cycle

It's Smart to Chart

What's charting? It's a person taking and keeping notes about their menstrual and fertility cycles. Those notes may be as little information as what days you get your period, may have more information, like what kind of flow you had and what discharges you experienced that month, or have just about anything and everything you can think of that does or may have something to do with your fertility cycle: your basal temperatures (a vaginal temp you take daily with a thermometer made for that purpose), your libido, your sleep patterns, the whole works. What information you include depends on what you want to observe, and what your needs in charting are.

When you hear about people charting their periods or overall fertility cycles, it's usually either about trying to conceive or using natural family planning (NFP or FAM) as a primary method of birth control. Many of you are not trying to conceive, and for younger people, NFP isn't a sound sole or primary method for you either because your ...

What do you want to know about periods and sex?

Ellie asks:

If you're due to start your period and your boyfriend fingers you, can fingering stop you from coming on your period or make you a little late?

The condom broke and now I'm late!

BarbieDancerx3 asks:

My boyfriend and I had intercourse on Valentine's Day. Well, as he started to ejaculate he told me to get off and I felt him ejaculate on me a little so I told him the condom broke. He told me he went in me a little, but I told him not to worry because it was the day after my period. Well I WAS supposed to get my period on the 7th and now I'm 5 days late! Lately I've been feeling tired, sick (like I'm gonna puke it happens through out the day at least once or more), dizzy, moody, my nipples are bigger (unless they were already that big and I'm now just noticing them), and I've been getting stomach aches. But now I'm starting to get little cramps like I'm going to start my period! Am I going to start soon or do you think I'm pregnant? HELP!

Get With the Flow: All About FAM

The Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) is a means for women to observe the three primary fertility signals: cervical fluid, waking body temperature and cervix changes so that you can be as in-the-know as possible when it comes to your own fertility and menstrual cycle. Find out the basic how-to so you can make the mystery of your own fertility cycle become a lot less mysterious.

22 years of clockwork cycles, but now where's my period?

Anonymous asks:

Hey, I was wondering why after 22 years of a normal period...my period did not come this month. I have not had any intercourse and was just wondering why this is. I feel the cramps but nothing happens. What is wrong with my body????

Is it safe to have unprotected sex ten days after a period?

Anonymous asks:

I had unprotected sex with my girlfriend 2 days after her periods was over, as she told me that 10 days after period are safe to have unprotected sex. Her last period was 27th October. Well today, 19th November, she called me and said that her period repeats in 20-25 days and she should have period now but she is not having. Can you tell me the reason? Another question, is that safe to have unprotected sex after period within 10days? Please mail me answer, also fast please.

My period is late (or is it?)

Anonymous asks:

I'm a week late for my period, a little tired, but other than that I'm fine. I've been having sex for a little while but my period has always come between the 17-20. It's now the 28th. I already took a test a few days ago and it was negative. I'm really worried. Please does anyone have answers?

Three questions about taking the birth control pill (and plenty of answers)

Anonymous asks:

I had sex with no condom 3 days before I started my period, AND 1 day after I started my period. I'm on birth control BUT I was at the end of my 1st pack I have ever took (taking the non-active pills) and I don't exactly take them at the exact same time every day but pretty close. I was wondering what's the possibility of me getting pregnant considering the circumstances, birth control doesn't take effect until the first month is up, but I'm already taking my inactive pills so that technically means the month is up doesn't it? Also, I was getting ready to start/was on my period, and I have a regular cycle so I don't think there's any way I could have been ovulating but I'm really worried, please help!

And Gail asks...
I'm 16 years old, and I'm on the pill. I've been on it for little over a month, and recently me and my partner have been doing it without a condom (we're clean) since I've been on them for a month now. Question is, I'm not a perfect user. I take my pill within a 30 min. range, never exactly right on time, what's my chance of pregnancy?

And Hockeylover asks...
I've been on the pill for about a year now and I'm sexually active with my boyfriend. This past month I had sex with my boyfriend and the condom didn't break but may have leaked or something because my boyfriend seemed to think that something minor could have been wrong. A few days after that I forgot to take a pill until about 12 hours after the fact. Now, my pill pack is finished and it is time for me to have my withdrawal bleed which has always occurred at the same time. Today, however, I have experienced nothing but minimal spotting, which is unusual.

Also - just for future reference as I was always curious - I know that it is extremely difficult to become pregnant while on the pill as long as it is taken properly. However, if pills were forgotten or whatnot I realize that it is possible to get pregnant but I was wondering whether one would still experience the withdrawal bleed or whether this would not occur (just like a period doesn't occur if someone is pregnant). Does any blood that comes during a withdrawal bleed while on the pill signify that no pregnancy has occurred? Am I at risk?

Late period, but not pregnant?

Anonymous asks:

I am concerned about my period, which as of today is a week late. Although I am not the queen of regular cycles, usually I am never more than two or three days off. My boyfriend and I are sexually active, and although I'm not on any form of birth control, we have been diligent and careful and always used a condom. We are each the others first partner though, and are still very much in a "trying this out" phase. He also hasn't been able to ever get more than an inch or so in, as at that point it gets to be too uncomfortable, so we have never actually had full intercourse. The last time we tried was at the beginning of June; we used a condom, again did not get beyond a slight initial penetration, and he did not ejaculate. We haven't done anything since. I took two pregnancy tests, one two days ago and one today, and both were negative. I know that the tests can be incorrect, but I don't feel like my risk of being pregnant is too high. Still, that leaves me wondering where my period is, and I wanted to post on here to see what another opinion might be. I am also getting my annual exam next week, and I plan to talk to my gynecolgist then too. Thank you for your time with my question!

On the Rag: A Guide to Menstruation

Your menstrual cycle and your reproductive system have held people in awe (or perpetual duh, depending on how you look at it) for thousands of years. Follow us through a tour of how it all works, how to best manage it and use it to empower yourself, and find out what it means now and has meant to others in the past.