Starting to chart your cycle can be either exciting or intimidating if you don’t have a solid understanding of how your cycle works and what you are ultimately observing and recording. Which, of course, is why I can’t stress enough the need to either read a comprehensive book (preferably my book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility), a Fertility Awareness class, or ideally, a combination of both.

In any case, for now, I’m just going to briefly address times that might be especially challenging when first start learning to chart:

Coming off the Pill or Other Hormonal Methods
There is no way of predicting how long it will take for your cycles to return to their former patterns before you were on hormones. Some women may ovulate within a couple of weeks while others may take several months or longer. Ideally, you should begin charting on the first day of the withdrawal bleeding you typically experience during your week off the Pill, recording Day 1 as the first day of that bleeding. And in my next post, I’ll discuss in more detail about coming off of the Pill or other hormonal methods.

Irregular Cycles
Unless you’ve been recording at least your period on a calendar, it can be challenging to begin charting cycles that vary extensively from month to month. Ideally, you’ll want to start on the first day of bleeding, but if that’s not possible, start recording your observations on Day 1 of the chart, with the understanding that those cycle day numbers don’t reflect the true days of your cycle. Then once you menstruate, that will become Day 1 of your first full cycle.

Miscarriage
Having a miscarriage can be traumatic, often depending on how far along you were when it happened. But I hope it goes without saying that you should only start charting when you are emotionally ready. The amount of time it takes to resume ovulating following a miscarriage will depend on a number of factors, including how far along you were when you miscarried. If you didn’t have any major complications, you might resume ovulating shortly after, with your body perceiving the miscarriage as a period. This means that you could start charting with the first day of the miscarriage, or wait until you get your first real period, counting Day 1 as the first day you started bleeding.

Childbirth
How quickly you resume ovulating after giving birth will depend on several factors, with the most important being whether or not you breastfeed. If you don’t, your cycles may resume very quickly, as soon as a month or so after you give birth. If you do breastfeed, it could take up to a year or more, depending on how often you do so. In any case, charting during breastfeeding can be quite tricky, so I would encourage you to consult with a Fertility Awareness instructor in addition to carefully reading Appendix I of Taking Charge of Your Fertility.