What happens when you unplug yourself?

When I set out into this cycle, I was excited and nervous. I planned on just relaxing, letting it happen, and not worrying about getting pregnant. I accomplished some of that, but really tried to make this month wild and free. I did the bare basics without tracking my body as meticulously as I had for the past eleven months.

And I got both those things: wild and free.

Let me explain the wild part. DH, Mr. C, has gotten slightly bored with the baby dance routine. Do you blame him after eleven months? You would think the guy would be in booty-call heaven! Sometimes, I jokingly call him my sperm donor but frequently that is the truth. He would not be in the mood and neither would I, but we baby danced to get the job done. Look where that has got us.

This month I never once mentioned the need to donate. Instead I dropped hints and made myself into a desirable, sexy woman so Mr. C never knew what hit him. Sweet talking and lace are magical things. Plus I left out the fact that the OPK was a go and my fluids were abundant. Yeah, that might have worked too.

What’s ironic is that he was more easily persuaded during my fertile time. Normally when I announce that I’m ovulating he closes his legs and I almost have to pry them open. So perhaps pheromones are the magical things. Go biology and mother nature.

Second is the free part. I opted to not chart this cycle. Trust me, it was hard at first. Temping was so ingrained into my morning routine that it felt unnatural to just lay in bed after waking. Seriously. It felt odd to not get on Fertility Friend first thing and enter my numbers. My chart looked sadly empty without those jagged lines. Yet, I know my ovaries were still working. I know because I got fertile cervical goop on cycle day 13 and a positive OPK (ovulation predictor test strip) on cycle day 15.

Silly as it may sound, part of me was afraid my ovaries would stop producing eggs when I stopped charting. I was also afraid I would miss the very short fertile period, because I missed all the signs of ovulation ever since I first got my period at 12 years old.

I know there’s no going back now. Even though this cycle was “unplugged” I will never be able to mentally unplug myself from my reproductive self. Womanhood is not getting your period. It is truly understanding the inner workings that take place to make life, to create a miracle that will someday turn into a living breathing, walking human being. And it all starts with ovulation.

Occording to OPK’s, I’m seven days past ovulation waiting for two pink lines. Seven more days to go.