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While the first official day of Fall may not be until next week, it feels like Fall is already here.
The cooler temperatures in the morning, the delicious smells of donuts wafting from cider mills, and the sights of school busses back on the road all indicate a new season is upon us. I, for one, love this time of transition with summer ending and Fall beginning. While I may not comprehend everyone’s sudden obsession with all things pumpkin spice (like seriously, why?), I do understand Fall to be a good time for stillness and reflection after a season so busy with frenzied activity from sunup till sundown.
During your Fall reflection, you may be saying to yourself, “I may have gotten a little
sloppy with my charting during the craziness of summer”. If that sounds familiar, no worries!
We have all been there…trust me. Here are some tips to help you “Fall” back into the habits of good charting:
1. Make an observation before and after using the restroom, every time.
“I was stuck on a tube on a lazy river for 6 hours”. “The restrooms were closed at the beach”. “My husband is so obsessed with making good driving time that he refused to stop so when
we finally got to our destination, I missed the before observation because my bladder
was going to explode” (If you identify with the last statement, please let me know so we
can form a support group for Wives with Irrational Husbands on Road Trips….WIHRT for
short). No matter what situation you ran into in summer, Fall is a great time to
recommit to making 100% observations again, always before and after using the
restroom.
2. When in doubt, consider yourself of peak fertility and count 3.
“I forgot my chart at home while we were on vacation so I just decided not to chart for a few days”. “I just wanted to not have to think about anything on vacation, including charting”.
If you miss a day of observations or even just one observation for that day, the day must be
counted as fertile with a count of 3 fertile days after. That means a minimum of 4 extra
days of fertility in your chart which could mean four less days available for intercourse if
you are trying to avoid a pregnancy. This friendly reminder on the back of your chart
(letter H) can be very motivating to “Fall” back into the habits of good charting.
3. Selecting days of fertility for intercourse when avoiding pregnancy.
“Well, the kids were all away at my parents’ for the night”. “The sunset on vacation was so beautiful we may have gotten carried away”. “We decided since it was just the start of the
mucus cycle, it couldn’t be that fertile of a day.”
If your current family calling is to avoid a pregnancy, select only the days and times of day of infertility for intercourse. As
Creighton likes to say:
“Using Days of Fertility ABANDONS the Method as a Means of AVOIDING Pregnancy and ADOPTS the Method as a Means of ACHIEVING Pregnancy”.
Use the change in seasons to “Fall” back into Creighton compliant habits to support your
marriage’s calling.
If you identify with any of the situations above or even some others not listed, do not panic!
Practitioner is a great resource to identify areas for improvement in your charting. Schedule an appointment with your FertilityCare Practitioner today to help you get your charting back on track and enjoy the beauty of the new Fall season!