Book Review and some background
I'm sure many of you know about the book featured at right, but if not, let me give some info on this great book!
Perhaps I should back up to some info that I didn't mention in my first intro. Starting in Jan I had some HORRID pain in my lower left side. It coincided with ovulation and was so bad that one attack happened while I was shopping and I had to have someone complete my grocery list and call my husband to tell him to come home to help me unload. This happened every other month until I couldn't take it any longer and I went in to the dr. I had an ultrasound and was told I had hydrosalpinx which = blocked tubes. Crazy thing about this diagnosis is I have never had an PID (Pelvic inflamatory disease) which comes about from an STI (Which I've never had the chance of getting) which is the cause for hydrosalpinx. But I was prepared for the worse and went to 3 doctors. The last doctor finally read the ultrasound report to me and told me I had nothing to worry about. He tested me for STI's just to be safe and told everything was ok. The pain went away that month (May) but my cycles started to go crazy on me. It seemed one month they would be the normal 31 days, the next month 42 days. It alternated like that for 4 months, then stuck with 42 days for two months in a row, another 31 day and this cycle has yet to be determined. I'll spare all the details, but something was wrong and I needed to figure out what. I decided to start charting my basal body temp and was recommended the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility.
TCOYF is a FANTASTIC book! It teaches the Fertility Awareness Method which is combination of charting three fertility signals-- basal body temp., cervical fulid and cervical position. With these three signs you can tell when you are fertile, and when you ovulated therefore maximizing your chance of timing intercourse right and conceiving. Another plus to this method is you can quickly detect if something is wrong. I had a few anovulatory cycles and I was able to identify them. Plus I could see how long my luetal phase is and see that I had a miscarriage last month. I learned SO MUCH about my body!!! Things I never knew! It also works as a natural method of birth control... not that we need that right now :) but if you have friends who are interested. And discusses fertility tests and treatments and making sure you time your tests right... not just on day 14 (like for a PCT) like most doctors do. But I cannot recommend this book enough! We've been using the FAM method for 4 months now, and obviously haven't gotten pregnant, but I feel so empowered when I go to the doctor and know so much about my body! Plus bringing in such detailed charts convinced the nurse to start fertility tests NOW instead of waiting until we ttc for 1 year. HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it!
Does anyone else have a book that has been helpful to them during this time?
Perhaps I should back up to some info that I didn't mention in my first intro. Starting in Jan I had some HORRID pain in my lower left side. It coincided with ovulation and was so bad that one attack happened while I was shopping and I had to have someone complete my grocery list and call my husband to tell him to come home to help me unload. This happened every other month until I couldn't take it any longer and I went in to the dr. I had an ultrasound and was told I had hydrosalpinx which = blocked tubes. Crazy thing about this diagnosis is I have never had an PID (Pelvic inflamatory disease) which comes about from an STI (Which I've never had the chance of getting) which is the cause for hydrosalpinx. But I was prepared for the worse and went to 3 doctors. The last doctor finally read the ultrasound report to me and told me I had nothing to worry about. He tested me for STI's just to be safe and told everything was ok. The pain went away that month (May) but my cycles started to go crazy on me. It seemed one month they would be the normal 31 days, the next month 42 days. It alternated like that for 4 months, then stuck with 42 days for two months in a row, another 31 day and this cycle has yet to be determined. I'll spare all the details, but something was wrong and I needed to figure out what. I decided to start charting my basal body temp and was recommended the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility.
TCOYF is a FANTASTIC book! It teaches the Fertility Awareness Method which is combination of charting three fertility signals-- basal body temp., cervical fulid and cervical position. With these three signs you can tell when you are fertile, and when you ovulated therefore maximizing your chance of timing intercourse right and conceiving. Another plus to this method is you can quickly detect if something is wrong. I had a few anovulatory cycles and I was able to identify them. Plus I could see how long my luetal phase is and see that I had a miscarriage last month. I learned SO MUCH about my body!!! Things I never knew! It also works as a natural method of birth control... not that we need that right now :) but if you have friends who are interested. And discusses fertility tests and treatments and making sure you time your tests right... not just on day 14 (like for a PCT) like most doctors do. But I cannot recommend this book enough! We've been using the FAM method for 4 months now, and obviously haven't gotten pregnant, but I feel so empowered when I go to the doctor and know so much about my body! Plus bringing in such detailed charts convinced the nurse to start fertility tests NOW instead of waiting until we ttc for 1 year. HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it!
Does anyone else have a book that has been helpful to them during this time?
Comments
As for TCOYF, well I just don't know where I'd be without it.