Sunday, November 23, 2008

Oh, the drama!

*sigh* I don't know what to think these days. My contract with Kaiser got cancelled due to low census last weekend, so I'm without a job. Thankfully, my agency provides per diem work and I've been able to pick up hours to still get a paycheck. But without a contract, I don't have any housing. If I don't have a contract by Tuesday, we'll be homeless. Scary. I really need to sign on staff somewhere, but we just don't have the means to do that right now. We didn't know that my contract was getting cancelled...I got literally NO notice. I went into work a week ago today and was told to go home, that I no longer had a contract. Yep, just like that. So, we had been paying bills as planned, trying to make a dent in our debt, so we have NO money saved for a deposit on an apartment or anything. We're nervous, but we're trying to have faith that everything will work out. But all of this has made us reevaluate what we're doing out here. This is definitely the best place to be to make money, but is it worth it? Is it worth the uncertainty and unstability? I mean, my kids might be homeless in two days for crying out loud!!! Should we just move back East and find a way to make it work? I don't know...we just can't figure it out right now.

On a lighter subject, I've been doing a lot of research on moon cycles, since I'm anticipating the return of my fertility soon. It's amazing how we're connected to the earth...the universe, really. A lot of people in the Christian circles that we run in would say that sounds "New Age-y", but it's really not. We came from the dust of the earth...like it or not, we're connected. From dust we came and to dust we'll return. Also, all of the references in the Bible about the stars and signs...there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. So, back to the subject of fertility and moon cycles. It is said the moon can actually trigger a woman to ovulate. We've all heard stories where a woman swears up and down that she got pregnant during her period...when it is biologically impossible. Here is a clip from an article that I found that describes the tie much better than I think I could:
"Women's periods have been tied to the moon and the lunar cycle for literally thousands of years. Before modern science came along to explain that a woman menstruates because of her changing hormones, it was generally accepted that a woman's periods followed the lunar cycle. After all, the moon controls the ocean, why not women's bodies? As a result, some believe that it is possible for a woman to have two fertile times during her menstrual cycle: the first occurring when she ovulates and the second according to her lunar phase fertility period. The theory of lunar phase fertility is generally credited to Dr. Eugene Jonas. In the 1950s, Dr. Jonas tried to find an explanation as to why so many women became pregnant despite faithfully practicing the rhythm method. The fact that these women were becoming pregnant at a time when they weren't suppose to be fertile lead Dr. Jonas to reason that maybe women had more than one fertile period during a month. Since Dr. Jonas was very much into astrology, and since the original ways of charting a woman's period were based on the lunar cycles, he turned his attention heaven ward. Not surprisingly, Dr. Jonas was met with quite a bit of skepticism from the medical and scientific world. Since his theory cannot be proven by modern-day scientific reasoning, many choose to dismiss the idea of having two fertile times as nonsense. However, a British study done on lunar phase fertility found that men's sperm counts significantly increased during their lunar fertility period. Another study showed that women who practiced abstinence during both their biological and lunar fertile period were 98% effective in preventing pregnancy. This is a pretty significant increase from the 75% effectiveness rate of being abstinent only during your biological fertility period. Although the connection between the moon and our bodies is not fully understood, the fact remains that we are affected by the moon's phases. Most notably, our moods and emotions tend to peak when the moon is full. This is backed up by the fact that doctors and nurses who work in emergency rooms have said over and over again that their busiest night of the month always occurs when the moon is full. Women, however, have long held a connection with the moon. Charting your menstrual period according to the moon is one of the oldest forms of menstrual calendars. In fact, it is believed that the first calendars were based upon women's charts of their menstrual cycles and the moon cycles. Yet, with the shift from Pagan beliefs to Christian beliefs came the shift from the lunar calendar (consisting of 13 months, all 28 days, totaling 364 days) to the solar calendar, which is what we have now (12 months, 28, 29, 30 and 31 days depending on which month you're in). Many women have chosen to return to the lunar calendar in order to chart their periods while many others use a lunar calendar to compliment the more conventional type of menstrual chart. They also find it beneficial to use the moon as their guide to their periods because it provides them with a visual reference as to what stage of their cycle they are in. To understand the lunar fertility cycle, you must first understand the moon's cycle. Quite simply, every month the moon transitions from a new moon to a waxing moon then to a full moon and finally to a waning moon before becoming a new moon once again. This lunar cycle, from new moon to new moon, takes 28 days to complete. Directly related to this is the fact that, on average, a woman's menstrual cycle is 28 days. However, it is normal for a woman's cycle to range from 25 to 34 days. The lunar fertility cycle works on the premise that you can be fertile during your menstrual cycle when the moon is in the same phase it was when you were born. For example, if the moon was in the waning phase when you were born, then, once menstruation begins during puberty, you will be fertile whenever the moon is waning. It is thought that the reason for this fertile phase happens at birth when the moon arouses certain biochemical and hormonal states in your body, which then continue to influence your body for life. Because the lunar fertility cycle works on a 28-day cycle and your menstrual cycle (most likely) does not, this means that it is possible for you to be fertile twice during the same menstrual cycle. Many feel that lunar phase fertility could be responsible for spontaneous ovulation during the month and could explain why some women get pregnant while they have their period. However, it is also possible for your lunar fertility phase to coincide with ovulation, giving you just one fertile period during the month. By charting and keeping track of both your lunar and biological cycles, it will be easy to know just how fertile you will be during the month."
Hmmm...makes sense to me! I got curious and looked back at when Gavin was conceived, since he was a total surprise. Yep, sure enough, he was conceived during the last quarter, the waning crecent, the phase the moon was in when I was born. Amazing! There are so many connections to birth and water, from the amniotic fluid the baby lives in until his birth to the waves of contractions during labor. As the article stated, if the moon controls the ocean's tides, why would it NOT have an effect on people? I've read that some women have lost their connection to the moon in a way, thus causing the two different cycles in one month. Working the night shift, sleeping with windows and blinds shut...these things could, in theory, effect that. So, as a little experiment, we moved our bed closer to the window, and I sleep on that side of the bed, with the blinds slightly open, and the window open. The weather is so nice here, I can actually do that and be comfortable!! Anyway, over the last couple of days, I've noticed some of my biological signs of fertility returning. I jumped online and checked the moon phase and, sure enough, we're in the waning crecent. Coincidence? I think not. I'm hoping that, by increasing my exposure to the elements a bit, I will be able to keep my biological and lunar cycles in synch so I only have one fertile time in a month. We'll see...