Where I am now

To give you some background on my cycles, here is how many days my last 10 cycles lasted, counting day 1 as the first day of my period:

46
34
36
47
75
34
52
30
60
50

So in the last 1 1/2 yrs, I've only had 10 cycles. This also means that my pre-lunaception average cycle lasts 46.4 days. Remember, I'm trying to move this average to 29 days, the same length as the moon's cycle.

As you can see by the chart, today isn't my first day of doing Lunaception. I've summarized where I am in my journey below....

• Started Lunaception: Cycle Day 28 (9/4) Sleeping in total Darkness

• Turned on the night Light: CD 46,47,48 (9/22-24)

• CD 49 (9/25) Back to sleeping in total darkness. I also decided to sleep 3 months straight, beginning now, in total darkness before turning on the light again.

• So, my first day to turn on the light again is 12/20/10, the day right before the full moon.

*Louis Lacey states that your cycles should align naturally to the moon, but if you want to speed up that cycle, turn on the lights only during the full moon, which is what I was doing.

**Like I said before, Joy deFelice states to sleep in darkness for 3 months solid before turning on the lights. In an email that another person sent to Louis Lacey, Lacey also said for her to sleep in total darkness for 3 months before using the lights. So I decided to do the same and began my 3 month count the day after I last used a night-light. That's why I'm only on Day 27.

My Expectations upon starting lunaception:

• Have regular 29 day cycles
• Ovulate with the full moon and get my period with the new moon
• Sleep better
• More stable temps
• More egg-white cervical fluid
• A shorter period
• More defined temp spike after ovulation
  

I think these are reasonable expectations because Louise Lacey claims that all these things can happen...except maybe for the stable temps. But I saw a lot of people claim that lunaception did that to them.

My setup:

• To block all light from coming into the window, I've been using cut cardboard. I made it just a tiny bit bigger than the inside of the window so that way it could stay up all by itself. I put up the cardboard at night and take it down in the morning. You can get them for free at furniture stores and chain stores like walmart.
• I tried to find a light bulb that has super white light like the moon does. But finding one that was only 15 watts definitely took me a while. And the lampshade that I have requires a lamp with the smaller base. I found the perfect one with a light just like the moon's --a little expensive--but remember it'll last forever!-- at http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com
  If you decide to buy one, make sure the base of the bulb is appropriate for your lampshade. They have both sizes on the website.
• On the days that I'm supposed to sleep with the light on, I put the lampshade as far away from me as possible...which in a small room isn't all that far. The lampshade ends up being about 3 feet away from the foot of my bed on the floor.

My observations thus far:
I must say....I've been very discouraged with Lunaception. Maybe my body is still adjusting, and in all fairness, Lacey states that it can take 3-4 months for you to really see a difference, but a lot of people report some change within the first days or first month of doing the method. I however, am of the lucky few who hasn't noticed any change! This first cycle of mine using lunaception has actually been my longest cycle in over a year!! Even after I first used the light I still didn't ovulate. I feel like sleeping in darkness has actually served to delay my ovulation.

As you can see from my chart, my temps aren't any more stable. I also don't feel like I've been getting a more restful sleep sleeping in the darkness. I do know however that sleeping with the lights on is HORRIBLE and I didn't sleep well the nights that I used the light. On one night my husband actually slept on the couch because he couldn't take it anymore lol. Next time I turn my lampshade on, I'm going to put something over it to make the light dimmer. I don't think it needs to be as bright as it was. I also haven't seen a change in my CF pattern. *Sigh*

I started spotting a week ago. A week before that I thought I was going to have breakthrough bleeding because my temperature was fluctuating so much, but what I got instead apparently was spotting. Hopefully it won't last much longer.

Ovulation still doesn't seem to be very near. I've been checking my cervix and it still feels low and firm. When will this cycle end?!?!