Two weeks is such a short time in our busy lives. In reality, it is. We can accomplish a lot in 2 weeks. That's two weekends to enjoy. 10 days of work. But when you are waiting for those two weeks to end so you can pee on a stick, they are LOOOONNNGGGG!
Charting makes the Two Week Wait (TWW) better and worse at the same time. Every day I get another high temperature after ovulation, I do a little skip for joy. Another day closer. It also makes it worse. You have an exact date of when you can test and when you are "late". When you know what day past ovulation you are, it makes the weeks longer. Plus you are used to charting all your symptoms. The worst part is that PMS and pregnancy share a lot of the same signs. Frustrating!
The new home pregnancy tests say you can test up to 4 days before your expected period. I know exactly when that is! But do you really want to spend $20+ on a test that may/may not give you an accurate result, when a missed period will tell you pretty much everything you need to know? I thought so last cycle. Husband thought it was too early, and it was.
We ended up not conceiving last cycle, and that's ok. God's timing wasn't right for us. There was a lot going on stress wise and I'm not surprised it didn't happen. Sad at seeing a Big Fat Negative (BFN) but also felt a little relief that we get to try again. This time is special and bringing us closer together as a couple.
Having been the crazy TWW lady that analysed every single "symptom" and used up 3 home pregnancy tests, I feel like this time around I'm more relaxed. I have faith that it will either happen, or won't. Either way, it's the divine plan.
Does me being more relaxed mean I won't pee on a stick at 12 days past ovulation? Likely not. Who wouldn't want to know as early as possible? Thank you dollar store for having cheap pink dye tests.
Showing posts with label charting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charting. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Natural Family Planning - To avoid and to conceive
I've been charting for 30 cycles. We started charting because after 10 years on the birth control pill, I and my husband (Frenchie) were thinking I'd gone crazy. The pill is supposed to level your moods, help with acne, and keep your period coming every 28 or so days. So what happens when your moods go all over, you breakout consistently and you're getting more than one period in 28 days? You start looking for alternatives.
My Dr had put me on 3 different pills in the 2 years I was having trouble. Every 4 months or so we would change to another one because of side effects, or there being no improvement. Finally, my husband (fiancé at the time) said enough. He said get off the pills, we'll figure something out.
I turned to Natural Family Planning (NFP) as our alternative. I was tired of stopping my body from doing what it was meant to do. I wanted to stop putting fake hormones in my body and allow it to rest and return to it's natural state. I read the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility front to back. We took the plunge and started charting to avoid pregnancy. We did two months on our own, and then went to a teaching couple I found through Serena Alberta.
The couple was amazing. A husband and wife team taught us everything we needed to know to avoid pregnancy, and how to, when the time came, switch to trying to conceive. The thing I loved was that the husband of the pair of them talked directly to mine. He was adamant that Frenchie learn all the rules and how to read my charts just as well as me. I didn't want to be the "gate keeper" so he needed to know by looking at my chart when we could and couldn't do the deed.
We successfully avoided getting pregnant for almost 3 years. It wasn't hard to do, and although at times it was frustrating, it's a wonderful way to be on the same page. You learn to be more intimate with each other in more ways and enjoy the "honeymoon" phase every cycle.
Fast forward to now. We have now flipped our charts to try and conceive. All those times we avoided, we now look forward to.
I have learned a lot about my cycles and about me as a person. I have learned how stress affects me, that not everyone is an "ovulation at 14 days and period at 28" person. I have learned to see how my cycles change with certain times of life and able to figure out when something isn't quite right. I am so thankful we switched to NFP and I can't see us ever doing anything else.
My Dr had put me on 3 different pills in the 2 years I was having trouble. Every 4 months or so we would change to another one because of side effects, or there being no improvement. Finally, my husband (fiancé at the time) said enough. He said get off the pills, we'll figure something out.
I turned to Natural Family Planning (NFP) as our alternative. I was tired of stopping my body from doing what it was meant to do. I wanted to stop putting fake hormones in my body and allow it to rest and return to it's natural state. I read the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility front to back. We took the plunge and started charting to avoid pregnancy. We did two months on our own, and then went to a teaching couple I found through Serena Alberta.
The couple was amazing. A husband and wife team taught us everything we needed to know to avoid pregnancy, and how to, when the time came, switch to trying to conceive. The thing I loved was that the husband of the pair of them talked directly to mine. He was adamant that Frenchie learn all the rules and how to read my charts just as well as me. I didn't want to be the "gate keeper" so he needed to know by looking at my chart when we could and couldn't do the deed.
We successfully avoided getting pregnant for almost 3 years. It wasn't hard to do, and although at times it was frustrating, it's a wonderful way to be on the same page. You learn to be more intimate with each other in more ways and enjoy the "honeymoon" phase every cycle.
Fast forward to now. We have now flipped our charts to try and conceive. All those times we avoided, we now look forward to.
I have learned a lot about my cycles and about me as a person. I have learned how stress affects me, that not everyone is an "ovulation at 14 days and period at 28" person. I have learned to see how my cycles change with certain times of life and able to figure out when something isn't quite right. I am so thankful we switched to NFP and I can't see us ever doing anything else.
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