What can charting my cycles tell me?

When I first started charting my cycles, the goal was to postpone pregnancy. (Yes you can actually quite accurately predict ovulation so as to postpone pregnancy.) The only problem was that as I charted my cycles, I began to see that they were long and there were patches of subfertile cervical fluid throughout these long cycles. Since we were only charting cervical fluid in the beginning, this made it very difficult to identify ovulation so as to prevent pregnancy at that time. I began seeing my doctor to find out what the issue was. We suspected PCOS, but I ended up pregnant-after I threw my chart in frustration and decided to do the deed anyway-so we could not complete testing. After our miscarriage, my doctor recommended adding basal body temp and even cervical position to my charts. After reading a few books and talking to my doctor I also added more subtle signs to my charts. Over the past month, I have become more and more serious about charting my cycles. Today this is the list of symptoms I watch and what a sample chart looks like for me (I use the Kindara app on my iPhone):

So what does all of this mean? Well, lets start with cervical fluid. There are different types of cervical fluid throughout your cycle. Your cycle always begins with your period or a withdrawal bleed. So the first week or so of your cycle, you will mark down how heavy your period is. A long heavy period can indicate low progesterone. Oftentimes your period is followed by a few dry days where there is no cervical fluid. If you are ovulating, your body then begins to produce increasingly wet cervical fluid until it reaches slippery egg-white fluid. This indicates ovulation and if you want to get pregnant you better take advantage of that good stuff. My first charted cycles had patches of wet, but not slippery fluid. This indicated that I was trying to ovulate, but it wasn't working. This is quite typical of PCOS. Finally after ovulation your body should go back to having dry days.

Basal body temperature cannot help us predict ovulation like cervical fluid can, but it can help us confirm that ovulation occurred. During the first part of your cycle, your temperature is relatively low. Somewhere in the 97* range is normal. After ovulation you see a rise in temperature and the temperature remains high until your period comes back around. If your temperature remains high for 18 or more days, it is highly likely that you are pregnant! If you do not see this temperature rise, it is likely you have had an anovulatory cycle. Finally, if you have a temperature that widely ranges throughout your cycle or a very low temperature, you may be looking at thyroid issues. My constant low body temperature made me quite suspicious that there was a problem with my thyroid. My doctor ran thyroid tests, and we found that I did indeed have a slightly low thyroid function.

Cervical position and the other symptoms listed help to identify/confirm ovulation as well, and when charted over many cycles might show a pattern that helps to identify other issues along the way. Isn't it amazing how knowing and watching your body can help you to identify potential problems or when to have sex to avoid or achieve pregnancy?

I use NFP. Do you?

It amazes me when I talk to women, especially those trying to conceive, that so few know how to chart their cycles. The amount of information we can gain from charting our cycles is amazing! (watch for a follow up blog post on this) Charting your cycles can tell you when to have sex so as to get pregnant or avoid getting pregnant. It can alert you to when there may be fertility or even thyroid issues. Why are young women not being taught the beauty of their fertility and how to watch that fertility work cycle to cycle? This makes me rather upset. I certainly wish that I knew these things sooner, but now that I know what I do, I really hope I can help out other ladies as they learn about their bodies.
So what does it mean to chart your cycles? What does it look like? How much time does it take? Charting your cycles consists of watching for signs of ovulation throughout your cycle. You only ovulate once a cycle, so you can identify which day you ovulated to avoid or achieve pregnancy. The most important sign to watch in order to identify ovulation is cervical fluid. When I first started charting, this was the only sign I used. I later added temping (taking basal body temperature immediately after waking) and cervical position. Some women also choose to chart more subtle signs or use ovulation predictor kits in addition to their charts.
In the beginning charting can be confusing, but it is so worth it. Like I said, when I first started charting, I was only watching my cervical fluid. This is fairly simple, if you have a regular cycle. Throughout your cycle your body goes from having no vaginal discharge to maybe sticky or creamy to a very slippery almost egg-white like discharge. This egg-white discharge is fertile cervical fluid. This may happen for one to three days, then your body will return to having very little discharge until you reach your period and the cycle begins again. Now if you have PCOS you might experience patches of fluid. You may notice that you are slightly wet throughout your whole cycle. Every person is different and it's important to remember that your chart will likely look different from your neighbors.
Since I have PCOS my cervical fluid was very hard to understand. I was advised by my doctor to begin taking my temperature every morning as soon as I woke up. This is called basal body temperature. If you are ovulating, your temperature will generally begin low and stay low until ovulation. Once you ovulate (slippery egg-white cervical mucus time) your temperature will rise by about a degree. This indicates that you did ovulate and is caused by the increase in progesterone after ovulation. If you are not ovulating you will not see this increase.
You can also chart your cervical position. This is still a fertility sign that I struggle with observing. In order to observe this sign, you need to squat in a similar position at the same time everyday, then insert a finger into your vagina to feel for your cervix. Your cervix will be either high, low, or medium and firm, soft, or medium. You also observe how open it is. If you have had children, it may always feel slightly open. If you choose to chart this sign, you may want to check out the Beautiful Cervix Project at beautifulcervix.com
This is just the basics of charting your cycles. There are many other signs and signals that I will talk about in following blogs, but in the meantime if you want to learn more about charting your cycles I recommend you read the book Taking Charge of your Fertility by Toni Weschler. You can also look into taking NFP classes through your local Catholic diocese or checking out these websites: www.boma-usa.org or www.ccli.org
Know your body. Love your body. Serve your body.
Blessings!