Charter's Anonymous

[LittleSilver]

I thought I'd start a thread for all of us who worship at the shrine of Toni Weschler, spend whole seconds analysing cervical mucus, slip over in the shower checking cervical position and spend two minutes every morning flicking their heads from side to side in a valiant attempt to stop a baby pulling the thermometer out of their mouths. Ladies, this thread is for all of us, may it see many many BFPs!

I'm in! x

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Hi ladies, how long is your cycle usually lucy ? Cycles can vary in length but the number of days between ov and af stays the same (usually 12 - 16) so it's recommended that you count back 16 days at most from the day af is due rather than forward from CD1 IYSWIM. Does that make any sense?!

I too think this month has been anovulatory so here's to a 2011 baby for us all!

This cycle I would've been due on on the 5th or 6th so I'll just have to see. My charting isn't as reliable either, we've had loads of disturbances with DS1 suddenly becoming a 4.30am riser, not to mention the clocks going forward! I'm a CM checker too but haven't got the guts to start looking for my cervix! xx

I'm in - and admit to being obsessive. I'm currently on CD32 - 12DPO. This is down from a 50day cycle, without ovulation...

hope this doesn't come across as too forward - but i would encourage you to just 'dive in' and check your cervix! I find CM so much easier to interpret when I do this.

meggles how long did it take until you were confident in assessing your cervix? I have been doing it for about two weeks now and because I have a multips os find it really tricky to work out whether my os is open more than usual or not.

I'll join! Very new to all this. I'm on my first cycle after the pill and will be TTC from my next cycle onwards. At the moment I'm just trying to learn what my fertile CM looks like, what my temp chart looks like, how long my cycle/luteal phase might be etc.

Am I right in thinking that fertile CM is clear? I know it's stretchy. But how far should you be able to stretch it between your thumb and finger? Today's was about 1cm and kind of both whitish and clearish ... is that good?!

Decafgirl I too am scared of my cervix. I did poke around when I was in the bath but couldn't find it. Maybe standing up would be more sensible... (though as LittleSilver points out, shower acrobatics can be hazardous!)

tea, TCOYF has a nauseating interesting photo of approx 8 inches of CM dangling off a sheet of paper! TMI coming up...the night I conceived dd2 I had ewcm about 4 inches! Sorry everyone, hope you had finished your supper.

Yes, I think it's meant to be clear but you can also get creamy CM mixed with ewcm iyswim, which can confuse matters.

Well, back to cervixes...that's not right is it? Cervices? Anyway, plural of cervix, I shecked my CP this afternoon and by golly gosh it had moved into what I think may be SHOW position, certainly my os feels a about three foot wide. Just need to see if my temp obliges, I am CD14 now and last month (1st cycle post baby 3) Ov'd on CD18. Must keep reminding myself not to assume will do again this month as I have conceived on cd14 before.

my God that is a hideous mental image... 8 inches you say!

By the sounds of things LittleSilver you ought to grab hold of your DH

So is Toni's book good then? If you've already scoured most of Fertility Friend, is there much else in her book to make it worth getting?

Yes I would def recommend it (Amazon Marketplace natch!) Not for the photographic section though. It kind of fills in a lot of the detail that will help you. Are you on TCOYF charting as well? The forums there are quite helpful, full of people similarly anal detail-orientated.

tea DH has just demanded to see my chart and just sat there and sniggered at it. Hmph!

I'm not. I figured sharing details of my CM on Mnet was quite enough sharing for now! I might take a look in a while though.

so is he sniggering because of all the painstaking effort and care you've put in, or because he's got a inkling of what it means for his week?!

tis a shame they can't be more involved really, but his temperature/wee on a stick is no use at all. It can feel like a bit of a responsibility to remember to check everything & try to get it right

Ah, no, you see Toni Weschler tells a charming little anecdote about the couple where the DH puts thermom in DW mouth, takes it out, records it, details her CM etc etc. Think it might be a while for me to wait for DH to do that for me. He's sniggering because he's just had it explained to him how I assess the SHOW position. .

And without wishing to distress you further, last week someone uploaded her CM photos so that people could judge whether it was creamy of ew. I nearly fell over.

You see this is where I get a bit at the whole charting thing...

Surely if you thought it might be EWCM you would just have sex to be on the safe side, no? And not photograph it, disinfect the camera, and put it on the net for the world to see! It's not like sex is something that you want to do the bare minimum of is it?

though maybe that's not entirely in the spirit of this thread...

little silver - it took about a cycle for me to get 'confident' in assessing cervical position - i still can't assess opening or texture at all. i check at the same time every day, in the same position, and use my knuckles as a guide. ie- how far i 'go' in depends on L, M or high (again - sorry if TMI) (on second thought, this is all TMI)

my DH couldn't care less about my chart - i have explained it to him several times - to no avail. oh well.

Ladies - after several months of just using guess work, I have decided to take the plunge and begin charting my "vital" stats.

Can you reccommend any particular sites - I havent got a clue where to start.

Get your good self onto amazon and buy Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It'll tell you everything you need to know. While you're waiting for the post man, pop down to boots and pick up a fertility diary (full of charts) and thermometer; they're in a little box for about £12. Then post all on here to keep us updated! Good luck! xx

IfAtFirst I started with Fertility Friend's videos which give a nice overview.

Then this site gave a load more detail.

LittleSilver recommended the book Taking Charge of your fertility by Toni Weschler.

meggles I wouldn't worry about TMI here... unless of course you're tempted to take a pic of your CM for us. That's TMI!

decafgirl I've actually got boots' thermometer & fertilty diary sat right next to me after purchasing it today!!

spilttheteaagain I'll have a look over those sites. Cheers

tea, great site, have bookmarked it

Ah, I love my little book, when will you start charting IfatFirst ? xx

I'm not sure, have just had an early MC so not sure when AF is due - hoping she'll show her ugly face soon!

Ah right, probably best to wait for CD1 to start then and at least you'll know where you're at. Hope you're recovering ok hon xx

Has anyone noticed their temperatures are weird since the clocks went forward? Mine are all over the place at the mo...prob due to anovulation but desperately hoping it's due to lots of disturbed nights (DS1) and the clocks....anyone?! xxx

ooh decaf interesting point about the clocks. I wondered why I was so unstable suddenly

IfAtFirst - really sorry to hear about your MC. How many weeks were you?

only 5 and a half weeks but as we had been trying for so long, got really (understandibly) excited.
Desperate now to start again, and it's so frustrating not knowing when we can