Day 15 (CD4)

So, I'll admit to perhaps having a bit unrealistic expectations when it came to this process. I really had hoped that my pre-ovulatory temps would all be the same exact temperature, just like my luteal phase temperatures had been last cycle. That way, I could point to it and be like -- wow! -- take a look at that awesome chart! So, I have a bit of an obsession with steady, even temperatures, can you blame me?

So, that's why I was actually a bit disappointed today when my temperature went up by one whole, giant, whopping 0.2 degree. All-in-all, it's a lot less crazy so far than my normal pre-ovulatory temperatures (check out last cycle if you want to compare), and really, it makes sense. After all, in the pre-ovulatory phase, a lot is going on with the hormones of your body. FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormones) are causing eggs in the follicles of the ovaries to mature, causing estrogen to be released and increase up until the point of ovulation, when the estrogen triggers a surge in LH (Lutenizing Hormones) and ovulation occurs. Long story short, there's a lot going on!


I spent quite a bit of time yesterday thinking and planning what exactly I wanted to accomplish through this experiment. Just think of the possibilities if one truly could determine by something as simple as night-lighting when one would ovulate... and since ovulation determines when menstruation takes place, that opens up a whole new world of possibilities. After all, I don't know about you, but my first day of menstruation tends not to be very pleasant, and I try to avoid having to do pretty much anything on those days. So, I took a look at the next seven months (June-December) and picked out some "target days" for each month. These are days that I wouldn't mind so much having as my first day of menstruation -- days that I have off work, days that aren't holidays or weddings or other major events -- but would fit in with my target 29-33 day cycles. (Keep in mind, my cycles are currently an average of 33.4 days, so they would be slightly shorter.) They would also cause my cycle lengths to gradually decrease over time so that by January I would not only be in line with the moon cycles (ovulating during the full moon, menstruating during the new moon) but would also have developed a pattern of ovulation around CD16 -- almost a week earlier than my current ovulation. From there, I could take a look at it again and determine on a month-to-month basis which would probably be based more on scheduling my fertile days around our schedules so we could try to conceive.

So... (drumroll, please) These are the dates on which I am going to attempt to menstruate through Lunaception:

- (June 21?)
- July 23
- August 25
- September 27
- October 28 (new moon!)
- November 27 (new moon!)
- December 27 (new moon!)

Obviously, this schedule may need more manipulation over time, and since I will be going with total darkness all throughout this cycle, I have no idea how close I am going to be to the first date of June 21. But, as long as I'm trying to tweak my cycle, I might as well make it work out to my benefit, right?