To Chart or Not to Chart?

There's a lot of chart pushing on GP. It's almost like, if you don't chart, no one will take your TTC efforts seriously. Obviously, this is not the case w/many of the ladies on the board. But, there are so many woman that seem to think charting is NECCESSARY.

I personally do not think it is neccessary. Certainly, many woman get pregnant without it. Getting pregnant is all about having sex and getting lucky (So, I guess that would be, getting lucky then getting lucky again, lol.). There are two major strategies: Have sex often throughout your cycle, or timing intercourse during your fertile time. Both will get you pregnant.

I DO think charting is helpful for most. My ovulation date tends to fall into the old stand by of CD14. So, I probably would have been just fine aiming there. For others who have long or irregular cycles, it can be a god send. For these woman TTC can be exhausting. For other's they claim charting helps them save money. For me...that's not the case. I like to test at 8DPO (I know, I know). Since, I don't know exactly when that is now. I'm just waiting until CD28...since my cycles is rarely even 27 days.

The catch...charting has helped me pick out some clues as to when I'm going to ovulate and helped train me to recognize FCM. So, in the end I think it's good for everyone to chart at least a few cycles. But, you don't NEED to. Also, I think that it's perfectly fine to give yourself a few cycles the old fashioned way, or do as I did and chart to learn about your cycles then use that knowledge w/o charting.

Personally, I still make a mental note of my CM. I also keep track of where I am in my cycle. Of course, lots of sex! Can't really do much more than that, even if I am charting.