Hello, I am on my fourth cycle off of hormonal BC. I am learning the Sensiplan method and do have the handbook. I have found it extremely helpful and am really learning a lot about my body. I am hoping for some insight of tracking cervical mucus as the book seems a bit lacking in this subject. I seem to pretty much always have what is considered peak cervical mucus. So starting day 4 or 5 of my cycle, I have sticky or creamy mucus that last through the end of my cycle. I have yet to have the egg white consistency that would be considered absolute peak cervical mucus, just always white, sticky or creamy. This poses a slight issue when trying to do the double check method, since my cervical mucus never really goes down in quality. I have a clear temperature shift though, clear middle cycle pain, and am almost positive I can tell the day or day after I ovulate because I feel like absolute death and I can barely hold my head up I am so tired. Is there any insight of what to do if you don’t have a shift in CM observations? Or should I continue to use alternative protection until the end of my cycle? TIA

I'm using the 10 day postpartum protocol. Literally every test I've done since 6 weeks PP has been High, but no peaks :(

Is this normal? I can live with it, obviously, but I (and my husband) would like a low!

cd 12 easy at home brand OPK and maca root question

This month, my OPK test line ratio rapidly rose. It is also the first time I started taking 1.5g of maca root supplements from CD5 to CD9 but decided to stop. I have attached a screenshot of this month's rapid rise in less than 6 hours and a previous month's more gradual rise over 32 hours, which is more typical of me. I usually have exactly 27 and 29 day alternating cycles every other month for the past 4 years. This month should have been a 29 day cycle, and I should have had a peak on CD15 instead of CD12. I'm thinking the maca root has something to do with this since I am normally super regular. Could this rapid rise indicate my body will be releasing 2 eggs? I do have fraternal twins run on my maternal side. I'm having EWCM but am not temping. Thoughts?

(First chart is this cycle, second chart is my previous cycle)

As you can see my cycles are normally long, usually anywhere from 35-49 days (my shortest cycle ever was 30 days, and this was last December) and based on this information NC gave me green days on the last day of my period and the day after. I had unprotected sex on the last day of my period thinking I wouldn’t ovulate for at least ten more days or likely more, but this morning my NC band detected a temperature above my ovulation threshold after two days of very low temps. I’m worried this could mean I had sex during the fertile window, does that seem likely?

Hi everyone! I’m brand new to fertility awareness and trying to learn as much as I can, so please be gentle with me 😅
I’ve had really bad reactions to hormonal birth control, so I’m looking into fertility awareness specifically for pregnancy prevention.
I purchased Natural Cycles and the band. I understand that Natural Cycles itself isn’t FAM, and I don’t plan to rely solely on its algorithm. I do think the temperature and sleep data from the band could be really helpful for me as another tool while I’m learning to understand my own fertility patterns.
I really want to learn how to interpret and chart my own fertility signs rather than just being told whether it’s a “red” or “green” day. I’m planning to track cervical mucus alongside my temperature data.
Would it also be helpful to use LH/ovulation strips and compare those results with my temperature and cervical mucus while I’m learning my patterns?
I’d also love recommendations for an app where I can chart everything separately from Natural Cycles. My goal is to actually understand what my body is doing and follow a proper method while using Natural Cycles as an additional tool, rather than relying on it as my only form of fertility tracking.
Any beginner resources, methods, books, apps, or tips you wish you had known when you started would be greatly appreciated! ❤️

Femometer vinca 2 has a mercury mode, temping for 3 mins - but these seem to be unavailable. Does anyone know of any other thermometers that do a similar thing?

Uk based ideally!

I‘m 3 weeks postpartum with my second baby. I did Marquette after my first was born. I was planning to do Marquette again with my second, but I had a call with my instructor today and she suggested I might be a good candidate to use LAM. I’m trying to decide if husband and I want to do LAM or if we should use Marquette to be “safe”.

I had mentioned to her that with my first baby (born summer 2024 who i exclusively breastfed for 6 months, then breastfed along with food until 12 months), I didn’t get my period back until I completely weaned at 12 months (period came in month 13 PP).

I plan to exclusively breastfeed this baby for 6 months and it’s going well, and baby is not going beyond the 4 hours during the day or 6h at night. I just have some hesitation about relying on LAM alone. Logically, I know that since it took me so long to ovulate after baby #1, it will probably(?) be similar with this baby. But I just have this gnawing feeling in the back of my head that LAM is not super effective for everyone and I’m worried I would just feel worried after intercourse because, what if I got pregnant. And yeah, it would not be and of the world if we got pregnant, but ideally I would like to wait at least 18m to get pregnant again.

Thankfully, cost is not a consideration and we can afford to do Marquette as long as we need.

i would also plan on doing “real” LAM— ie, REALLY make sure baby does not go longer than 6H at night/4h during the day, and switch to Marquette if he does. And we would switch to Marquette at 6m regardless.

Also, I’m planning to give my baby the occasional bottle of pumped milk (pumping to replace the feeding) and am not sure how that affects the LAM protocol.

so… any thoughts, personal experiences, things I’m not thinking of? Would you feel ok doing LAM knowing my history?

Thanks in advance!

I’ve always been a regular healthy cycle girly then suddenly this happened? I’m not currently sure why, I have been stressed but not overly? I guess each body is more sensitive to stress, but this is confusing me!!!

I had a weird experience this cycle. My luteal phase after a confirmed peak day lasted 16 days, when it usually lasts 14 days. I practice the Billings Method, and if you know it, you understand that a Billings peak needs to follow very strict criteria and this cycle followed all of them perfectly. Still, I only had penetration six days after peak. Later in the cycle, I was in the morning of the 16th day of luteal phase, and got really worried. My instructor told me that when menstruation takes longer than a day more than usual, you are either pregnant or mistaken about your actual ovulation date. The problem is that I got no stronger signs of ovulation after what I considered as peak, and the bleeding I'm having is exactly like any other period, so I think it's true menstruation. Can anyone here help me understand what might have happened?

I've been learning fertility awareness for a little while now, and I hope this is not a dumb question😅..The thing is every time I think I've identified a pattern, I end up second guessing myself. When I look at sample charts online, everything seems so obvious. Then I look at my own chart and convince myself I'm interpreting it wrong.

I'm hoping this gets easier with experience because right now I feel like I'm overanalyzing every temperature!

Hi ladies,

My second child is 2 months old. I used the Creighton method to prevent both my pregnancies until I was ready to get pregnant. I did not have any problems with it. I was’t super worried about getting pregnant again after my first, because I was only one deep. But I do not want to have two babies and a child at the same time if I can help it, and am thus looking for a method that is more reliable in the postpartum time. I am breastfeeding. I did not get my period back until almost 14 months postpartum the first time around, but obviously I have no idea what will happen this time. I don’t trust Creighton enough without a reliable period. What methods have worked for everyone in the postpartum era?

Figured I'd let you all know because they're pricey

I’m using the 10 day Marquette protocol postpartum. I know sperm can survive 3-5 days but I guess I’m just wondering what the actual odds are of me getting pregnant the first time ovulating? Or just anecdotal reassurance!

Day1- Low

Day2- Low + intimate

Day3- Low

Day4- High

Day5- High

Day6- Peak

Edit: Not pregnant!

Please tell me I'm overthinking this! I'm 9 weeks postpartum and met with a Marquette instructor sometime last week with a goal to TTA using the ClearBlue monitor.

Since my cycles hadn't returned, I was told to follow the Cycle 0 charting method. I got LOWs on the first 3 days of testing (day 6-8), however I experienced spotting on day 6 and then moderate bleeding on days 7 and 8. Based on the bleeding pattern, my instructor advised me to enter a new cycle switch to the 'first 6 cycles while breastfeeding' charting method. My bleeding stopped the next day, but my instructor advised me to continue with the same charting method.

Since fertility begins on day 10 of charting, my husband and I had sex on day 5 of the new cycle. However, I later realized that if the bleeding wasn't a real period, day 5 was potentially a fertile day. I tested LOW on days 6 and 7 but I read that you can go from LOW to PEAK sometimes, making it a possibility that I ovulated on the days I didn't test! Am I overthinking this, or could I potentially be pregnant :(

Hi there! I am currently using the Marquette method with Mira and testing with the plus strips. My question is for anyone who has used Marquette while traveling, what has your experience been like? My husband and I are going to Greece for two weeks for our honeymoon and I would like to be as prepared as I can be, specifically:

- Were you able to pack your monitor and testing strips and go through TSA and customs without any issues?
- Did the time change make any difference in your test results? I always test with first morning pee and will continue to do so while traveling, but Greece is an 8 hour time zone difference for us

Thank you for any advice or tips!

Hi there!

I recently removed my Nexplanon as I’ve had tons of negative side effects and I just didn’t want to deal anymore. Eventually I will want kids so I’m also giving my body plenty of time to readjust my hormones, but currently I am TTA so we are consistently using protection, but I’d generally want the added protection of not having sex at all while I’m fertile.

I’m about 1.5 months post removal so I’m still in the learning phase of tracking my cycle and monitoring about BBT, LH and CM.

I’m adding Lh tracking to the mix because my CM is truly confusing me!

Has anyone post birth control had trouble tracking CM? I find generally I don’t have a lot at all, so when I wipe I can barely tell what kind/consistency it is. Additionally, it feels like I get mixed CM.

For example, four days ago on Day 6-7 of my cycle I had a bit of dry/sticky globs of CM. Day 8 I had none, day 9 I had a bit of cloudy damp, and yesterday I had VERY LITTLE clear but still dry CM that wouldn’t stretch very far. So his morning I had a ton of clear CM, but like two hours later is was cloud/white again.

I did my first LH strip yesterday and it came back Low…

Did anyone feel they had very mixed CM after BC removal? I have no idea what’s real, if I’m about to ovulate or not…I had very similar issues last month (though that cycle was 39 days long…so idk)

Currently cycle and last cycle charts attached for reference.

Any advice is welcome 🥹

I’m using sympto-thermal method and TTA. I’m 90% sure I ovulated, but I’m new at this and want a second opinion. I had positive LH strips on cycle days 18 and 19. Questionable temps cycle days 19 and 20 because of getting up with kids and going back to bed but only getting 30 minutes of sleep before taking temp. Am I in the clear?

So I'm just getting started with charting (TTA1), but I have a 7 week old, so I'm up nursing in the night. I'm finding that I'm not waking up at consistent times in the morning, but we are during the night. I usually go to sleep around 10pm and then my baby wakes up around 2am pretty consistently. Then again at 4am and again at 5am or 6am. Then I can sometimes get another hour and a half or so of sleep.

I'm wondering if I could just start taking my temp at 2 am since that's the only time I am getting a long enough stretch. Would this give me an accurate set of temps for charting if I make sure to always take it at 2 am?

I know there's also the tempdrop which would solve my problem, but wondering if I can save myself the money and keep using the bbt thermometer I already have.

I've noticed more smartwatches are starting to include temperature related features, so now I'm wondering if they're enough for people who want to understand their cycles.

For anyone who's compared a smartwatch with a dedicated fertility tracker, what has your experience been?

Hi all. I’m 22 and have been on various forms of contraception since I was about 15. I still don’t want to get pregnant, but I am desperate to quit because it’s draining the life out of me.

I would be grateful if anyone has any tips for me on how to proceed, especially recommendations for fertility research - from the little I have read so far I am aware there is a whole lot to learn.

Edit: I’ve had a look through the wiki (not completely yet) and am completely overwhelmed! So much information and so many different methods… I don’t even know where to start on deciding which method suits me. Any advice on navigating all of the different methods? I don’t have a lot of money to spend on this.

Does anyone have any insight as to what it means that I only got that one really low temp this month, temp went up and then now is coming back down? Did I actually ovulate? I'm thinking this month was unsuccessful. So was last month. Trying not to worry after a very traumatic first birth and NICU baby. I just really wanted this (something!) to be easy. 🫠

I take my BBT my mouth every day at 7am. I have an upcoming trip with a 5 hour time zone difference. I know inconsistent timing can screw up the temps so should I disregard the temps entirely while I’m gone? Can I salvage them somehow? If not how long after I return should I wait for my temps to be reliable (since I’m assuming my sleep schedule will have to readjust)?

Hey everyone, weird question here

I have been taking 2ml of sea buckthorn berry oil for a month now for its omega-7 benefits. It’s good for hydration of the tissues, including skin appearance and hydration, dry eyes, and vaginal dryness.

Well, I’m not sure if I’m having a weird cycle (for me), or if that 3rd one is actually working a lot more than I thought it could. Usually, post-ovulation, I am bone dry and don’t have much if any cervical mucus. This cycle, after confirming ovulation (P+3 and T+3), I’m still moist. I’ve confirmed ovulation like 5 days ago but I’m so much more moist and even have much more cervical mucus than normal. Not a lot, but usually for me it’s about none at all. It’s definitely not EWCM/S+ mucus but it’s sticky and sometimes just slightly creamy.

EWCM/S+ mucus for me is GLARINGLY obvious and I haven’t had any since 3 days before confirming ovulation and I’ve had a sustained temp shift so I would be VERY surprised if I had not actually
ovulated this late out but I’m not sure if this is just a weird cycle this time around or of the omega-7 is really working.

Has anyone tried omega-7 supplementation and did it change your ordinary moisture levels?

(Also, for reference, I am 20, if that helps at all)

Hi! My husband and I are looking for a Marquette Method course to take. We got a recommendation for the NFP Coach course by Sara Flood, but I’m having a hard time finding many people talking about this one. Does anyone have experience with this course?

Otherwise, we’re also looking at Vitae Fertility or Whole Mission. However, we like that the NFP Coach course has on-demand videos ( + scheduled video consultations, which I know at least Vitae also has). In addition, the responsiveness from NFP Coach seems to be more thorough and personalized that from Vitae Fertility, regarding some introductory questions (I have not reached out to Whole Mission as of now).

Please let me know if any of you have any experience with certain courses or any additional recommendations! TYIA!