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Are you trying to get pregnant but it’s just not happening? Sick of sleepless nights down the Google rabbit-hole and counting down the days until you can pee on the damn stick again, only to be disappointed month after month?

Desperate to ditch the Pill forever but the fear of getting pregnant leaves you in a cold sweat? Maybe you’ve already tried to quit a few times, but the panic has kept you filling your prescription for way longer than it should

I see you.

You promised yourself that this month, you’d pay a little more attention, but figuring out how to track your menstrual cycle is just another thing on your never ending ‘to do’ list.

You KNOW it’s important to stop over-thinking and just try to listen to your body (or at least, that’s what the gurus tell you), but even figuring where to start is stressful, overwhelming and just plain confusing!

You’ve tried all the apps, you’re going through ovulation testing kits faster than you’d like to admit and you have no idea if any of it is even worthwhile.

You’re overloaded with conflicting information, you don’t know who to listen to and you’re sick of feeling consumed by your fertility without results.

Then, just when you think you’ve finally starting to get your head around this whole mucus thing, your period arrives and you’re back at square one.

If that sounds like you, you’re in luck because I’m running a free LIVE training where I’m going to teach EXACTLY how to chart your menstrual cycle and identify your body’s natural fertile signs

You’ll learn:

✔️The biggest fertility mistakes most women don’t even know they’re making

✔️How to identify when you’re fertile and pinpoint ovulation day without apps, testing strips or complicated tracking systems (in under 5 minutes a day)

✔️The ONE thing you need to get pregnant quickly and naturally or to use a natural method of birth control that is equally as effective as the pill

And even better? I will GIVE you my signature, four-part Fertility Framework.

Want in? Of course you do!

This week’s episode of the podcast is giving you a sneak-peek into the live training, where (among many other things), I’m breaking down the biggest fertility mistake that too many women are making – and how you can avoid it!

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Hello, and welcome to episode 38 of The Mana Women’s Wellness Podcast. I’m your host, Rachel and today we are talking about the number one fertility mistake that far too many women are making. I want to make sure you are not one of them and so we are going to dive in exactly how to avoid it in today’s episode.

Now this episode is a bit of a sneak peek into the free, live fertility masterclass that I am running  – if you’re listening in real time it’s at 7pm Melbourne time tomorrow night, Thursday 3^rd June. If you’re listening in the future, hello – and do not stress, I’m going to make sure that you get access to the replay of this masterclass too because the stuff we’re covering is essential knowledge for all women!

If you haven’t yet saved your spot and you’re keen, head over to fertilityco.com.au/masterclass

And you can save your spot or watch the replay if you’ve missed out on the live session.

In this masterclass we’ll be talking all about how to know exactly when you are fertile, so you can achieve or avoid pregnancy and it’s going to be an action packed session.

You and I will be together for about an hour, and we’ll be covering why timing is everything when it comes to achieving or avoiding pregnancy; why understanding your body’s natural signs of fertility is easier than you could possibly have imagined (if you know what you’re doing) and you’ll also get the inside scoop into why apps and ovulation predictor kits need to be avoided at all costs!

I’m also going to be sharing with you my Exact, Step-By-Step Framework For Identifying Exactly When You Are Fertile so that you can quit hormonal birth control forever and get pregnant in half the time, compared to most couples that just cross their fingers and hope for the best.

This masterclass is for women who want to understand their bodies better. For women who want to know more about their menstrual cycle and their fertility. And ultimately, just like the title of this training suggests, it’s for women who want to be able to identify their fertile window, pinpoint ovulation day and use this knowledge to achieve or avoid pregnancy. Without confusing and unreliable apps, without peeing on an ovulation testing strip every damn day and without spending hours over-analysing every symptom.

Now one of the things I am really going to be focusing on in this live training are the biggest and most common mistakes that women make when it comes to their fertility. There’s a couple, and so I’m going to be unpacking one of them in this episode. If you want to know about the other mistakes as well as the specific framework that I’ll walk you through, head over to fertilityco.com.au/masterclass

and you can save your spot or watch the replay if you’ve missed out on the live session.

This is the very first time I’m running a live training like this, I’m so excited and I’ve packed it full of juicy advice and goodness so if you want to know how to chart your menstrual cycle and identify your body’s natural fertile signs, then make sure you save your spot. I’ll include a link in the shownotes too.

THE BIG MISTAKE

Ok, with all that out of the way, let’s dive in to the biggest fertility mistake that too many women are making and it is that too many women are getting the timing completely wrong. Whether you want to achieve or avoid pregnancy, timing is absolutely everything when it comes to your fertility. And if you get the timing wrong, there are consequences.

Getting the timing wrong all stems back from the myth we were all taught as young women, that we all have textbook 28 day cycles and that ovulation always happens on day 14.

This means that couples trying to conceive will be trying on day 14, and couples wanting to avoid pregnancy will avoid day 14. And this inevitably leads to difficulty conceiving or an unplanned pregnancy.

TRUTHBOMB

Because truthbomb – Less than 10% of women have a 28 day cycle.

And of that 10%, I can almost guarantee that they are not ovulating on day 14.

And so, for some of you here today that might be quite a surprise to hear. Because that’s what we’ve always been taught. Our health class textbooks probably had a nice colour coded graph or diagram that showed a 28 day cycle and ovulation occurring smack bang in the middle on day 14.

And sure, the idea of a 28 day cycle is a great way of introducing young women to the menstrual cycle and getting the hang of the different phases and when ovulation occurs and so on. But at no point in our lives are we ever told anything different. That textbook theory has stuck with us. And when we realise that our periods don’t look like the ones in the textbook, we panic and we wonder what is wrong with us?

Ovulation occurs around halfway through our menstrual cycles, but it does not always occur on day 14. In fact, it’s more likely not to occur on day 14. And that’s totally 100% normal.

The average length of a menstrual cycle is anywhere from 21 to 40 days! That’s a huge variation of normal. And really you could ovulate anywhere in that 21 to 40 day window. So if you’re judging ovulation by this day 14 myth, and you’re timing sex according to day 14, whether you want to achieve or avoid pregnancy, you are putting yourself at risk of not getting what you want. Because if you avoid sex on day 14 but then have unprotected sex for the next 2-3 weeks of your cycle, you’ve probably had unprotected sex during your fertile window.

Or, if you’re trying to conceive, you continue to have sex on day 14 of your cycle month after month because that’s when you think you’re fertile, and you’re wondering why nothing is happening. We struggle to get pregnant and we panic and we think we’re not normal or that there’s something wrong with our fertility! But really, maybe you ovulated on day 10? Or maybe you will ovulate on day 20?

And that fact is the reason why 50% of pregnancies are unplanned and why 50% of couples that are referred for infertility treatment have absolutely nothing wrong with them. It’s all about timing. There’s nothing wrong with your fertility. You’ve just got the timing wrong.

And so, when you understand the fundamentals of your menstrual cycle, and realise that you can only get pregnant in a window of about 5 days every month, that there are key fertile signs that tell you on any given day about your fertility and when pregnancy is actually possible, you stop giving so much attention to day 14, because ultimately it’s likely just another day in your cycle. When you can identify your fertile window, when you know exactly when pregnancy is possible, you can maximise your chances of getting pregnant or you can eliminate your risk of unplanned pregnancy. Because when it comes to your fertile window, and successfully achieving or avoiding pregnancy, timing is everything.

So much more than bleeding once a month, your menstrual cycle is a continuous series of physical and hormonal changes occurring in your body. The first day of your menstrual cycle is the first day of your period and the last day of your cycle is the day before your next period begins. Ovulation, where an egg is released by the ovaries for fertilisation by sperm, occurs around halfway through your menstrual cycle. Regardless of what day it is, your body is at some stage of the menstrual cycle, which is regulated by your key sex hormones, mainly oestrogen and progesterone.

THE MENSTRUAL PHASE

The first phase of the menstrual cycle is the phase you would be the most familiar with. It’s the menstrual phase, or your period, where bleeding occurs and it lasts anywhere from 4-7 days, however long that period of bleeding lasts for you.

Menstruation happens when you’re not pregnant, because it always happens after ovulation – where the egg was released from one of the ovaries and it then hung out around the fallopian tubes waiting for sperm to arrive and fertilise it. If the egg isn’t fertilised and pregnancy hasn’t occurred, nothing is going to implant into the lining of the uterus. Now remember, this lining has gotten all thick and warm and ready to welcome in a fertilised egg and start growing a baby. But if this doesn’t happen, hormonal changes – that drop in progesterone I mentioned before – causes the lining to start breaking down and it will be flushed out of the body through the vagina as our period.

And so day 1 of your menstrual cycle is that first day of bright bleeding. It’s completely normal to notice some light spotting or even some thick red-brown coloured discharge in the days leading up to your period, but it’s that first day of that bright red flow that we count to be day 1.

THE FOLLICULAR PHASE

Now let’s move on to the 2^nd phase of the menstrual cycle – The follicular phase. Now this is the phase between the menstruation, your period, and ovulation, and this is the most variable phase of your menstrual cycle. If you have a really irregular cycle, this is the phase that is changing every month or so. If you have a 35 day cycle one month, then a 29 day cycle the next, it’s your follicular phase that is irregular. If you have a really short menstrual cycle, less than say 26 days, you might skip this phase altogether!

This is the phase where the egg is still in one of the ovaries, inside something called a follicle – which is why it’s called the follicular phase. Because this is where the follicle is maturing and getting ready to be released from the ovary at ovulation.

THE OVULATORY PHASE

So what is ovulation exactly?

At birth, your ovaries contain 1-2 million tiny eggs. Pregnancy occurs when an egg joins with a male sperm cell to form an embryo. Females are born with all the eggs they will ever have, while males will continue to make sperm from puberty onwards. As you become older, many eggs will die while others will be released during ovulation.

From your first period, your body is preparing for pregnancy – even if you’re not yet sexually active or ready to have a baby. Every month or so, an egg is released from a follicle within one of the ovaries, called ovulation. This occurs once during each menstrual cycle.

In the ovary, an egg matures within a follicle and is released from the follicle at ovulation.

The follicle will then seal off and become what is called the corpus luteum, which releases the hormone progesterone. If an egg is fertilised by sperm, progesterone is the hormone that really wants this pregnancy to happen. It causes all of those changes in the body to encourage the fertilised egg to implant into the lining of the uterus so that this tiny fertilised egg will develop into a baby. It will cause the uterine lining to thicken up so that implantation is more likely and progesterone levels stay high in early pregnancy to maintain that pregnancy.

So…the egg is released from one of the ovaries and it enters the fallopian tube. If intercourse and ejaculation has occurred, sperm is swimming madly from the vagina through the cervix and into the uterus and then one lucky sperm will meet the egg in the fallopian tube, and this is where fertilisation occurs. The egg must be fertilised by a viable sperm  in the next 24-48 hours.

The fertilised egg, called a zygote, will now start to divide into more and more cells as it travels down the fallopian tube until it reaches the uterus. When the zygote arrives at the lining of the uterus (the endometrium), it will implant, nestle in and get comfy, and from here it will develop into a fetus.

If the egg is not fertilised, it will still make this journey from the fallopian tube to the uterus, but it will die and break down within the fallopian tubes and is shed along with the uterine lining during menstruation.

Are you still with me?

As I’m sure you can tell, ovulation is the most complicated phase of the menstrual cycle. The ovulatory phase is the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. It’s when pregnancy is possible..It’s the main event, it’s the reason the entire menstrual cycle occurs and you can see that timing really is everything.

LUTEAL PHASE

And so after ovulation – the main event – has come and gone, now what?

The final phase of the menstrual cycle and the longest phase is the luteal phase. I like to think of this phase as the day after the wild party. We’re hungover, we’re tired, we’re feeling a little bit seedy and we just want to curl up and chill for a little while.

So the luteal phase is that time between ovulation and your next period. Now do you remember me talking earlier about that 11—17 day window? That’s your luteal phase. And the cool thing is that your luteal phase is almost always the same length, month after month. So when I was talking about irregular cycles, even if one month your cycle is 36 days long and the next month your cycle is 29 days long – for each of those cycles, your luteal phase will be the same length! It’s the follicular phase that can be really irregular. The luteal phase is consistent.

And it’s the luteal phase where we often experience those dreaded PMS symptoms in the lead up to our next period. We’re more tired, we have lower energy and we just want to take it easy and relax until we get our next period and the cycle starts all over again.

Now obviously I’ve just gone over the menstrual cycle on a very surface level, if you want to dive deeper in to this then you can have a listen to the menstrual cycle masterclass series, episode 12-15 of the podcast, where I cover each phase in its own episode. But in a nutshell the entire process is driven by our hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, which trigger these physical changes throughout the cycle that ultimately lead to pregnancy or our next period. This is a huge knowledge gap for most women and so it’s exactly where we need to start in the Fertility School Framework that I’ll go over in detail in the fertility masterclass. This will help you to really dive deep into each of these phases and then build on this knowledge in order to achieve your reproductive goals.

WILL THIS WORK FOR ME?

Ok, so right now you might be thinking, this sounds great but this will only work if I have wonderful, regular predictable periods. But I have PCOS, polycystic ovaries, endometriosis, irregular cycles, they are unpredictable and all over the place so this couldn’t possibly work for me!

Let me just say here that charting is the most effective way to make even the most irregular and unpredictable of cycles predictable! I advocate for charting especially if you have irregular cycles because if you’re relying on the 28 day cycle and day 14 ovulation myth and your cycle is long or short or just all over the place, then charting will help you to understand exactly when you are fertile so that you can achieve or avoid pregnancy.

It doesn’t matter how long or short or unpredictable your menstrual cycle is, you will be moving through each of these 4 phases in the same order month after month. So when you can understand where you are in your cycle on any given day, you know whether to expect ovulation or your next period. You’ll know whether you are potentially fertile or if pregnancy is impossible. Rather than working off a cookie cutter one size fits all algorithm on your tracking app, you learn how to identify where you’re at in your cycle so it doesn’t matter if your cycle is 22 days or 42 days. You’ll have the answers you need.

A SUCCESS STORY

Now I want to share the story of a woman who went through my online program Fertility School and who also worked 1:1 with me after completing the program. When I first met her, she had just come off the pill after 15 years and waited months for her first post-pill period to arrive! Her cycles were anywhere between 40 and 60 days long and she had no clue when she was ovulating. The thing is, with such long cycles and what is quite common after coming off long-term hormonal birth control, her body was attempting to ovulate multiple times each month before it was actually successful. She had no idea this was even a thing and so she was always timing sex for around day 14 of her cycle, then waiting weeks and weeks, thinking, hoping, praying that she was pregnant, only for her period to arrive weeks later. This caused a hell of a lot of stress and worry, when really she had the timing wrong because her body was still adjusting from the effects of the pill.

On the flip side, if she had come off the pill but wanted to avoid pregnancy and start using a natural method of birth control, she would be losing her mind with stress that she was pregnant month after month and would have no idea when to avoid sex, because she wouldn’t be able to identify her fertile window.

The month that she conceived, she ovulated on day 32 and found out she was pregnant 3 weeks later on day 50 of her cycle! How did she know she ovulated so late in her cycle? Because she tracked her cervical mucus, pinpointed her fertile window and ovulation and timed sex accordingly! If she had just continued to time sex for day 14, she would never have gotten pregnant, but her long cycles would give her false hope every month. Can you see how valuable this information is?

Her message to me when she found out she was pregnant literally made me cry!

Rachel, I just found out I am pregnant after months of tears and disappointment and I have you to thank. If it wasn’t for the knowledge I gained through your program and learned to understand my crazy long cycles it never would have happened. I would still be relying on an app to tell me when to have sex, clueless and desperate to know what was wrong with me and if I could ever have a baby? Thank you for giving us what we have always dreamed of. Thank you for your kindness and support. Words can’t describe the joy I am feeling right now!

WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW?

So let me ask you now. On a scale of 1-10, how stuck are you right now on the timing? Do you feel like you can confidently identify your fertile window and get the timing right to achieve or avoid pregnancy?

Send me a DM, let me know where you’re at right now. 1 being clueless and 10 being confident!

If you had this knowledge, if you mastered these skills, how would life be different? You could delete that tracking app for one, but where would you be just a year from now?

Could you stop relying on artificial hormones for contraception? Could you conceive more easily and knowing you’re timing sex at the right time of your menstrual cycle?

If you have goals that you want to achieve, if you want to get pregnant, if you want to avoid pregnancy without hormonal birth control, then this is your invitation to join me in my free fertility masterclass.

If you’re trying to get pregnant but it’s just not happening. You’re sick of sleepless nights down the Google rabbit-hole and counting down the days until you can pee on the damn stick again, only to be disappointed month after month.

Or maybe you’re desperate to ditch the Pill forever but the fear of getting pregnant leaves you in a cold sweat. Maybe you’ve already tried to quit a few times, but the panic has kept you filling your prescription for way longer than it should.

I see you.

You promised yourself that this month, you’d pay a little more attention, but figuring out how to track your menstrual cycle is just another thing on your never ending ‘to do’ list.

You KNOW it’s important to stop over-thinking and just try to listen to your body (or at least, that’s what the gurus tell you), but even figuring where to start is stressful, overwhelming and just plain confusing!

You’ve tried all the apps, you’re going through ovulation testing kits faster than you’d like to admit and you have no idea if any of it is even worthwhile.

You’re overloaded with conflicting information, you don’t know who to listen to and you’re sick of feeling consumed by your fertility without results.

Then, just when you think you’ve finally starting to get your head around this whole mucus thing, your period arrives and you’re back at square one.

If that sounds like you, you’re going to love the free LIVE training where I’m going to teach EXACTLY how to chart your menstrual cycle and identify your body’s natural fertile signs

You’ll learn:

• The biggest fertility mistakes most women don’t even know they’re making

• How to identify when you’re fertile and pinpoint ovulation day without apps, testing strips or complicated tracking systems (in under 5 minutes a day)

• The ONE thing you need to get pregnant quickly and naturally or to use a natural method of birth control that is equally as effective as the pill

And even better? I will GIVE you exclusive access to my signature, four-part Fertility Framework

Want in? Of course you do! Head to fertilityco.com.au/masterclass or click the link in the shownotes. Or, DM me and tell me your goals, your struggles, the things you want to learn most!

And I really hope to see you inside the fertility masterclass.

LINKS & RESOURCES

Want to say goodbye to hormonal contraceptives and their weird and unpleasant side effects?

Want to improve your chances of conceiving quickly and naturally?

You need my Fertility Roadmap– My simple 3-step system to understanding your body’s natural fertile signs and pinpointing ovulation day so that you can use this knowledge to achieve (or avoid) pregnancy.

Related Episodes:

Episode 1 – Menstrual Cycle 101

Episode 2 – Am I Ovulating? The One Check You Can Do Every Day to Know For Sure When You’re Fertile

Episode 12 – The Menstrual Phase – Menstrual Cycle Masterclass Part 1

Episode 13 – The Follicular Phase – Menstrual Cycle Masterclass Part 2

Episode 14 – The Ovulatory Phase – Menstrual Cycle Masterclass Part 3

Episode 15 – The Luteal Phase – Menstrual Cycle Masterclass Part 4

Episode 27 – When Should I Take a Pregnancy Test?

Episode 32 – Delete Your Period Tracking App. Do This Instead.

OTHER FREE RESOURCES

Does your pelvic floor need a little extra TLC? Take the Pelvic Floor Quiz and find out how to start strengthening your pelvic floor today!

Want to make sure you’re exercising safely during your pregnancy? Get your Free Guide: 10 Exercises to Avoid During Pregnancy.

ENJOYED THIS EPISODE?

If you enjoyed this episode and the Fertility Co. Podcast generally, I have a favour. Please take two minutes to subscribe, and to write a rating and a review. You can do that on Apple Podcasts right now by clicking here. If you are an Android user, you can follow the podcast on Spotify here. Those actions will help the podcast reach more people, and I would be truly grateful. Thank you so much.

 

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