vaginapagina | Being very picky with the calender method: likely to work? (Reply)

So are there days that are pretty much foolproof, or am I doomed to a rather fertile form of failure?

I run a twenty-eight day cycle, and like to think that I'm pretty aware of hormonal changes and all that (which is why HBC is not an awesome option for me). Right now the Sexual Partner and I are using condoms except on the day my period ends (the fifth day after it starts) and - probably - the day before it's due. By my math, this leaves a nice big window between the probable date of sperm death and the time midcycle when - from counting, breast tenderness, cervical mucus, and what I've convinced myself are hormone-related mood changes - I've probably ovulated.

Am I just fooling myself into thinking this is reasonably unlikely to get me pregnant? I know that the rhythm method is tricky, but from the look of most of the rhythm method charts I've seen, people who use it as their primary method are getting it on much closer to the middle of their cycles than I am on my twice-a-month plan. I'm fairly sure I got away with it this month (I'm going to pee on a stick sometime this week just to be sure) but I don't know if that's because my science was sound or because I was lucky.

Also, unprotected sex during one's period: fairly safe, birth-control-wise, for someone who runs a standard cycle? Sexual Partner will have to get a little more down with biology before that happens, but some girl I knew once totally said this was true, which is a great basis for reproductive decisions.