Journey to Motherhood: Understanding Your Cycle

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Understanding your cycle is important to every woman. It can be a big clue when something is wrong. No two women's cycles are exactly the same and the cycle can vary from month to month. Learning how to observe what part of your cycle you are in can help you know if there's a problem, prevent pregnancy, and conceive.
The average menstrual cycle can last 21 to 35 days.(If your's is shorter/longer, check with your doctor. There may be a issue.) The examples below are of a 28 day cycle, actual cycle days may vary.
*Menstruation (Cycle Day 1-7) Cycle day 1 is measured from the first day of your period. A normal period can last 2-7 days. 
*Follicular Phase (CD 8-13) Follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH) is produced causing follicles to develop in ovaries. A follicle is a group of cells that contain an egg. These follicles produce estrogen , which thickens the uterine lining to prepare for the implantation of a fertilized egg. Once the follicle has matured, it moves to the surface of ovary. 
During this phase cervical mucus will go from dry(no mucus) to sticky to creamy(white and creamy, similar texture to lotion) and then right before ovulation it will be wet(wet and slightly stretchy)
*Ovulation (CD 14) Ovulation occurs 12-16 days before your next period. The rise in estrogen triggers your body to begin producing luteinising hormone (LH). LH signals for the egg to be released from the follicle. It then travels down the Fallopian tube toward the uterus. The egg will only live for 24 hours, unless it is fertilized. 
During ovulation cervical mucus reaches egg white stage(looks like egg whites, clear or pink tinged, slippery and stretchy)

*Luteal Phase (CD 15-28)
The follicle that the egg was released from is now called corpus luteum. It produces large amounts of progesterone. Progesterone helps to maintain the thick uterine lining and is essential for your babies early development. Progesterone is also what you can thank for PMS and pregnancy symptoms.


A woman is only fertile about 1 week each month, since sperm only lives 5 days and the egg 1. These days are the 4 days prior to ovulation, ovulation day and a couple days after ovulation(in case it is delayed).

Ovulation can be determined by:
*Monitoring cervical mucus.
*Using Ovulation Predictor Kits-OPKs detect the surge of LH which occurs 24-78 hours before ovulation. This is helpful is trying to conceive but not a good method if trying to prevent pregnancy.
*Charting (Basal Body Temperature)- This is the best method if trying to prevent pregnancy. After ovulation your BBT spikes and thus confirms that ovulation has taken place.

Knowledge of these fertile periods will help you to know when to avoid intercourse if trying to prevent pregnancy and the best times to conceive.

A good book for a more in depth look at this topic is Taking Charge of Your Fertility

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Journey to Motherhood: How Birth Control *Really* Works

There are mixed views among Christians when it comes to birth control. In order to make the best decision we must look at how they work and if it is right for us, as Christian women, to use birth control. Birth control works in 3 ways. If the primary mechanism(1st way) fails then the secondary mechanism will be there for backup and so on. The 3 mechanisms are: 1-Prevent Ovulation(exception Mirena only has #2 and 3)

If this is successful, no egg is released. There is no chance of fertilization, so no life is formed. 

2-Thicken Cervical Mucus

In order for sperm to have enough time to fertilize the egg, good cervical mucus is necessary. If cervical  mucus is too thick, sperm will have a difficult time getting to the egg and may die before fertilization can occur. If this occurs no life has been created.

3-Thinning on Endometrial Lining

Thinning of the lining of the uterine wall. This can impair the implantation of the fertilized egg.

If only the first two methods were used in birth control then there would be no moral issue in using them. If they are successful then conception is prevented. There would be no chance of aborting your unborn child. However, if ovulation does occur and the sperm fight their way to the egg birth control can cause your body to abort the baby. (Due to the third mechanism.) Of course despite all three of these the egg can still implant. If that occurs everything could be fine or if there was poor implantation miscarriage may occur. (not the only cause of early miscarriages)

It's important to remember that using birth control is a choice. We don't have to use it. As a Christian we must weigh that choice carefully against God's word. His word that tells us life begins at conception. I firmly believe that using birth control is a sin for married women due to the fact that it acts as an abiforcient. I won't use anything if there's the slightest chance that I may endanger the life of my child.

And if the moral reasons aren't enough, all forms of birth control have many health risks also. They cause an increased risk for:

*Vascular Problems(VTE)          *Breast, Cervical and Ovarian Cancers          *Liver Disease         

*High Blood Pressure          *Gall Bladder Disease          *Headaches          *Depression        

*Stroke          *Heart Attack         *Blood Clots           *Infertility

Additional risks for Mirena:

*Eptopic Pregnancy          *Pelvic Inflammatory Disease          *Cysts          *Uterine Tearing

Is it really worth it?

Sources: http://www.drugs.com/plan-b.html http://www.drugs.com/pro/yaz.html http://www.drugs.com/pro/nuvaring.html http://www.drugs.com/pro/mirena.html http://www.drugs.com/pro/ortho-tri-cyclen.html (These are just a few popular birth controls but they all work in the same ways. You can research others on this site as well. It contains drug information gathered from the manufacturers.)

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Journey to Motherhood: My Story

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My husband, Ryan, and I were married on May 24th, 2008. Although i would have loved to have a child right away, a few months prior I had began taking a birth control pill. I truly felt it's what was expected of me. It wasn't normal for couples to get pregnant soon after marriage, especially not young couples like us. (I was 19, Ryan was almost 23) At the time I didn't know how birth control worked, so I began taking them. 
At various times, I questioned if I should be taking birth control. I knew there were possible health risks and side effects with any prescription medications. But I just brushed the feelings off. I thought "Surely doctors wouldn't prescribe birth control if it was bad for me." 
However, in October 2010 the feeling grew. In addition to the health risks, I began to wonder if it was right for me as a Christian to take birth control. I scoured the internet to learn all I could about how birth control really worked and the risks/side effects associated with them. And what I found shocked me! Birth control pills can act as an abiforcient (cause fertilized egg to be aborted) and there were serious risk too! There was NO way I could continue taking birth control knowing this!
About six months later, God gave us the most wonderful blessing. We were pregnant! I excitedly made our first doctors appointment. We joyfully shared the news with our family! I hesitantly started dreaming, making lists of what we'd need before my due date of December 25th arrived. But deep down I had a feeling something was wrong.
I think my body knew from the start that we'd never hold our baby here on this earth. I had that nagging feeling again, this time about having a miscarriage. I prayed so much over those few weeks, every time a worry would arise. 
I had experienced some cramping since before we even discovered I was pregnant. But the nurses assured me it was normal. However, Saturday May 7th when bleeding accompanied the cramping I knew something was definitely wrong.
I rushed to the ER with my sister(Ryan was working). Blood tests showed that my HCG levels were too low for how far along we thought I was. Then came the ultrasound. I hadn't had an ultrasound before that night; one was scheduled for the following Monday. I was a bit relieved when I heard the results, relieved and confused. According to the measurements, my HCG levels were right where they should be. The doctor sent me home on bed rest until my appointment on Monday. 
Sunday was Mother's Day. Instead of spending the day with my family, I spent the day praying that next year I would have a child in my arms. Unfortunate for us, God answered no to those prayers and called our baby home to Heaven.
We grieved the loss of our sweet child. Comfort was sought through songs like Blessed Be The Name and In Christ Alone. The rest of that year was tough for me emotionally. But God used that time to draw me closer to Him and to bring Ryan and I closer together.

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Despite our grieving, I was ready to begin trying for another baby right away. I figured it would only take a few months for us to get pregnant. After all, it only took 5 months for us to get pregnant after I stopped taking the birth control. 
Six long months went by. I did some research online and found that it's "normal" for it to take up to a year for a couple to conceive. I decided to give it six more months, then see a doctor. Unfortunately when that time had passed we didn't have insurance. The doctor would have to wait.
Finally this past February(2013), after 19 long months and 20+ negative pregnancy tests, I was able to go to my new doctor. Dr. Callison ran some blood tests to see if there was a medical reason we hadn't gotten pregnant yet. The results were all normal. Which is good and bad. We don't have a problem to fix. Dr. Callison gave me a prescription for Femara to increase my progesterone and strengthen ovulation. But this too comes with risks of harmful side effects. I've begun to eat healthier and exercise more, trying to find more natural ways to help us conceive. I know that ultimately God will bless us with a child in His time. But I also know that I need to prepare my body for the child. Until we receive that wonderful blessing I will pray for another child and thank God for the one He's already blessed us with. 
I've felt like I should share my story for a while now. But it's hard to write this, to bring up those feelings. Hopefully this will help someone else struggling with infertility. If it helps just one person it will be worth it.

During the next few weeks I will be sharing a few things I've learned on my journey.  Topics will include: How birth control works
Babies are a blessing
Family Planning
Understanding your cycle
Dealing with loss
Finding Joy
Natural health

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What about Birth Control Pills?

To use it or not? 

I began taking The Pill a few months before my wedding. That's what most brides now days are expected to do, right? I didn't even stop to think about how it worked or the medical risks involved with taking it. Two years went by with me still on The Pill. A few times during this period though I felt like I shouldn't be taking it. I had this nagging feeling deep down that I should stop. But I always just brushed it off. 

The pharmaceutical companies and many doctors said the health risks weren't that bad and it didn't cause abortion and I believed them. Finally last fall, when that nagging feeling came back, I listened. I did a lot of thinking, praying, scripture searching, and research online. And then I came across Cindy Colley's blog post about the subject. She had discovered a lot of the same facts I had also found; that The Pill can infact cause abortions. Reading her post just reaffirmed what I had been thinking.

 My answer to the question has to be not! I don't want to take the slightest chance that something I chose to do caused an abortion! 

I recently came across this video which also has much of the same information.