Perimenopause

The rhythm changes

In the years approaching menopause, your cycles may lengthen, shorten, or skip a month. Patches of mucus may build and then fade without leading to a Peak.

This isn't your body failing. It's your body changing, moving from a predictable pattern into a more variable one.

The method still reads each day

Calendar apps and predictions assume a regular rhythm. Perimenopause no longer keeps one, so they lose their footing. The Billings Method doesn't depend on a schedule. It reads each day on its own terms, from what you sense and see.

Some cycles will still reach a clear Peak. Some may pass without one. Your baseline itself may shift, and you can simply re-observe it as it settles. Each of these is a real signal, and your chart holds them for you.

This is a passage, not a loss. The same attention that served you at fifteen and at thirty still serves you now. The act is the same, listening for what your body is saying. Only the language has changed, and you already know how to read it.