Achieving Pregnancy after Depo
Question
Hello!
How can I chart and keep track of my cycles to achieve pregnancy, if I’m not having periods for 2 months? I used Depo before that.
Thanks
Answer
Last Updated: July 22, 2013
While menstruation is the part of our cycle we are most familiar with (because it is so obvious and demands our attention!), it is not the only biological marker of the cycle, or even the most important one. Women who are not in cycles because they are breastfeeding or because their body is recovering from depo, as you are, may not currently be having periods, but can chart what signs their body is producing on a daily basis.
In general, when a woman is infertile, she will observe the absence of any mucus discharge when she wipes. When she is fertile, and approaching ovulation, she will observe her body’s increasing production of cervical mucus. The quantity and quality of this mucus, as well as the timing of it, can offer great insight into the state of her fertility, and indeed her health. In your case, it can help you monitor your body’s return to normal following the powerful and disruptive effects of the medication taken. Ovulation can come before the first period, so your fertility can return before the menstruation. The only way to identify this would be to learn how to observe, chart, and interpret the daily changes in your body.
Congratulations on weaning yourself off of the depo, and researching how you can learn to understand and cooperate with your own body through the use of Natural Family Planning. Your next step is to find the nearest NFP expert to teach you the specifics. Our directory https://canfp.org/directory.php lists physicians and NFP teachers who would be honored to help you become a student of your own body!
In general, when a woman is infertile, she will observe the absence of any mucus discharge when she wipes. When she is fertile, and approaching ovulation, she will observe her body’s increasing production of cervical mucus. The quantity and quality of this mucus, as well as the timing of it, can offer great insight into the state of her fertility, and indeed her health. In your case, it can help you monitor your body’s return to normal following the powerful and disruptive effects of the medication taken. Ovulation can come before the first period, so your fertility can return before the menstruation. The only way to identify this would be to learn how to observe, chart, and interpret the daily changes in your body.
Congratulations on weaning yourself off of the depo, and researching how you can learn to understand and cooperate with your own body through the use of Natural Family Planning. Your next step is to find the nearest NFP expert to teach you the specifics. Our directory https://canfp.org/directory.php lists physicians and NFP teachers who would be honored to help you become a student of your own body!
Answered By:
Sheila St. John
Sheila St. John is the Executive Director of the California Association of Natural Family Planning, coordinating the non-profit’s education and advocacy efforts throughout the state. Initially attracted to NFP as a healthy, effective method for planning families, drug, device and surgery free, her passion for NFP has grown over the last 42 years as she has journeyed with the over 900 couples she has personally instructed in its use, and been privileged to witness its role in overcoming infertility, women’s health, and the transformation that occurs in lives of men, women, and families, when we embrace God’s design for love and life.
