Charting: OH, THE EMPOWERMENT!!!

It was years later that I pulled out that tape. When we were ready to try to conceive again, the internet and information had come a long way. Wanting to have as much information as possible on file, I pulled out the video and copied the information so I could plug the data in and have some more statistical data. Oh, gosh, what an eye opener that was! I then realized how far charting had come in those 5 years…and what a pitiful charter I was. There were so many rules I really didn’t follow the first time and as the cycles progressed on my newest “trying to conceive” journey, I saw what a great difference that could make. My biggest flaw the first time was that I simply temped when I first woke up…whenever that might be. While this works OK for some women, it’s really best to temp at the same time each morning and I could see a difference in the temp fluctuations. The Fertility Friend Handbook was so helpful in laying out the importance of temping using a basal thermometer, at the same time each day, the moment you wake up, before doing anything and after 3 hours sleep. I’d give it a try and sure enough, my patterns looked a lot better.

Then to learn there were other things I could track in addition to just temps! WOW! A new helpful bit of information! Temps I knew only told us after ovulation occurred but we needed to be getting that baby making in there BEFORE. I was surprised about all the signs there were too…and signs I had actually noticed in life before but had never related to my cycles (silly me!). Now, admittedly, I had a very tough time with checking my cervix. I swear my fingers are the shortest there ever were and I never had luck finding it. So that was one thing I’d have to bypass. But cervical mucus? I could do that! I didn’t have that classic textbook pattern some do. Typically it is your period, dry, sticky, creamy, eggwhite or watery then dry before your period. Mine? A short period with some egg white in it, dry, then eggwhite before ovulation and going away after but creamy showing in the luteal phase and then more fertile type cervical mucus before my period showed again. But at least in charting it, I learned MY pattern and that helped me know when I should definitely be making moves on my dear husband (DH) in the bedroom.

And while ovulation pains aren’t felt by all women and can occur before, with or after ovulation…for me this was a helpful sign. I remember having such intense pain in college that I went to the student clinic fearing I had some deadly disease. The doctors at the time never made the connection between ovulation pains and ovulation for me but just waved it off as something non-threatening. When learning more about the body’s possible fertile signs and tracking everything (boy do we seem to notice every twitch and tingle, once we start logging our signs, don’t we?), I realized that my ovulation pains were a little different than textbook but pretty reliable for me. I would feel a few days of light cramping and then a day or two of very strong and sharp one-sided pains in the pelvic area -- especially when plopping down on a seat. Then after those days it would go back to a few days of light cramping again. Sometimes the cramping would even give me a heads up on the baby dancing schedule just before the fertile cervical mucus would, so this was great for us.

I really thought I knew my body very, very well before charting. After charting on paper, I thought I had it all pegged for sure. After learning even more with the newest information about the other signs, I realized how very well I could truly know my body. Knowing my body's signs was an amazing and empowering feeling. On a journey that can’t promise you a pregnancy even when things are done perfectly, and with a body that made it difficult for me to keep pregnancies, this was the only thing I had that gave me any sense of control. I could often walk into my doctor’s office and tell them what was going on before they could. OK, so all doctors don’t like charting. Perhaps because they had charters like I was the first time around. But being scientifically based, I think it was what helped us immensely. After all, I don’t ovulate on the average day 14 nor do I have the average 14 day luteal phase. If I went by what was average, I truly believe we may not have had our family today.

Charting helped me recognize MY fertile time. It helped me suspect what my problem with keeping pregnancies might be. I found a doctor that believed in charting. Then, working with my doctor closely and charting, we were able to identify our fertility issue and chart to help improve chances of success. Charting helped us conceive all of our children! How could it not be empowering!?

The only sad time I can remember charting playing a big part in was one of my miscarriages. I was seeing a different doctor and my tests were positive but things on the ultrasound and bloodwork weren’t where they should be for how far along I was in the pregnancy. The doctor insisted I was probably just wrong about my ovulation date. Through charting I knew if that were true, that would have meant we got a positive pregnancy test before I even ovulated. Impossible. I knew I was right about how far along I should be in the pregnancy despite the doctor's speculations and it was heartbreaking. But it helped prepare me for the loss and allowed me to move forward. It helped me be more knowledgeable and led me to get more help so we could later be successful.

Yes, charting has been a very, very empowering tool for me.