Mucus-Only Method: Creighton Model
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- Tell us a little about yourself.Introvert, love cooking and watching cooking videos and trying new recipes. I am a FCP for 20 years and have a BS in Community Health, I have 5 boys and 2 girls ranging from ages 18 to 2. I love peace and quiet, but rarely get that. I do love mystery novels, Amazon Prime and binge watching Netflix and Hulu. I also love wine and hanging out with friends telling mom war stories.
- What effects has fertility awareness had on your relationship?It has been both a test and has strengthened our marriage. I have been charting for 20 years and many months have been spent hating and resenting NFP. Arguments over why we have to use it and why we just can't get fixed or use birth control because the long abstinence is just so challenging. Or, that we are not taking enough advantage of the infertile time b/c I am just so tired all day and have no libido. But, also when we were TTC, feeling like we were robots and that he was just being used to have a baby. All these arguments and tests ended up leading us to some of the most deep and enriching conversations we have had in our marriage. The difficulties we have had with NFP have brought underlying communication issues to light. The frustration with NFP was just a symptom of a deeper issue in our marriage. We have learned that over the years and use our times of frustration as an opportunity to look deeper into why we are really upset. It usually has boiled down to not feeling like our needs are being met or we are not prioritizing our marriage relationship over everything else. We have then learned to put an action plan in place to change things. That by far has been the best gift NFP has given us. I do not believe that we would be achieved this level of communication or awareness if we were using birth control. I chart my cycles and keep the chart by the bed. He will look at it occasionally during the cycle. I communicate when I am done with my period, when I start my fertile window and when I am on P+3. It works well for us. I do not feel like a gate keeper this way and he knows he doesn't have to ask if it is a safe day anymore, especially after P+4.
- How did you find your instructor?I am self-taught. I learned through my FCP training.
- Describe your daily charting routine.I observe 100% of the time pre-peak through P+4. Then, my before urination observations tend to be more lax. I usually chart the same evening or the next morning. I do mucus, LH strips and some cycles I will use the Clearblue monitor. It was recommended by my NaPro doctor because I have very limited mucus cycles and have had a few method pregnancies. I am now 46 so the extra LH and monitor don't really work well anymore. I am honestly over charting. I am ready to done with cycles, honestly. It has been really frustrating with not knowing when I am truly fertile. Things have gotten a bit easier the last 6 months though. When I had challenging cycles, it was very difficult and mentally hard when we were TTA. Now it seems to be a bit easier.
- What made you choose this method?I loved the NaPro part of the method and that it was only mucus that you had to worry about observing. I really liked the objectivity of the standardization of the observations. I first took 2 classes of CCLI while engaged and was so confused and frustrated. I found this method to work really well for me and still does. I love that it helped me uncover hormonal issues that were causing my severe PMS, recurrent miscarriages with the help of NaPro. I really don't like that it does not have good protocols for perimenopause and for limited to dry cycles. I do not think there has been enough research in these areas.
- Has charting helped you to understand your overall health?Yes! I love that it has helped me overcome health issues as stated above. It also helped me uncover low thyroid. My NaPro doctor was the only doctor who would listen, test and treat my low thyroid and also my severe PMS. I know that charting has helped me become in tune with my body that I am able to listen more to what works for me and what doesn't in areas such as sleep, exercise and nutrition. I have also learned to better advocate for myself with all doctors because I know my body. FAM helped me to do that. I also understand my moods better based on where I am in my cycles.
