Warning: TMI Ahead

Subtitled: YAY!

Further subtitled: HIGH FIVE THE OVARIES!

Ok, last chance to hit that 'x'. This post will include things related to periods, female-ness, NFP, and the like. You have been warned.

Today, ladies and gentleman-fiance (because I sort of hope no other gentleman is reading my blog, at least none I know in 'real life'), I started my period. Yes, you read correctly. The last time I went off the pill it took me 7 months to get a true period (not just the withdrawal one). This time? Approximately 2 months. That, my friends, is what I like to call improvement.

I'm trying not to get super excited for a few reasons:
1) I'm not totally sure I ovulated. I certainly hope I did, but I want to be sure as it could technically have been anovulatory. 50 ovulation strips are on their way to me as I type. Next time around, there won't be any doubt.
2) Who knows if my 'long cycle' is actually a cycle. I am well aware that I could not get another period for many months. But I'm hoping that I get it in about the same amount of days as this time (or less would be nice but I won't be greedy) and, even being long, I will at least know that's my cycle.

I was pretty sure I had ovulated- I was really hoping anyway!- but didn't want to write anything until it was confirmed. It's funny how things happen. At my previous follow up, my practitioner added the essential sameness question (was today essentially the same as the other days on my chart?) but held off on the yellow stickers so we could get used to that. I kept asking her, if my body is already producing peak type mucus, how will I know if something is essentially different? She just kept telling me I'd know. I walked out of there with serious doubts of this essential sameness business working. However, the very. next. day. I noticed that my observations were definitely NOT essentially the same. And then for 5 more days after that. She was right. I just knew. I tried not to get my hopes up, since I had before many times after marking the peak day. When we went to her last Saturday, she said she really, really thought I had ovulated. I kept resisting the idea and telling her I didn't want to get my hopes up and she said we'd see if I got a period before my next follow up. Then, shock of all shocks, we actually got to use a few green stickers! This is big for us... we had only used ONE green sticker (infertile) the entire time so we were excited. Anyway, 7 days after my peak day, and I started my period today. I actually had mild cramps all morning and kept telling Steven I didn't want to get excited, that it could just be nothing, so I was really glad when my body proved me wrong! I felt like a little girl getting her period for the first time. I didn't have it because I took hormones away from my body for a week out of the month, I had it because my body is functioning (well mostly) as it is supposed to. That feels SO good!

Does the whole foods, less processed, more natural lifestyle I'm living have anything to do with it? I'll probably never know for sure, but you better believe that shaving 5 months off the amount of time it took for me to have a period is encouragement enough to keep it up! My luteal phase is a bit short, but I know that's a fairly easy fix with progesterone supplements. Who knows if it will stay that way. I know my practitioner said we should see three complete cycles before knowing if something is typical for me, but I do know that progesterone deficiencies are common in women with PCOS. I just have to be sure that I'm on a supplement before I ever get pregnant and it should be of little concern. Thank God for charting, seriously. I never would have known that if not for the chart.

I am one happy girl.

Side bar comment: I promptly went out and bought some organic cotton tampons. I'd been wanting to quit using the regular brands after reading about the chemicals used in them. Who wants chemicals there? Not me. But I hadn't yet purchased any other kind since it didn't seem there was an immediate need. I ended up with a Trader Joe's brand, but they are pricey so I will have to see if I can find something better online or at Whole Foods. I figure my body is doing it's best work correctly, I should do the best I can to use things that I know won't have a negative effect. If you use organic, unbleached, chlorine free tampons and get them for a decent price (better than $4 for 16) let me know! If you want to know more about my decision, but don't want me to ramble on longer, read this. Here's an excerpt for those of you who, like me, are sometimes too lazy to click a link:

Some college courses on women’s health conduct a simple class demonstration: Place a new tampon in a glass of water. After it absorbs water, remove it, and watch all the remaining fibers floating in the water. These fibers remain inside a woman’s uterus.

In the U.S., more than one billion tons of pesticides and herbicides are sprayed on cotton crops every year; and residues may taint tampons. Many of these pesticides can damage the nervous system, lead to cancer or function as hormone disruptors.

Although the effects of hormone disruptors on women’s health are poorly understood, it is known that estrogen itself can cause problems at certain levels. Dr. Susan Lark, author of Fibroid Tumors and Endometriosis, notes that women “are at higher risk of developing fibroids or endometriosis…if they have high levels of estrogen…or use estrogen-contaminating medication [such as Hormone Replacement Therapy].” A 1996 report in the journal Science concluded that when estrogen-like chemicals are combined, they often become more damaging. Jan Stout of Physicians for Social Responsibility argues, “We’re creating a threat to an entire generation.”