BBT chart help (newbie)

[K8te]

Morning everyone,

I have just started using fertility friend for my BBT and I am obviously no good at interpreting it at the minute.

Can anyone take a look and see what they think?

Fertility friend predicts af on the 2nd April based on my last cycle but I think it will be more like the 28th march - does my chart look promising for a bfp or is it hard to tell?

Any input on my chart would be helpful.

Thank you ladies x

 

[Bee Bee]

Hmm, honestly, I don't think you or FF is correct. I don't know if you know what an LP is, but its the time from ovulation date to your period and its always the same every cycle. For me, it is 12 days. But the norm is anywhere from 10-16 days.

So, currently, according to FF you are 10 days in (10DPO) But I think you could of possibly O'd on the 7th, which would make you 13DPO.

As far as your chart, it looks decent, but you are dropping off again. If it picks up tomorrow that'll be a good sign, if it drops more then AF is probably coming. Honestly though, everyone's temps after O are sort of a crap shoot. Some people get perfect charts that are triphasic and beautiful, other don't. When I got pregnant with my ectopic, I didn't even get a temp shift.

But really, if AF is coming this cycle, I would expect it in 3-6 days. So, the 26th at the latest.

Good luck!!

 

[Bee Bee]

Also, just so you know, I don't think you have a 28 day cycle if thats what you are basing AF on, it seems like you ovulate early, so probably more like 24 to 26 day cycle.

 

[K8te]

Thank you for that. I think ff has def got my LP wrong but its just basing it from my last period which was slightly longer due to coming off the pill. I've always been regular around 26-28 days so I think it will def be sometime next week.

I was hoping my temp would stay a bit higher this morning but I was up half the night so I guess I will have to see what happens tomorrow. I really don't think we have caught this month but its good to learn about all the interpretations you can get from all the temps.

Thank you so much for your help. Hopefully I can get my head around it in a few cycles

 

[bunyhuny]

It is really hard to say.

You could have O'd on CD 11 and currently have a triphasic chart, or you could have O'd at some other time. CD 11 is what looks like O to me, and FF seems to agree with that, but it definitely could be wrong. If you did O on CD 11, I'd say that your post O temps look pretty ideal. If you did BD the day before O, that is great and you could definitely conceive if your CM was hospitable enough.

If you could let me know the following info, I might be more help:

1. I don't know how long your cycles usually are. If they're 32 days long, then CD11 makes no sense, but if they're around 26 days long, CD 11 would be logical. How often do you usually get AF?

2. As far as taking your BBT- are you taking it vaginally or orally? Orally can give you really difficult to read results, so if you've been taking it that way, I'd switch to vaginal temping. And I would definitely start temping at the beginning of your cycle. If you have shorter cycles, you need to have those numbers or your chart can be really hard to interpret. Can you let me know how you've been temping?

3. BBT needs to be taken within the same hour window every day and it needs to be taken imediately upon waking. (Setting an alarm is best.) Have you stayed within as hour window all cycle?

4. Your CM hasn't shown fertile, but that could be because of how you're checking it. Are you checking by wiping? or checkin at the cervix? Checking at the cervix is much more reliable than checking with wiping.

5. You also don't have CP charted at all, and that makes the chart even harder to read.


Advice for future cycles:

I would suggest BD'ing every other day, or at least every three days, during your cycle until O has definitely been confirmed. Sperm generally live about 3 days inside the female reproductive tract, so if you want to have the best chance to conceive, you always need to have sperm available in case ovulation happens.

If you're not going to BD at least once every three days, I'd definitely recommend doing OPK's so that you have a little more warning of when O is going to happen.

As for timing: BD'ing every other day up to positive OPK and then every day once you get the positive OPK has the highest success rate of any standard pattern that I know of among healthy couples. In men with less healthy reproductive systems, every three days up to +OPK and then every day or every other day starting with +OPK is best.

 

[Bee Bee]

Thank you for that. I think ff has def got my LP wrong but its just basing it from my last period which was slightly longer due to coming off the pill. I've always been regular around 26-28 days so I think it will def be sometime next week.

I was hoping my temp would stay a bit higher this morning but I was up half the night so I guess I will have to see what happens tomorrow. I really don't think we have caught this month but its good to learn about all the interpretations you can get from all the temps.

Thank you so much for your help. Hopefully I can get my head around it in a few cycles

It definitely takes a while! If you ever need help, feel free to reach out. Ive been doing it for almost 2 years now, so I feel like somewhat of an expert

And unfortunately I dont think FF bases AF from LP. I think they must do it from average cycle length. If AF does come, definitely take note on the length, that'll help you a lot! Really though, I think FF is wrong and you O'd on the 7th, so I really think you are 13DPO at this point. You had that lower temp (where you have crosshairs) and I think that's why FF is confused. If you maybe toss those open temps, I bet they'll push your O date to where I think it is

 

[K8te]

Morning buny!

My cycle before I went on the pill was always 26-28 days at the most.

At the minute I'm doing it orally just so I can get used to doing it and get in the rhythm. I usually take my temp between 6 and 7. Usually its 6.30.

I haven't monitored CM as much as I usually would mainly because I don't seem to have had as much when I wipe so I've been looking into checking myself so any advic would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately my opks didn't arrive till late this cycle so I will be using them next cycle

 

[K8te]

Thanks bee bee I've changed bits on ff and they just move the o date to later on rather than earlier so I guess I will just have to wait and see this cycle.

Its really interesting to find out what everyone thinks and how everyone interprets things

 

[bunyhuny]

Based on your normal cycle length, I would go with CD 11 then. Usually once you O, temps stabilize and rise for the first few days, and that's what I'm seeing at that point. They can drop again when the secondary estrogen surge hits (sometime between 4dpo and 10dpo), but those first few days should show a stabilization and rise. Though there is a big dip at CD 7 and a dip can sometimes point to ovulation, the subsequent rise and immediate fall point to that not being the case. Often times, the week of AF, temps are pretty sporadic, however they can help to establish an average cover-line.

I do think that you might see an easier to read chart if you switch over to vaginal temping at the beginning of next cycle. Stick with oral for the cycle you're in to be consistent, but try vaginal next time around and see if you get an easier to read chart.

Checking your CM and CP at the source is pretty darn easy and there are some great guides online. For all the details and nitty gritty, check THIS out. Many times it can seem like you don't have fertile CM, but you do have it at the cervix. Learning to chart it will really help you to know when O is going to happen.

CP takes a little longer to learn. The guide I just mentioned has some general rules to go by, but everyone is slightly different. It took me a few cycles to really understand what mine was doing.

That's great that you have OPK's for next cycle. The first cycle with them will be a little confusing while you wait to see exactly how dark the tests go for you at O, but the next time you use them, it will be much, much easier.

 

[K8te]

That's a great help thank you so much. I will have a look over all that info for my next cycle. I totally agree I will have to start temping vaginally rather than orally it seems like it would be more stable.

 

[Bee Bee]

I personally have always temped orally and have never had an issue. But I know some ladies find vaginally to be more accurate for them