What’s With All the Cream?

I’m about to share something kind of embarrassing. But I’m putting it out there because it was based on my own ignorance about my body and the workings of the menstrual cycle. And I hope by sharing that you may learn something new too 🙂

So here goes….

After I came off of birth control late in my twenties I started to notice that sometimes I had a lot of cream in my panties.

During this time it was not uncommon for me to experience a yeast infection or UTI every couple of months, so my first assumption was that the cream meant I had an infection. Except that the cream didn’t come with any of the other symptoms associated with those conditions.

What was all the cream about?

I remember when I had my follow up appointment following my laprascopy I brought up the cream to the doctor who did my surgery. I explained how it showed up sometimes. He gave me a quizzical look then said that he’d need to do an exam.

“But I don’t have it right now,” I explained, “Only sometimes.”

He told me to come back when I did have it and he’d do an examination then.

Or not.

It wasn’t until a year later when I picked up the book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler that I found out that the cream that I was so worried about was a perfectly normal and healthy part of my menstrual cycle.

It was my body’s signals of fertility and pending ovulation. Not a sign of infection! 

Looking back I have to laugh at that awkward moment in the doctor’s office after my surgery. Why wasn’t I told this information then? Again, this is why I’m sharing it with you 🙂

I was on birth control for most of my menstruating years which caused my body’s natural cervical fluid secretions to drop. When I got off of the pill my body’s natural hormones woke up. Hence why I was so surprised by the cream in my panties, Lol.

Benefits of the Fertility Awareness Method

Toni Weschler’s book taught me how to incorporate the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) which takes the two primary fertility signals – waking temperature and cervical fluid – to tell when my body is ovulating.

Using FAM to chart your menstrual cycle can help you pinpoint your most fertile times for conception and it provides additional useful information such as:

• When to expect your next period (a definite bonus for those of us who plan our lives around Flow)
• Whether or not you are ovulating
• If your body is producing enough progesterone (often lacking in women with endometriosis)

This powerful information has helped me to understand my own menstrual cycle better and has been a huge catalyst on my healing journey primarily because its given me insights and knowledge about the ebb and flow of my hormones each month.

On the Positive Side?

Once I was able to tune into the workings of my cycle each month I felt a sense of control over something that often times felt out of control.

I used to simply count the days on the calender to see when my next period would come then freak out when it didn’t show then – I must be pregnant!

By charting my cycle I knew exactly which phase of my cycle I was in and when my period was going to show up. When I got my first positive pregnancy test I already knew it to be true by reviewing the chart of my waking body temperatures and cervical fluid.

Intrigued?

I am doing a free webinar to teach you how to chart your cycle called: 
“Tune Into Your Cycle”
To be held on Thursday, October 23, 2014 at 6PM MDT (Time Zone Convertor).

Register Now!

I hope that you can join me!

Do you already chart your cycle? What has it taught you about your body’s unique rhythms? I’d love to hear from you….

Much LOVE,
Aubree.