In high school the nuns handed us monthly calendars to fill out with information on what our body goes through, as an exercise on learning how to chart our menstrual cycles. Day 1 of the monthly cycle is the first day of the period. We count onward from there.
Back then I had an irregular cycle. It was common for me to have cycles as long as 60 days, and since I was not yet sexually active, it wasn’t a big deal if my period ran late.
Another part of this exercise was recording how our vaginas felt. We marked the calendar Fertile if we were wet, Infertile if we had a tacky discharge, and Dry if we were, well, dry.
This exercise may very well be the beginning of my sexual exploration, though at that time I remember thinking of it as tedious and never took it seriously enough to document everyday. In fact, I remember making it all up on the day we turned those monthly calendar sheets in.
As soon as I started being sexually active, I got on the pill, and didn’t have to think much of counting the days in my cycles. Almost immediately after quitting the pill, I got pregnant, became a mom and didn’t have my period for eight months after birth.
Since I got my period again, it is like clockwork. I have not gone back to taking birth control pills. I have begun counting out my monthly cycles to determine when I’m fertile, when I’m expecting my period, and when I have sex.
The nuns actually taught me something about sex!
There is an iPhone app that Fertility Friend released to help make this easier. I use it faithfully. It’s called the Menstrual Calendar. You first set it up with your cycle length and the first day of your most recent period. The app marks each calendar day and predicts fertile days and when the next period begins. Make sure you set Auto Stats to OFF so you can make adjustments if you are early or late a day or so.
The app also lets me enter information about my period – None, Spotting, Light, Normal or Heavy; and about whether or not I had intercourse – Protected or Unprotected.
The only function missing is a text field to enter who the sex was with, for women who have multiple partners, in case knock-on-wood she gets pregnant and is wondering who the father may be. This makes keeping a diary of all the dirty details indispensable.
Just so you know . . . look at the last item on the list at . . . http://briandavidphillips.typepad.com/brian/2009/01/sexology-breakthroughs-of-the-past-130-years.html . . . not all women, not even half . . . but enough to suggest that the rhythm method should not be your only line of defense in so far as pregnancy prevention goes.
All the best,
Brian
Thanks for pointing that fact out, Brian. Fertility Friend has a disclaimer on their iPhone app that covers these possibilities. The rhythm method is only one of the many tools I have under my belt.
“…recording how our vaginas felt”
I wonder if any jokers wrote down stuff like “horny.”
…or “I’ve been feeling my vagina, and it just keeps getting wetter and wetter.”
No kidding, Ra. I do wonder what kind of entertainment the nuns derived from our little calendars.
On another note, the latest update to the Fertility Friend iPhone app has a “Notes” text field for entering details, like who the sex is with (for ladies who have multiple partners) or any other memorable events during the encounter. Way to go, Fertility Friend!