The first sign that your body might be entering its fertile phase would be a change in your cervical fluid. I can hear the boys now...eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!! Well, get over it! So, first you may start off with some dryness after Aunt Flo leaves, changing to sticky, rubber cement type fluid then comes the fun stuff...the eggwhite!! Boys - this is the stuff where you're slippin' and sliding. No need for lube tonight! If you are trying to have a baby...get to it and continue to "get to it" until you have a dry-up which could be anywhere from 2-7 days. It varies for each woman.

Another way for a woman to tell if she's fertile would be by checking your cervical position. This time I hear some of the women cringing!! Hey, it's our body! Shouldn't we be able to touch it without shame especially for something so important? The proper way to do this would be to squat down, insert your middle finger and feel for your cervix. Now, right after Aunt Flo leaves you should be able to feel your cervix right away (about first knuckle height), this is considered Low/Not Fertile. When a woman is fertile, her cervix will be almost out of reach or up into her throat!! It will also be extremely soft.

Now, I don't expect guys to really go looking for cervical fluid or your girl's cervix but the key indicators for you would be...your girl:

decides to wear sexy underwear out of the blue!

she's actually putting time and effort into her hair and makeup!

she's a little more touchy feely with you then she was, say, yesterday!

she's sending you a naughty picture on a phone she's not really sure how to work!

These are all signs that your girl is fertile! So, if you want a little Jr. running around...now would be a good time to put those swimmers to the test. If you're avoiding becoming a daddy...work late, go out with the boys, do anything but go home!

Piece of advice for those avoiding...Baby Fever strikes with almost EVERY cycle so be prepared!!

Next topic to come...the basics of charting!!

Ok, so you take your temp every morning and you're noting your cervical fluid. Now you're saying...what the heck does this all mean? Well, not much since it's only one chart BUT you should have a little better idea of what your body is doing each month!

If you look closely at your chart, you should see two clear levels of temps, if you in fact ovulated. You could probably draw a line dividing your chart into upper and lower sections. The day before your temp went to that second level would most likely be your ovulation date...and if you're trying to conceive, hopefully you were doin' the baby making dance every night!

If you decided to try and keep tabs on your cervical fluid, you may have noticed a pattern that could have gone like this: dry for a few days, turning to sticky, rubbery type stuff then to the really slippery eggwhite fluid then dry again. It's quite possible that you may notice that a short time after your second dry-up that a creamy type fluid appeared...this is normal. It is caused by a secondary estrogen surge that can be evidenced by possibly a dip in temps and the creamy fluid.

After all of this, Aunt Flo (AF from now on) will make her appearance. The first day she shows in true form, not spotting, will be the first day of your second cycle! And guess what??? You get to do it all again!

I highly recommend charting for at least three cycles before trying to make any assumptions about your chart. It takes time to be able to put all this information together and then to make any sense of it!

Always feel free to ask me any questions you may have!! Good luck and happy temping!

Ok, so, you've learned about the bare bones method of charting. I've shown you ways to tell if your body is fertile. You can use the information held in your chart to help you figure out when baby making should be carried out for optimum results. BUT...

charting can be used for other reasons then pregnancy achievement. Yes, it's true! My introduction to FAM came in February of 2002. I had decided to come off the pill to prepare my body for possible pregnancy sometime in 2003. I was engaged, getting married in August so I knew that even if we had a slip up, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal for us so I gave it a go.

My first step was to purchase TCOYF (Taking Charge of Your Fertility) and read it from cover to cover to soak in as much information as I could. I went out and purchased a top of the line (in the FAM world) BD Basal Body Thermometer which would beep to tell you it was working and then store the temp for recording later that evening. I printed out my charts, as I believed I would learn the rules better doing it by hand first which was soooooo true. My charting adventure had begun.

I learned so much about my body as I got further into charting. I could see clear indications of when I was fertile, how long my luteul phase would be and exactly when AF would show up. My cycles were like clockwork and it was great. In the meantime I also figured out why I was a goopy mess midway thru the month...I was fertile!! My mom never talked to me about that stuff. I barely knew what my body parts were called and when I was young, before I had even gotten my period, I thought I was terribly ill because I had this horrible slippery stuff appearing every now and then that freaked me out. No need to fear anymore...I knew it was a good thing.

We were not trying to conceive at this point so I was overly cautious about our romantic encounters until well after I had confirmation that I had ovulated...bummer for my fiance. :( It carried on this way for another 6 months. We got married and would test our boundaries every now and then but still tended to err on the side of caution...we were living with my father-in-law at the time. Few more months down the road...the holiday season had arrived. We decide to go up to my grandmother's house in Maine to spend Christmas with my mom. She wasn't going to arrive until Christmas Day. Well, this gave us plenty of time to make up for what we missed living at Dad's. Looking at my chart, I knew I would be ovulating within 5-7 days but we decided to risk it anyway! They say sperm surviving for 5 days is unlikely but plausible so off we went. January 14th arrives, AF is due first thing in the morning. Oh no, no period! I go to work and spend all day running back and forth from the potty, awaiting her arrival. Nothing! On my way home from work, I basically know what the deal is and am filled with all sorts of mixed emotions...what will hubby say, where are we gonna live, how are we gonna handle a baby this early on in our marriage, etc., etc. I stop at the store and grab a pregnancy test already knowing what the answer will be (by charting I knew what was "normal" for my body and my cycles and this wasn't it). I also swung by the greeting card section picked up a Father's Day card to put the test in and surprise Dad-To-Be with. Even though I knew what the outcome was, when I saw that test come back positive the first words out of my mouth were, "Oh shite!", over and over again. The tears came. The joy, the fright, the outright panic, all of it flooding in. I got myself together and put the test in the card and waited for hubby to come home. Needless to say, after the initial shock, he was very happy and supportive. All the other things: money, a house, etc. all fell into place over the next few months.

After giving birth, I decided to chart again but tended to get lazy what with being sleep deprived and all so we decided to use condoms. I seemed to develop a problem with those so I went for a diaphragm...continued to have problems...ends up I'm allergic to latex. Well, now what the heck do we do? Two years ago I discovered the Mirena IUC, researched it, discussed with my husband and decided to get it. It has been a wonderful thing!

Now, you're probably wondering why if I'm a FAM fanatic I would turn to hormonal birth control. For me, I don't have to think about it anymore and we can do what we want when we want. Not to mention, I don't have a normal period anymore...two days of light spotting and we're good to go. BUT, don't even think that I don't still chart! I do, every day.

See, FAM can be used for many different reasons one of which I think is extremely important but not often spoken about in FAM discussions...knowing your reproductive health. By charting, I know if something seems off and if I should mention something to my doctor. Granted, I don't temp anymore but I still chart my cervical fluid, when we have sex and when AF arrives. By doing this I can see that my cycles are still within their normal length and that they are progressing as they normally would. How does this help you ask??

Early menopause runs in my family and being of an "advanced age", as my doctor says, it could happen early to me too. By keeping track of my cycles I will be able to tell if they are getting shorter (first sign of perimenopause) and then lengthing out ending with no period at all, anymore, ever. For me this is a good reason to continue my adventure in charting.

Every woman should have this knowledge...to be able to detect for themselves if there might be something that needs to be looked at closer. I do not have a daughter but if I did she would own a copy of TCOYF and you should too!

Keep in mind that FAM is only as good as the information you keep! If you fudge the data, it is a user error NOT method failure if you end up pregnant.

To use FAM to avoid, you must absolutely have at the very least 3 full charts. You must know how to accurately interpret the signs of fertility, ovulation, and confirmation that you have entered your Infertile Phase. If you are still not sure of these things Always Use A Backup Method!!!

Until you have the rules down I highly recommend using protection until after you receive your three confirmation temps of ovulation. Even then, when I was avoiding, I would wait a few more days...just to be safe.

If you decide to baby dance (BD) before O without protection, you should be certain that it is done on days when there is either no cervical fluid or sticky fluid. Do not BD if you are showing creamy and especially EWCM! If you are checking your cervix position, your cervix should be low, firm and closed. If it is medium height, soft and slightly open...be aware you are taking a HUGE risk.

You are probably wondering why I suggested waiting longer than the 3 confirmed O temp days since these usually indicate you have ovulated and entered your Infertile Phase. Sometimes your body can trick you. What if you're ill? Your temps will be higher than usual and unreliable. Are you stressed? Your body may attempt to O but not quite get there. For me, I felt better waiting at least 5 days before taking a chance. This way I could monitor my temps and know with almost certainty (nothing's perfect, ya know?) that I had in fact ovaluated and could proceed with the naked BD!!

Recap...if you are absolutely trying to avoid conception, you must:

Always use back up protection pre-O.

Monitor your cervical fluid for any changes showing ferility.

Montior your cervix for signs ovulation may be approaching.

Await 3-5 days of temps after ovulation to be certain your body achieved O.

Without these, you could be taking a very big risk!

I have always had sleep issues. I discovered after charting for a while that for me it was more important to get the required 3 hours of sleep then to be able to chart every day at the same. The only way to know how this will affect you would be to have a few charts under your belt and a good understanding of your normal temp range.

I temp every night upon my first waking which can be anywhere from 1a to 3a, sometimes even 4a. I always temp the very first time I wake up and never, ever adjust a temp. My charts have always been very clear and easy to read.

Some people can not do this as they are easily affected by variations but for those who know their cycles well, give it a try and see if you can still detect a clear pattern.

It's important to remember when charting that it is about the pattern, NOT individual temps. As long as you are consistent about your method you should still be able to see the forest through the trees!