BBT tracking question

[calicostripe]

I would like to try tracking my BBT to confirm if I'm actually ovulating, but so far I've been scared off by the idea of checking it at the same time each morning.

I really suck at falling back asleep once something wakes me up - an alarm followed by taking my temperature would leave me WIDE awake. Worst case scenario, I can lie awake for hours. Based on work schedule I get up between 5:50 and 8:30, so if I set my alarm at 5:50 each day, I'd miss out on a lot of sleep. Like, I'd be a sleep deprived zombie pretty quickly.

So... if I took my temp at different times each day, would this screw up the results enough that I shouldn't even bother, or is it worth trying anyway?

Thanks

 

[Xokittycatxo]

I work 2-3 nights a week so my wake up time is usually 7:30 but if I work nights it's anywhere from 8:30-10:30 and my chart is still usually pretty consistent. I think it's more important that you get the same number of hours of sleep and same quality.

 

[2ducks]

I had the same fears as you when I started charting 1.5 months ago. I have a very hard time falling back asleep once my am awake. I choose not to set an alarm for that reason. I usually wake up once in the night to pee, if I do I temp at that point. If for some reason I sleep through the night I temp when I wake up. It is best to temp after at least 3 hours of sleep. One night last week I woke up every two hours. I just used that temp. One night I literally barely slept a wink. I still recorded my temp but marked it as "discarded" on my fertility friend app. Many women who have erratic sleep cycles still report being able to notice a shift in temps when they ovulate. It takes a few months of charting to notice your typical patterns. Also, you are looking at the forest not the trees meaning it is the overarching pattern you are looking for. For me, I think that temping is giving me hard data on whether or not I am ovulating which is going to be important to have with me at my next OBGYN appointment. Also, temping can help you figure out certain cycle related pregnancy problems such as short LPs which prevent a woman from conceiving.

 

[skycastles]

Hi, try using Fertility Friend app to chart your temps.. if there's a variance of more than half an hour from your first temp input, the dot on the chart is a circle rather than a solid dot. It'll help loads when you're looking at your entire chart as a whole so you know which temps are likely to be a bit off.
Like the previous poster, I agree that the overall pattern is more important than the daily temps. Of course it varies from woman to woman, but after a few months of temping, I can clearly see that there's a temp shift of half a degree after I've ovulated. So if your intent is to confirm ovulation, I think that you can at least do that by temping, even if your chart turns out a little too wacky to confirm the exact day.
My only problem with temping is that I keep waking up in the middle of the night thinking it's time to take my temp.. the subconscious stress really affected my sleep. I stopped temping for a while then started again last week and am facing the same problem now (although the waking up doesn't seem to affect my chart pattern). So temping isn't for everyone but no harm giving it a try. Good luck!