Hi, I'm Kaity! I’m a 28-year-old living on the central coast of California with my husband. I work full time in HR. In my spare time, I enjoy wine tasting, reading and going to the gym. I’ve always known that I wanted to stay away from hormonal birth control for health reasons. I am currently using a fertility awareness method (FAM) with the intention to avoid pregnancy, and I've been successful for 20 months!
I got started using FAM before my wedding, and it's been life changing. As I approached the wedding, I was taking my temperature with a standard basal body thermometer. However, it was difficult to read my charts due to inconsistent temperatures. That led to me beginning to doubt that I would be able to use a FAM method.
In desperation, I started looking into IUDs and other forms of hormonal birth control, even though it was far from my first choice. I had heard about wearable thermometers, so did some googling and found Tempdrop. I was so excited to receive it and start using it! Within my first few months of use, my charts became smooth and readable with clear temperature shifts after ovulation. I truly don’t think I would have been able to practice FAM without Tempdrop.
Using FAM has helped my life immensely! It’s amazing to know where I am in my cycle on a day-to-day basis. I’m lucky to have very regular cycles - but even if I didn't, I think at least for me it would be a very low maintenance method.
It really only takes a couple of minutes each day to track everything required for my chosen method. I love that it’s all natural and doesn’t take much time at all. It’s so empowering to have detailed knowledge about my cycle!
Speaking of only taking a few minutes, one of the things I've learned on my FAM journey is that consistency is key. If you track your cycles day by day, and consistently cycle to cycle, you start to see patterns and trends emerge. The more data, the better! It takes small observations every day that take a few seconds each. Overall, it just takes the discipline to check (phone reminders can help!) rather than taking a lot of time.
One of my favorite things is that when I use FAM, I share the information and understanding I gain with my husband. It’s been incredibly helpful to be on the same page as each other. It’s given him a much bigger appreciation for the woman’s cycle, and he enjoys knowing what phase of my cycle I’m in. His favorite time of my cycle is the luteal phase - after confirming ovulation!
If you're looking for community, I love being a part of the Tempdrop Facebook group (note you have to be a Tempdrop user to join this Facebook group, but you may join Exploring Tempdrop if you don't have a Tempdrop yet). I’ve almost learned more there than any other FAM resource. It’s really helpful to see other people’s charts and how everyone helps out with questions. It’s encouraging to know that there are many other like minded women out there and that we are all on this FAM journey together.