creighton Model (which you have to learn from a trained tutor), which is a CM only form of charting. We've used that with no probs whatsoever, until my last cycle where things went a bit crazy.

We decided to try taking temps as well (for this cycle, to start off with- if it seems to help we'll stick with it, but I don't fancy a 7am alarm EVERY morning, so I'd prefer not to, but if it's better, I'll put up with it!)

Learning your CM can be tricky- other charts I've seen don't go into enough detail for me, whilst with Creighton you have different codes depending on [TMI warning] how it feels when you wipe, what it looks like and how stretchy it is (SOFT: Sensation, Observation, Finger Test!). It's actually quite fascinating. When I was learning it, my tutor got me to chart for a cycle as best I could with the coding info, then we went through my charts with the "illustrated dictionary" which had examples on, and helped me to refine my recognition. It was a pain at first, but I was lucky as I learnt it when I was only dating (and still a virgin)- had we learnt it after the wedding, we would have had to have a whole cycle with no sex in order to learn to observe it properly!

 

[puppymom]

I think, from what I have understood so far (but still a long way to go in the book) you need to do both temp and CM for it to be effective. CP is optional and just a way of confirming the other ways. Temping can only tell you when you have already OV'd, so you won't know if you're about to and therefore won't know if you're in your fertile period (esp important as sperm stay alive for 5 days in fertile CM). I figure the CM can't be too complicated once you get to recognise the different types and get to know what they mean!

You are right - I just meant that I plan on starting with tempting, to get the hang of it. We will use condoms the first month or two until my AF regulates. After that, I'll definitely add in the CM to determine when I ovulate... I suppose I should have explained that!

 

[puppymom]

Just a word of warning...I was using Natural Family Planning but managed to get pregnant after ovulating two weeks early, so be careful!!! x

This is a definite possibility, which is why it's so important to check CM when using it as a BC method, in addition to tempting. But of course, things can happen! When I get off BC, I will be using NFP, but at that time would not be upset if we became pregnant early.

 

[MrsGruffalo]

Just a word of warning...I was using Natural Family Planning but managed to get pregnant after ovulating two weeks early, so be careful!!! x

This is a definite possibility, which is why it's so important to check CM when using it as a BC method, in addition to tempting. But of course, things can happen! When I get off BC, I will be using NFP, but at that time would not be upset if we became pregnant early.

Yep, if you're using NFP to avoid pregnancy, you have to stop DTD when you get fertile CM, as fertile CM can keep sperm alive for 5 days. With my peak day (last day with fertile CM), we have to count three days before we can DTD again!

 

[puppymom]

Yep, if you're using NFP to avoid pregnancy, you have to stop DTD when you get fertile CM, as fertile CM can keep sperm alive for 5 days. With my peak day (last day with fertile CM), we have to count three days before we can DTD again!

Definitely what we'll be doing, with the addition of condoms when required!

 

[Twag]

At the moment we use condoms until I can see in my temps that I have ovulated and then we do not bother!
To be honest if we did get pregnant we would both be happy it isn't to my DH's plans but would not be the end of the world after all the only thing we are waiting for is for me to finish my exams so nothing disasterous!