Sympto-Thermal Method: SymptoPro
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- Tell us a little about yourself.I have been married 16 years and have 5 children. I love talking about Jesus and the next best recipe to create. You can find me around a charcuterie board with a good glass of wine cracking jokes with my little sister, my best friend. I speak fluent in movie lines, and give good tight hugs! I have an A.S. in Allied Health and work part time as a Phlebotomist.
- What effects has fertility awareness had on your relationship?At first using the STM was a huge struggle in our marriage. Learning my body and understanding the signs of fertility proved to be difficult for my husband. Some abstinence windows were longer than others and he didn’t like it! We fought for the first 10 month as we ( more like I) got familiar with NFP. Vasectomy was even on the table, and that’s when things got ugly. We finally came to a place of understanding that this wasn’t about me controlling our sex life, but surrendering it to Christ as a couple. Now a days my husband knows what day of my cycle I am on before I do. It’s not always perfect, but I am so grateful for the grace given through allowing God to plan our family.
- How did you find your instructor?Our instructors were a couple from our parish and they offered there services for free. We had a phone calls for follow up. They left the lines of communication open for any questions we had while we learned.
- Describe your daily charting routine.We have been charting for 6 years. We track temperature, cervical mucus, and at times cervix position. Honestly, now that we feel comfortable with charting we haven’t been extremely by the book. Yes, my husband knows the day of cycle but I take my temperature and put it in an app the helps me track (Kindara). I usually don’t start chart my morning temperatures until day 6 of my cycle and track until my fertility window opens again. Temperature checks happen as soon as I wake up. I check cervical mucus and record in the evening the most obvious observation. If needed I will check the position of my cervix digitally if I want to be thorough. While learning to track it was stressful and I dreaded any delays or confusion as to what my body was telling me because then we fought about not having sex. Now it’s easier because instead of focusing on not having sex we look forward to when we can. Let’s be honest though we still argue here and there about sex.
- What made you choose this method?In all honestly we chose this method because it was the last first method God put before us and we rode with it. I wasn’t aware of any other methods at the time of learning STM. I like that all I need is a thermometer and my app.
