Can I just say that I LOVE the Creighton Model of natural family planning! A close friend of mine knew we had been having difficulties conceiving and suggested I learn the Creighton Model. Pretty much it's a type of charting that focuses mainly on external cervical mucus observations throughout the day as well as lengths of the different phases of your cycle (i.e. period, pre-ovulation, post-ovulation/luteal). By taking detailed notes each day about these things the teacher I see every 2 weeks can make an educated guess at why I'm having fertility issues. Just like other forms of NFP (natural family planning), Creighton can be used to achieve or avoid pregnancy. Creighton is also used however to monitor a woman's health and fertility.
So, I started seeing my teacher mid July and have been charting for a little more than 2 cycles now. I just feel so hopeful now. I had kinda given up a little before because I knew a young (ages 26 & 27), fertile (hello, we had 1 kid already!) couple should be able to conceive in 4-6 months, if not less. I also know that a regular Gyno won't start doing any fertility testing until after a whole year of trying at this age. Now if I was over 35 it'd be a different story. So just doing something proactive gave me a little more hope. After 2 cycles, my teacher and I noticed that my luteal phase of my cycles was varying a lot. It should stay within pretty much the same from cycle to cycle (within about 1-2 days more or less). Mine was 16 days one month and 11 the next! This is my third full month charting and we're going to see how it goes, but she said if it jumps up to a higher number again (and I'm not pregnant) then it could mean something is iffy. I did find out though that probably whatever is causing us to have trouble conceiving is easily treatable. She said most of the time with couples who have had a child already, the problem is hormonal. She thinks in my case it could be a lack of progesterone. So we'll see....fingers crossed that I'm preggo this month!
