Day 69 (CD14)

CD2 - indoors / CD3 - 96.8
CD3 - AM walk / CD4 - 97.1
CD4 - AM boating & PM hiking / CD5 - 97.1
CD5 - indoors / CD6 - 96.8
CD6 - PM walk / CD7 - 97.1
CD7 - indoors / CD8 - 96.8
CD8 - AM walk (obviously wasn't enough sunlight... it was shorter than usual, and overcast... maybe that's why?) / CD9 - 96.8
CD9 - AM walk & PM walk / CD10 - 97.0
CD10 - indoors / CD11 - 97.1 ... there goes my predictable pattern
CD11 - indoors / CD12 - 97.1
CD12 - indoors / CD13 - 96.8
CD13 - indoors / CD14 - 97.0
CD14 - AM walk / CD15 - ???

So... the pattern that I thought I was developing isn't really as cut-and-dry as I had expected. With today's observations, however, I definitely entered the fertile phase of my cycle, which I've found is a whole different ball game anyways. I had a LOT of very creamy cervical mucus today, so I'm hoping my body is preparing itself, as I'm really hoping to trigger ovulation on CD18 (Jul 19, the day after the full moon). So that means two more nights of wearing the eye mask for me!

Day 67 (CD12)

My theory about light during the daytime affecting my morning temps now has a hole in it.

CD10 and 11 were days that I spent basically indoors, without even our normal morning walk. The following mornings, however, were both temperatures of 97.1, which I had previously associated with adequate sunlight during the previous day.

Now, I know a lot of hypothesizing is going into it at this point, but perhaps this means that my body is finally getting used to my Lunaceptive seratonin/melatonin levels? I was also surprised to feel distinctly wet vaginal sensations so early in my cycle (CD11-12), a symptom which I normally don't experience until at least CD14.

Previous cycles with more than one day of wet vaginal sensation as of CD13:
c26 - wet on CD12-14, ovulation on CD18
c25 - wet on CD12-13, ovulation on CD16

Perhaps my body is preparing itself for an earlier-than-normal ovulation!

Day 65 (CD10)

Continued observations through CD10

CD2 - indoors / CD3 - 96.8
CD3 - AM walk / CD4 - 97.1
CD4 - AM boating & PM hiking / CD5 - 97.1
CD5 - indoors / CD6 - 96.8
CD6 - PM walk / CD7 - 97.1
CD7 - indoors / CD8 - 96.8
CD8 - AM walk (obviously wasn't enough sunlight... it was shorter than usual, and overcast... maybe that's why?) / CD9 - 96.8
CD9 - AM walk & PM walk / CD10 - 97.0

Each day that I spent an extended amount of time outdoors, I had a temperature the next morning of 97.0 or 97.1.
Each day that I spent mostly indoors, I had a temperature the next morning of 96.8.

I'm not sure how long this pattern is going to keep up, especially as this morning I had a temperature that was a bit off the pattern. I do find it very interesting, however, and I wonder:

Was I always this sensitive to light? Or am I -- through Lunaception -- training my body to be sensitive to light?

Day 61 (CD6)

My prediction was correct! After spending a day out in the sun on CD4, my temperature on CD5 was over 97.0 degrees!

My current trend over the past four days:
- temps on days where I spent a lot of time outside = both 97.1 degrees
- temps on days where I spent most the day indoors = both 96.8 degrees

We'll see how long this trend continues. Today I spent most of the day indoors, though I did go out for a walk this afternoon, so I'm expecting a temp below 97.0 degrees tomorrow. I also took a short nap this afternoon without my eye mask, so I'm hoping that doesn't mess up my experiment too much. I'll keep you updated!

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 25 (CD14)

I'm still waiting on ovulation (as expected). No drastic changes today... pretty much the exact same as yesterday, except with temps 0.2 degrees lower.

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.

Day 19 (CD8)

More adjustments. That's what I get for staying out late and sleeping in till 7 -- sad that we consider 7am "sleeping in," isn't it? I usually have found that my normal waking time +/- one hour doesn't need to be adjusted at all, but today it makes more sense at 97.3 (adjusted) than at 97.5 (unadjusted)... perhaps it just seems like a big difference now because the rest of my chart (minus my other adjusted day) has been fairly steady and even?

At any rate, no cervical mucus yet. It's been a busy past few days... hopefully by the end of the week things will be back to a semblance of normalcy so I can get back to more consistent charting.

Day 18 (CD7)

I'm now at six temps at 97.1 +/- 0.2 degrees. No discernible cervical mucus yet; I'm figuring I'll still have at least another week before the earliest I'd possibly ovulate, considering my very earliest ovulation at this point has been CD16.

Day 17 (CD6)

*sigh* This morning was a let-down. I missed the alarm and slept in till 8am, totally messing up my temps, giving me a 97.9 (silly thermometer, that's a post-ovulation temp!) Even adjusted, it would be 97.5 which is more likely but still not in line with all my nice little 97.1s. *sigh*

So, may this be a reminder to everyone that if you are charting your basal body temperature in order to determine ovulation, you NEED to take your temperature at the SAME TIME every morning. Without that consistency, your temps really have no meaning at all. Or, you're stuck like me not having any idea what the temp means and having to throw it out entirely. *sigh*