munsta ramblings: Day 2

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Day 2

On further consideration, I thought I'd warn any unwary visitor who stumbles upon this blog and starts reading. If you're male, you're likely to find the following icky. So please, do yourself a favour and turn back to where you came from. Trust me, you'll thank me for this.

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Today is DAY 2 of 28. Well, for most people anyway.

I feel tired, bloated and unattractive. Well, I feel unattractive most of the time anyway, but I feel particularly unattractive today. I was bundled in a warm green turtleneck sweater. I used to look smart in such stuff. But today, I looked like a green apple. People without necks like moi should really refrain from attempts to don turtlenecks. Seriously.

Anyways, back to my new year's resolution. Today I learnt about:

The cycle

Day 1 - 4: Bleed, bleed, bloody bleed.
Day 5 - 11: Have sex, sex, sex.
Day 12 to 14: Ovulation (supposedly) occurs. More sex.
Day 15 to 18: Have sex - just in case ovulation is late. And for fun. Ha!
Day 19 to 28: Moan over zits, irritation mounts, mood swings from hyper happy to god damn depressing. Back to Day 1.

That is the summarised agak-agak version. Now, the real (complicated) deal. Systematic. Discipline required. No pain no gain.

Fertility Awareness Method (FAM)

FAM is a collection of practices that help a woman know which days of the month she is most likely to get pregnant. A woman can learn when ovulation is coming by observing her own body and and charting physical changes. She can then use this information to avoid or encourage pregnancy.

a) Technique 1: Calander Charting

Start by keeping a written record of your menstrual cycle for 8-12 consecutive months. (So long!!!! Shucks! How am I going to achieve my resolution this year?)
Count the first day of menstruation (the first of bleeding) as "Day 1" of your cycle.
Pick your longest and shortest cycles.
Subtract 18 from the length of your shortest cycle and note this as the first fertile day.
Subtract 11 from the length of your longest cycle and this is the last fertile day.

b) Technique 2: Cervical Mucus Monitoring

In a "typical" cycle, after 5 days of menstruation there are 3-4 "dry" days, then wetness begins with sticky, cloudy, whitish, or yellowish secretions. The wetness increases to the wettest day when mucus is quite distinctive: abundant, clear, very slippery and very stretchy (like egg whites). Ovulation occurs sometime in the 2 days before or up to 2 days after the peak day of stretchy fertile mucus. This is summarised in the chart below.

c) Basal body temperature (BBT)

Temperature is taken every morning immediately upon waking and before any activity.
Immediately before ovulation, the temperature drops briefly.
Within 12 hours of ovulation the BBT rises several tenths of a degree and remains up until the next menstrual period.
When temperature stays high for 3 days in a row, the fertile period is over and the infertile time begins.
Keep a chart of your BBT over a period of 8-12 consecutive months to learn the approximate time in your cycle when you usually ovulate.

d) Cervical Observation

During and in the first few days after menstruation, the cervix is fairly low and firm like the tip of your nose.
When the wet cervical fluid begins to show, the cervix begins to move up, become more soft, wet, and open.
During ovulation, the cervix is at its highest and most open. After ovulation, the cervix returns to the firm, low, and closed position.

Huh?? Got difference meh? Don't really know how this works.

Sounds like a lot of work leh.

*Sigh*