Scarleteen

Hi Scarleteen! For the past few months, I’ve been charting my menstrual cycles and I notice the same pattern of getting EWCM midcycle during ovulation. 2 weeks after noticing EWCM, I always get my period, so I always know that when I see EWCM, it’s ovulation.

This month, however, I’ve been feeling pretty dry. I got a few days of sticky discharge and also experienced a wet sensation/feeling down there a few days later, but I dont think I noticed any creamy discharge on my underwear. While showering, I think I noticed EWCM, but it was during one of the days I got sticky CM.

I want to ask: Is it normal to have little to no EWCM and still ovulate? Can you have EWCM and sticky CM on the same day? I never paid close attention before to notice that this ever happened to me. My periods are also very regular and never really skip an entire month (late by a few days/weeks but never more than that). Thank you!

Hi Booksandoceans,

Way to get to know your body and your cycles! That's awesome!

It's still possible for you to ovulate even without egg white cervical mucus present, though I'm not sure exactly what the probability of that would be. It might also be that there was less EWCM this time, so that it didn't show up on your underwear. It's also possible that this cycle might be a bit different from previous ones. Even people with fairly regular cycles can have "off" cycles here and there, depending on a bunch of other factors like sleep, diet, exercise, stress, etc. - or sometimes just because our body decides to do something different. Remember that fertility awareness tracking, even when done "perfectly" (which means that you use all the available data and your cycle is super regular), still has a failure rate of about 3-7%. This might be due to natural variation in people's cycles.

Another piece of information that could help you determine whether you've ovulated is tracking your basal body temperature. On the day of ovulation, your temperature should rise (compared to the prior few days) and stay higher for a few days. More info about how to track your waking body temperature, and a review of the fertility awareness method, is here: https://www.scarleteen.com/article/bodi ... _about_fam. Have you been tracking your temperature as well?

I also want to ask if you're using any methods of birth control besides tracking your cycle. You mentioned using a condom in a previous post - is that still happening? Using a backup method, like a condom or other barrier, can be pretty useful in case there are changes in your fertility or cycle. More about backup methods here: https://www.scarleteen.com/article/sexu ... ol_with_a_

Hi Amanda! Thank you so much for the reply, it really helped. It’s also very comforting that I have someone to talk to about this. Anyway, I track any change in CM because it helps me understand when to expect my period. I don’t use fertility awareness to avoid pregnancy because my current BF and I no longer engage in the act due to my anxiety (he respects my decision and this choice has made me feel a lot better about myself!). The last time we did it was around 5 months ago, but we’re still intimate, just not having sex anymore.

I have never tracked my temperature, but I’ll read the article you sent. Thank you for the help

Wow! I am so impressed by you, Booksandoceans. Mature decisions all around. I'm so glad to hear that you've advocated for yourself, that your boyfriend is respecting your decision, and that you've found other ways to be intimate. Way to go!!

Even if you don't want to have sex any time soon, you might still find tracking your temperature interesting since it can also help you figure out when you ovulate, and that will help you predict your period as well. Let us know if you have other questions about cycle tracking or anything else!