By the numbers
Months ago, I blogged about how the church was encouraging newly-married Catholics — like me and Darling Husband — to track fertility.
The idea is that by … um … daily hoo-ha inspection and recording, you can figure out the “safe” times to have sex (if you don’t want kids yet), and the “good” times to have sex (if you are trying to conceive).
Darling Husband dismissed the “scientifically-proven” method as total crap. I was sucked into it at first, but had to agree that it could not qualify as birth control. So we Trojan-ed it up until we were in the clear.
However, learning about cycle tracking was helpful — even if we’re not going to trust it as birth control. I started tracking when I went off the pill in February, so that when we began trying to conceive, I would know which days were “good.”
Enter my handy-dandy calendar …
I started by making a red mark on my FDLP — first day of my period. That would officially be “Day 1.”
Then I would use smaller markers to track how long it lasted. Although, unless you are doing the try-this-as-birth-control junk, I don’t think you need to track that …
Then it’s all smooth sailing, until you are almost two weeks past the FDLP, when you start to get that … you know, slippy sensation …
Without getting too graphic — or have I already? — you make a bright blue mark on the day you suspect you are ovulating (egg whites … I’m not saying more). And continue to mark the couple of days after that, because you also have a chance to conceive then.So blue dots = lots of action. Got that?
The next mark you make is another bright red (or pink) one on the first day of your next period — about four weeks after the first day of your last one. Everyone’s different, but these days are usually 28-30 days apart. This is the next official “Day 1.”
You can continue to mark the days of your period, if you feel like it.
Now that you know how long your cycle is, you can make a little pink-and-blue mark about five days before your FDLP. This mark shows you when you are clear to take a test.
Once you do this for a few months, you can “estimate” when you’ll get your period, and then work backwards five days to see when you can test.
My super-cool counter says I can take a pregnancy test on Sunday, but this calendar says I could have taken one yesterday. The First Response commericals do say you can take it five days before your period is set to begin.
Between the possible cravings, the blahness, the nausea, the dizziness, the metal-mouth, and the saliva overload …
… I think I know what I’m buying after work tonight!
3 Comments on “By the numbers”
So what do you think?
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Heather's Handmade Life 
go take it! I follow your blog everyday. Good luck!
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Thanks, Kate! That's so nice to hear 🙂
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Wow, I can't believe you're finally taking a test that could actually be positive! Good luck 🙂
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