Your Fertility Cycle

Ladies, you know how important your fertility cycle is to your health. It greatly influences your energy levels and emotions.

Most women don't pay attention until they want to have children, but I became interested in it several years before that when I read The Garden of Fertility I realized how much the cycle affected my overall health.

Like the Rhythm of the Moon

There are two phases to a normal fertility cycle. In ancient cultures, before artificial lighting, it naturally corresponded with the lunar phases. So although I refer to "moons" here, you may have your own personal moon and not necessarily be in sync with the one in the sky!

Fertility Cycle and Moon Phases

New moon

This is when menstruation starts. The uterus sheds its lining as a cleansing process.

Waxing moon

The time leading up to the next point is when the egg is maturing. Cervical mucus builds up and can support sperm to keep it alive until the egg is released. The best kind for sperm has the consistency of an egg white. If you take your basal body temperature first thing in the morning during this time it will be lower because estrogen is dominant.

Full moon

This is when ovulation occurs. That means the mature egg is released. It doesn't stay ripe for very long, so you actually have the best chance for fertilization if you have intercourse during the 3 days before ovulation.

Waning moon

The time leading up to the next point is when the uterus is growing a new lining to accept the implantation of a fertilized egg. During this time there will be no cervical mucus and the basal body temperature will be higher. If there is no implantation of an egg, another new moon comes. In other words, you get your period.

It's important to know about this cycle and understand how it works not only for trying to conceive or for natural birth control, but also so that you can know what's going on and spot if you have a health problem.

If you want to know more about how to monitor your cycle and what types of problems to watch out for, I highly recommend Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

I've been taking my basal body temperature for several years. It helps me gauge the health of my thyroid and adrenal glands and is the most accurate way to predict when I'm going to get my period.

And when we were ready, it helped me know exactly when I got pregnant!

More to Explore