According to the chart, my daughter should have been a boy.  And this
is whether I use the "American" age-of-conception, or even if I add
one or two years to it.  It's just like any other method, IMHO - right
about 50% of the time. :-)

/Kirsten

I would ask your doctor about Nasacort as an aid in reducing symptoms
during pregnancy. I am 8 weeks pregnant today and have been using
Nasacort for two years. When I found out I was pregnant (1 week post-
conception) I quit using it until I saw my doctor (2 weeks later). He
said that I could take three things during the first trimester:
tylenol, sudafed (little red tablets) and Nasacort. Since Nasacort is
a very low dose nasal steroid, it doesn't even enter my bloodstream.
He said that I could be tested for steroid use and not get a positive.

I was taking allergy shots but they were just making my allergies worse
so I quit and could breath again! It was great. I have been able to
control my allergies (even through ragweed) with a few Sudafed on
an occasional basis and Nasacort. Of course, reducing my intake of all
the foods I'm allergic to has helped (milk fat, wheat, egg whites,
corn, and soy beans). I can have small quantities of skim (0% fat)
milk but I limit it to one bowl of cereal per day and take calcium
supplements (500 mg 3x per day). I quit eating sandwhiches and I've
almost quit eating eggs. I still tend to have one to two eggs
on the weekends out at TRF when Mom makes breakfast burritos. I've
found that corn is the hardest for me to exclude since I really love
corn chips and picante, but I've avoided them for 2 weeks now.

I'd also recommend talking with your allergist about pregnancy and
the shots. My doctor in College Station won't give shots while pregnant
and I found that attitude disturbing. Your allergist may also have
this attitude and it can be very discouraging when you are miserable.

I planned this pregnancy to coincide with one of my 'down' periods. It
is right after ragweed and before my Xmas allergies. I'm having a
fairly good time (except for that ****ed virus I had for the past two
weeks) and don't expect my allergies to kick in before December 12 (14
weeks). You might also look into purchasing a high quality air-filter
for the bedroom and try to keep the dogs from sleeping with you.
For me, that wasn't an option since my cat will keep us from sleeping
if we try to keep her out of the bedroom and she sleeps with her
head on the pillow on my side of the bed. I tend to face the
middle of the bed so she's to my back rather than my face.

Good luck getting pregnant and may you have no problems with allergies
during your entire pregnancy.

Susan Martin
--

A word of warning here . . . my wife and I were using basal temperature
as an indication of ovulation and hence avoiding the "fertile period"
(with the idea of aiming for it in, oh, September 1995 and later).  But
here we are, pregnant.  Ultrasound says 11 week fetus and 13 weeks LMP,
which jives with the chart, but does NOT jive with what happened with
Anna's temperature . . . in short, it looks like there was no jump in
temperature when she ovulated.  The jump came a week later.  Also, I've
heard that ovulation can occur anytime up to five days following the
So my advice would be NOT to use this as a method of birth control UNLESS
an unplanned pregnacy is NOT a burden.  
Remember the joke:
What do they call women who use the rythym method of birth control?
A:  Mothers!

It's true that using BBT *alone* may not be a reliable method of birth
control. *However*, using a total fertility awareness approach, which
combines an observation of BBT, cervical mucus, cervical position, and
other signs such as pain and/or spotting upon ovulation, can be as
effective as hormonal or barrier methods of birth control.

Quoting from _Your Fertility Signals_ by Merryl Winstein (p. 14):
"When taught and used correctly, the ovulation method (mucus only) is,
biologically speaking, 97-99% effective for preventing undesired
pregnancies, -- just as effective as the Pill, IUD, or diaphragm.

"However, about 20 of any 100 couples who learn the ovulation method
in one year do make love on fertile days, and as expected, they
usually become pregnant.

"The 20% figure is sometimes misconstrued as evidence that cervical
mucus is not a reliable fertility signal, or that the ovulation method
is too hard for women to use and understand.

"The fact is that couples who make love on fertile days, or when they
are unsure of their fertility, are *correctly following the ovulation
method guidelines for becoming pregnant.* At all times, couples may
freely choose to make love while fertile or unsure about their
fertility. Naturally they should expect pregnancy to result. Couples
may just as freely decide to avoid intercourse and genital contact
while fertile or unsure, thereby avoiding pregnancy."

Here's another quote from _The Fertility Awareness Handbook_ by
Barbara Kass-Annese and Hal C. Danzer (pp. 11-12):

"A 3-year study, supported by the Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare, and completed in 1979 at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los
Angeles, compared the effectiveness of the ovulation method [observing
mucus only] and the sympto-thermal method [observing mucus, BBT,
cervical position and other body signals]. Over 1200 couples
participated in this study. It was found that the ovulation method was
approximately 78% effective.... The sympto-thermal method was
determined to be approximately 89% use effective.... Many of the
pregnancies in this study occurred because people 'took chances' and
had intercourse during the fertile time, did not understand the use of
the methods, or did not follow other instructions necessary for the
effective use of these two methods.... When instructed correctly by
the teachers, in combination with the couples' understanding and
proper use of the methods, the effectiveness rates are approximately
98%."

Kass-Annese and Danzer then go on to list the Use Effectiveness
ratings of several popular methods of birth control (the Pill,
condoms, diaphragms, IUDs, etc.). These ran between 78-95% effective.

So, my point is that when used correctly, the sypto-thermal or total
fertility awareness method is just as effective as most common
methods, and even more effective than some. *NO* method of birth
control is 100% effective!

Also, Mike mentioned something about the 5-day rule above, but I think
his editor truncated the sentence, so I just wanted to clarify.
Ovulation usually occurs on the last day of fertile mucus or the day
after (the first dry day). The egg lives and can be fertilized for
12-24 hours after it is released. *However*, fertile mucus can keep
sperm cells alive for up to *five days*. If a couple is trying to
*avoid* pregnancy, they should refrain from having intercourse when
the woman is producing fertile mucus. Intercourse can resume on the
evening of the fourth dry day after fertile mucus is no longer
present. This allows the egg to pass out of the body, and ensures that
there will be *no* fertile mucus to aid conception.

As far as BBT goes, the temperature usually rises *after* ovulation
has occurred, and intercourse can usually resume on the evening of the
third day of high temperatures. However, if the woman has not been dry
for four days, the couple should wait if they want to avoid pregnancy.

Sorry to be so long-winded, folks, but my husband and I are using this
method, and I find it fascinating!