Finally decided to start temp charting. Advice?

[WinterSong4]

Soo, as the title says, I finally decided to start charting my temps. I went to CVS and bought a store brand BBT. Just to test it out, I went ahead and checked my temp now ( I know you are supposed to do this first thing upon waking up). I was just testing it out. Says my temp is 98.4. I signed up for FF too.

I had hoped it didn't get to this point, but looks like I really need to step things up and get more accuracy.

Af still hasn't shown for me. That would make me 2-3 days late today. Tomorrow will be 3-4 days late. I was really beginning to think I was actually pregnant this month, but things have changed my mind. First off, I started spotting as of 25 hours ago which started pink then went brown and has been ever since (not alot of it at all though). Second, my boobs have been getting progressively sore today, and I checked my cervix a little bit ago and it's low, soft, and pretty sure it's open. SOoo, I am just stamping this cycle as ROGUE and REBEL lol.

Although this has never happened to me before, I guess there is always a first for everything. Blah!

SO, any of you ladies have any advice for me on charting? Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks a million!

 

[no_regrets_91]

Be consistent and don't look to much into your temps until you have done a few cycles. It will drive you mad. Good luck.

 

[Smiler82]

Hey WinterSong

just the usual advice really - take it first thing when you wake up, don't move other than to get the thermometer!! When you chart don't worry about rogue highs or lows, as long as you can see a general pattern with a clear temp shift that's the main thing. Remember that a bad night's sleep will affect it, as will alcohol the night before (though I don't worry if I've had one glass) or illness.

Temping is also a good way to check the length of your luteal phase - you need to have enough time for the egg to make its way down to your womb and implant! I think the luteal phase can be anything from 12 -16 days long. So keep an eye on that and if it's less than this you might want to have a chat with your doctor.

FF works best if you enter in other details like your cm and cervix position - if you have all this info then you should get nice, bold red lines on your chart showing your ov day. If you don't enter these signs you'll still get red lines, but they'll be dashed, meaning FF isn't 100% sure you ov'd. To be honest I don't worry too much if I get the dashed lines - in fact I almost always get dashed lines!! I find it hard to keep track of the other signs, but even with dashed lines, AF arrives 14 days later so I know it's ok.

Hope that helps!

 

[WinterSong4]

Thanks Everyone! I find this might be harder if a bad nights sleep will affect the temps because I don't generally sleep very well. I typically toss and turn throughout the night and get up at least twice to pee. Also, I find that the minute I am woken up (via the dog, outside noise, or alarm clock..what-have-you's) my adrenaline starts going automatically. Meaning, my heart rate starts going pretty quickly. Nothing I can do other than just to lay there still and just take deep breathes to lower my heart rate.

I don't drink alcohol, so that's ok. I have been entering details, so that's good. Sucks that I have to wait a good 3 months before I start following it though