Sympto-Thermal Method: Couple to Couple League
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- Tell us a little about yourself.Mother of 2 toddlers, dog owner, have a bachelors in engineering, and I enjoy playing music and reading.
- What effects has fertility awareness had on your relationship?It’s been difficult, but not something we regret or resent. My high fertility (2 surprises when TTA - not method failures, only stretching the rules) means we only use phase 3 now, and it feels like most of the time is off the table until we are ready for the next baby. This is hard sometimes, but because we are both in agreement about NFP as our method for avoiding pregnancy, it’s a struggle that we approach together. I would say it has brought us together in that way.
- How did you find your instructor?Our Pre-Cana instructor required us to take a course on NFP, we lived in different states while engaged so the online CCL courses were the only feasible option for our situation. I don’t remember the charge, but I would estimate somewhere around $100. We received initial instructions via the online courses, had no contact with an instructor beyond the video courses. After our second pregnancy we took a postpartum course, also only online without contact with an instructor.
- Describe your daily charting routine.I have been charting since my engagement in 2017. I use a Tempdrop thermometer and find charting to be simple to include in my life. I track mucous, menstruation, and temperature. I appreciate knowing where I am in my cycle, and have noticed periods of stress affecting cycle length or ovulation. It’s valuable information about my health.
- What made you choose this method?We had no peers or family who used NFP, so the Pre-Cana requirement of using CCL made the choice not really much of a choice at all. As my awareness of other methods increased, I did not regret that we fell into this method without knowledge of the others, since it turns out this works very well for my body and gives good information about my fertility. What I like least about it is kind of intrinsic to all NFP methods, the long periods of abstinence.
- Has charting helped you to understand your overall health?Yes. When my husband was undergoing surgery and recovery for a colon tumor last year, I was incredibly stressed and worried he may be about to die. I had late ovulation and longer cycles for two cycles because of that stress.
