Current Method: FEMM
Previous Method: Creighton Model
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- Tell us a little about yourself.I am an outgoing introvert and my biggest passions are JESUS, my family, singing, and teaching women about the beauty of their bodies and fertility! My miscarriages really set a fire in me that I want to help other women with fertility issues, and I truly believe all women deserve to have knowledge of their own bodies. I majored in music and when I am singing/songwriting is when I feel most authentically myself. I also enjoy squeezing my daughter's perfect cheeks and praising Jesus for the gift of her liver transplant!
- What effects has fertility awareness had on your relationship?Oof. So tough. Our miscarriages were accidental pregnancies from lazy charting and also my husband is non denominational Christian, so he just doesn't come from a Catholic background or really understand what's wrong with contraceptive mentality. It's been so tough on us. It's taken a very very long time for him to be on board, but he's come to respect the health benefits and helping him understand the science behind it really helped so much. We still have many days where it's a struggle, but I actually downloaded my charting app on his phone, so he can be more involved and literally see what data I'm charting, so he knows exactly what's going on with my body and when we can/cannot have sex. It's helped us grow in a lot of ways, but I can't say it's been an easy journey by any means. Openness to life and openness to God's plan for us has meant openness to death and loss and that's a heavy and difficult thing to grasp. I wouldn't change anything about our journey though, to be honest. I've seen myself grow and change in ways I never would have and seen our marriage and our ability to communicate grow (although this was a painful and slow process for sure!)
- Current Method: FEMM - How did you find your instructor?No instructor, but femm teacher training course
- Describe your daily charting routine.Daily routine is checking for mucus every time I wipe, using lh strips during the fertile window until I get a positive LH test, and charting at the end of every day! I also at times have tracked bbt and heart rate just as additional markers, but not currently. It keeps me aware of where I'm at in my cycle at all times and what is currently going on with my body hormonally. This helps if I'm having any pms symptoms or helps me always know what's going on with my cycle health. I love always being in tune with my body. I think it helps me sexually too, because depending on what's going on with my hormones it affects sex for sure! I tend to be dryest and get more sore right after my period when hormone levels are low and so it's good to know that info if it happens because I know why.
- What made you choose this method?I previously used Creighton, so I liked that it was similar to Creighton but more simplified as far as the mucus charting goes. I also loved the focus on hormonal health and the ability to include medical management for any potential fertility issues (or any future client's hormonal issues)
- Has charting helped you to understand your overall health?Absolutely! Helped me know what was going on with my cycle, identify low progesterone and I attribute my healthy pregnancy with Charlotte to my charting and working with a femm doctor
- Did you switch to this method from another one? If so, why?I switched from Creighton, but I actually still use my Creighton charts because I love Creighton!! Femm is easier to chart with overall and more user friendly in my opinion. and that's what I'm teaching so I'm charting with that currently but I still have an emotional attachment to Creighton and LOVE the amount of detail in the mucus charting because I think it is quicker to identify any potential issues in the fertile window and it's a more standardized way of looking at it. BUT I think the high learning curve turns people off so I like that femm is a little easier to learn while still getting the same hormonal health data. Also I like that femm isn't directly affiliated with the church, because as much as I love my Catholic faith, I want to be able to teach people of all faith backgrounds and walks of life and not have anyone avoid learning because they think of it as a purely religious thing.
- Previous Method: Creighton Model - How did you find your instructor?Found online ($40 a session) I pursued follow ups
- Describe your daily charting routine.Checking for mucus every time I use the bathroom. I've been using this method for about a two years with a pregnancy in between. It's been great overall! Same answers as with femm charting
- What made you choose this method?My miscarriages. I wanted to see if there were any cycle health issues after my second miscarriage and I wanted to work with a napro doctor to do some testing. I also wanted to avoid pregnancy while we were grieving our miscarriage and knew we would want to try for a baby some point soon. The thing I love about Creighton is the amount of detail and cycle health info it provides. The thing I like least is that it takes a little longer to learn/feel confident with your charting
- Has charting helped you to understand your overall health?Helped me identify low progesterone and work with a napro doctor to address this during my luteal phase. My napro/femm doctor(certified in both) did a bunch of blood work and confirmed low progesterone which we suspected from my charts. I was treated with progesterone during my luteal phase and did month blood work to check my progesterone and estradiol levels each month. Once my levels were good, we started trying and got pregnant that month with my daughter! She also monitored my progesterone levels throughout my pregnancy! It was amazing. Love her.
- Did you stop using this method? If so, why?I mostly use femm now because I'm a femm instructor! But I love both methods
