How do you find the CM to examine it in the first place? You've probably noticed it on many occasions already, but, in any case, it is usually not necessary to swab the interior of the vagina to retrieve it. Simply wipe the outer portion of the vagina with a clean tissue right after urinating. The mucus will be evident on the tissue if you are producing any at that stage in the cycle. During your practice cycles you may want to keep your CM charts, about which we'll say more shortly, in the bathroom so that you can make notations after each urination. We have heard from women who say they can't find any Cm on tissue and have to "probe" for it with a finger. If you are one of those women, here's the proper technique for making a CM "probe": Place your right foot on a chair or stool. Lean forward a little with your right elbow resting on your leg just above your knee. With your left hand press on your abdomen just above the pubis. This depresses the uterus and pushes the cervix forward, making it easier to reach. Then insert the index and middle fingers of your right hand into the vagina and gently touch the cervix, which will feel a little like the tip of your nose. (Make sure you have washed your hands carefully-and no long finger- nails please.) If there is CM "at hand," you should be able thus to feel it and retrieve some of it for observation. In most cases, however, as we've said, the "probe" isn't necessary. Generally you will be able to see the CM on the tissue after urination, especially as you approach ovulation and it becomes thinner and more copious.

During these practice cycles you will, of course, have to use some form of birth control. You can't use the Pill because it interferes with the CM, and, in any event, for safety reasons, you will want to be off the Pill for several months before trying to become pregnant. Contraceptive foams and jellies may also interfere with the secretions and your interpretation of them. Condoms are the ideal form of birth control to use during gender preselection practice cycles. They don't alter the secretions, and, by keeping the vagina free of seminal fluid (which women inexperienced in the method may confuse with CM), they make it easier to learn how to interpret the secretions.

Here is a pattern which is typical (but, remember, yours may vary a little or even a lot): -

Days 1 through 5

Bleeding. No need to check for CM on these days. A few women do have CM during the bleeding phase of the cycle, but such women are very rare.

Days 6 through 8

No bleeding and no CM. These are often referred to as "dry days." Usually women experience a few of these dry days after bleeding and before the CM begins to show up.

Day 9

The first CM appears. This is the first "wet day," but it's not very wet, after wiping the vulva with a tissue following urination, you notice a small amount of CM. The main things to pay attention to are the color and consistency, or "stretchability, ' , of the mucus. The amount of CM is less important. Usually but not always, there is less in the beginning and more as ovulation approaches. Go more by quality than quantity. Once you have spotted the CM, keep checking carefully after each urination. On the first day that it appears it will most likely be quite cloudy and thick.

Day 10

CM is present. It is still thick and cloudy or creamy in color. Try the "stretch test": put some of the CM between your thumb and forefinger. Now slowly separate the two. At this point the CM will probably not stretch very far before it breaks, leaving one glob clinging to your finger and another to your thumb. Make a note of about how far the CM stretches before breaking so that you can make comparisons later. Early on, it often doesn't stretch more than an inch or an inch and a half before breaking.

Day 11

CM is present and now is thinner and more stretch- able. You may notice this simply by looking at the mucus on the tissue. There may also be more than on previous days. It is still opaque but not as cloudy as before. It has a wetter feel and a runnier consistency. It stretches farther between thumb and finger. (You can also test stretchability by letting some of the CM hang off the edge of the tissue, noting how far it stretches be- fore it stops or breaks and falls.)

Day 12

CM is present and still more watery than on the previous day. It is also clearer than it was on the previous day. It also stretches a bit farther.

Day 13

CM is present and now very watery. The CM now has the consistency of raw egg white. It is very clear and slippery. It is highly elastic now and stretches many inches with- out breaking. This looks like what people who follow the Ovulation Method call the "peak day," when estrogen is at its peak and the CM is maximally runny, clear, and elastic. The secretions may now be copious. You might guess that this is the day of ovulation, but this is a practice cycle, so let's keep going and see if you would be correct. If you are-and this is ovulation day- then the secretions should soon turn cloudy, thicker, and inelastic again, as progesterone comes into the system, overriding some of the estrogen effects which prevail right up to ovulation.

Day 14

CM is present and is still clear and slippery. These conditions may continue for most or all of the day. What we have learned from this is that the "peak" symptoms can sometimes persist for more than one day. In many women, perhaps the majority, they do last only one day; in other women, however, they may persist for two days. (And a few women have peak symptoms for only a few hours.) In this case let us say that the secretions are still "peak" throughout the morning of this day of the cycle. By mid afternoon, however, they have abruptly changed so that they are now thick and cloudy again enough so that you can immediately tell the difference. The estrogen-dominated part of the cycle has ended, ovulation has occurred or is occurring or will occur very shortly, and the progesterone-dominated part of the cycle is beginning.

By going through a number of practice cycles, at least three but in any event, enough to make you feel confident that you are pinning down, not the hour, perhaps, but at least the day of ovulation. By then, you are already the master of your own life.

NB: Click the image to enlarge ...