Luteal phase - constant?

I've been charting for about 6 months this time around, recording CM (not temps, as I never get a solid sleep anyway - so I don't know how reliable it would be!)

I always seem to O sometime around day 17-19, then AF around day 30. Because I don't get fertile CM until later in the cycle, I tend not to bother checking until around day 12??

But last month, I didn't have any fertile CM & I wonder if I O'ed early (maybe at day 10-ish?). Then I got AF earlier than normal (at 26 days).

Then this month, I have had watery CM for 3 days (days 8-10) & EWCM today (day 11). Today I have also had some pinky streaks in EWCM (which I know can be from ovulation). If I was not pregnant, would AF come early again?

So, my question is, when there are fluctations in your cycle, does your luteal phase change? or follicular phase? or do they both change??

I think both your FP and LP can vary. I know my LP was always the same (14 days) but it was my FP that was a) a bit shorter, and b) varied a day or two from cycle to cycle.

But I'm not sure how common this is, from my experience you seem to see a lot more girls asking questions about their LP because it is short or changes from cycle to cycle. So I think changes in LP are more common?

From what I understand it can be more of an issue if your LP is the one coming up short, as your body needs the 14 or so days to send the egg out and give it a good chance of implanting successfully. Having a short FP is not great but I think it is less likely to cause an issue in that cycle.

So you may need to track a few more cycles and see if you can tell which phase is shorter. I was able to pinpoint my short FP fairly easily without temping because I get pretty obvious CM and other signs. Sounds like you can probably pick it pretty well also. Of course the other option is you get pregnant this or next cycle and you don't have find out :p

It can be confusing can't it? Your Luteal Phase should remain static. So for example I had a 12 day LP if I ovulated on cd19 I would get my period on cd31. If I ovulated on cd10 I would get my periold on cd22.

Remembering your last day of ewcm is usually when you ovulate. Have you thought of using opk's?

Thanks Flowerchild - I had a vague memory of reading something like that when I was TTC DS.

So, if I was not pregnant this time, I would expect AF to arrive earlier than normal? (at around 23 days, assuming 2 days of EWCM & a LP of 11 days)??

Re. OPK - I have pretty obvious CM & managed to get PG with DS without an OPK. But, if we don't get pregnant in the next few months, I will think about it. This is only our second cycle TTC & I'm not in a big hurry!