missed period

On Mon, 31 May 2004 10:31:06 -0400, Shannon wrote:

Ilse I did bleed after stopping the pill. I completed the full pack
before stopping.

OK, that figures, as that would be the last one of your "forced" AF after
stopping BCP. The next cycle is generally a weird one, but chances are
pretty small you didn't ovulate at all. As soon as you quit BCP, your body
takes over the normal hormone production. It takes only a day to get all
artificial hormones out of your system, nevertheless, your body can take
some time to start up again.

I've only just started to chart but I was watching cervical fluid and
position before. It was really hard to tell if I ovulated since I
never saw what would be comparable to the descriptions of the typical
'fertile fluid'.

I don't get that every cycle, and if I do, usually it's not even close to
what is described in TCOYF. Some women report they only see fertile CF
at a certain time of day. After a couple of cycles, I know now what it
looks like for me, so continue the monitoring, and you will start to see a
pattern in one or two more cycles.

Yesterday I started getting very small amounts of brown clotting after
I ran a race. This morning it is still there, I'm going to see if it
gets heavier throughout the day today. It is not typical of what I get
for a period.

I regularly have some brown spotting before my period starts. It can last
anywhere from a day to three days with gaps in between. It's perfectly
normal, and comes and goes as it pleases. You mention you are a runner,
are you aware that a lot of physical activity can influence your cycles?
Women that run marathons can miss ovulation whilst in training the weeks
before, perhaps something for you to check upon. I don't think it's the
stress, rather the first cycle after BCP is always unusual and the next
round should be a normal one for you.

--
-- I
mommy to DS (July '02)
mommy to three tiny angels (28 Oct'03, 17 Feb'04 & 20 May'04)
guardian of DH (33)

Hi Shannon--
Yup, still here, albeit in and out, as I'm in the middle of a travel-heavy
time (there are good and bad sides of that...).
I flipped through TCOYF at a bookstore a while back and also think it is
very good.
I don't have much time right now, but here are a few thoughts--
I had the opposite problem from you in my first cycle off--AF came too
early, and so I spent a few days worrying about short luteal phases and
stuff. I do believe that we are both just experiencing normal post-pill
wonkiness, though, and if you're starting AF as you think you might be,
that's a good sign. Also, your temps aren't going to tell you much just yet
until you get a sense of what your patterns look like, so sit tight and
enjoy the learning process. In my limited two cycles of charting so far, it
appears my pre-O temps are usually in the low 97s, and post-O's are in the
high 97s and low 98s. But there have also been transition times, notably
during AF, where it bounced all over (I was sick then too, so it's hard to
really see a pattern yet), as well as just after O, when it seemed last
month there was a lag before the big jump and this month it rose gradually
over 3 days.
But yes, charting has definitely contributed to my sanity rather than to
anxiety, because it leaves less room for me to wonder and worry. I have
more information and feel more in control. It helps to make it a point of
not thinking about what every last symptom on any given day means. The
value is in the aggregate.
I'm leaving again tomorrow and won't be able to read news for a week and a
half, but I should have email. You can mail me at kishkish99 at hotmail dot
com if you want to chat more and I'll send you my real address.
--Kim in cville
TTC #1


"Shannon" wrote in message
news:2004053110133416807%shannonNOSPAM@sdf1net...
Hey Kim, your still around I was wondering what happened to you. I
just started officially charting 3 days ago. I bought the book 'Taking
Charge of your fertility', I think it is really good. I think I'm
getting AF today. I'm not completely sure because everything is all
wonky from coming off the pill. I'm on CD 39 right now. My
temperature 3 days ago was 97.5, yesterday was 98.2 (but I hopped out
of bed and then remembered I was supposed to take my temp so hopped
back in again) and today's temp was 97.3. Last night I was checking my
cervical position and noticed a tiny bit of brown clotting. I had the
same thing this morning. It doesn't feel like I"m getting my period
but there is definitely blood there. Based on what I read I think my
temperature should be higher. I also took a pregnancy test last Friday
and it came out negative.

BTW, I did get a withdrawl bleed at the end of my last pack of pills.

Its strange, I originally avoided charting because I thought it would
stress me out. In fact I think it will make me calmer. It will give
me a chance to see patterns instead of just guessing at what is going
on. Plus I figured if I ever do run into a problem where I have
trouble conceiving then I at least have something to go to the doctor
with.

Shannon

On 2004-05-30 17:48:14 -0400, "kim in cville"
said:

Shannon--
I'm in my second cycle off the pill and charting has really helped me
know
what my body's up to. We started TTC immediately too, in part because I
got
confirmation from a few sources that having a period isn't necessary for
dating the pregnancy (can be done with u/s, but charting also gives me
sufficient info for that and more). I went off at the end of a pack,
and
had a withdrawal period as usual (did you have a withdrawal bleed?). I
ovulated on either day 14 or 15, and had some phantom symptoms around
and
after when implantation would have been, but then AF came early on day
26.
I'm now on day 16 of my second cycle, and I believe I ovulated on day
13,
based on charting. I think our chances are low this month because I had
to
travel for work and the last day we BD'ed before O was day 8, but my
point
is that charting has made it fairly easy to know what's going on and
both
convince myself that my body is apparently close to getting its own
groove
back as well as strategize to maximize our odds, etc. Besides, it's
weirdly
fascinating
--Kim in cville
TTC #1

"Shannon" wrote in message
news:2004052716575216807%shannonNOSPAM@sdf1net...
Ok...so my doctor advised me to not ttc until after I get a period
after coming off the pill. Did I listen to her?...nope. She said the
reason was so that it would be easier to date the baby. For some
reason I never completely understood that, but now I think I do, and I
wish I had listened to her. I'm now on day 36 with no AF. I did a HPT
on day 28 and it was negative. Now I'm wondering when I should do the
next one. How long do I wait? It could take me a couple of months to
see AF. I am thinking that I should test once a week until I either
get a positive test or see AF. Does that seem reasonable? I'm
thinking that it might make it at least a tad easier to date if I test
fairly often.


--
Shannon

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