Guys! I promise, I haven't fallen off the face of earth. We went camping in the mountains last weekend (no internet connection there), and then I returned just in time to finish my last paper of the summer for my master's class. Then, I went back to work. Yikes! The past few days have been a whirl of Professional Development (teacher speak for meetings, meetings, trainings, and more meetings...), but I am getting it back together and I promise I'll be blogging regularly again!
"FAM is an empowering method of natural birth control or pregnancy achievement, and it is an excellent tool for assessing gynecological problems and understanding your body."
-Tony Weschler, Taking Charge of Your Fertility
When Hubster and I first decided to try to get pregnant, I assumed that it was a pretty simple process: you stop taking birth control, you have sex, and then, WHAM! you get pregnant. I know I learned about things like cycles, ovulation, and hormones in sex ed in high school, but the knowledge was out of context at the time.
It wasn't until Hubster and I dealt with the fallout from the Depo Shot, several months of trying, the absence of my periods, a brief stint back on the pill, and then several months taking an ovulation inducing drug that I started to really learn about what my body needed to do in order to make a baby.
Turns out that halting birth control pills and getting busy were just two steps in a lengthy and involved process.
Now, I want to say this before I go on:
I know that you may be reading this and thinking to yourself,
it wasn't lengthy or involved for us. We had sex and got pregnant.
Yes. That's true. For lots of people, pregnancy is easy, unexpected even (although that concept blows my mind. Seriously). If that's you, that's awesome. I am glad that you are not walking a road riddled with fertility woes. If that's you, please remember to be so, so grateful for simple path you took to get to your pregnant belly or to the sweet blonde head sleeping in the crib down the hall.
If that's not you, then I hope the information in this post is helpful. And I'm sorry. If that's you, I am glad to know you (even through the virtual reality of a blog), but I am sorry you are walking this road as well.
 |
| Photo from www.kindara.com Check out the app for iPhone or Android in the App store--it's FREE! And there are no in-app purchases; you have full access to the whole thing! |
Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) and Kindara
I am excited to be writing this post, friends, because Kindara and FAM have changed my life, despite the fact that I haven't gotten pregnant yet. They have positively changed the way I view my menstrual cycle and my health in general, which has been awesome.
FAM's basic principals are these: if you pay attention, track your cervical fluid, and take your BBT each morning, you can accurately predict your fertile days each month and confirm ovulation.
Cool, right?
You can use FAM to try and achieve pregnancy, try to avoid pregnancy, or just learn about your cycle in general.
Charting by hand used to be kind of a pain. You had to take your temp every morning, write on the paper chart, check your fluid, mark it down, and keep your handwriting neat. But technology has changed that, and Kindara is an awesome app for BBT charting. Check it out here.
Kindara is free, easy to use, and is available for iPhone and Android. It has TONS of great resources, such as a community, blog, and knowledge base. You can post your completed chart on the community forum, ask questions, and get feedback from other women that are on the same path you are. Plus, their staff runs a fabulous blog with an Ask Kindara section as well as a knowledge base that explains all kinds of nitty gritty info. PLUS: they are in the production stages of creating an incredible BBT thermometer (called Wink) that blue tooth links to your phone, vibrates instead of beeps (because what Hubby wants to wake up to a beeping thermometer?), and is packaged to look like an item of make-up, rather than a thermometer. How cool is that? If you're interested in buying a Wink, click here.
Plus, the app makes fertility charting super easy. You enter your temp, your cervical fluid, your...romantic interludes, and even custom data, like headaches, cramps, or skin breakouts. You can even enter the days you do yoga, in case you want to see if that really does help your body feel better leading up to your period, or help your mood when you're grumpy.
It takes your daily data and compiles into these beautiful colored charts:
You can access your charts via the online login, where you can share your Kindara business with your healthcare provider or print out to take into your appointment.
Love it!
In the early stages of our fertility struggles, I hated most the overwhelming feeling of helplessness I felt. There was nothing I could DO to change the situation. I am a doer, so that made me nuts. But Kindara and FAM gave me something useful to do. I felt like I had taken control of my fertility situation and had actual information that told me what my body was doing and when. It was a total game changer.
Now, 10 cycles of charting recorded, my Naturopath, Acupuncturist, Gynecologist, and I have all garnered valuable data from my charting efforts. We've learned about my body's general habits throughout my cycles, as well as a few quirks, like the fact that I only ovulate every other month. That piece of information has turned out to be invaluable, for a few reasons.
Let me tell you something: having well-established pattern of ovulation every other month has helped me a lot. It takes the pressure off, because I know I essentially have a month "off." Hubster and I don't have to feel like we are wasting valuable time because our timing wasn't perfect or just so. That's huge, let me tell you.
And knowing about ovulating every other month also indicates that one ovary probably isn't functioning quite right. Charting was a key piece of evidence for the decision to go ahead and have a laparoscopy procedure next month (I'll be posting about what that is, why I'm doing it, and then after, how it goes).
In case you are wondering, I am not a Wink salesman or Kindara rep. This post isn't sponsored in any way, shape, or form, but I really do believe in this system and this product. Of all the things I have come across for fertility stuff, Kindara is number one on my list for practicality and effectiveness.
Check it out!
Charting by hand used to be kind of a pain. You had to take your temp every morning, write on the paper chart, check your fluid, mark it down, and keep your handwriting neat. But technology has changed that, and Kindara is an awesome app for BBT charting. Check it out here.
Kindara is free, easy to use, and is available for iPhone and Android. It has TONS of great resources, such as a community, blog, and knowledge base. You can post your completed chart on the community forum, ask questions, and get feedback from other women that are on the same path you are. Plus, their staff runs a fabulous blog with an Ask Kindara section as well as a knowledge base that explains all kinds of nitty gritty info. PLUS: they are in the production stages of creating an incredible BBT thermometer (called Wink) that blue tooth links to your phone, vibrates instead of beeps (because what Hubby wants to wake up to a beeping thermometer?), and is packaged to look like an item of make-up, rather than a thermometer. How cool is that? If you're interested in buying a Wink, click here.
Plus, the app makes fertility charting super easy. You enter your temp, your cervical fluid, your...romantic interludes, and even custom data, like headaches, cramps, or skin breakouts. You can even enter the days you do yoga, in case you want to see if that really does help your body feel better leading up to your period, or help your mood when you're grumpy.
It takes your daily data and compiles into these beautiful colored charts:
You can access your charts via the online login, where you can share your Kindara business with your healthcare provider or print out to take into your appointment.
Love it!
In the early stages of our fertility struggles, I hated most the overwhelming feeling of helplessness I felt. There was nothing I could DO to change the situation. I am a doer, so that made me nuts. But Kindara and FAM gave me something useful to do. I felt like I had taken control of my fertility situation and had actual information that told me what my body was doing and when. It was a total game changer.
Now, 10 cycles of charting recorded, my Naturopath, Acupuncturist, Gynecologist, and I have all garnered valuable data from my charting efforts. We've learned about my body's general habits throughout my cycles, as well as a few quirks, like the fact that I only ovulate every other month. That piece of information has turned out to be invaluable, for a few reasons.
Let me tell you something: having well-established pattern of ovulation every other month has helped me a lot. It takes the pressure off, because I know I essentially have a month "off." Hubster and I don't have to feel like we are wasting valuable time because our timing wasn't perfect or just so. That's huge, let me tell you.
And knowing about ovulating every other month also indicates that one ovary probably isn't functioning quite right. Charting was a key piece of evidence for the decision to go ahead and have a laparoscopy procedure next month (I'll be posting about what that is, why I'm doing it, and then after, how it goes).
In case you are wondering, I am not a Wink salesman or Kindara rep. This post isn't sponsored in any way, shape, or form, but I really do believe in this system and this product. Of all the things I have come across for fertility stuff, Kindara is number one on my list for practicality and effectiveness.
Check it out!
If you're not a Kindara rep you should be! I have passed on your recommendation countless times.
ReplyDeleteIf you're not a Kindara rep you should be! I have passed on your recommendation countless times.
ReplyDelete