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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The one where I talk about girlie things

You read the title, you've been warned. If you don't want to hear about women's periods or ovulation or planning pregnancies, then just leave now.

Are they gone now?

OK good, let's talk ladies.

What do you all think about the concept that women who are around each other a lot will be on the same schedule? They will all start their periods about the same time each month. I have heard of this before, and it sometimes seemed true when I was younger and living at home. I guess living in a house with 4 women will lend itself to that. It never failed that myself, my mom, or one of my sisters would always have their period together.

My poor father. Really. There are many times I've felt bad that he was the only guy in the house. But I think I made it better by giving him a boy for his first grandchild.

I know when I was in high school I noticed that same phenomenon. It never failed that when I had my period at least one of my friends did too. Or they would start theirs, and the next day I'd start mine.

That's the last I've really experienced of this on a regular basis. Anyone else ever have this happen?

It's pretty rare that I'm around a group of women regularly. I don't have any really close groups of friends that I do things with a lot. I do things with my mom and sisters, but we're not together often.

I have noticed that when I'm at my parents' house (which means I've probably been around my mom and sisters too) for an extended period of time, I will often start my period. It's strange. It happened when we were there for a week at Christmas.

It's OK that is does happen, because my periods are very irregular. (That might answer some of the comments from this post about what Matt said.) I've always tended to have light, shorter periods and longer between each one. I've had some missed ones off and on for a while now. It has gotten even worse since having Zachariah. I think last year I only had my period 4-5 times during the whole year. I'm not complaining too much, but it does make it hard to figure out my cycle (not really one) or to chart or GET PREGNANT. Grr.

Blah, blah, blah, all that to say I started my period last night. :D I was hoping I was pregnant, because I was pretty sure I could tell when I was ovulating last month. But having two periods in a row is a good thing, and it will help me better predict my cycle for this month.

And I was with a group of ladies from church last night having dinner. It was so much fun. I enjoyed getting out of the house, talking to friends, and meeting new people. When I found out later in the evening that I'd started my period, it got me thinking that maybe I need to surround myself with women more often. Maybe it would help my regularity.

Thoughts?

Also, you better believe that we'll be trying everything possible to get pregnant this month. Wish me luck.

16 comments:

d e v a n said...

Good luck!!!
I have not experienced that phenomenon much myself, but I've always been very regular.

Alli said...

I think you'd have to be around the same women for an extended period of time. I don't think a dinner out or even a weekend visit would change or trigger anything in your cycle. But that's just my thought on it.

YAY for trying this month! Good luck!:)

Anonymous said...

My take on it is the same thing tha Alli said. It has to be people you're around very often and for an extended period of time. I remember being on the same cycle as girls on my floor in college.

Happy trying!!!!

andria said...

This did happen to me with my college roommate.

I dont' have any medical basis for this, but we tried forever to have our first two kids and it was years before it happened. The only correlation to all three of my pregnancies was I was on a green tea kick the month prior to finding out I was pregnant.

If you like green tea, try it, couldn't hurt, but like I said, I have no scientific basis for it other than that was the one thing the same for all of them.

Cherish said...

I havent actually found that the same thing happens when Im living with another woman but I think its possible that your time with women could help.

Emily said...

I had this happen when I was living with a group of girls in college, and I think it is more common with women that you spend lots of time around, rather than here and there.

Have you ever read "Taking Charge of Your Fertility"? I found that book very helpful for understanding cycles and charting and what causes ovulation, etc. It's by Toni Weschler. Good luck!

mamashine said...

Yes, my college roommate and I got on the same schedule, and we were both irregular, which made it even weirder.

Also, I worked every day with my mom for three years, while I was trying to get pregnant, being pregnant, and nursing. She was in the beginning stages of menopause and hoping to be done with her period, but every time I did something really hormonal (get pregnant, give birth, wean the baby) she would have a period. It drove her insane. She said it was the only thing she hated about working with me. :)

Deleted said...

This also has happened to me, and still does. My mom and I are on the same, aswell as my friends Amy, Ashley and Steph. It's pretty cool still because whenever your in need of something while your out with them they always have one, or vise versa :)

I wish you the best of luck in getting pregnant and a healthy one! I don't have a slight clue on what to do when we go and try for another one. Eeee!!!! Exciting, I'll get to live through all this with you before I go through it, hold me over I guess ;) lol



psst..I started my period this morning, maybe happening around the blogsphere ..lol!!

Anonymous said...

I've never experienced the phenomenon, but I've heard about it from others...kinda freaky.

I second the recommendation for "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". It really helped us when we were trying for #2 (16 cycles of misery). Thanks to that book, I can read every ovulation sign which is pretty much useless now since we're done, but still interesting. After reading the book, I cut out caffeine and dairy and added vitamin B6 (100mg every day until I ovulated and 50mg until positive test or period). I also made hubby take zinc everyday to give "his boys" some energy!

Good luck!!

Shannon said...

Good luck, good luck, good luck!!!

Melanie said...

It is true that if you live with other woman that you can all get on the same cycle, you may or may not notice, but it usually is when you are living with someone that it happens. I never had my cycle change but I did have college roommates complain that I threw off their cycles...oops!
Good luck getting pregnant! I'll keep you in my prayers.

Sarah said...

I had a houseful of girls growing up too, so this definitely happened to us a lot. Not always, because they were a little more irregular than I was, but more often than not.

I second (third? fourth?) the recommendation on that Taking Charge of Your Fertility book. It's pretty easy to read actually, much less complicated than some fertility books I've read, and the new editions come with a computer program you can use to do your charting. So high tech! ;)

CAQuincy said...

One time in high school, my mother, my best friend, and I were all on the same cycle. AND the dog was in heat. :-)

And it always seemed I was on the same cycle as one or the other of my roommates in college--but I don't remember all THREE of us at the same time.... But yes, I have heard of this....

GOOD LUCK!

Pam said...

Never heard of that! I thought it originally went on moon-phases though, so it would make sense that all women menstruate together in the same location.

Good luck to you both.
I'll be waiting each month to hear good news.
:-)

bluedaisy said...

This definitely happened with my friends and I in college. I have always been very regular but my cycle would change by a day or so when I lived at college. It's got something to do with pheromones which are kind of like a scent we all give off but it's not something you consciously notice (unlike the scent from lotion or perfume). I have also read theories that pheromones are responsible for why we are attracted to certain people and not to others. I can't vouch for the validity of these ideas but I supposed it's something to consider. Good luck!

kristi said...

Yes, this has happened to me many time if I have a close female friend! Now my daughter and I are a week apart. WEIRD!