How do you work out your menstrual cycle?

[Grace3]

I know this may be a strange thing to ask, but how do you work out your menstrual cycle?

Do you calculate your first date as the very first sign of a period, slight smear when going to the toilet OR do you calculate your first day as when your full period arrives??

My cycle is generally 31 days, however the first 2-3 days, I basically only have spotting. Not sure how to calculate it now.

Grace

[floggadog]

try looking at www.billings-centre.ab.ca

or
www.woomb.org

[Mummy2my5]

I know this may be a strange thing to ask, but how do you work out your menstrual cycle?

Do you calculate your first date as the very first sign of a period, slight smear when going to the toilet OR do you calculate your first day as when your full period arrives??

My cycle is generally 31 days, however the first 2-3 days, I basically only have spotting. Not sure how to calculate it now.

Grace

You start cd1 from the day of full flow. hth

[Grace3]

thanks for the billings website.

I am very confussed now. I have been calculating from first spotting. I have just printed out some info from the billings website.

thanks heaps

[No2WhereAreYou]

Grace I was just gunna ask the same thing! as well as when it stops cause sometimes i get a bit after full flow has finished TMI???

[Milliner]

CD1 is the day that you need to use something pad/tampon so full flow not just spotting. You can chart you cycle on Fertility friend.

[earthkaz]

I know this may be a strange thing to ask, but how do you work out your menstrual cycle?

Do you calculate your first date as the very first sign of a period, slight smear when going to the toilet OR do you calculate your first day as when your full period arrives??

My cycle is generally 31 days, however the first 2-3 days, I basically only have spotting. Not sure how to calculate it now.

Grace

Hey Grace,
Totally not strange for a woman to not know how to chart her cycle. It's super easy once you start and get into the habit of doing it.

To chart the cycle:
From the day you see blood, spotting etc., mark it down on a calender. I put a circle around the day (example this month I began on the 18th, so I circled around the #18 on the calender)

note: If you stop bleeding for a couple days to then start again, circle the day you start again. The whole point is it to chart, so you want to see a pattern. Do this every month. (regardless if you stopped for a day or so, and regardless of the flow, heavy or light, full or spotting--point is your bodies' cycle has started.

To count the days:
from the first day of your cycle to the day BEFORE the next bleed, not the day of.

To get an average cycle length:
add up each month ( January was 28 days, Feb 27 days, March 27 days= 28+27+27= 82. Divide by the number of months you are using, in this case 3 months. 82 days/3 months = 27.2 My cycle is an average of 27 days apart.)

So, in summary:
see blood, mark on calender; do this for at least a few months. Then, count day of cycle to day before next cycle begins, divide by number of months you are using, then you get your average # of days per cycle.

I hope this helps and doesn't aide to the confusion. Once you start, it will start to make sense, it just takes a few months.
cheers

[kittykatz]

Hi Grace,

Yep, CD1 is the first day of full flow. So spotting doesn't count. If you are using Fertility friend etc, you can still record it, but it won't start your new cycle till you actually have proper bleeding.

Don't worry, i had been recording mine wrong for years!