baby steps and a question

jgreg29 · January 2012

This week I stopped taking the pill. Today, my acupuncturist added a fertility component to our sessions. So, while we are still waiting on a job offer for MH, I have taken a couple of baby steps towards having a baby. It feels good to FINALLY be doing something. :-)

My acupuncturist recommended I read Taking Charge of Your Fertility both for when we are actively TTC and because it's been 13 years since I've had a real period. I vaguely remember discussion of this book in the past. Any reviews or opinions? Thanks!

MainelyFoolish · January 2012

I never read it, so I guess I can't really comment on it. I know it's the book that teaches you how to chart your ovulation by taking your temperature and checking your cervical mucus. Neither of those things held any interest to me.

The thing to remember about charting is that it can tell you if you ovulate after the fact, which is useful if you think you might not be ovulating (if you have PCOS or irregular periods). But knowing if you ovulated after the fact doesn't tell you when to have sex to get pregnant (before ovulation).

I like the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor though it is a bit pricey. A cheaper option are the regular ovulation predictor tests.

mesa81 · January 2012

I read it... and honestly, it was interesting but I sucked at temping. It was not for me. I could not wake up at the same time, remember the number nor see the damn thermometer without my glasses. Boo.

lauram730 · January 2012

I read TCOYF when I went off the pill in May of last year, so I could see if everything would "go back to normal" and chart to prevent pregnancy. I know it's dorky, but I was actually pretty surprised at how much I didn't really know about what goes on, so I found it informative. I borrowed it from the library first, but wound up buying my own copy when I decided I was going to go through with charting, so I'd have a reference. You could probably learn all you need to from the Fertility Friend website, but I liked having the book, as well. Now, charting is like second nature and I am at the point where, even though it doesn't tell you when you ovulated until after it occurs, I have a fairly good idea in advance, based on previous charts. I don't love waking up early on my days off to temp, but I use a digital that saves the temperature, so I can just enter it when I'm up for the day. We're going to go with what we know based on the past six months of history before trying ovulation predictor kits, so we'll see.

If you have any questions, I'm happy to try and help out, based on my experience, but I haven't successfully used it to become pregnant yet, so not sure if I'm much help. Good luck!

maeghan21 · January 2012

I think it's a great book just to learn about your body. I've read tons of medical books fr school, but found this really interesting for my own sake.

Wsy to go on your baby steps w

danieleandwayne · January 2012

I thought about getting the book, but decided against it for now. There is a ton of information on Fertility Friend.com and around the internet, as well as my text books.

And, while charting temps only tells you when you ovulated after the fact, checking your cervical mucus (and position, if you can manage that) can tell you when you're about to ovulate so that you know you've got to get your sexy time in (or avoid it, if that's your plan).

I may change my mind about the book in a month. I'll let you know! LOL

MrsHahn11062010 · January 2012

I really liked it. It helped me become more aware about the happenings of my body and made me realize how many of the things I thought I knew about my cycle are false. I was awful about staying consistent with my temping and charting so it helped me be able to read my other ovulating signs more accurately. It wouldn't be something that I would purchase but something nice to borrow from the library just to read through the info once.

katsblaze · January 2012

I read it and loved it. Like others said it taught me a lot about my body that I didn't know. I did chart but I also used OPK's. If you really want to learn about your body I recommend it. I thought it was a good easy read.

Glitzyklm · January 2012

I read it and also really enjoyed it.

Yay for baby steps

kristen80 · January 2012

I was very similar to you - 13 years on the pill, and I read TCOYF in order to avoid getting pg for a few months (the book can be used for info to TTC or avoid pg). It was a fantastic book...a very fast read and I actually did the temping/charting using fertilityfriend.com. We avoided successfully for 3 months, and then the first month we tried we got pg w/ Jake. The book is good depending on what type of person you are...I've had so many close friends go through IF that I knew I'd be paranoid something was wrong if I didn't chart and get to know my body better...for me, it lessened my anxiety, whereas for other people I can see it might make it worse/more obsessive.

Mainer-in-Texas · January 2012

I read it and thought it was very interesting. It's nice to know so much more about what is going on with my body. But, like MF said, charting only tells you when you ovulated after the fact. It can be nice to have this info because you can learn when you typically ovulate, so it helps with timing on future cycles. And you know when to expect your period and when you can take a PG test. But I really don't think it's necessary to chart - most people get pregnant without charting.

The book does also talk about tracking your cervical mucus and position, both which tell you when you are about to ovulate, so that is very helpful.

jgreg29 · January 2012

Thanks everyone! I checked the book out of the library this afternoon. I'm not sure whether I'll get into the temping or charting but I think it will help me understand how cycles and fertility work. Hopefully I'll develop some baseline understanding of my cycles so that when we're ready to go, I'll have some hints of what to expect with my cycle. Given how "irregular" my cycles were when I was a teenager, this could be interesting and eye-opening!

Kristen80, I think you make some really good points about infertility and whether this will make things easier or harder. I've witnessed a number of friends and coworkers who were battling IF, and I'm hoping that a better understanding of how my body works will keep me from getting too worked up if it takes awhile to conceive. :-)

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