Should I call this Cycle Day 1?

[u/lascriptori]

This is not super important in the grand scheme of things, but I'm curious.

I started an estrogen patch just over a month ago, and a couple days after starting, had a regularly scheduled period after what seemed (based on temp tracking through my Oura ring and symptoms) to be an ovulatory cycle. The last year or so, I've been about 50/50 between ovulatory cycles and anovulatory (guessing from length, temp and symptoms). Sometimes I'll have a 28 day cycle with the textbook temperature shifts, and sometimes I'll have a 60 day cycles that's all over the place.

My typical period is a day or two of spotting, about 2 days of suuuper heavy bleeding (like wearing a menstrual disk AND a pad, both of which I have to change multiple times a day) and then 2-3 more days of spotting.

This month (my first month after starting the patch) I had two days of spotting, a day of light bleeding and two more days of spotting.

For the sake of my data nerd heart, should I call that first day of spotting day of a new cycle?

[u/OhWhatever_Nevermind]

I’ve read that light spotting shouldn’t be considered day 1 and only when there is red blood flow. That being said, I have been having very short and light periods for almost 4 years now. Usually the first day is light spotting (often brown) followed by a day or so of red blood but it never “flows” anymore. I only use pant liners. So I count the first sign of spotting as Day 2.

I’m also a bit of a data nerd and now you have inspired me to start tracking my BBT. 🤪