By @FertilityFlower
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While you observe dry vaginal sensation and dry (meaning ‘no’) cervical fluid during the postpartum period, you don’t need to chart. Ah….I actually said it! I’ll say it again – you don’t need to chart as long as you have no cervical fluid and have ‘dry’ vaginal sensation. New mothers who are nursing on demand day-and-night, babywearing, etc., and otherwise following the 7-standards of ecological breastfeeding (a stricter form of the Lactational Amenorrhea Method) find that this infertile state can last for quite a while. Shiela Kippley (Founder of the Couple to Couple League with her husband, John) states that ˝the average return of menstruation for ecological breastfeeding mothers is between 14 and 15 months˝ but it can range anywhere from 8 to 30 months (Sheila Kippley, CCL Family Foundations, May-June 1999).
However, once you notice wetness either in terms of cervical fluid or as a sensation of wetness of any kind, you need to begin charting again. And, certainly if you experience a postpartum period (meaning, bleeding that occurs past the first 56 postpartum days), you need to start charting again. However, you should be aware that bleeding in the postpartum stage does not necessarily mean a return to fertility. You can experience several months of anovulatory bleeding (no ovulation) in which case you are not fertile. Whether your cycles are ovulatory or anovulatory will be easily discerned by charting.
With that said, charting during the postpartum period is a special case. The mantra for this period should be: when in doubt, DON’T. Meaning, the postpartum period is fraught with hormonal changes that can result in some ambiguity in terms of your fertility signals. Charting your waking temperature will not help you determine when you are fertile during this period (or any period) but it will help you figure out if you’re ovulating. If your other fertility signals (such as cervical fluid, cervical position, vaginal sensation, etc…) don’t match up nicely, for the sake of safety abide by the one that keeps you waiting. For example, if your cervix is soft, high or open (indicating potential fertility) on a day that you experience dry vaginal sensation and no cervical fluid, your cervical position overrides the signals from your cervical fluid/sensation. Meaning, you are potentially fertile. Therefore, postpone intercourse until you can confirm ovulation (via a temperature shift) or the return of your cervix to a position of infertility.
Since vaginal sensation and cervical fluid will ultimately herald the return of your fertility. Here are some guidelines to internalize:
- If you have one or two days of any kind of wetness (sensation or cervical fluid) and the next two days are dry, consider yourself potentially fertile on the wet days. You would be safe for intercourse on the second evening that you’ve been dry all day.
- If your wet cervical fluid lasts for three days, you’re potentially fertile on those days. Count four days of dryness after your last day of wetness and you’re safe to resume intercourse on the fourth evening.
The more of these peak days (your last day of wet vaginal sensation or wet cervical fluid) that you experience, the more likely that you are approaching a return to fertility.
