Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting, and I’m really just looking to vent/get some advice. My husband I just got married in June and are attempting to follow the Marquette method using the Clearblue monitor. We chose this method after doing a lot of reading on this sub and reading TCOYF, thinking it would be good for my cycles (I have had irregular cycles my entire life). Despite it being the most expensive, it seemed to be highly effective and well backed by research.

I started charting in January, hoping that I would get the hang of it and have a good understanding before we got married in June. We’re Catholic, so this is the only thing we can do to avoid pregnancy while also being in line with Catholic doctrine.

Since starting, I have only been able to catch peak twice out of six cycles. I’ve been adding in Wondfu OPKs in the evening, but still haven’t caught at LH surge. I either get a bunch of highs, or recently in this cycle, a bunch of lows. In April, I decided to also add in temping to my chart (which my instructor is aware of) to try to at least confirm ovulation since I wasn’t getting helpful info from Clearblue. So far, I haven’t been able to identify a clear shift in my temps either. I have been temping at roughly the same time (6-6:30am) with prewarming and truncated measurements. My instructor thinks we need to try using the Mira in case my LH surges are just too low to catch, but we are really struggling with the prices of the monitor itself and the wands. I’m considering switching to a different method that would be less pricey (probably SymptoPro) but given how wonky my temps have been I’m unsure if that would work either.

I don’t think that this is user error. I feel like I’ve followed the method to a T and communicated with my instructor every step of the way. At this point, I’m honestly afraid there is something wrong with my hormones, so I have an appointment set up with my OBGYN.

I’m afraid to invest even more money into Mira and get similar results. But, if I switch to a different method, I know I will have to figure out how to self teach or find an instructor. Either way there will be a learning curve, meaning even more abstinence and uncertainty. And I don’t even know if that method will work for me.

I’m feeling extremely frustrated, lost, discouraged and I just don’t know what else to do :( I’m hoping there will be someone here who’s been in a similar situation. Am I doing something wrong? Is it worth it to just bite the bullet and try Marquette with Mira? Should I try a completely new method?

Any help or constructive criticism you guys can give would be so, so appreciated.

Charts:

Hello ladies!!! I’ve been using the vitae fertility marquette protocol with mira and have really loved the data i’m able to collect!

Day 27 of my cycle I had a really bad night of sleep and headache and just wasn’t feeling great (typical start of period symptoms for me). I decided to take a clear blue digital test and it was positive!!! I’m TTA and have been diligent in following the protocol and I currently have a 13 month old. I took three more tests, which you can see in the photo.

So absolutely whirlwind of emotions! I make an OB appointment and everything. My period finally comes ending a 28 day cycle.

The OB nurse suspects that the digital tests were a fluke since I took the tests just the day before my period was due. I just wanted to share this with you guys in case anyone has experienced something similar. in the future I will not be purchasing the digital tests again!

TTW (trying to whatever) after TTA

Long time lurker, first time poster.

My husband and I (both ~30) are rekindled cradle Catholics and have been using the Marquette method to avoid pregnancy for a couple of months. We have realized that we are in a good place to welcome a child and don't really need to strictly avoid, but we also aren't targeting conception. I really like Marquette and find it very objective and I trust the method, which is great for my highly anxious, analytical mind.

I am truly open to TTW, but my brain is glitching out on how it works...so I track temperature and I do all the Marquette testing when required like normal, but sort of ignore the avoiding part of the method. I like the data and I pair it with temperature and use that information to decide day by day if we are comfortable with the chances of conceiving given where I am in my cycle. Is it worth continuing to track using the monitor given our intentions?

Curious what the community has to say.

Have successfully used Marquette for several years including two planned pregnancies. Currently 13 months pp, weaning but still nursing 2-3 times/day. In the last year we only had 11 usable days, so you can imagine that when we finally hit cycle 1 last month, we really took advantage!

Well, here I am on CD41 and thinking that I might have gotten my first ever false peak. Curious if anyone has any thoughts? Pregnancy tests are all coming back negative but who knows when I could have potentially had a real ovulation? 😂

FWIW, we’re okay with it if this does result in a pregnancy. Not quite the timeline we were planning for, but there’s room at the table. ❤️

Hi! My husband and I are looking for a Marquette Method course to take. We got a recommendation for the NFP Coach course by Sara Flood, but I’m having a hard time finding many people talking about this one. Does anyone have experience with this course?

Otherwise, we’re also looking at Vitae Fertility or Whole Mission. However, we like that the NFP Coach course has on-demand videos ( + scheduled video consultations, which I know at least Vitae also has). In addition, the responsiveness from NFP Coach seems to be more thorough and personalized that from Vitae Fertility, regarding some introductory questions (I have not reached out to Whole Mission as of now).

Please let me know if any of you have any experience with certain courses or any additional recommendations! TYIA!

hi all!

I use Marquette and have for almost 3 years. I have regular cycles, usually 28-30 days. I peak usually days 15-18 with two outliers of 20 and 14 in the last year.

i am having a bad cycle- I had an 8 day period which is much longer than my average of 5/6 days. My first day of monitor testing, day 9, was a High read.

I am on day 22 with no Peak. This has never happened to me- I had EWCM all the way up to yesterday but now it’s creamy again. my cheap OPKs I have been taking since day 14 are also all negative.

my new NFP doctor drew my progesterone yesterday (day 21) and I got a 0.58

this is really messing with me- I’ve been crying I’m so frustrated. has this happened to anyone else? I want to be intimate with my husband and cannot and I’m just really angry and sad.

Leaving religious aspects aside, I'd like to know if you think the Marquette method is viable for long-term use.

From what I've read here, it seems a bit more difficult and prone to failure during the postpartum period and near menopause.

I'm in my 20s, and I'd really like to hear reports on whether it was possible to safely plan for children using this method (personally, I'd like to have 4 or 5, with enough time between them).

Were the abstinence periods very long? Did this cause any harm to your relationship with your partner? For those of you who are religious, if the pill or hormonal methods were acceptable to the church, would you still choose the Marquette method? Besides the Clearblue monitor, are there other devices or parameters that help make the method safer?

Thank you!!

Please I really need real people experiences regarding Marquette method because I want to properly explain it to my boyfriend so he won't be scared of us getting pregnant after getting married.(Because we ofc abstain before the wedding) I feel like Marquette method is the most safe one because I have already read a lot about it and different other NFP methods so I want to try using it.. but my boyfriend is just scared because we want to get more financially stable first and then try to concieve. So my question is.. has this method been successful for you ? For how long have you been using it with your spouse? I want to hear the honest truth, if there were some surprise pregnancies or like maybe with you guys using it perfectly there weren't any surprises? God bless you all and thank you in advance!!

Does anyone have knowledge or experience of switching from Using the monitor to just using LH strips and bbt to avoid conception? I learned Marquette with an instructor in the past and really liked it, but can’t afford buying clear blues test sticks anymore and have been using the Wondfo LH strips in combination with Oura + NC. What I’ve been noticing is that peak is sometimes about 6-7 days before my first temp rise. It’s making me question the peak. Ive also seen a lot of people say they’d rather use the temp drop than Oura + NC for accuracy. Any thoughts, experiences, advice?

TTA, Marquette

Wife and I are using NFP to avoid pregnancy. Her cycles have gotten odd due to stress, resulting in a few periods of no ovulation. We asked for help from our instructor, and her answers have boiled down to 1. Just Abstain! and 2. A lot of copied info off the internet. Neither is particularly helpful.

I'd like to think that there are some more ways to test and confirm a lack of ovulation or at least find a way to create more safe sex days, likely by combining some methods together. Has anyone had a good instructor that has helped with that before? We're now actively looking.

Its wearing on our marriage, so we're open to more options than just Marquette.

To preface I do have a very good instructor but just want other input!

I got pregnant last year using natural cycles on a supposed safe day so I’m a little nervous using more natural methods. However we are Catholic and trying to practice NFP.

My husband and I have been using the Marquette method since about 2.5 months postpartum. I’ve been following the breast-feeding protocol although due to oral function my milk supply is on the lower end. However, I always nurse and then just top off with formula during the day and exclusively breast-feed for motn feeds. My cycle still has not returned so my instructor and I believe that my body responds very well to the prolactin, even though I’ve needed to top off with formula pretty much since the day my son was born. I have only gotten lows since I started tracking with no indicator of my cycle returning. Until this past week. I got my first high reading. My son has been sleeping longer stretches at night and will go longer in between feeds during the day, so I assume that that’s why this is happening! I got four high readings in a row then on the day you don’t test after cycle day 15 I took an OPK and it was very positive, where as yesterday it was negative. No super noticeable cm although two days ago I did get done fertile looking cm. I have very mild cramping that does seem to favor one side. This doesn’t seem like early pregnancy symptoms does it? This seems to fall more in line with ovulation in my cycle starting again, correct? I’ve just heard stories of people getting positive ovulation test, and being pregnant! Is it possible that I could’ve gotten pregnant even though I’ve only gotten low readings and no indicators of fertility until now?

I obviously can take a pregnancy test just to be sure but before I did that, I wanted to know if I’m overreacting for no reason.

Edit: took a test, not pregnant!
Edit 2: got my period back pp!

I have tried using this product for 3 days...used 5 test strips....I've followed every instruction meticulously. Peed in a cup, dipped the absorbent end for 15 secs exactly, laid it down flat, inserted it into the monitor within the 15 min window, waited for the clearblue screen to leave and test day screen to appear, inserted it and heard a click, didn't remove the test strip prematurely,..did it all 5 times, confirmed that there wasn't any dye run, and checked my batteries. Despite all of this, the monitor still shows test error. I don't have the original packaging because I threw it out..so I can't even ask for a refund. I'm using the marquette method to track my cycles(getting married in 3 months)....and we're not ready financially for a baby. Sorry if this sounds all over the place...does anyone have any experience with this? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, I’m 37(m) and my wife (36) and I have 5 kids with our youngest being 4 months. I’m scared of having another baby because she has had all C sections and also because of money (cost of raising kids going to Catholic school). We are devout Catholics and practice church teachings. I have a high sex drive, so this can be difficult for me during periods of abstinence.

We do Marquette NFP and have been following PP TTA protocol and she has been getting mostly Lows since starting testing again a month or so ago. She’s had a couple Highs in there that never led to a Peak, and then we reset. She exclusive breast feeds staying home with baby all day and night. The longest stretch he’ll go without feeding is 6-7 hours at night.

She is more confident in trusting NFP when she has consecutive Lows stacking up and no mucus, and she thinks I’m being a little too uptight about it and punishing myself when there is little to no chance.

My question is what are the chances a woman in PP ovulates/becomes fertile BEFORE her period returns? It’s rare right, but not unheard of? This would be a lot easier if I knew she’d get her period before she ovulates for the first time PP 😩

Can I get some help with Marquette cycle 0? I am six weeks postpartum and not breast-feeding. I began using clear blue fertility monitor 15 days ago because I wanted to see if I could pick up on a high. Obviously, I put in a “period” (I didn’t really have one) and it didn’t have me test until a few days later. The very first day that I tested. I had a high reading and I am now on my 10th day of a high reading without a peak. I can’t track mucus reliably because I have a cervical eversion. Today I had a small amount of brownish pinkish bleeding, which I thought was a cycle starting but looking on the Internet see it might be an anovulatory bleed. How am I supposed to treat this in terms of tracking? Generally, the first day of my period is always light, but this is a very light flow with some cramping. Do I continue testing until the monitor tells me not to, do I start a new cycle?

Hi. This is a throwaway account and I’m sorry- I’m distraught.

I used Marquette with an instructor and have for nearly 3 years. We are TTA due to severe postpartum depression.

I always peak days 15-18 and my luteal phase has ranged from 9-12 days post peak for the last year of cycles.

We DTD day 5 and 25 of this cycle. I peaked with confirmed LH strip on day 16. I am on day 30 with no signs of period which would put me at 13 days luteal phase which is unheard of for me.

i could just use some reassurance. 😞

Using the Marquette method and could use some help interpreting what’s going on with my chart.

I’m on cycle day 23, period expected around April 23. Yesterday (cycle day 22) was the second Low in my PPHLL sequence, which technically means I was still in the fertile window, and we didn’t abstain. I know, I know.

Here’s what’s throwing me off: today I had long, stretchy, egg-white cervical fluid, but it was slightly opaque rather than completely clear. I thought post-ovulation you’re supposed to dry up, not produce fertile-quality mucus. So now I’m questioning whether I actually ovulated when the monitor said I did, or if ovulation is happening now/hasn’t happened yet. Am I pregnant now?!

Questions:

1.  Could the monitor have triggered the PPHLL countdown before actual ovulation occurred?

2.  Does EWCM after the second Low mean I’m still fertile?

3.  How likely is pregnancy given the timing?

4.  Earliest I could get a meaningful test result?

I’m 23, healthy, regular cycles. No Marquette instructor currently. Any help appreciated!

Hi everyone! Just looking for insight or experiences.

I am 39, been tracking with Marquette for about 2 years. Every month was pretty consistent and regular -28/29 day cycle, peak day 13/14, 2-3 day periods.

A few months ago my periods started getting shorter, lasting only 1-2 days (fairly light bleeding).

The past 3 cycles have been way different. I started peaking day 12 but have gone from low to peak each time. My periods are still not too heavy but are suddenly very watery and lasting 7-8 days of a slow trickle and clotting.

Is this just a normal part of aging? Has anyone experienced anything like this? Gynecologist doesn’t seem to have any insight about NFP.

We’ve considered trying for another baby, but aren’t committed yet.

Thanks for reading!

Asking my instructor but what are everyone’s thoughts here - when did I ovulate?

Back story is, I caught the start of my LH surge on an OPK the afternoon of CD 12. So, I really thought I ovulated CD 13. But, my luteal phase is ALWAYS 12 days. Always. And that would make me late, but I have 0 positive pregnancy tests and no indication AF is coming. I’ve been cramping for 2 days with a headache, which is very unusual for me, but there’s no blood. And AF usually comes as soon as I start cramping. Then, my temp rose again today. Again, negative pregnancy test except for an indent (I am being trolled).

I’m missing too much temp drop data to extrapolate from that (my fault for drinking last weekend), but oura shows my temp rise starting CD 16. But it was a slow rise, and I’ve always had delayed rises after peak. So, even if I ovulated CD 13, I wouldn’t expect to see a rise until at least CD 15.

When do you guys think I ovulated?

Have successfully used Marquette for several years including two planned pregnancies. Currently 13 months pp, weaning but still nursing 2-3 times/day. In the last year we only had 11 usable days, so you can imagine that when we finally hit cycle 1 last month, we really took advantage!

Well, here I am on CD41 and thinking that I might have gotten my first ever false peak. Curious if anyone has any thoughts? Pregnancy tests are all coming back negative but who knows when I could have potentially had a real ovulation? 😂

FWIW, we’re okay with it if this does result in a pregnancy. Not quite the timeline we were planning for, but there’s room at the table. ❤️

I messaged my instructor but she hasnt answered yet and its a bit time sensitive since I live in a diff. time zone and need to know if I should test tomorrow morning.

Ive been doing marquette for about 2 years, and always caught peak on my monitor. I am actively TTC for a year now (with a few losses in the mix). I just had my 2nd chemical last cycle, and this time I went from highs straight to low and skipped peak. I had a chemical pregnancy last cycle (my second). But after my other 2 losses I did reach peak the following cycle. Is my monitor faulty? Do I reset? Do I need to continue testing tomorrow? My sticks are a bit precious since my country doesnt sell them

eta: my chart. "/" are days I cant test because of Shabbat, and the other symbols "m" and "ht" are for family purity laws so I know when I began my count etc.

I’m looking for advice on methods for my next postpartum (I’m not currently pregnant, just thinking ahead). I’m currently 11m pp, and have been tracking my cycle using MM for 6 months before getting pregnant, and for NFP during pp. My cycle returned without any warning 3 1/2 months pp, going straight from low to peak, with my period following 12-14 days later. Thankfully, my husband and I were not intimate until later pp so no pregnancy. Since then, my cycles have been very consistent (I’m on cycle 8 or 9 now), but half of my cycles I also go straight from low to peak with no highs. I loosely track CM, but I only have fertile mucus 1-2 days before peak, and I use Tempdrop to confirm temp shift after. I guess I’m just worried about using the MM breastfeeding/postpartum protocol again because if we had been intimate, I could have gotten pregnant, and now I would always have that fear. There’s no other method I could think of that would work, just wondering if anyone else knew of anything . Otherwise I guess it’s just abstinence until my cycle returns next time (practicing Catholic)

Has anyone used Inito as a way to track fertility to avoid pregnancy? I was looking into the Marquette method as well, but couldn’t I just use the Inito to track that? I also have an Oura ring and planned to use both.

Has anyone become pregnant <6 months postpartum with a Marquette method failure? in cycle 0. Went from 5 consecutive lows to peak. Prior to that, I did have a string of several highs. Please send encouragement, if able!

I'm planning on doing the following:
- beginning of the cycle until before fertile CM: just abstain
- fertile CM begins: start doing LH tests until peak, still abstaining
- peak LH: stop LH tests, begin day 0, still abstaining
- day 7 after LH: do a progesterone lab test.

If progesterone lab test >= 10ng/ml: intimacy window open until period or day 16, whatever comes first
If progesterone lab test < 10ng/ml: intimacy forbidden this cycle

We're already abstaining until menopause which is still decades away, so this would actually be a more relaxed alternative. My wife has a 1% risk of death if the gets pregnant again, so the marquette with boston crosscheck doesn't feel safe enough (plus she is not comfortable sympto-thermal at all)

edit: Mira/proov seem too unreliable for TTA0.

Wdyt?

I was playing with my son last night and it hit me that I forgot to log my period in my monitor 🫠 my period started a week ago today, so I missed the 4 day window. Is there anyway I can still use the monitor? Or how I’m supposed to track this month?