Then What?? Understanding My Birth Control Options

Unfortunately, not all health practitioners present birth control measures objectively.  According to Dr Christine Northrup, MD, during her experience “in medical school and residency, there was a tendency to push oral contraceptives as the optimal method of birth control and to downplay the reliability of the diaphragm and condoms... The pill is easy to prescribe, easy to take, very reliable, and very convenient.  We can use it to manipulate our menstrual cycles, avoiding periods all together or on weekends.  In short, it fits our cultural ideal.”  

To simplify the discussion of various forms of birth control, let's divide methods in two camps: Hormonal and Non-Hormonal Contraceptive options.   

There are a number of Hormonal Contraceptives.  They can be injected (‘The Shot’), implanted (IUS and ‘The Ring’), applied to the skin (‘The Patch’), or taken orally (‘The Pill’).  These methods contain progesterone and or estrogen in order prevent ovulation and limit the fertility phase of the menstrual cycle, or eliminate the cycle all together.  

Menstrual suppression, via Birth Control, for an entire month, or year(s), seems extreme when the window of fertility is a matter of a few days.  However, birth control is easy to take and places 100% control of a woman’s fertility in her own hands - requiring nothing of her partner.  

If a woman chooses that Birth Control is the best option for her, an oral contraceptive is the best way to go (in my opinion).  Eliminating the cycle for a year or longer is devastating to the endocrine system and physiology of the body.   Monthly suppression is the better choice, in this case.  Though she is not truly cycling - her body does get a reprieve from the suppression every three weeks.  Be mindful not to place metal in the body.  Be mindful not to stay on birth control long term.   Be mindful to choose this option only if you are actually sexually active.  

The next logical question would be, if not The Pill (or any other hormonal method), then what?  How do I prevent pregnancy?  What are my other Non-Hormonal options?

There is one other common contraceptive method that is non-hormonal but is not natural.  The IUD is a copper intrauterine device that is inserted into the uterus.  It is a long acting (5 year) contraceptive that changes the environment of the uterine lining and prevents the sperms ability get through the cervical mucous and to fertilize the egg.  In my clinical practice, there seems to be a correlation between IUDs and an increased risk of acidity in the female as well as a significant need to detoxify the body in order to increase fertility.  Women with IUDs do have an increased risk of infection and are associated with an increased risk of tubal pregnancies.  Just as I mentioned above, be mindful not to place metal in the body.        

There are a number of options for natural pregnancy prevention that does not include traditional birth control.  These options require more education about the body and more active participation than the pill.  The level of responsibility and accountability increases depending on the method a person chooses.  

Current culture would assume that fertility and the responsibility for birth control measures lay solely in the hands of the female.  While it is imperative for a woman to come to know and take responsibility for her own body, birth control methods (in my opinion) should be a shared responsibility between partners.  

Charting a woman’s cycle in order to be informed about where a woman is in her fertility is always my first choice.  There are a number of charting methods for fertility awareness.  Natural Family Planning or the Creighton Model Ovulation Method are excellent choices.  Couples who use fertility awareness as their chosen form of birth control experience no side effects and often find increased intimacy in their relationships.  Three major studies regarding Fertility Awareness Methods showed effectiveness rates to avoid pregnancy between 95% and 97%.  

A woman who knows her body and her cycle reclaims her power and creative force.  Since there is a small period of time that a woman is fertile throughout a given month, barrier methods or abstinence can be utilized during this window. Condoms, Female Condoms, and Diaphragms would be the most effective if utilized properly during the fertility phase of a cycle.  

Condoms require the male partner to be cooperative and share responsibility of prevention.  They have a 98% effectiveness rate if used conscientiously.  Condoms can protect against STDs and help decrease the risk of cervical dysplasia.  

There are also female condoms that have a 95% effectiveness rate.  Much like condoms, they protect against STDs and require a one time use only.  Diaphragms with contraceptive cream or gel is another option during the fertility phase of a cycle.  Diaphragms will need to be fitted by a health professional and faithfully used at each intercourse.  They have a 96% effectiveness rate.  

Cervical caps are used as well.  The caps come in three sizes and are not fitted specifically for the individualized female.  Therefore, accurate fit is not always assured.  The effectiveness rate for a cap is 74% (compared to the 96% of a diaphragm). This effectiveness rate drops drastically in women who have already had children.  For these reasons, I recommend a diaphragm over a cap.  

These four methods of birth control (Fertility Awareness, condom, female condom, and diaphragm) help to maintain the normal, natural cycle of hormones without suppression or dis-regulation.  They require cooperation and mutual responsibility for a couples combined fertility.  

Below is a chart that diagrams the effectiveness of each choice.  It is important to distinguish between the failure of a birth control method itself and the failure of a woman or couple to use it properly. I prefer this chart because is shows both perfect use and typical use (accounting for user error). 

http://www.sexualityandu.ca/uploads/files/refContraceptiveComparativeChartFinalENG09.pdf

This post was intended to be a starting point for discussion regarding various birth control options outside of typical oral contraceptives for sexually active individuals.  

Women or teenagers who are not sexually active and are having hormone dis-regulation or severe periods should seek natural care to help balance their systems.  Birth Control is not the best option to reduce symptoms and balance their bodies.   

The Basics of Birth Control

Birth Control is widely used to help regulate a cycle, eliminate acne, reduce painful periods, help prevent against pregnancy or to eliminate a cycle all together.  A common misconception about birth control lies in thinking that it actually regulates hormones, which it does not.  Rather, birth control suppresses your hormones, eventually turing OFF your hormone production.  

The process of birth control is like asking the body to stop cycling (stop menses); which is the same as asking the body to pause menses; which is the same as asking the body to go into menopause.  

And women are on birth control for 5, 10, 15, sometimes 20+ years.  In menopause for YEARS.  And when women come off birth control, they wonder why they struggle to become pregnant.  They wonder why they struggle with fertility, after they have asked their bodies to be infertile for years.  Years.  

Rest your heart.  In most cases of fertility, hormone balance can be restored.  We will discuss this at length.  Today we need to understand what birth control does and how the body is effected by it.  

There are other misunderstandings we need to clarify when discussing birth control.  First and foremost, cycling is extremely important for a woman.  A period allows the female body to cleanse, shed, detoxify, purify, release, and balance.  It prepares the uterus to hold life.  To build a lining, to strengthen the muscle, to perfect the womb.  Not allowing ourselves to bleed undermines some of the most creative and healing cycles of the female form.  Birth control puts women in menstrual and fertile suppression.  

Second, a woman does not have a true period on birth control.  Bleeding on birth control is with-drawl bleeding, not  cyclical bleeding.  Hence, a woman will not cleanse, balance, detoxify, etc.  The following is an explanation of menstrual suppression from the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals.  

Understanding Menstrual Suppression:

“Menstrual suppression, sometimes called “skipping your period,” is a way of using certain types of hormonal birth control to avoid having monthly bleeding. With many birth control pills, women take three weeks of pills containing active hormones, which prevent pregnancy by stopping ovulation (when an egg is released from a woman’s ovaries) and keeping the uterine lining thin. During the fourth week of their cycle, women take pills that do not contain active hormones; this is the time when they experience bleeding. This monthly bleeding is not a “true” period; instead, this is withdrawal bleeding – the body’s reaction to not having the hormones it gets the other three weeks of the cycle."

Consider a normal Cycle:

                  

At the beginning of the cycle, the ratio and balance of estrogen and progesterone communicate with the pituitary to release FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone).  The ratio of estrogen and progesterone significantly alters and signals to the pituitary that the follicle is fully developed and it is time to ovulate.  Therefore, the pituitary releases LH (Leutinizing Hormone) in order to tell the ovary to release the follicle/egg and hence, ovulation occurs.  In the first phase of the cycle, the uterine lining sheds, we know this as a period.  The second phase of the cycle rebuilds and thickens that unterine lining.  This shedding and thickening does not fully occur on birth control. 

On Birth Control, there remains a static level of hormone throughout the cycle, preventing the signaling for the need and release of FSH or LH.   On Birth Control, the woman's body will make less of her own hormone, since the pill provides hormone for her.  Therefore, the pititary and the ovaries step down in a way.  Eventually, after years, they will shut down.   

Dr Lesley Miller, at the University of Washington in Seattle, describes that “when a woman is on the birth control pill, every day becomes the same hormonally.  The woman has a set dose of progesterone and a set dose of estrogen. (Therefore) every day becomes the same pattern.”

On the minipill (progesterone only) estrogen will flux, progesterone will remain ‘stable.’  

The important aspect to remember about the body is that it is a dynamic system that continuously moves toward homeostasis/balance.  Eventually, after a period of time when the hormones constantly remain the same (which they are not supposed to do) and the pituitary does not need to release FSH and LH, it will eventually STOP producing certain hormones that they body is asking for it not to produce.  Prolonged suppresson causes a cascade of hormone disruption that effects the pituitary, hypothalamus, adrenal glands, ovaries, thyroid, etc.  

Hormonal suppression is only one aspect of the side effects of birth control.  The endocrine system is intimately linked to the immune system and the nervous system.  Therefore, headaches, digestive issues, endometriosis, PCOS, infertility, autoimmunity, thyroid disorders, toxicity in the body, mood swings... the list is endless.  The body is not made up of separate parts that work in their own little cubical.  The body is a dynamic organism that constantly works in concert with itself, every aspect of itself.  

Third, birth control cannot only lead to hormone dis-regulation and suppression, it can also lead to reproductive disorders

                              

Diagram Explained: 

Endometrial tissue is stimulated by estrogen to thicken the uterine wall, break down, and bleed EACH month.  

Endometrial tissue that is located outside the uterus thickens, breaks down, and bleeds.  HOWEVER this blood/tissue cannot exit the body as it is not in the uterus.  

The blood becomes trapped and forms cysts or irritates the surrounding tissue.  Leading to more endometrial tissue surrounding the uterus or other organs and cause pain (back pain, shoulder pain, etc).  Endometrial tissue has found and surgically removed from the abdominal cavity, shoulder joints, brain tissue, etc.  

Or the blood forms cysts as it adheres to the ovarian wall or within the ovarian wall.  This leads to scar tissue and adhesions.  This leads to infertility. 

Lastly, as if the aforementioned was not enough, lets add a cherry on top!

The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals consider it common and acceptable that “hormonal contraceptives can be used by women to decide when, or if, they get their monthly withdrawal bleeding. Women may choose to have shorter or less frequent withdrawal bleeding, skip bleeding when it’s inconvenient, or eliminate bleeding completely for up to a year or more. Menstrual suppression also helps women cope with or get rid of uncomfortable side effects or conditions that are connected to their bleeding. For years, women have suppressed their periods for things like honeymoons or vacations, and new surveys show that many women are interested in bleeding less than once a month, or not at all.”

Clearly we are missing the mark.  Clearly we misunderstand the importance of a normal cycle.  Birth Control prevents pregnancy, it does not regulate hormones.  

The Birds. The Bees. And Their Sexuality.

There are Birds.  There are Bees.  And then there are discussions about the birds and the bees.  And some parents (and children) DREAD this discussion.  And some parents never have this discussion with their children.  And that is a tragedy...  

Pop Culture.  Magazines.  Advertisements.  Commercials.  TV shows.  Movies.  YouTube.  Children are being bombarded with sexual messages.  How to look.  How to please.  And how to do so with instant gratification.  

It is time we take back our right to parent.  Our right to embed values and meaningfulness into one aspect of our children that has been exploited by cultural media.  

Sex.  

It is important to talk about.  It is imperative to talk about.  Parents need to discuss this intimate and complex and seemingly awkward conversation with their children.  Because if you don't, pop culture will, and probably already has a thousand times over.

Sexuality is powerful and vulnerable all at the same time.  Sex is more than an act.  It is an exchange of energy; of physical and psychological and spiritual energy.  Sex is an opening of oneself in a deep and intimate way.      

Most parents who chose to talk with their children discuss the biology of sex.  The anatomy.  The physiology.  The explanation of reproduction.  Important information, indeed.    

The next conversation might tackle the image and power of sexuality.  What does it mean to be sexy?  How should one dress?  Why do some women bare it all?  What energy does that put out there.  What is she trying to say?  Why do some women show only a little?  Leave some to the imagination.  What energy does that put out there?  What is she trying to say?  

And then bring it back to your child.  Who are they?  What do they want to say about themselves?  How much do they want to give away?  How much do they want to keep intimate and meaningful?  

And what about sexual ethics?   What does it mean to be a good person and a sexual person?

Old dogma separates the two and forces a person to be classified as one or the other; considering it mutually exclusive to be both a good person and a sexual person.  This can be extremely damaging to the individual when they do become sexually active.  A person may react by hiding their sexuality.  Expressing it in suppressed and/or ashamed ways.  It is important to remember that a person can be a good and virtuous person AND be honorable and ethical in their sexuality.  

When is it okay to have sex?   The most common answer to this question is when someone is in love.  So talk with your child.  What does it mean to be in love?  When do you know you are in love?  How do you know when someone loves you?  How do you treat, honor, and respect someone you love?  How should they treat, honor, and respect you?  Love is not lust.  Love is not hormones and desire.  Love is deep, steadfast, kind.   Discuss this with your child.  It may be the most important discussion you may ever have.  

When an individual goes through puberty, there are new hormones and endorphins flowing through his or her body.  The sexual energy that is created can be overwhelming at times.  If we can understand how to direct and control this energy, we can understand how to direct and control our desire and create conscious, ethical sexuality.  

We teach our children the proper tools to understand their own energy when we encourage them to pause, reflect, and assess who they are.  Sexuality does not have to be released as sexual tension or instant gratification.  Your children will indirectly (or more blatantly) learn this way of expression through pop culture and media.  There can be a way to control and harness this energy in a productive and powerful way.  

A (progressive) rabbi was speaking to a group of teenagers about the topic of sexuality.  He stated to them that sex has to be a meaningful act.  He said a person needs ‘ginokso’.  Ginosko is a greek word that means to know; to reveal oneself to another.  To have another reveal themselves to you.  To do this, the rabbi said, you have to know yourself enough to know what you are sharing.  What are you giving away?  If you lose one aspect of yourself you are not whole.  Therefore, you are not revealing or cherishing your whole self.  

Here is the bottom line, your children will be making these decisions whether you are aware of them or not.  So, please, help make your children conscious of their own power, of their own sexual energy.  Teach them how to recognize it.  Teach them what it means.  Teach them how to express it in a way that honors themselves.  That honors their most intimate creative power.  

The Courage to Stand

Red.  Red marks all over my Review of Systems.  

Headaches?  Check.

Migraines?  Check.  

Blurred vision?  Slurred Speech?  Seizures?  

Check. Check. Check.  

The poor girl couldn’t even lift her head on her own.  Her family positioned her wheel chair so that her head rested on the wall behind her.   Her hands would tremor randomly.  

“When did this all start?” I asked.  

“After the Gardasil Vaccine,” her mother responded.  

“How can I help you?”  I probed.    

“I don’t know,” came the mother’s reply.  

So we continued with the Review of Systems and the Assessment.  

There was pain all the way down her neck and back.  Any touch, even the whisper of a clothing tag, was excruciating.  Movement hurt.  Stillness hurt.  She was living in a prison of hurt.   

Lists of supplements and medications doctors want her on.  

Binders full of medical reports.  

Video footage documenting the progressive weakness, the body giving way as she collapsed into a wheel chair.  

She was an active honor roll student.  Enthusiastic.  Involved.  She wanted to go to college, wanted to be a journalist.  That was before the shot.  Before she fell.  Before she couldn't walk.  Before the tremors and seizures.  

Hannah’s body was deteriorating before our very eyes.  

No one could tell her why.  No one could stop it.  

There was little hope.  How could there be?  After countless doctors tell you it was permanent.

And yet, with all the documentation and diagnosing, we did not see any reason why her body would not make a full recovery.  No explanation as to why she couldn't or wouldn’t walk again.  

We know how the body works.  We know how to cleanse and purify it.  We know that the body is self healing and self regulating when given the opportunity.  

So we gave Hannah that opportunity.  

Detox.  

Chelation. 

Cleansing. 

Liver support.

Immune support.  

All the while she was getting foot baths and adjustments.  

Baby steps.

Not all at once.  

She cannot even hold her head up on her own, why do people think her body can detox, clear her liver, boost her immune system, balance her hormones, work on gait training and build strength and stability ALL AT THE SAME TIME?  

Three weeks into the program Hannah was building strength in her lower extremities.  
Three months into the program Hannah was more stable while standing.  

Three and a half months into the program, Hannah was walking.  

And she never stopped.  

There is still much more to do.  Much to strengthen.  

But I have never seen a more determined, courageous, and joyful woman seated or standing!

Blessings, Hannah.  

Aho.  

Take Heart

My favorite story of a moment between a father and a son comes from The Reflective Life by Ken Gire.  In his book Ken writes about a fond memory that would occur when his father would come home from work, sit on the couch, and read the newspaper.  Ken would crawl right up next to his father and lean his head against his father’s chest.  Sometimes he would stare at the newsprint.  Other times he would simply close his eyes and rest.  He remembers many times just sitting there, listening to the beat of his father’s heart.  And as he rested, Ken would try to breathe in sync with his father so that when he inhaled, Ken inhaled; and when he exhaled, Ken exhaled.  Eventually, when he would breathe in rhythm with his father, their heart beats would beat in sync as well.  It was then that Ken truly felt a sense of Oneness with his Father.  

There is a Heart Math Institute in California that has been studying the intelligence of the heart.  Scientists at Heart Math have described four different ways the heart communicates with the brain.  

1. Neurological: synapses, nervous impulses
2. Biochemical: acetylchoine, norepinephrine, (hormones and neurotransmitters)
3. Biophysical: pulses and pressure waves
4. Energetically: electromagnetic field reactions

Researchers and doctors note that the pattern and quality of the energy emitted by the heart is transmitted throughout the body via the heart’s electromagnetic field.  Just as cell phones and radio stations transmit information via electromagnetic fields, so does the heart. 

Heart Math research has found that the heart’s electromagnetic field is far more powerful than the brain’s.  Approximately 5,000 times greater.  No joke.  

Additionally, the heart’s field not only permeates every cell of the body, it also radiates outside of the human form.  This field can be measured up to eight feet outside of a person. 

One research project that I am particularly fond of documents a heart that was split in two.  One section stayed at the Heart Math Institute in California.  The other half was sent to New York City.  When the scientists would increase the heart beat of the half of a heart in California, the heart tissue in New York would follow suit and remain in synchronicity ALL ON ITS OWN.  They continued to watch, alternate, and chart the heart beat of these two halves.  No matter what happened, change in stimulation or change in circumstance, the heart would always beat as one.   

Scientists then applied this phenomena to the entire human form.  Further research suggests that when a person focus their attention on their heart, the synchronization between the heart and the brain increases.  This is known as entrainment.  When a person masters entrainment, his/her heart field expands exponentially.  

Likewise, when a community masters entrainment with one another, the collective heart field of the entire community expands exponentially.  

One of the most powerful examples of a group of people effecting change was a documented experiment during the war between Lebanon and Israel that began in 1982.  

A group of people were trained in Transcendental Meditation.  At appointed times on specific days of the month, these people were positioned throughout the worn-torn areas of the Middle East.  

During the window of time when they were feeling peace and love, 

*terrorist activities CEASED

*the rate of crimes against the people went down

*the number of emergency room visits declined

*incidence of traffic accidents dropped

When the participants’ focus changed and the meditations were over, the statistics reversed.  This study confirmed their hypothesis: 

When a small percentage of the population achieved peace and love within themselves, it was reflected in the world around them.  

The data was so consistent that the researchers were able to identify how many people are needed to share the experience of peace and love before it is mirrored in the world.  The number is the square root of one percent of the population.  Using 1,000 people, that is 3.16 people.  Smaller than you would expect.  In a small business, a group of friends, a household - it only takes one person.    

That calculation is the minimum number of people needed to effect change.  The more people involved in the feeling, the faster the effect.  This study became known as the International Peace Project in the Middle East.  Its results were published in The Journal of Conflict Resolution in 1988.   

Powerful.  A community that discovers what it believes in and then becomes that belief is powerful.  

Powerful.  And it all starts with an individual recognizing his or her own heart beat.



Research and facts can be found at:
http://www.heartmath.com/

I Would

I hold space for many women.  Space to learn and discover who they are.  

I sit with them, knee to knee, and I draw out the female cycle.  I explain how it works.  Why it works.  Why it is important.  I speak with them about what they will feel in their bodies with each ovulation, with each period.  I encourage them to get to know themselves, to get to know their bodies.  

Why every women is not taught this is beyond me.  In all of our education, with all of our knowledge, why is this left unsaid?  ...But that discussion is for another day, another post.  

I was blessed with a boy to nurture and raise.  I am fully aware that one of my purposes for being his mother is to raise a man that respects, honors, and cherishes the natural order of the feminine.  

I do not have a daughter but if I did, I would:

I would let her dance in her innocence.  Dance and laugh and dance some more.  And I would smile as I watched the wind blow through her hair and carry her laugher into forever.  

I would do nothing but love her.  Love her deeply and unconditionally, so she finds comfort in love.  So she allows herself to love and be loved.  

Everyday, I would walk the ground with her.  Barefoot.  Let her absorb the energy of Mother Earth.  Let her give and release energy back to Earth Mother. 

I would show her how to be comfortable in her skin.  That I love my body.  I would teach her how to love her own.  

I would show her how to take care of herself, not out of vanity, but out of love for her Self.  I would show her the true essence of beauty.        

I would remind her that her body is a Temple.  Sacred.  That is should be honored.  

Before the tides change, I would speak with her about how she will step into her cycle.  How her body will change, grow, and develop.  We will talk about what it means to carry oneself with honor.  Not to give it all away.  Not to hide it in shame.  But to walk with confidence in who she is and who she is becoming.  

I would prepare her to bleed.  To welcome the transition into womanhood.  I would gather women, my sisters, so that we could speak of the sacredness of womanhood.  Share our stories.  Bleed together.  Be grateful for Mother Earth. 

I would encourage her to both Sun Bathe and Moon Bathe.  Take in Masculine.  Take in Feminine.  Be content and open under the Full Moon.  For just as the Moon pulls the tides of the oceans, I would acknowledge that it pulls the tides in myself.  In my daughter.  I would encourage her to be grateful and protective of her time to balance, renew, and restore.  

I would teacher her about the sacredness of her sexuality.  That sex is more than an act.  That there is a spiritual connection, an intimacy and vulnerability, a giving and receiving of energy.  

I would teach her to honor her body.  To honor her cycle.  To chart her cycle.  

I would teach her to stand in her femininity.  Her fertility.  To know herself.  And to know her Creative Power.  

PMS

PMS.

We all know of it.  We have all seen or experienced it.  Medical terminology defines it as a variety of physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms that are linked to a woman's menstrual cycle.  Typically starting 2 weeks prior to the start of a cycle and lasting 5-7 days after.  Symptoms include: 

Anxiety

Depression 

Mood Swings

Irritability or Anger

Food Cravings 

Headaches

Fatigue

Weight Gain

Fluid Retention

Abdominal Bloating

Cramping

Breast Tenderness

Acne Flare-ups

Constipation or Diarrhea

It is estimated that three out of every four menstruating women will experience some form of PMS.   Lucky us.  For three weeks out of EVERY month.  Lucky us. 

This is not the way life should go.  Women should be made to feel blissful, honored, powerful, beautiful.  Something along the lines of this:

Instead of feeling bloated, irate, depressed, dismissed.  Pretty much, like this:

Unfortunately, the "norms" of the female cycle have been accepted and expected as common place for a menstruating female.   Why wouldn’t it?  3 out of every 4 women experience them.  Of course they are our new normal.  

So, what do we do?  

< Insert Birth Control >  How wonderful for us that we can shut down the female cycle.  Prevent ovulation and suppresses those God-awful symptoms that create monsters out of maidens. 

Birth Control, while effective to prevent conception, is not the answer to aberrant or painful periods.  It is not the answer to regulate natural cycles.  It is not the answer to balance female hormones.  

The TRUTH?  (at least, my truth)

 A natural female cycle should ebb and flow with the cycles of the moon.  Naturally come, naturally go.  

No bloating.  

No irrationality.  

No acne.  

No PMS.  

None.   

In fact, all of those signs and symptoms attached with the female cycle really signify hormonal imbalance, pH imbalance, food or environmental allergens, bacteria or fungal overgrowth, or/and a chronic underlying infection.  Not typical of a cycle.  Not something we should expect.  Definitely not something we should ignore and/or shut down.

It isn't overly simple to balance the female cycle, but it isn’t rocket science either.  

It takes knowledge, discipline, attention, and time.  

We, as a socitey, have gotten too far away from our roots and the natural order of life.  Our cycles should literally follow the moon cycle.  Full moon.  New moon.  Ovulation.  Period.  Not some chart by some app on some I Phone.   

There is much to say on this topic.  We will get there.  For now,  pay attention to your bodies, women.  Pay close and loving attention.  You will be surprised by what it tells you.  

Aho.