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 59 (CD4)

Assumption: Low (under 97.0 degree) temperature on CD3 was caused by an excess of melatonin, produced by lack of light exposure.

Theory: By increasing the exposure to light during the daytime on CD3, I may be able to counteract the excess melatonin and help my body balance out these hormones, resulting in a more normal (over 97.0 degree) temperature on CD4.
Process: I spent about an hour in the sun right away in the morning on CD3, as well as about 45 minutes later on in the morning. Temped again on the morning of CD4 to compare.

Observations: Temperature on CD4 was more normal (over 97.0 degrees).

Further study: On CD4, I spent most of the morning and afternoon out in the sun.

Prediction: Temperatures continuing in normal (over 97.0 degrees) level, perhaps even raising to the 97.3 which it was on CD1 and 2.

Day 58 (CD3)

After two days of "normal" pre-ovulation temps, this morning dropped down again to below 97.0. Since I want to try to ovulate early this cycle, I'm going to see if I can somehow prevent myself from getting such an excess of melatonin that would cause my ovulation to be delayed like it was last cycle. I'm hoping that dark nights combined with spending extra time out in the sun during the daytime (especially morning time) might help create a "balance" that will make it easier for me to trigger ovulation when the time comes. So... we'll see how that works.

Day 46 (CD35 - 3DPO)

I got my third high temp, which verified ovulation on CD32. Interesting things to note:

- This was my latest ever recorded ovulation. It seems that the extra melatonin produced by sleeping in dark conditions was enough to suppress ovulation.
- This was my lowest ever recorded coverline. It seems that the extra melatonin also lowered my core body temperature.
- Ovulation occurred on the day after my first light night. That, combined with extra sunlight during the daytime seemed to have triggered my ovulation, or at least balanced out my melatonin/seratonin levels enough that I was finally able to ovulate.

Day 43 (CD32 - second night of light)

Last night: Second night with no eye mask. Falling asleep with the additional light was not any easier last night than the night before, and I slept quite restlessly. I'll be very glad to use the eye mask again on Friday night.
This morning: Still no temperature shift. I spent a few hours this morning (between rain showers) out on my balcony trying to soak in as much sun as possible.


I think that I've been producing too much melatonin to ovulate. Perhaps going from our normally-light bedroom to the complete darkness of the eyemask was too drastic of a transition? So, of course, I had to do a bit of research:

The effect of melatonin on reproductive systems can be summarized by saying that it is anti-gonadotropic. In other words, melatonin inhibits the secretion of the gonadotropic hormones luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone from the anterior pituitary. Much of this inhibitory effect seems due to inhibition of gonadotropin-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus, which is necessary for secretion of the anterior pituitary hormones. (link)

That same article states:

In various species including humans, administration of melatonin has been shown to decrease motor activity, induce fatigue and lower body temperature, particularly at high doses.

In my research, I found a couple of other articles as well that also explained that melatonin is probably the cause of my drastic decrease in BBT this cycle (my average coverline is 97.7 - this cycle it is 97.2) (link, link)

So... what I'm going to do about this? Besides trying to get as much daytime sun as possible, I have no idea.

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.