Fertility Charting and Why I'm so Passionate on this Topic...
If you know me in person you have probably heard me shout praises about the Fertility Awareness Method for achieving pregnancy, avoiding it and using it to gauge cycle health. This was my entire introduction to wanting to become a Fertility Coach. Working full time was not going to work for my lifestyle. I love to be with my kids. Helping others feels incredibly fulfilling to me, the opportunity fell in to my lap. Here is my story and history with fertility.
I was pouring my heart out to a friend when we got together one day. I knew my hormonal birth control pill was making me feel imbalanced and out of control. I experienced textbook side effects. Bleeding, mood swings, missing withdrawal bleeds. It was toxic for me. I was listened to with empathy by my dear friend. Many women have been in this place for centuries. She validated my fear of an unplanned pregnancy, but urged me to read Toni Wechler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility. The book sat on my nightstand for a few months more (dumb, I know). I wish I would have started it sooner.
Quickly I searched for a new OBGYN and squeezed in an appointment, because that's what I thought you were supposed to do when you changed up your birth control. I was treated incredibly poorly. It was isolating and depressing, to be quite frank. She told me I would be back in her office pregnant, soon enough, refused to fit me for a diaphragm contraceptive device or counsel me on barrier methods and sent me on my way.
Bullying and disempowering women and families is not appropriate. My experience did, however, inspire me to take care of their own health and spurned a large transformation inside of myself. Realizing I myself and only myself could make these large medical decisions, I quit the pill! That was it.
To say it was freeing is an understatement! I was so excited when I started charting my fertility and caught my first ovulation. I successfully avoided an unplanned pregnancy without completely turning off my fertility. That was an amazing concept to me.
I charted for 14 cycles before we decided to start trying to conceive our daughter. I had done many months of repair, detox and wellness work with various practitioners and protocols. More about that later. We conceived that first month. This really strengthened my trust in my ability to follow the Fertility Awareness Method of charting my cycle.
15 cycles later we decided it was a good time to possibly add a second baby to the mix. We again conceived. I successfully avoided pregnancy for a good stretch of time without issue. That is empowering! Full control over family planning.
I realize though that sometimes this process can have hiccups for families due to reasons out of their control. After the birth of Samson, I decided I wanted to help bless families with the gift of family planning. Whether it be help for those with cycles issues or infertility or empower couples to prevent pregnancy without having to use hormonal contraceptives.
If you have concerns about your fertility and want to schedule a free call or email exchange to discuss it, you can contact me at mikayla@hopehealingfertility.com