first post here

[herefishie.livejournal.com]

I've been tracking my period using mycycle.com for almost a year now since I went off HBC and I'm having some difficulty deciding what I should consider as the 1st day of my period

When I was on the pill, my period showed up promptly and all at once usually 2 days after my last pill with monster cramps too.
Since being off the pill, my cramps have almost disappeared completely and my period has finally regulated to somewhere around 33 days. But this is subjective and the reason for my post here.

Being off the pill, now my period starts as a tiny little bit of hardly anything for a couple days and then I start to flow enough to actually USE my instead cup. Before that, there really isn't much point because while there is some blood there its such a small amount that its almost not even enough for a pantyliner.

SOO.... do I start counting from the 1st day I see blood (even if there is hardly any) or do I count from the 1st day it really starts flowing and protection is a MUST???

Comments

[aquae-gaia.livejournal.com]

I would count from the first day you see any blood at all. I think that would signal the "official" beginning of your period.

[herefishie.livejournal.com]

ok, then I'm actually closer to 35-36 day cycles... is such a long period normal??!!

[slayertatiana.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. Normal is not an exact 28-day cycle; 21 to 35 days is the "nothing out of the ordinary" range, and average cycle lengths vary from one woman to another.

[herefishie.livejournal.com]

what would be considered out of the ordinary then?

[myparalysis.livejournal.com]

My understanding of it is if your cycle is two months long, or if you're getting your period about every two weeks, then it's out of the ordinrary.

[aquae-gaia.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that's fine. Our bodies are all different and that "28 day cycle" that everyone cites is really just an estimate. People like to simplify women's bodies, but that's pretty silly since, as we all know, they're pretty damn unpredictable.

[eismeer.livejournal.com]

..usually you count the day when you see the first red blood...many women have some brown blood at the beginning and the end of their period, which turns into normal red blood when the period starts...I hope you know what I mean, cause I don´t know who this is called in english (sorry, this is not my mother tongue) ;)

[myparalysis.livejournal.com]

Hey I speak English and I have no idea what that brown blood stuff is either!
:)

[eismeer.livejournal.com]

...a friend told me that the right word for that is the medical term 'spotting'...
but she doesn´t know if this is really correct...

It´s called schmierblutung in german, schmier=lubricant, blutung=bleeding...
:)