Cycle 3 – NFP Charting Series

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Read about why I am sharing my cycles here. See Cycle 2 analysis here.

Cycle 3 Stats:

• 38 days
• Ovulation on Day 27 or 28
• Ovulation 4-5 days before New Moon
• Luteal Phase 10-11 days long

Cycle 3 Analysis

Lasting from the beginning of December to early January, I was elated to have yet another cycle where I ovulated – and almost the same length as the previous cycle, too! 38-39 days is a bit longer than a cycle should be. 10-12 days is a bit short for a luteal phase. There is a chance that if I were to conceive a child, I would miscarry due to low progesterone. But I was cycling. I was ovulating. I could worry about the rest of that later.

Once again, I was incredibly stressed during this cycle. Of course I was. Finals week happened during this cycle! And between finals week and holidays, I wasn’t eating well either. But again, you can see some very strong cervical mucus leading up to a clear temp rise. This was followed by the mucus mostly drying up and a few days of breast tenderness before my period started.

I was particularly happy to have charting this cycle. During that first long cycle, it was great because I could follow what was going on. Although pregnancy was not possible for me, if it had been charting would have reassured me that my cycles were not missing due to pregnancy. I wasn’t ovulating, so I couldn’t be. In cycles where I do ovulate, even early on I could use that to estimate when my period would show. Since in early January I left to go study abroad (that is why I am missing temps in the second half of the luteal phase), knowing I had ovulated allowed me to predict an otherwise unpredictable period. Even in the midst of travel!

This cycle the reason I couldn’t pinpoint ovulation was due to a missing temp on cycle day 28. While the pattern suggests that cycle day 29 is more likely to be the first elevated temperature, there is truly no way of knowing. Consistency is important! But as you can see I was still able to interpret my cycle well enough for my purposes at the time – simply for the knowledge of what was happening in my body.

Read about cycle 4 here.

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