Using Fertility Awareness for Side-Effect Free Pregnancy Spacing: Meet Audrey and Will

Audrey and Will first found me after looking for someone to teach them fertility awareness prior to the birth of their second child. They had a little girl at home and a new baby on the way and wanted some time between pregnancies, but knew that hormonal contraceptives were not the way to go. Before now, Audrey had tried hormonal contraceptives and endured some nasty side effects, and so they opted for fertility awareness instead for their pregnancy spacing. I started teaching the pair of them while she was in her late third trimester, knowing that the baby might come before we were done with the main education sessions, but we chose to begin anyway. Will made a point to be present for each education session and it was so helpful for him to be there and learn with his wife. Audrey did deliver her baby while in the midst of those learning sessions, so we paused and came back about four weeks postpartum to finish. Now, since having her baby, Audrey was learning to chart varying signs. While pregnant, the body's biomarkers are largely unchanging, so having varied observations was new for her. Her first few months postpartum were categorized by the common start-then-stop patterns to cervical mucus with negative lh tests all around.

A depiction of Audrey's cycle 0

While a normal occurrence, the starting and stopping of cervical mucus while postpartum can present unique challenges, especially while breastfeeding, as she was. Observations can change throughout the course of a single day many times and can be tricky to interpret while sleep deprived and dehydrated. After a few months of the start-then-stop mucus pattern, she was able to successfully identify ovulation and leave cycle zero behind!

Cycle 1 charting data

From here, things started to follow the normal postpartum pattern. If you've read the other blogs here about the postpartum time, you will recognize this quite easily! Her mucus production started to slow over time and return to normal. While, it can take up to six cycles where we expect that normal pattern to return, her body remembered ovulation pretty quickly and her cycles had returned to her normal within three instead of the six. That touch of spotting depicted at the end of Cycle 3 resolved on it's own as well with more time.

Postpartum cycle 3 for Audrey

Given how quickly things normalized after her first ovulation, Audrey was comfortable moving back to charting on her own pretty quickly. We kept in touch via email, but that is one of the benefits of learning to chart-- the information stays with you from season to season of your life. Audrey and Will went on to conceive their third baby and I met with them again to refresh their knowledge after the birth of that child. It truly brings me so much joy to walk with couples throughout their reproductive years and to help them feel confident in their own bodies. I'm so grateful to Audrey and Will for trusting me to be part of this process in their lives.

Audrey, 37, WI: "My husband and I started using NFP while I was pregnant and I got connected with Rachel to learn how to use FEMM. After talking with Rachel, I decided to learn how to track while pregnant to feel prepared once I was postpartum. While it was challenging to practice tracking while I was pregnant because there was no consistency in mucus patterns, it was valuable for me to get in the routine of consistently tracking. About four weeks postpartum, Rachel held a review session for me so my husband and I could avoid getting pregnant while my body healed. Postpartum was a rollercoaster as my body got back online and tracking was very confusing. Rachel led me through it by answering any questions I had. It wasn’t easy with the months of irregular mucus patterns but it was helpful to know that was a normal stage of postpartum couples go through. Once my cycles returned and became more regular, I was able to trust my ability to track my cycles and determine my fertile window. It also gave me a better understanding of how my body works and why I have certain symptoms at certain times.

I had another child three months ago and I am still using FEMM. I had another review session with Rachel at 4 weeks postpartum and I feel confident in my ability to interpret my biomarkers and avoid pregnancy while my body heals."

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