Can someone please talk to me about Fertility Awareness Method

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

I've just read a brief article about it in a book of lentil weavery and am intreagued.

Just got periods back after dc1. He is a honeymoon baby, scored first time, but not anticipating being this lucky again.

Hoping to start trying to concieve in the new year and would like a clue as to when I'm fertile!

ANy one have any info/experiences/signposts?

Hi,

What was the book? I read about it in Taking Charge of Your Fertility, which I was relieved to find wasnt at all knit-your-own-lentils and got sold on the idea immediately. I have been temping for a few months now and love it, it is very empowering and helped me to identify a major fertility problem that I am now getting treatment for.

I have to say, the whole thing is a lot easier if you plug all your data into www.fertilityfriend.com it does all the calculations for you so you dont have to scratch your head too much reading your charts. You can also post charts on here and get other peoples opinions.

There is a great thread called Charters Anonymous that is full of expert opinions If you have a look at someone else's chart and then sign up to FF both you and they get a bonus of 5 free VIP days.

I go on mymonthlycycles.com to track periods, it has a link to a site called whenmybaby.com. It looks at your cycle lengths, you can add your temps if you want to and it predicts when you will be fertile and suggests your ttc days.

I have just started using the CBFM and actually, I think this will be much easier for me.

If you read up on all the fertility awareness, you will learn all about identifying the signs, such as cervical mucus, so that you will be more in tune with what your body is doing.

Some posters also say there are iPhone apps for tracking your period and fertility - might be worth a go.

Hi MummyAbroad and Kat

Mummy abroad the book is a selection of articles form The Mother Magazine called Stretch Marks (and is the last word in lentil weaving imho ). It mentions the taking charge of your fertility book so I'll look in to that thanks. It's very interesting to hear that you have found it so usefull and empowering. I can definatly empathise with the empowering bit, this is something I'm hoping for.

I'll have alook at the fertility friend site.

Kat what is CBFM? (I don't normally hang out on these threads and you all have a complete other language!)

Isn't tracking the dates wihtout the other info more like rythme method?

Sorry for all the questions and thank youu for your responses!

I bought the book, recorded my waking temperature and conceived second month.

I would say though that I picked out about 5 pages from the book (am lazy) and used a photocopy of the charts at the back. The other thousand or so pages I didn't need.

Hi moonface,

I definitely recommend TCOYF, its the clearest easiest to understand explanation of FAM I have seen. Yama has a point, you dont even need to read it all if all goes well (a lot of it is about preventing pregnancy) but in my case I ended up discovering a problem and it became a bible for me. I think I can quote it verbatim now . Fertilityfriend also has a Fertility Course, its about 20 classes that you get sent to your email. Very informative but a bit dry and sciency - there is a test at the end of each one!

I thought about getting a Clear Blue Fertility Monitor (CBFM) for a while but didnt and I am quite happy that I didnt. After a bit of research I can see these differences:

CBFM is very expensive. It analyses two hormones in your urine estrogen and LH, and tells you when you are at high fertility (there is estrogen present) and peak fertility (it detected the LH surge) It also records your cycle lengths and uses those to make predictions.

FertilityFriend: Is free. It has similar software but records more info. It also uses your cycles lengths, plus temperatures and if you use them OPK information (ovulation predictor kits, a.k.a wee sticks ) plus, if you do it, data about EGCM and cervical position and texture. It also records your SWI (shagging) efforts and tells you how good your timing was compared to ovulation.

As temperatures and EGCM are primary fertility signs, I think FF info is much more reliable. FF also lets you change the settings so you can use different software, there are about 4 settings I think, one is the same that is used in CBFM, others include the lastest word in FAM technology.

If you want to do OPK's I strongly recommend you get the cheap ones from Amazon (25 for 5 pounds) and do two a day until you detect the surge, also bear in mind that there is a dangerous trap with OPK's and CBFM - if you get a surge/high you are very likely to SWI all the time for a few days, get knackered and then stop (CBFM especially likely to keep you going for a week or so until you get a peak) but the urine tests are no guarantee that you actually have ovulated, so you may well be stopping too early (temps will help you know when to stop)

I think there is nothing wrong with CBFM if you take it for what it is, a fancy OPK and period tracking machine, but FAM is about putting ALL the available info together so that you can make really reliable predictions and conclusions about what is going on with your fertility, and CBFM is not measuring all the signs and certainly not the primary ones.

Right, I have almost written a post as big as TCOYF so better stop now

sorry EGCM= egg white cervical mucas - your most fertile cervical fluid.

Thank you so much for that info and advice MummyAbroad! Very kind of you!

I have signed up to ff and think that will do me well for now as I try to get a hang of it. DS bf and 9m means I rarely wake up at the same time (let a lone after 3hours of sleep! Ha! ) but as it say's I'll do my best.

I'm going to try the library for the book as we are skint.

I don't think I will bother with the opk for now as I'm just starting early to get my head round it all in time. Also a I'm bf to be sure that I am ovulating!

Thank you again for youur help

second TCOYF its brill..... :)

I've got TGOYF and agree it is very easy to read and understand.

To TCOYF fans, I'm looking for all the signs but have not been taking temps. I was figuring that temp shows you once ovulation has occured so I should concentrate on the other fertility signs BUT now I am finding it difficult to do that. I've been doing a lot of travelling with work and this month I did have EWCM but it hasn't dried up or peaked I don't think (still wet but not EWCM) and taking my temperature would tell me if I had ovulated or not or if it was delayed so I should probably just buy one...

Hmmmm. What say you guys?

HI Folicacid,

Yes, I think you should give it a go. I was hesitant at first because obviously like you I just wanted to focus on the prediction side of things, BUT it is really useful to know when you have ovulated after the event. For one thing you can take a break from the SWI before you exhaust yourself and DH! Also you know when to expect AF/BFP so the two week wait is (slightly) less stressful. Over a few months if you find you have regular cycles you may be able to predict when the temp rise will come too based on previous cycles.

I find that identifying ov is still about using more than one piece of evidence, the more clues you have the easier it is to spot.

xxxx

PS my two year old wakes me in the night too, I take temps at different times and find it doesnt matter as long as I have had 3+ hours sleep and it is the very first thing I do.

Mummy in England

Thanks for the reply. I think another reason why I have resisted temp taking is that I don't want to freak my husband out. I think nhe already feel a pressure ( that isn't rea,lly there) and temp taking would take it to a while new level. Did you find that it made things feel a little more 'official'?

xx

whole new level obviously! it's late!

Hi,

(by the way, I am MummyAbroad, just on my travels at the mo!)

Er, yeah the whole thing freaked DH out including the size of the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility and me quoting it at him several times a day

I did kind of get a free pass for having been through a miscarriage and lots of nasty complications afterwards, but its amazing how totally clueless men can be on the effect this has on a woman. He basically thought I would be over it in a few weeks and all this temp taking stuff was just "obssessing" HOWEVER after a while he realised that I was really sad and frustrated and this was genuinely a way to give me back a sense of control over what is going on with my body (it really does) and he started to get more involved. I pointed out some of the advantages, (when you have had the rise, pressure is off and you can stop shagging and rest have sex for fun instead of feeling the pressure the whole month, and that it is obviously going to increase our chances and that long term TTC with no success puts a greater strain on the relationship. It is important to get your DH on board with this one (you cant hide a beeping themometer at 6am!) from having spoken to other ladies, its seems a lot of DH's are reluctant at first, but eventually warm up to the idea!

If you dont want to do temping, you could also try checking your cervix (in my opinion, this is one step up from temping on the obsession ladder - you have to be brave!) This might help you know when ov has happened but is not as accurate as temping.

good luck xxx

Hi MoonFaceMamaaaaargh, as others have said, come over the Charter's Anonymous thread where TCOYF is our TTC bible here

Mummy Abroad/ England holiday,

I read my tgoyf book but it has never been mentioned to DH, and he has never asked. ( even though it is read in the bed and sits on my side)

I'm trying to go for the chilled out approach which is not working due to his shifts at work. I think we need to be more concerted about it but am too scared to instigate this. When I did before he coulnd't get it up ( sorry if TMI) therefore I'm thinking no temping. Hmmmmm.

maybe if I could get a non bleepy one I could!

Its definitely a fine line to tread between wanting to be more proactive about TTC and not making the whole thing so mechanical that neither you nor your DH feel turned on anymore! (we have all been there) There is a lot to be said for paying a bit more attention to the romance aspect too - try and think about what you can do to revive the passion again. I am sure your DH will not mind bleeping at any time of night as long as your relationship is rock solid and you both are happy in bed.

Have to admit to secretly taking temp with glass thermometer It can be done!

I'm a huge fan of FAM and fertilityfriend. I also 2nd the Charters Anonymous board, they're a lovely bunch.

I have irregular length cycles 30-40 days (ttc for 18mths and found out I have small fibroids) so it helped me understand exactly when I was OVing. After 5mths temping I got the long-awaited BFP!