So I know that the rule to not have unprotected sex the day after an unprotected sex dry day is to not accidentally read cervical fluid as residual semen or vice versa; but what if you're completely dry the day after?

Having had UP sex yesterday, I can't help but think on day 6 (today) that if I'm dry it's safe to have unprotected sex today. Thoughts? Thanks!

(I chart using TCOYF and am TTC10, though I don't think that really matters to this question.)

I recently experienced a missed miscarriage and I'm back to charting again. I know this first cycle after a loss can do literally anything but I'd like to hear others experiences. I'm used to my fertile signs being very clear and easy to interpret and it does not seem my body will be so kind this cycle. We're falling back on frequent intercourse to cover our bases so I'm really just curious to hear experiences.

Hey folks, I've been using FAM for a number of years and have used a bunch of different apps to track my cycle. None of them have been quite right... so I'm currently planning to create my own 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm in the early stages of figuring out what features would be most important. Obviously, I know what is important to me... but I'd love this to be useful to all folks who need to track their cycle closely, whether for FAM purposes or because of conditions such as PCOS or PMDD. The app will have data privacy as a top priority, and all features will be free to all users.

If you're up for helping me out, I've created a short survey to start gathering some opinions on this. It should only take five minutes to fill out. It's anonymous, unless you want to give me your email at the end to beta test when the time comes.

Here's the link to the survey: https://forms.gle/BKQ72cEikzBj2qxZ9

Or, if you want to drop me a reply here instead, what have been the most crucial features for you with cycle tracking apps? And what have been the biggest frustrations?

(Mods - I hope this is within the rules; I couldn't see anything specific against making this post but please do remove if it's not appropriate for this sub. Thank you!)

Does anyone else get increased anxiety (or increased OCD symptoms if you’re so lucky to have it like me) right around ovulation?! Someone please help me feel seen!!

Just started tracking and am taking a CCL class, I’m wondering what the value of tracking mucus after confirmed ovulation is?

I just wanted to express my gratitude to all of you who took me, an extreme beginner with a ton of questions, under your wing as I learned about FAM. I was able to get pregnant on my first cycle of truly paying attention to my body after 9 unsuccessful cycles using LH strips alone.

On another note, I am appalled at all the hate the FAM community gets out in the wild!! I find myself defending FAM so hard as an extremely valid way to avoid pregnancy (and of course get pregnant if that’s your goal). Just now, someone in my oura ring sub asked if using their ring and natural cycles would be a good form of natural birth control. I went on an entire rant to educate this person that they need to look into a FAM method. Then I read through the comments and one stood out to me. “Do you know what they call people who use cycle tracking as birth control? Parents.” I saw RED! Yes, people who use FAM incorrectly or are uninformed about FAM and rely on the rhythm method like natural cycles! I get why you guys are wary about uninformed beginners who join this sub based on the complete ignorance of the general public, including myself at the beginning! So thank you, thank you, thank you for being patient with me and educating all of us beginners out there. It really makes a difference and I look forward to continuing to learn!

As a woman not on traditional birth control, I've seen a lot if recommendations for taking monthly pregnancy tests regardless of likelyhood. Up to this point, I haven't been taking any and just trusting my charting, but maybe I should be testing too?

If you do test, when do you choose to test?

I know there's a seperate thread for TempDrop, but it doesn't seem active and won't let me post. I just started temp drop two days ago. Yesterday, the temp drop read about 0.2 degrees F higher than my oral. Today temp drop read 98.67 and oral read 98.18? In my knowledge, axillary temps are supposed to be lower than oral, not higher. Is this just part of the algorithm learning curve or am I doing something wrong? I wear it in that dip of my arm with the point facing towards my elbow as the instructions say. The dip in my arm is a little higher up towards my armpit area. I flip flop between laying on both sides so there are times in the night I lay on the side the temp drop is on.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28349048/

“Ninety-five percent of women and 55% of men said using NFP has helped them to know their body better. Large majorities of men (74%) and women (64%) felt NFP helped to improve their relationship while <10% felt use of NFP had harmed their relationship. Most women (53%) and men (63%) felt using NFP improved their sex life while 32% of women and 24% of men felt it was unchanged from before they used NFP. Seventy-five percent of women and 73% of men said they are either "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their frequency of sexual intercourse.”

I've been charting using the TCOYF guidelines (TTA) for about six months. The first three were a little inconsistent but the last three I have been dedicated.

I'm 33 and I've never been on HBC. I have a like-clockwork 26 day cycle in which I bleed tor the first three days followed by two days of spotting. There's has always been a thermal shift around day 16/17 for every cycle I've charted.

What's hanging me up is from day 6 to well after ovulation has occurred i have unchanging cervical mucus. Every day it is the same and would could be considered as creamy or lotiony. I am aware that every woman has her own CM pattern but mine just doesn't have much in regards to observable differences; it is always opaque, creamy/lotiony, forms soft peaks and never stretches. I have never experienced the stretch that people observe and I have also never had eggwhite.

Today is day 19 of my cycle and this morning I observed yellowish creamy CM. I had an obvious thermal shift three days ago.

I read through the relevant chapters of the book and searched this subreddit for similar experiences but found nothing that reflects my experience.

I'm beginning to wonder if this method won't actually work for me, and, honestly I'm a bit worried I'm just always fertile, since the presence of any CM at all should be treated that way.

I would very much appreciate some insight on the situation.

Just installed the Kindara app on my android phone. I thought it would be obvious, but where do I enter my daily BBTs? Been recording them and was hoping to enter them in the app, but I'm navigating around and can't find the fields for them. When I click on a calendar day I see Menstruation, Sex, Symptoms, Custom and Journal but no BBT. Had no success googling for the answer to this question, so hoping Reddit can help. Thank you!

UPDATE for anyone else looking for the field to enter temperature: I had to go into Settings and put a check in the box next to Temperature under Data Screen Customization. Wanted to post for anyone else looking for it.

Hi all - this question is asked from a trying to abstain TTA perspective,

For Marquette Method when does the Luteal Phase technically start if there is no prolonged LH surge (aka only one day of positive LH surge)? In other words, when can you have intercourse without chance of pregnancy after ovulation per MM rules?

Is Day 4 (GO day) after Peak, Peak +3 days start at midnight on Day 4? Or is it sometime in the morning on Day 4? Not sure if this is specified in Marquette Method.

Thank you

Hey! I'm super out of practice with FAM- i haven't been chatting since early 2023 when we decided to conceive our first baby after avoiding pregnancy naturally for over a year. After said baby was born, I didn't start tracking again because by the time I got my period back, we were ready to try for another baby and didn't want the stress of timing things unless we had trouble conceiving. That being said, after this baby is born(march/april) I am going to be avoiding pregnancy like the plague😅 I can't remember if TCOYF has a section on FAM while postpartum? If not, are there any good guides for postpartum FAM? I feel like everything I'm reading online makes it sound nearly impossible😭

I am in my first cycle post birth while breastfeeding and following the breastfeeding protocol from sensiplan (though not relying on it to go UP before my return of fertility). My little one was sleeping through the night really early as can be noted on my chart (I toggled "breastfeeding night" only when he slept less than 6h) and even started to sleep 12h straight since he is 3 months (CD98). I do not dream feed nor pump during the night so I was expecting my ROF to come waaay sooner but it hasn't so far. In the last days I observed some very scarce but indeniable CM and it seems like my temp have risen enough to validate ovulation. Unfortunately I forgot to take my temp on CD126 and temped 15min after getting up when I remembered. It probably wasn't affected but because of the timing as my experience showed me but I prefered to exclude this temp since it doesn't seem reliable to count it as my first high temp. You need an additional 4th high temp to validate the temp rise in cycle 0 breastfeeding with sensiplan so I did that... BUT my CD130 fell to the coverline. I figured I could also use the exception to the rule and use the 4th temp on CD131 then... But not really sure about that and I don't find any mention about that specific situation on the Sensiplan books. Also, it bugs me a lot that my CM doesn't really fit and my cervix was never high soft and open like I used to feel it around ovulation pre-birth. My coverline in all my tracked cycles have ALWAYS been 36.3°C so 36.45°C is significantly higher and makes me suspicious, though maybe it's the breastfeeding effect at play here. I might meet the rules tomorrow, both by temp and CM/cervix but I am not really convinced.

Any thoughts appreciated !

https://preview.redd.it/e15h1sayxsee1.png?width=2562&format=png&auto=webp&s=2bfb79e1d20e71c976caf7d87c87b59c46aeb4a6

https://preview.redd.it/cqiat94zxsee1.png?width=3962&format=png&auto=webp&s=043ae8948a95457ea1208c3fb79275610501a373

A lot of folks in here post charts asking for support with no CF/CM data even though it's a part of their method. They then claim they don't see any CF/CM so that's why it's not in their chart.

This is probably because I trained (but didn't certify with) Billings, but I just want to call out that visible CF/CM is not the only CF/CM observation that can be made. Sensation is really important and can help people discern a pattern in their discharge. In TCOYF, Weschler even calls out the fact that sometimes at peak fertility fluid is so liquidy it's not visible so sensation is the only indicator of a change in CM/CF.

I have worked with folks (usually coming off of long-term HBC use) who do not see or sense anything, but more often than not, people don't realize that this is a somatic and a visual practice.

Another ranty item is that people get so focused on categorizing CF/CM, they lose sight of what's relevant information. If you are TTA and you find CF/CM or experience a developing and changing sensation, YOU ARE POTENTIALLY FERTILE! Doesn't matter if it's sticky, creamy, lotiony. We don't try to discern if maybe sperm can survive or not, when TTA, we consider ourselves potentially fertile when there's any CF/CM.

Distinguishing between Peak and Non-Peak is really only helpful for understanding our Peak day and when to close the fertile window, but beyond that, ALL CF/ CM is potentially fertile.

On the flipside of that, sperm will die within minutes if there is no CM to nourish them. So folks who go UP on a dry day and then see CM (which is likely seminal fluid) the next day, need not worry because sperm would have died if it was truly a dry day. When I work with folks at varying levels of the intention spectrum, we add more nuance to what risks they are comfortable with and my TTA0 and TTA1 folks typically avoid sperm exposure even before their point of change when they are likely infertile because their risk tolerance is so low.

Hi! This is my 6th cycle with Marquette and I was really happy with it! But for the last two cycles, the monitor has missed peak. We are TTA and using phase 3 only. My instructor told me I could do PP123 based on a positive LH strip. However, she recommended using Proov to confirm ovulation. I don’t have a baseline for Proov, so I wouldn’t get an accurate result. It seems like I already ovulated by my CM and the LH result. Is there any other way of confirming that ovulation occurred? TIA!

Hello, everyone!

Looking for a little guidance. I am doing the breastfeeding return to cycles with Marquette. Now starting cycle 3. I have a very long cycle one as we had Covid right at the beginning and my baby began waking up 2-3+ times night which delayed ovulation and I did not get a P reading until CD 36. And then I got my period right after CD 44..

Cycle 2 - did not get peak until day 19 and then got period right after CD 27..

I also bleed for ~7 days and while I'm not grossed out by it, it's kind of a hassle. I also have a natural decline in interest and if I could isolate myself completely for around 2-3 days towards the start...I would.

It's been a little discouraging that we have had 4 available phase 3 days and the majority of days available are when I'm bleeding.

I believe I might get some more available days as things regulate more, but I have reason to believe that I tend to ovulate later anyway. Both of my children were dated exactly a week behind at their initial ultrasounds and I only tested barely positive for pregnancy (like the faintest of lines) 2 days after my "missed period" (I was using an app that would predict based on averages on years worth of cycles). My cycles lengths tended to be around 28-32 days. So it sounds like I also tend to have quite a shorter luteal phase as well from what I'm reading?

Obviously things can change, but I am concerned that I will be very limited in days outside of my period and what I should do in the long term for NFP. I have read things about lengthening luteal phase which I am already doing (taking a variety of supplements, exercise, eating healthy, etc.). I read maybe supplementing with B12 may be beneficial? Is there anything else? It does not sound like it has impacted my fertility at all at this point as I have had no miscarriages, both of my children were conceived right away, and I had no difficulties with maintaining either pregnancy.

I know that after cycle 6, there will be further guidance in regards to further changes with the Marquette protocol and more days that may become available in phase 1. I was going to reach out to my instructor and see if I can have that information sooner (I am still waiting for the physical materials from Vitae to arrive..it's been 7+ weeks..).

Is this something I just have to ride out and know that there may be some more available days? How many days in phase 1 has been opened up for you if you went with Marquette postpartum after cycle 6? Is there a method that may open up more days in pre-ov (which I know will be riskier regardless)?

Just would seem silly (and expensive!) to me if I go through nearly half a box of sticks every single cycle. Not looking to change my method yet, but would appreciate any input or insight.

Thank you!

I only recently starting charting with Sensiplan (my first chart is on my profile), I just started my second chart. I'm going on a trip in March and while I will not rely on my method yet (I'll be using condoms), I do want to figure out a way to abstain during my most fertile period. For some context, the trip is a month long and it'll be with my LDR partner, so I hope you can understand it's important for me to find a safe approach.

What would be the best way to go about this? My best idea was to stop doing PIV as soon as I notice fertile mucus. This stopped being a truly good idea when I realized I might not be able to close the fertile window, as I don't know how/if the travel will affect my cycle.

With the traveling (halfway across the globe) and my lack of experience with the method, this feels really daunting. I'd like to stay as safe as possible, so while I do trust condoms I feel like it's not enough. I've heard of using "backup" protection like a diaphragm or spermicide but abstaining seems like the safest option... I don't know what to do, any tips are welcome!

Hi everyone! I’ve been paying attention to cervical mucus for a few months now and have started officially tracking. I’m confused because on the one hand, everyone is different. On the other hand, there are certain classifications or definitions of each stage of CM. I’m having a really hard time deciphering them. I would really appreciate you sharing your favorite resources describing the different types, or sharing the way you think about it to differentiate them. Something will click for me eventually I think, and I just haven’t found it yet.

For more context: -I’ve never experienced anything that looks like any photos I’ve seen of crumbly or tacky CM. -Sometimes there isn’t really anything but it’s generally moist. I can’t figure out if this is classified as dry or wet… -my most common type of CM is kind of cream colored opaque, in a blob, feels kind of like gel, stretches up to an inch or so (I don’t use a ruler, but TBH I should) and snaps back (breaks off from one finger back to the other) into lumpy blobs. I can’t tell if this is sticky because it’s kind of lumpy, creamy because of the color, or like almost egg white because of the stretch -one time I’ve experienced something that I would call creamy, like it looked like lotion, but it also stretched about half an inch -just this cycle, I experienced what was undeniably egg white CM so now I’m questioning what all these other stretchy types are -so overall, I’m confused, and would highly appreciate any assistance :)

I started using Symto-pro right after birth, I’m now 6 months PP. I’ve had maybe 2 safe days in that time… it’s discouraged me and we’ve just been using withdrawal plus not even temping anymore. But I’ve gotten a clear blue monitor, wondofo sticks & a student instructor (we should be starting in a month), but I’m also sad about swapping. I still have 6 months left with my Symto-pro instructor & My RYB is set up with those settings… do I need to make a decision to do one or the other? Or keep using both? Any advice is great, thank you.