Guest Author - Amanda Binion

We live in an era of implants, IUDs, and hormonal birth control pills. Women who don’t wish to conceive pump their bodies full of hormones, while women who wish to conceive simply stop taking their birth control. While I spent years as a firm believer in hormonal contraceptives, I knew nothing about my own body. From the time my son was born in January of 2006, I went faithfully every 3 months for my shot of hormones to prevent another pregnancy.

My doctor gave me a number of pros to Depo Provera, like no monthly menstrual period, relief of endometriosis pain, and no inconvenience of daily dosage. I was 19 years old, and having gone 9 months without a visit from Aunt Flo, the shot sounded like a great option for me. What my doctor did not tell me was that it takes the average woman 6-18 months to attain a natural menstrual cycle after the last shot “wears off“. Some women never get it back.

In light of everything I learned in my research about Depo Provera (and my research on every other choice of birth control available) I decided that maybe my mother was on to something and began researching natural birth control. From there, I quickly learned the art of charting my cycles. It’s not nearly as hard as I imagined it would be. I’ve learned a lot about my own cycle and decided that poor Aunt Flo is terribly underappreciated.

Cycles are divided into two phases: the follicular phase (FP) and the luteal phase (LP). These phases are separated by ovulation. Cycle day one is the first day of your period (full flow, not spotting). During the FP your ovaries are producing a number of follicles, and inside each one of these follicles is a maturing egg. Through a complicated hormonal process, the eggs are all eliminated except for the strongest one.

The day that this egg is released is your ovulation day, and the start of your LP. During the LP, your body releases different hormones in preparation for that egg. These hormones thicken the lining of your uterus to help implantation and raise you basal body temperature, turning your uterus into an incubator. When no egg implants, temperatures return to normal as your body prepares to shed that lining, bringing on the start of your next cycle.

This is where charting your temperature is helpful. You will need to use a basal body thermometer, which takes a much more precise reading than a regular thermometer. Temperature should be taken preferably at the same time every morning after at least 3 hours of sleep and before you get out of bed. Temps throughout the FP tend to be low. The day of ovulation, there will be a temp drop, followed by at least 3 consecutive days of higher temps. I know this sounds a little complicated, but if you use an online charting site like Fertility Friend (http://www.fertility friend.com), it will pinpoint your ovulation for you, and even predict future ovulation dates once you’ve charted a few cycles. (They have a number of charting guides and resources as well.)