Couple to Couple League, Author at Natural Family Planning | Fertility Awareness

What Does it Mean to Know My Body?

I recently turned thirty-five. I am engaged, and our wedding is still a few months away. There is something strange about standing this close to marriage and realizing that, if God gives us the child we hope for and I am able to become pregnant, I will likely be thirty-six when my first child is…

Cooling Foods that Supplement Hormone Balance

This fall the heat has lingered in many places. So we have a second summer with backyard barbecues, and outdoor fun. Hotter temps can also bring dehydration, inflammation, fatigue, and blood sugar fluctuations. Thankfully, summer offers plenty of refreshing foods that naturally support hydration and reproductive wellness. Proper hydration boosts cervical mucus production, energy levels,…

St. Carlo Acutis: Patron Saint of the PeakDay App

This October, CCL has a special reason to celebrate. For the first time, we celebrate the feast day of St. Carlo Acutis, canonized just last year on September 7, 2025. And around here, Carlo feels a little like family. When we were developing the PeakDay app, we knew we were taking on something that would…

Flax Oil, B6 and Fertility

“I took B6 and flax oil for extra energy, and I got this little guy!” I commented this to my sister Regina as we watched my barely three-month-old baby army crawl six feet across the floor in pursuit of a toy. “And that’s the neurotransmitter support that was combined with the B6 in my supplements;…

A Father Teaches Sacrifice

“If there is one thing I could stress to young couples, it’s to learn to love sacrifice.” This comment, coming from Daniel West in a recent PeakDay Podcast with Martha Haenni, got in my head. Daniel continued. “Our broken reaction to any kind of discomfort, misunderstanding, any kind of pain is to say, ‘No, get…

23 Years of Teaching NFP

The Volpes in the Philadelphia suburbs have taught NFP for 23 of their 25 years of marriage, a statistic they can hardly believe. “It’s almost like I don’t need motivation,” says Jim. “The motivation is so inherent.” Jen learned about NFP when she converted from Methodist to Catholic in college. “My grandfather was a Methodist…

Fish Oil and Fertility

Diets rich in healthy fish, such as the Mediterranean diet, have long been known to have a wide range of health benefits. Now these polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), found in fish oil and krill oil, are also being studied for their effects on human fertility. Endometriosis The omega-3…

A Gift and a Mission

For Maria and Xavier Martinez, learning Natural Family Planning was more than discovering a method. It changed the way they understood marriage, deepened their appreciation for each other, and opened their hearts to a mission they now share with other couples. Maria and Xavier, who live in Minnesota and have two daughters, help with outreach…

Carrying the Mission Forward

When Regina and Alfred Nicolini became a certified Couple to Couple League Teaching Couple in 2025, they joined a tradition stretching back more than five decades. They are among CCL’s newest volunteers, teaching classes while raising a young daughter and balancing the demands of work, mission and family life. Yet in many ways, their story…

The Ripple Effects of NFP

Carlos and Victoria DeBayle are a testament to the fact that NFP has ripple effects into the rest of marriage and that it is a great tool for giving your marriage the best chance for success. When Carlos and Victoria met in a Catholic group in college, they didn’t hit it off. “I was very involved, he saw me…