Need Advice: OPKs and Temping

[littlemiller]

Hi everyone, my husband and I have been TTC for about 15 cycles, and have had no luck so far. I have not tracked my ovulation perfectly, and am quite overwhelmed by the idea of OPKs and temping. Can anyone give me a detailed breakdown of the best way to track ovulation? I understand some don’t like OPKs and some do, and that some prefer just temping.

Thanks in advance!

 

[CheshireDucky]

I personally prefer both for tracking ovulation. When it's plugged into FF it'll use all the data you put into it to pinpoint your O and fertile days. I do believe that temping is the best way to pinpoint O day.

When I first started out I was recommended the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility which was full of great information about temping.

Once you get into the habit of temping it's really not that bad. It took me a few days to get used to it and now it's like second nature.

 

[littlemiller]

Thanks Ducky! I’m mostly just confused about how temping works - what the process is like and what constitutes a “good chart” vs a “bad chart”. I’ll check out the book you recommended.

 

[CheshireDucky]

With temping it's pretty much you wake up at the same every morning and before you get out of bed you take your temperature and log it somewhere. Some people use apps and others use paper, I personally really like Fertility Friend. You do need a special thermometer for it but they're not all that expensive. I think mine was about $9 on Amazon.

When you ovulate your temp will spike. After a few cycles, you can get a better idea of your cycle and look for patterns. For good charts, you just really need your temp to stay above your cover line and stay high. For a lot of us who temp we can tell when our period is on the way cause our temp will start to drop and go below cover, never going back up.

 

[AshNTom]

I started teaming this morning!! Maybe we can be temping buddies together �� We are ttc number 1.

It's a daunting thing! Who knew it would be so hard!!

The link to my ttc journal is in my signature, drop me a line xx

 

[CheshireDucky]

Don't worry, the more it becomes a habit the easier it'll get.

 

[KateC14]

I am temping for the first time this month. I did great up to 2 days past ovulation and have forgotten each morning, except this morning, since. I am going to try and be a little more cognizant when I get up to temp so I can get the rest of the cycle minus the last two days. I am using a basal thermometer I bout from Target and seems to do the trick as it seemed to match my OPK results.

 

[CheshireDucky]

Sounds good, Kate. I find that setting an alarm helps me stay in the habit of the same time every morning for temping.

 

[mdscpa]

I'd rather use both, OPK and temping. OPKs give you an idea that O is approaching and temping gives you confirmation that you really O'ed but only after a thermal shift and having at least 3 sustained high temps. You'll get used to it in time.