Day 71 (CD16)

Well, due to some unforeseen events, I'll be needing to travel from CD18-22, so in order to avoid frustrating temperature disturbances right around ovulation, I decided to start trying to trigger ovulation early.

So, last night I slept with the blinds open and without my eye mask. I didn't feel as rested when I woke up, but my cervix was quite open, and I continued having creamy/wet mucus, so I'm really hoping it works. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Day 45 (CD34)

Finally! My temp this morning was a 97.6, the highest I've seen in quite a long time. Between that and less-fertile mucus and cervix position, I'm fairly confident in a third high temp tomorrow, verifying that I ovulated on CD32, officially my latest ovulation ever.

Last night I did sleep with my eye mask on again, and was glad that I did; I felt quite well-rested in the morning. My plan during this luteal phase is to be sure to get sun every day to hopefully balance out my seratonin/melatonin levels before beginning the next cycle. I'm hoping for a fourteen day luteal phase again, which would put my next menstruation on Friday, July 4th.

Day 44 (CD33 - third night of light)

Though I did sleep a bit better last night, and though I do now have one temperature above the coverline, I do have a few concerns...

• Perhaps this temp shift is just an even-ing out of my temperatures now that my melatonin levels are getting back to normal (and excess melatonin is not causing them to be lowered). If so, how will I distinguish that from ovulation?
• My temp for this morning was barely above the coverline, and -- in fact -- at the same level as the previous days which I had attributed to too much sun. Knowing I didn't get sunburned yesterday, I want to think that this is really an ovulatory shift, but I'm still skeptical.
• My cervical mucus signs today were a bit difficult to interpret. I marked them as creamy, since it was very lotion-like, but it was unlike any creamy mucus I've had before, and in some parts seemed globby like post-ovulatory mucus, but also seemed a bit elastic like fertile-time ewcm. Overall, since it was definitely of less fertile quality than yesterday, I marked it as creamy.
  
• With it being cycle day 33, I don't know what my chances are of ovulating anytime after this if I did not actually ovulate yesterday.
• Since last night was my last light night, and I did not have a temp shift that screamed "Congrats! You ovulated!" I'm a bit uncertain as to what to do tonight -- go without the eye mask for one more night? Or return to my "dark side"?

One reassurance, however, is that either ovulation has happened, or it hasn't. Since it's not a lengthy process (taking as little as 15 minutes - see it here!), it either happened yesterday or it didn't, and nothing I do today can change that. If I do use the eye mask tonight (which is what I'm leaning towards) then I should still get a high temp tomorrow. And that way I'll know if it was a raise induced by a decrease in melatonin, or if it was a genuine shift... well, that along with the mucus dry up and cervical position returning to the infertile stage. So, we're still waiting, but we're remaining optimistic!

Day 42 (CD31 - first night of light)

Today marks CD31, which has, up until this point, been my latest recorded ovulation ever. With that in mind, last night I experienced my first "light" night of my Lunaception journey.

Going to bed without my eye mask on was a bit weird. I hadn't realized how much I had gotten used to it, and I had to consciously keep my eyes from opening every five seconds to look around. We get a lot of light into our apartment at night, since we are city-dwellers, and since we have so many large windows. Even without a single light bulb on, after my eyes adjusted to the lack of light I could fairly clearly make out everything in the room. With a combination of moonlight and streetlights shining in from the large window beside the bed, I hoped that would be enough to trigger ovulation.

I didn't sleep well at all, which I guess was to be expected. I know I tossed and turned quite a bit, even after I fell asleep (which took longer than usual). In the morning after I took my temperature I was so tired that I rolled back over and slept another two hours... not a very restful sleep. I don't remember having any dreams, either.

Just in case that wasn't enough light, I sat out on our balcony this morning for nearly an hour before it started raining and I had to come in. All day, I've been trying to get as much light as possible -- at least, as is possible while still getting stuff done around the house and while it's raining outside.

Tonight is the full moon, so I'm really hoping for ovulation today or tomorrow. I had all of the classic ovulation signs today -- eggwhite mucus, a wet vaginal sensation, an open, high, and soft cervix, and even a dip in temperatures. This afternoon I thought I may have even felt a twinge from my left ovary (which would be VERY odd, since I never have ovulation pains)... of course, maybe that was just wishful thinking.

I'll keep you updated.

Day 39 (CD28)

No ovulation yesterday, but things are looking up for today!

CM - I had the mother lode of EWCM today! I'll spare you the graphic details, but let me tell you, I experienced a lot of fertile mucus today -- hoorah! This (along with a lower BBT today - more about that later) has pretty much killed any idea that I ovulated earlier this cycle, but hey -- it may be coming soon!
CP - More fertile than yesterday!
BBT - At first, I was disappointed at my 97.0 this morning. Then, as I started looking at my last week's temps, I'm considering marking both CD23 AND CD27 as disturbed -- both were higher-than-usual temps that took place immediately after a day in the sun where I ended up getting somewhat burnt. I'm not entirely sure of this theory, since I ended up more burnt on CD24 than 22, but had no disturbance in temps that day.

Thoughts? Have you noticed a sunburn/higher BBT correlation?

In other, related news... I was considering trying to go without my eye mask tomorrow night to try to trigger ovulation on the full moon (Wednesday). But with my increased EWCM today, my body may be ovulating on its own anyways, in which case I'll probably just let it do its thing.

Day 36 (CD25)

This is both confusing and annoying. My body is acting as if it's already ovulated -- with a low, firm cervix and drying-up mucus patterns (it was creamy this morning, but some drier sticky/gummy mucus this evening), but my temps are saying "nope, you haven't ovulated yet!"

So, we'll assume that my body tried to ovulate, but then did not, due to:

• travel
• stress
• heat exhaustion
• any combination or all of the above

Day 35 (CD24)

And now I'm just confused.

My cervical mucus and cervix position are both looking quite infertile, but my temp this morning was another super-low one. Possible interpretations:

1. I did not really ovulate on CD22. The high temp on CD23 was brought on by sunburn from the day before.
2. I did ovulate on CD22. The low temp on CD24 was a weird fluke of sorts or part of a very drastic fall-back rise.

And it looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

Day 34 (CD23)

I might have ovulated yesterday! What excitement!

CM - I had creamy mucus again today, even with an external check!
CP - It went WAY back down to pre-o position... low, firm, and slightly open
BBT - One temp above coverline and counting!

Day 33 (CD22)

I didn't ovulate yesterday. I'm now moving out of my "normal, but early" (ovulation on CD18-20) phase and into my "average" (ovulation on CD21-23) phase.

CM - Surprise! More creamy mucus! I actually thought it might be ewcm, since it had a very lubricative sensation, but nothing clear/stretchy/eggwhite-like at all. Oh well... at least it was distinguishable by external checks!
CP - My cervix today was definitely in a ready-to-ovulate position... high, soft, and open!
BBT - This "wave" shape that I'm experiencing has now reached its trough and is beginning to make its way back up towards the crest again... or so it would seem. This also pushed my coverline down another 0.1 degree, though, which puts it at 0.2 degree below any previous coverline. I just hope I have a distinguishable enough temp shift when ovulation occurs so that I'm not second-guessing myself with low post-ovulatory temps.

Sleep observations - Even after only four and a half hours of sleep, I seem to have gotten an accurate temperature reading this morning. Kudos to me. On a related note, I'm really tired now!

Day 32 (CD21)

I didn't ovulate yesterday.

CM - finally, after days of creamy internal mucus, I finally was able to externally observe creamy mucus (thus, marked as creamy/wet instead of creamy/dry)
CP - still firm, but higher -- signs are starting to point to impending ovulation!
BBT - on par with yesterday's. This creates an interesting instance, however, where my coverline has moved down to 97.3, officially the lowest coverline that I have ever had. What are the chances that it's going to stay that low? And do you suppose that's somehow related to Lunaception?

Day 31 (CD20)

So... I didn't ovulate yesterday. Don't you somehow get the feeling you'll be seeing that message on here a lot? I have hope, though... one of my Lunafriends (yes, that's one of you other people who recently started trying Lunaception) recently ovulated on CD22 without any nights of light. So... we keep waiting.

CM - creamy, only after checking internally... same as yesterday
CP - a bit higher again, which is a good sign
BBT - Why oh why does my basal body temperature keep dropping? This is completely bizarre... or, as M. Night Shyamalan would say, "What a twist!" (If you have no idea what that's a reference to, check out this video)

Sleep observations: I woke up early again this morning, though only a half hour earlier than usual. I'm not sure what that means, if anything, especially since I take my temp and then proceed to fall back asleep for another few hours anyways.


For my own curiosity's sake, I checked back in my previous charts to try to find other charts which showed similar pre-ovulation patterns of a sharp, steady drop in temperatures like I'm experiencing this month (currently a drop of 0.7 degrees in 8 days) To my surprise, I found a few that looked somewhat similar.

Cycle 2 - Though a sharper drop than my current one, in this cycle I dropped 0.9 degrees over 7 days, and ovulated a week later.

Cycle 20 - Again, this had another sharp drop in it. In total, it was a drop of 0.7 degrees in only six days, with ovulation five days later.

Cycle 30 - This one had three drops of 0.2 degrees or more... a total drop of 0.9 degrees in six days, with ovulation only two days later.

In each of these, I had a short period of slightly-higher-than-the-dip temps before ovulation actually occurred, and in two of those three months, my cervical mucus pattern did not match up with ovulation. So, it looks like I may have a while to go yet before ovulation, but at least I know... and we all know that knowing is half the battle.

Day 30 (CD19)

Once again... I didn't ovulate yesterday. I've now given up all hope of ovulating closer to the supposed norm, which, in my case, would be earlier than usual. For me:

• "early" = ovulation on CD17 or earlier (has occurred four times)
  
• "normal" = ovulation on CD18-26
• "average" = ovulation on CD21-22
• "late" = ovulation on CD27 or later (has occurred three times)
  

So... now I'm shooting for something in the "normal" or "average" range.

CM - Still looking for this excess cervical mucus that other Lunaceptors (yes, I just made up that word) keep talking about. At this point, I'd be content with any cervical mucus actually discernible from external checks.
CP - Dropped WAY low today... like, "Oh... well HI there, cervix!" kind of low. But, it's still partially open (as always) and of medium firmness.
BBT - Still dropping. It was actually a ridiculously low 96.7 this morning when I woke up at 5, but I adjusted it to account for the earlier waking time. If I were to assume that my CD15 temp were the same as the days before and after, my coverline would actually drop down to 97.4, which falls in the "low" range for me (in fact, my current lowest three coverlines ever are at 97.4). For me:

• "low" coverline = 97.4 or lower (has occurred three times)
  
• "normal" coverline = 97.5-98.0
• "average" coverline = 97.7-97.8
• "high" coverline = 98.1 or higher (has occurred once)
  

Sleep observations: I slept really well last night. I know that I had at least one dream, though I don't recall all the details. I ended up waking up at 5am (when I temped) but was fast asleep again before the 6am alarm.


And for your research pleasure, here's a new study about how the blue light rays from electric lights suppress melatonin.

"In clear, instructive prose, Hansler explains how the blue rays in ordinary lights block melatonin, the hormone which makes sleeping easier and helps prevent cancer. But there is an easy solution to this problem, Hansler suggests. By using such simple things as blue blocking glasses or non-blue light bulbs, melatonin can be maximized. This increased melatonin has many other benefits as well, including ameliorating bipolar disorder, ADHD, SAD and even postpartum depression."

Here's another link with info on what they call "The Blue Light Hazard." Definitely something to think about, considering how melatonin production has been linked to a "regular" menstrual cycle. Could my longer cycles be linked to time spent on the computer or watching TV in the two hours before bedtime?

Since moving to our new apartment (I'll use those, since the change in environment may have been another factor with other cycles) my longest cycles were in November and December, undoubtedly the months that I spent the most time indoors in the evening (since it got dark here so early), and was probably spending many of those hours on my computer or watching movies. Connection?

Day 29 (CD18)

Well, I didn't ovulate yesterday.

CM: creamy, internally only... again. Where's all this excess of eggwhite mucus that people say that they get using Lunaception???
CP: high, medium firmness, partially open... only slightly more fertile in quality than yesterday
BBT: And they keep on dropping. While my temps do sometimes seem to drop a bit before ovulation, I'm not again hitting 97.0, which is quite low for me.

Sleep observations: I slept better last night, only waking up once before the first alarm. We took a walk again today, so we'll see how well I sleep.

Day 28 (CD17)

Well, I didn't ovulate yesterday.

CM: creamy, internal only
CP: high (hey, maybe ovulation is on its way!), firm, partially open
BBT: I changed yesterday's to match closer to what today's is... that makes my second "only one hour off" temp this month which made more sense adjusted.

Sleep observations: I haven't been sleeping as well lately and am starting to realize that it may have more to do with my physical activity throughout the day than Lunaception itself. Right around the same time I started using my eye mask, my husband and I also started making a daily habit of walking 30 minutes to an hour every day. This past four days we haven't been able to get out on our walks, and through those nights I've noticed I've been increasingly more restless, and in the mornings increasingly more tired. We took a nice, long walk today, so I'm interested to see if that improves my sleep.


I also did a bit more study into where my ovulation and period occur in regards to the moon cycles, and I ran across this fantastic moon phase calendar on The Old Farmer's Almanac Website. Not only does it show dates of significant moon phases, but it also documents the percentage of illumination for each day. Fabulous! So, I went back and looked at my ovulation and menstruation dates and made up this more concise chart based on the percentage of illumination on each of those dates:

(click for larger view)

It's an interesting pattern, with ovulation tending to occur at about the same illumination as the menstruation of two cycles previous. This pattern also seems to be the strongest during times when it occurs closest to the New Moon or Full Moon. Now, it could just be a mathematical coincidence based on the fact that the lunar cycles are about 28 days long whereas my cycles are normally about 34 days long, but that kind of math makes my brain hurt. If that pattern were to follow for this cycle, I would ovulate somewhere around the next 60% illumination night, which happens to occur on Tuesday, June 11th, which would for me be CD24. We'll see if that prediction comes true!

I also observed that ovulation and menstruation are both equally as likely to occur during the waxing phase of the moon as during the waning phase (14-16 times each). I have menstruated twice on the new moon, and twice on the full moon; I have ovulated once on the new moon, and twice on the full moon.

Day 27 (CD16)

CD16 is the earliest that I have ever ovulated. Considering I had no cervical mucus at all, and my cervix was in a medium position and was firmer than yesterday, I think it's safe to say that I didn't ovulation today. Part of me was hoping that I would ovulate very early this cycle, because it would be quite drastic and show that the Lunaception had a definite effect on my cycles. So, we move on till tomorrow.

I woke an hour later than usual today, and will probably wait to see tomorrow's temp to see which is more accurate.

Also today, I took a closer look at my previous cycles to see where my menstrual period and my ovulation has lined up with the moon cycles in the past. Though it was hard to see any definite pattern, it did seem apparent that my menstrual period (top graph, in red) seemed to come slightly less often during the full moon than during other times of the month, whereas ovulation (bottom graph, in blue) seemed to come slightly more often during the full moon than during other times of the month. There also seems to be a significant lack of either activity during days 6-7 on either graph, as well as during days 20-21. These are both times when the moon is nearing its quarter-phases. Any significance? I'm not certain.


Overall, I did notice that menstruation seemed to occur much less during the lightest moon phases (the seven days directly surrounding the full moon), and most often during the darkest phases (the seven days directly surrounding the new moon). Very interesting.

Day 26 (CD15)

Arriving home late last night + no work today = very bad charter with no basal body temps for today.

Sleeping in always reminds me of the Postal Service song (found here thanks to Allan's World Music blog found via Hype Machine). And every once in awhile, especially after a long week, sleeping in feels really nice.

Of course, there are obvious disadvantages, such as the fact that I have no basal body temperature to report today, though from my internal-only creamy cervical mucus and medium height, firmness, and openness of my cervix, it's pretty safe to say that my temps would probably not have changed much since yesterday. That's where charting multiple signs definitely comes in handy.

Day 24 (CD13)

It's another amazing Lunaception day! That makes my third-in-a-row 97.4!

No cervical mucus again, which -- from looking at my past charts -- seems to be a normal pattern of mine... a few days of creamy mucus, then a dry-up, then more mucus later on with ovulation. It must be due to some sort of hormonal surge, though I'm not really certain what. My cervix was noticeably softer today than yesterday, however, which means I'm definitely on the right track!

Day 23 (CD12)

Not much new to report today.

Compared with yesterday:
- same basal body temperature (YAY!)
- same cervix position/feel
- NO cervical mucus

Day 22 (CD11)

Today was my first fertile day (as determined by the Doering Rule + creamy cervical mucus), so I now officially have a coverline, a bit lower than normal, but still well within my range.

Current coverline: 97.5
Average coverline: 97.7
Coverline range: 97.4-98.1

Cervical mucus is again creamy internally only, and cervix position is the same as well: firm, low, and partially open. I suppose consistency in these fertility indicators is a good sign as well.

Day 21 (CD10)

My temperature this morning was quite a bit lower than my temps have been so far. It's been awhile since I've had any temps below 97.0. Normally I probably wouldn't have even noticed a 0.2-0.4 degree fluctuation like I had today, but since my other temps have been so even, it's hard not to notice such a dip. I've always insisted that environment (using a heavier blanket, sleeping with windows open, etc) really didn't make that much of a difference in basal body temperatures, and up until this point it really hasn't seemed to make a difference. But then I have a temp like this morning's and I know for a fact that the windows were left open last night and when I woke up I felt physically cold, and it makes me wonder how much of a difference it really does make. 0.2-0.4 really isn't very much -- enough that I may not have noticed a real difference before, but it would be enough to make a difference in interpretation right around the time of ovulation.

Noting my other signs, I did have quite a bit of internal, creamy cervical mucus this morning, but nothing externally. My cervix felt firm, low, and partially open. I'm finding more and more that "partially open" for me is quite normal and not necessarily "fertile." They say that after a vaginal birth, a woman's cervix only closes as much as "partially open," but I find very rarely does mine ever fit the description of "closed." But that's just a side note, I guess.

So, I guess we wait to see what tomorrow brings.