Fertility Awareness Method
If you are looking to space your family why not consider using the fertility awareness method.
What Is It?
Fertility awareness is similar to using the rhythm method but is more accurate. However it requires you to chart more information than just your periods. If you use this method properly it can not only tell you when your fertile times are but help your doctor identify any problems that may prevent you getting pregnant in the future. It won't protect you from STD's so only use it in a monogamous relationship and don't use it if getting pregnant would be a disaster for you.
What Do I Chart?
· Start with the first day of your period and record each day of bleeding, how heavy it is and how long it lasts and the color and any spotting during the month
· Record any vaginal discharge or secretions and the amount - they tell you when you are about to ovulate. A clear cervical secretion that looks like raw egg white and stretches out between your fingers is a sure sign that you are just about to ovulate or that you have ovulated
· Get a Basal Body Temperature Thermometer and take your temperature every day at the same time before you get out of bed and record the answer. The thermometer comes with instructions on how to chart your temperature fluctuations and what they mean
· A saliva ovulation tester microscope such as the OvuLook or the Fertile-Focus will also help you record your fertile times. When you look at your saliva through the microscope is shows up as a distinctive fern pattern as you are about to ovulate
· It is also useful to chart things like when you are sick, have a headache, breast pain, any PMS symptoms, and so on. In fact the more information the better. That way over the months you can start to recognize your personal pattern and can then spot anything out of the ordinary
· Your cervix also moves high up into your vagina as you approach ovulation and gets softer, begins to open and discharges more cervical fluid -so that is something else you can record on your chart
That All Sounds Like A Lot Of Work!
Actually charting your cycle, once you get the hang of it, only takes a couple of minutes each day. If you make symbols or use different colors for different things it's quite easy. You can download a fertility chart from the internet or even get computer software to help you to record everything easily to see your patterns.
What Next?
The method requires abstinence from sex during your fertile time of the month. Sperm can live about 3 days so you need to abstain for 4 days after you ovulate to be sure you won't get pregnant. If you don't have a very regular cycle it's not so easy to predict when you will ovulate in advance so you need to abstain the whole time before you ovulate, unless you learn this method in detail from a fertility awareness teacher. Once you learn the method and are familiar with it, you will find that you only need to abstain for about 10 days a month.
Can't I Use Contraception Instead?
Because barrier methods of contraception can obscure cervical secretions and make them hard to identify, people using the fertility awareness method normally practice abstinence.
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