New to temping - how to start?

[Evian260]

So I just got my period today (and I am pretty bummed because we thought for sure we were pregnant) so I want to chart my temps this cycle. Any advice on how to start? Anything you wish someone had told you before you started temping?

Thanks in advance

 

[knobby]

• Use fertility friend - best charting site/app in my opinion! And their free ebook is a really great resource that I am always referencing
• Take temps same time every morning
• Take temps vaginally to get the most accurate reading
• Track other fertility signs as well (cm, opk, etc). BBT can accurately tell you when you ovulate, but only after the fact (temp rise happens day after ovulation)
• When your temp jumps up by about 0.4F (0.2C) and you have at least 3 consecutive high temps, it means you ovulated the day before the jump.
• When in doubt, keep BDing!

Tracking BBT is great because it gives a lot of reassurance as to whether or not you have ovulated yet. If you temp consistently, you can be 98% positive about whether you have ovulated or not. And you can more accurately predict when to expect AF and when to test.

I wish someone told me to always look at the chart as a whole and to not obsess over the temp from one day - I am guilty of doing that. You can have some random spikes and dips here and there and they don't mean anything. You really need to look at the whole chart to see a temp shift.

 

[Evian260]

Thank you!