How to chart temp, and other things?

[xsugarplumx]

So I've been stalking the forums here the last couple days, and been reading about OPK's, and other acronyms that I have no FRIGGING idea what anyone is saying. I know what BFN, BFP, AF is but anything else, in one ear and out the other!

I've also heard its good to chart your temp while trying to get pregnant. And even tho I know it's not possible to get pregnant until I'm actually ovulating (Which I haven't gotten AF since middle of January.) I'll be going to a doctor in November, which I'm hoping will regulate me and start me ovulating so I can properly start TTC.

So can any of you ladies help out a newbie?

 

[Tigerlily01]

opks are ovulation predictor kits...lots of ladies on here (me included) use them to figure out when in our cycle we ovulate. If you are in the US, Wondfos are a cheap brand you can get on Amazon...much less expensive than some of the ones you buy in the drugstore.

fertilityfriend.com has a lot of tutorials on how to chart your temps (you need a basal body temperature thermometer, which is more accurate than the usual kind), and helps you keep track of your cycles, symptoms, etc. There's another site called ovufriend (I think?) that some people use, which I think does basically the same thing as fertilityfriend. The idea is that your temp spikes around the time you ovulate...didn't work for me, because I am a restless sleeper, but some folks swear by it and get good predictions of when they ovulate.

Some people also like to keep track of cervical mucous (CM) changes to know when they ovulate, so if you see someone refer to ewcm, they mean egg white cervical mucous...which is what you get during your fertile time.

If you have questions, ask away...I do!

 

[MrsMcCurdy]

Trying to remember all the acronyms is hard at first, I kept having to Google them. OPKs are Ovulation Predictor Kits.
Temping was challenging at first for me too. You gotta sleep at least 3 hrs and before you get out of bed ( which I kept forgetting) but I eventually got the hang of it and found out that even though I have pretty regular periods 32-28 day cycles, I don't ovulate. So now I'm trying to figure out what to do about that too.
Good luck! Hang in there!! Hope I helped some.
Lots of Babydust!!! For both us!

 

[xsugarplumx]

Thank you for your answers! I plan to get a basal body thermometer.. I'm not sure where, I'll probably do some googling later today/tonight. I'm still stalking the forums right now. Haha! Thank you again!

 

[babytry]

Good thermometer is a must But if you decide to use an online chart, temping will be much easier Fortunately, you can always ask here if you have any questions.

 

[tinadecember]

I'm on my second month of temping, I'm kind of glad that I had at least one month without getting a BFP to understand what is normal for my body and at what times my body actually goes through processes like ovulation and fertile days. I've found personally for me that temping is fantastic. I now know that my temp stays high right until the day of my period and then drops and that ovulation happens around cycle day 16. I know it doesn't work for some people because they wake at different times but if you're awake at the same time most days then I would definitely recommend it so you can be in sync with your body xx

 

[xsugarplumx]

Thanks ladies!! Xxx