Charting devotees

When we decided to start trying to conceive, the first thing I did was race out to the internet and read everything I could find on the topic, frantically absorbing as much as I could of the overwhelming amount of information out there (my good friend the Divasaur calls this being "hypereducated," which is the best term EVER and perfectly describes my general approach to life).

Naturally, the plethora of articles and forum posts I read included a huge amount of topics from charting devotees. Which I chose to ignore. After all, I figured I knew the basics of conception, so why take it to the obsessive level? I mean, it's not rocket science - by this time in life, I know how the bodyparts fit together. Besides, I didn't want to become one of those rabid women who grab you by the shirt and scream, "Why NOT?!?" with flecks of foam flying from their mouths when you tell them you're not charting. No thank you!
I'm such a turncoat.

I've officially become a charting devotee myself. Not only a devotee, but a fully fledged born-again believer in the Church of Charting. Possibly even a bishop of some kind. These days, when someone asks a question about getting pregnant or fertility, the very first thing out of my mouth is: "Are you charting?"

It only took one tentative venture onto Fertility Friend, that mecca of charters worldwide, to bring me around to a full conversion. I can only put it down to my Type A, organization loving personality. I mean - egads, man! The charts! The data organization! The temperature coverline alone makes me swoon.

The official Bibliosaur chart (thus far in this cycle, anyway).

And it's not just the organization - the information is phenomenally useful. I've learned things about my body that I never knew, never dreamed of needing - or even wanting - to know. Something that many - I dare say most - women don't take into consideration when they think about TTCing is that everyone (and I do mean everyone) is different. There is no mythical 28-day cycle with ovulation on the 14th day. Well OK - some women work like that, but the truth is that we are far more complex and diverse. My own cycle is in the neighborhood of 30 days (although it has varied from 26 - 39) with ovulation around day 17. Without charting, I would have had absolutely no clue about this, and trying to conceive based on a "normal" 28/14 cycle would be useless and frustrating for me.

So - have you charted today?