When I got my IUD out a few months ago, I asked for birth control ideas. I was surprised how many Moms recommended a BOOK as birth control! I had to check it out.
A Book as Birth Control?
I bought Taking Charge of Your Fertility from Amazon and was excited when it arrived in the mail. At first I was overwhelmed, because it is pretty thick! That is a lot of information, but I only needed some of it. A mom trying to conceive would read some parts I didn’t read. So I am reviewing this more of a preventing pregnancy standpoint.
Knowledge is power!
I am all about how knowledge brings empowerment. Well there was a whole lot I didn’t know about my cycles and how bodies let us know what is going on.
I had charted my temperatures before getting pregnant with T1 and T2 (I was shooting for boys – it worked!) But I didn’t know about cervical mucus or positioning. That adds this whole new level of information. Suddenly I understood what all my vaginal fluid/cervical mucus was about. It MEANS something. It is actually really cool.
So I started charting. I had ordered a basal thermometer when I ordered my book. I started taking my temperature every morning. It takes less then 30 seconds. The first month I paper charted.
My DH wasn’t sold at first. He wasn’t about to have unprotected sex EVER! But after about 3 months of tracking and showing him my charts and telling him about my temperatures and mucus, he believes in the process. At least enough that we have had unprotected sex once during a “safe” time. Maybe he was just happy not to have to wear a condom and was willing to be risky. But I didn’t feel it was risky at all. Because I knew I had ovulated 8 days earlier.
Going High Tech
Charting on paper wasn’t hard, but I thought an APP would be funner. So I did a little research and downloaded the FemCal App. I did the lite one first, because it was free. But have since moved up to the paid one.
It is so fun to go in and mark your temperature. Your moods, your mucus and if you had sex.
Seriously, you get a little heart on the days you have sex! It is almost as great as earning a sticker for brushing your teeth! (My boys do, not me.)
Now, don’t go thinking you can just download the app and not read the book. You won’t know what eggwhite mucus is vs sticky. These are important things to know. I think the book and an app are a great team, but I wouldn’t trust one without the other.
Sharing my charts!
The super cool thing about the paid app is it saves more than 3 cycles and you can download your charts. In case you want to share them with the world on your blog! There are other reasons you may want to download them too. Maybe to share with your doctor at appointments, or friends at book club.
Here is my first full cycle chart. You can see it was pretty “normal” 
Then here is my really weird cycle, that was 42 days long. My body kept trying to ovulate, but took forever! Seriously, if I hadn’t been charting I would have been so worried I was pregnant. But I knew I didn’t ovulate until day 28.
Look at all those heart stickers I got! 🙂
MMM, I forgot my Mom reads my blog! Oh well, at least DH’s mom doesn’t read it. 😉
I would say this is a MUST READ book for ALL women!
If women could understand and appreciate their fertility cycles it would be SO empowering on so many levels. I think it would filter down (or filter up?) into their births.
I automatically thought, we need to teach teenage girls this! Not for birth control – but for empowerment. Just knowing this stuff makes me realize even more how amazing your body is! I was happy to see that Toni has written a book for teens and I will review that in a few weeks.
Buy This Book!
- if you are trying to get pregnant.
- if you are trying not to get pregnant.
- if you are female.
There you go. A Review and a Peak into my Cervical Mucus. Probably much more then you ever wanted to know!
Enjoy!
So you said you were aiming for boys from charting your temp, and it worked…what did you do?
I used the Shettles method, which for having boys is having sex when you ovulate. The idea is that boy sperm swim faster than girl sperm. At least that is what I remember – it was 10 years ago when we did it! 🙂
Very Interesting! I’ve always wanted to know how mucous plays a part in my cycle. Dont forget the book wed! Jake would love for me to chart “the hearts”(:
I’m in complete agreement that this book needs to be taught to young women. It seems so fundamental that we learn how to read our bodies. I was actually frustrated that I didn’t read this book until I was about 28 years old. How had I gone so long without knowing about cervical mucus, temperature taking and even cervical position.
My husband and I are thinking about ttc early next year – or rather, we tell everyone that come next year we’ll “forget” about NOT ttc and see what happens.
I hadbeen on the pill for three years and wanted to get my body prepped as I had heard it can sometimes take a long time to get your cycles back to normal. I picked up TCOYF and have been obsessed ever since.
I really do think every woman should read it! If only for the basic understanding of your own body -plus I love the author’s sentiment that if more couples understood their cycle – you could avoid costly and invasive fertility treatments. It pits some power back in people’s hands!
So if I really want a girl (I have three boys already!) how would we want to time it?
You would want to read the book! I don’t know that answer. 🙂