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Fertility Awareness
Methods
Women of
reproductive age can easily learn how to observe and chart three primary
fertility signs that their bodies produce. This information can then be used to
tell them numerous things about their cycle, the most obvious being whether they
can or can't get pregnant on any given day.
The three fertility signs that almost every women produces are:
1. Basal Body Temperature (BBT) or Waking temperature
2. Cervical Fluid
3. Cervical Position
The following is a brief summary of each.
Basal Body Temperature (BBT)
Taking Your
Temperature
1. Take your
daily temperature first thing upon awakening, before any other activity and
record throughout the cycle.
2. If using a digital thermometer, wait until it beeps, usually about 30
seconds. If using a glass thermometer, leave it in 5 minutes.
3. Take your temperature orally or vaginally, but always from the same place.
4. Try to take it at the very same time each day.
5. Before taking your temperature, a minimum of 3 hours consecutive sleep must
have been had.
6. If you use a glass thermometer, shake it down the day before.
Charting Your Temperature
1. Try to get in
the habit of recording you temperature soon after it is taken.
2. If the temperature falls between two numbers on a glass thermometer, always
take the lowest.
3. Make dots on the appropriate temperature and connect the dots with straight
lines.
4. Note events such as stress, or illness in the miscellaneous row. Temperatures
taken late should be noted in the time taken row.
5. In the above cases your temperature may be quite high. For these days, draw a
dotted line between the day before and the next days temperature.
Drawing the Coverline
1. Highlight the
six temperatures before the mid cycle rise.
2. Find the highest temperature within these six.
3. The cover line should be drawn one mark above the temperature found in these
six.
*This line helps determine with more accuracy when ovulation occurred, and the
temperatures that have been experienced before and after.
Cervical Fluid
Observing Your Cervical Fluid
1. Start checking
the day bleeding stops.
2. Pay attention to vaginal sensations.
3. Try to check fluid every time you go to the bathroom.
4. Check every morning and night.
5. Checking fluid while sexually aroused may not give accurate information.
6. To check your cervical fluid, separate your vaginal lips and swipe with
fingers.
7. Be sure to have clean hands.
8. Does it feel dry, sticky, creamy, slippery like egg white?
9. Put finger with fluid on it together with your thumb, then slowly pull apart
to see if it is stretchy, holds together, or immediately breaks apart.
10. After urinating, pay attention to how easily the tissue slides across your
vaginal lips.
11. Take note of the secretions on your underwear.
12. Around fertile times, check in the toilet water to see if you can see
cervical fluid.
13. Note the color, consistency, and amount of fluid.
14. Using your finger to insert into the vagina to feel the cervix may be
necessary for some.
Charting Your Cervical Fluid
1. Day one of
your cycle is the first day of true menstrual bleeding.
2. Distinguish between sticky, creamy, and slippery egg white.
3. Sticky breaks when you pull your fingers apart. Slippery egg white is quite
wet and stretchy between fingers.
4. Slippery egg white indicates fertile days.
5. Note any vaginal sensations.
Identifying Your Peak Day
1. Your peak day
is the last day of slippery egg white fluid. This is your wettest-quality day.
2. Record your peak day. This tells you that ovulation has occurred.
Cervix Position
Observing Your Cervix
1. Start
observing cervix once bleeding has stopped.
2. Wash your hands thoroughly.
3. Try to check at the same time each day (+/-).
4. The best position is squatting.
5. Use your middle finger to check softness, height, opening, and wetness of the
cervix.
6. Women who have had children vaginally will note a slightly open oval cervix.
7. In your fertile period before ovulation is the best time to start checking
because of the wet slippery conditions.
8. You may feel small nabothian cysts on the cervix.
Charting Cervix Position
1. Use a dot to
indicate a closed, low, and firm cervix (before and after menses).
2. Use a small circle to indicate a partly open cervix (approaching fertile
period).
3. Use a large circle to indicate a high, open, soft cervix (fertile period
before ovulation).
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