DO WOMEN EVER HAVE TRULY “DRY” DAYS?
As a woman approaches ovulation, her cervical fluid becomes progressively wetter. When a woman charts, in the evening, she records what she has observed throughout the day. So if she didn’t feel or observe anything at her vaginal opening, that day is considered dry. But lest there be any confusion, women always have internal vaginal moisture, even on the days when they feel bone dry. This is completely normal and should still be recorded as dry.
It’s easy to distinguish between cervical fluid and vaginal moisture. Cervical fluid on your finger will stay moist for minutes or longer, whereas vaginal moisture, like that inside your mouth, will dissipate from your finger within seconds. If you don’t have any cervical fluid, you will usually have a distinct feeling of dryness.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO CONCEIVE WITHOUT OBSERVING SLIPPERY EGGWHITE-QUALITY CERVICAL FLUID?
If you are trying to conceive, you shouldn’t get discouraged if you don’t see what is considered the most fertile type of cervical fluid: eggwhite. It doesn’t mean there is necessarily anything wrong, and as long as you produce some type of wet or slippery-quality cervical fluid, the sperm should still be able to swim through the cervix to ultimately fertilize the egg.
Think of cervical fluid on a continuum from the extremes of dry to eggwhite. As you can imagine, the ideal quality would be the wettest and most slippery, since this is the type that most closely resembles the man’s seminal fluid. If you don’t observe eggwhite quality, it probably means that your “window of fertility” is shorter than those women who do produce it.
Regardless, there are a number of things you can do to increase your chances of conceiving. Most importantly, you want to be sure to time intercourse for your Peak Day, which is the last day of either:
- Stretchy, Clear or Lubricative cervical fluid
- Lubricative vaginal sensation
- Midcycle spotting
In addition, I list numerous ways to increase the quality of your cervical fluid in my book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility.
My fluids never achieve a ‘stretchy’ quality. I have experienced lotiony and WET, slick, lubricant fluids but no where in my monthly cycle has any of my fluid been something I could pull my fingers apart and achieve any stretch of it. Because of this, I’ve been having a harder time tracking my most likely fertile day(s). I usually identify the point of change and abstain from then until my temperatures meet the recommended guidelines. Is this normal or acceptable? Thank you!
Yes, Jennifer, not all women produce the holy grail of stretchy clear cervical fluid that is easy to identify. As long as you can identify the Peak Day as the last day of any of these observations, then you can apply the Peak Day Rule in combination with the Thermal Shift Rule:
• Stretchy, Clear or Lubricative cervical fluid
• Lubricative vaginal sensation
• Midcycle spotting
So for you, it isn’t stretchy, but you still notice a LUBRICATIVE quality, so pay attention to that when applying the Peak Day Rule.
Can peak day actually be 2-3 days after a thermal shift? In which case, when did ovulation actually occur?
Meaning, lots of EWCM 2-3 days after temp shift…
I always have this too! I would be curious to know as well.
I am new to practicing FA and am getting used to my body’s signals. I am a nursing mom and wonder if that is what may contribute to fluctuating wet sensations and cervical stretchy fluid (yellow or greenish in color). I do have egg white like fluid and then have a creamy day, then dry a day or two. Can this fluid I described above be arousal fluid? I can use some guidance with learning to differentiate between the types of fluids. I worry that the creamy or stretch is a sign of possible fertility after the egg white fluid is over. Thanks!
So I’ve noticed I’m completely dry on my actual ovulation day. (Sometimes the day before and the day after too.)
But my peak day tends to be about 2-3 days before with more quality fluid 2-3 days after.
In a few of my charts I also noticed my temp shift 2 days after a positive OPK test. I’m not noticing this in many other ladies charts.
Will this make it difficult to convince?