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 56 (CD1 of cycle #37)

When I took my temperature this morning, I immediately flung myself out of bed to the bathroom. After days of temps around 97.9 degrees, today's 97.3 could only mean one thing -- menstruation. Sure enough, within minutes, my period had arrived, and within an hour, the cramps had begun.

I was a bit disappointed at my 12 day luteal phase the past cycle. When I thought more about it, however, I realized that my sleeping patterns had been very inconsistent, and that there were a handful of nights in the luteal phase that I fell asleep on the couch for a few hours before actually going to bed with my eye mask on. Also, on a few nights, I've been waking up without my eye mask on -- looks like it's time to tighten up the velcro again. Hopefully next month I can be more consistent with that to try to get a longer luteal phase again.

Also, it should be noted that my period arrived the day before the new moon.

My plan for this cycle is to try to use light to trigger an earlier-than-normal ovulation on cycle day 18, so that my next period won't arrive at an undesirable time. We'll see how that works.

Day 16 (CD5)

Well, will you look at that? Another 97.1. That makes three out of my last five days. I wracked my brain trying to think of some reason why yesterday's would have been off. I did sleep in a half-hour later, but in the past I've found that a half-hour doesn't really effect my temperatures at all. Oh, well, at least it's still fairly consistent.

We haven't been doing a good job actually getting up at 6am anymore, though. I think we hit the alarm six times this morning. It could be because of added stresses; it could be because we've been staying up later. So, we're going to try to get to bed earlier and hopefully we'll be able to be bright and cheery and wide awake at 6am again.


Also, you might notice I added another article to the Luna-Links on the right side of the page. I ran across "Dr. Winnifred Cutler's 1980 study of the lunar cycle's influence on menstrual cycles published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology" (it's a mouthful, I know) and found some of their findings to be very interesting, such as:

• Despite what we have been told about "normal" cycles, the average menstrual cycle is not actually 28 days; it's actually about 29.5 -- the exact same length as one cycle of the moon.

It seems unlikely that this would be a coincidence. The question that follows, though, is whether all women are intended to menstruate and ovulate in accordance with moon cycles, or if there are women who with the elimination of all night-lighting would still naturally have cycles that stretch out to 34+ days (like mine do now). Is the age-old over-generalization that "all women ovulate on CD14 and have 28-day (or, 29.5-day) cycles" really closer that we'd like to admit to what nature intended? Should us late ovulators who have always insisted "my body just doesn't work like that; I've always ovulated later than CD14" take a second-look at our cycles and consider that perhaps our bodies don't just naturally work like that? It's an interesting thought, and one which I hope to discover the answer to.

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?

Day 14 (CD3)

I'm psyched. This chart is out to a great start, with another 97.1 this morning, just like yesterday. It's a bit lower than my usual pre-ovulatory temps (which usually hover right around 97.4), but it doesn't really matter to me as long as they're consistent.

I've been falling asleep so much more quickly, and I only remember waking up once last night with my eye mask slid up over my forehead. Other than that, I had a really restful sleep until the alarm went off.

I've also requested a separate Lunaception cycle gallery on the Ovusoft website. I'm hoping to help encourage others using Lunaception to post their charts there as well so that there will be one place where people can go to see what difference it has made in others' cycles. Perhaps it will encourage people who have cycle issues (such as short luteal phases, erratic temperatures, anovulatory cycles etc) to at least try out Lunaception before resorting to other solutions that may actually mess up their cycles more. For instance:

• hormonal birth control pills to "regulate" cycles -- often take awhile for body to regulate afterwards and have many various side effects depending on type and dosage
  
• Clomid to encourage ovulation -- can cause a lack of cervical mucus, as well as minor side effects like mood swings, insomnia, nausea, depression, or weight gain
• B6 supplements for longer luteal phases -- can delay ovulation, as well as cause fatigue or loss of appetite

Just something to think about if you're considering one of those (or many other options) to aid fertility.

Day 13 (CD2)

So today's temp was a quite low 97.1. However, since it was much closer to yesterday's 6am temp than its 9am temp, I did go back and adjust my chart likewise (though still keeping the whole novel of what happened in my notes).

I'm totally psyched about that 14 day LP, and am totally hooked on the natural "magic" of Lunaception... after less than two weeks! The steady temps, the longer LP... I could definitely get used to this. Especially considering I've only had one other LP that long in my 35 cycles of charting (c16) and I happen to know that three of those nights of that LP we were sleeping in a cabin in the woods (as in, total darkness!) Coincidence?

So now I'm just excited to see what'll happen to my ovulation this month. It's a bit nerve-wracking, since now I'm back at the drawing board and have no idea when I'm going to ovulate, but the suspense makes it kind of fun, too.

I also received a PM asking if I was planning on trying to get in line with the moon cycles; I'm going to copy/paste my response here -- it kind of outlines my general plan of action:

I had taken a look at the calendar this past week since I knew AF was going to be due, and saw that I'm actually functioning on opposite the cycle of the moon -- the full moon was May 19th, the day AF arrived for me. So... for me to get "caught up" this cycle and ovulate on the next full moon, that would mean ovulation on CD31, which is a rather late, even for me!

So, what I think I'm going to do is just try to simulate darkness with my eye mask throughout the entire cycle this time around just to see where it ends up placing ovulation on its own.

Then, next cycle I think I may start introducing light for three nights, depending on where it places ovulation this month. My average ovulation is CD21, and I'd ideally like to get it earlier to avoid the long wait each month when we switch over to TTC in January, so I'll probably try introducing light a few days earlier each month to eventually try to get it down to somewhere around CD15 or 16.

Day 12 (CD1 of cycle #36)

I totally messed up the good consistency I had going.

From 12-6am, DH & I were asleep on the couch with NO eye mask. When I woke up I was shivering, since we had left the patio door open. Waking temp: 97.0

From 6-9am, DH & I went back to bed and I used my eye mask to fall asleep for another three hours. Waking temp: 97.7

I had lots of brown and red in my Diva this morning, so I'm assuming AF is here, and I'm just now (10:30a) starting to feel cramps coming on. We're going out to a movie, so I'm going to make myself some Raspberry Leaf tea to take with on the drive, and some Midol just in case.

All in all, though, I'm excited to start a fresh new cycle!

ETA:
Well, AF definitely hit full force, in the middle of our Chinese buffet... should have known today wouldn't have been a great day to go out to eat, but DH's been craving Chinese for awhile now and we figured it'd be a good date -- along with our movie.

Day 11 (14dpo)

I'm hoping AF will show up later today. I had quite a bit of creamy CM in my Diva Cup this morning, so that's probably a good sign. Waiting for AF is just annoying, even if you do know there's no way you're pg. And I haven't had a 13 day LP (like it would be if it comes today) since July; and I've only had one 14-day LP EVER. I need to learn more patience I guess.

Oh, and, yes, I had another 97.9 temp this morning. I even checked my temp again later after I had been up for awhile just to make sure that my thermometer wasn't wonky... and it gave me a different temp, so at least I know the thermometer's not just stuck on 97.9 or something.

ETA:
Still no AF. We went on a long walk this afternoon and when we got back my lower back was somewhat sore, as if cramps were starting, but now I'm thinking it was probably just sore from our walk. So... looks like my LP this month is at least 14 days. Pretty amazing.

Day 10 (13dpo)

My period didn't arrive this morning. If it waits until tomorrow, that would put my LP at 13 days, longer than it has been in the 10 months that we've been living here. Could Lunaception really have effected my LP that much in a mere 10 days?

And this is amazing...