On the temp thing, all the instructions I've read say you should really take your temp at the same time each day. Here's a link to some basic instructions. Take a look at point 2 about if you take it early it will be lower and if you take it later then it will be higher. The variation is enough to mess up your results.
I've got so into the habit now I wake up automatically at the same time and more or less take my temp in my sleep now.
http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/bbt/bbtfaq.html
Yeah, when I was at home I took it between 7.50 and 8.10 every morning, I woke up around that time even when I was tired and fell asleep again afterwords
But now that we're on holiday our sleeping patterns are very messed up. Also I've had a stuffy nose, and I'm pretty sure I slept with my mouth open (I even couldn't keep it completely closed while taking my temp on the two low days after my positive OPK)... I've been using fertilityfriend and read their 20 lesson course from start to end, but there's always more to learn! From the Q&A in that link I read this:
Q: I did and ovulation predictor kit, how long after the positive should my BBT rise?
A: You should ovulate 12-48 hours after the positive ovulation predictor test, and your BBTs should go up within 48 hours of ovulating. It can take up to 4-5 days to see the rise, but ideally you see it within 3.
Q: My chart looks more like the Rocky Mountains than anything else, what does that mean?
A: Most likely a) you are not taking your BBTs consistently or sleep erratically, b) you are taking your BBTs orally and you sleep with your mouth open, or c) you are not ovulating. If being more consistent, or switching to taking your BBTs vaginally or rectally, doesn't help, you should go to the doctor to have your hormone levels checked out and see what may be causing your anovulation.
Here's my chart:
My Ovulation Chart
So I guess that I could have ovulated two days (48hours) before my temp rise indicated by the dotted cross, and that a) and b) in the second questions could explain the temperatures?
Anyway... there's nothing to do about that now.. Hopefully next cycle will be clearer, and even if it's not it'll be easier to bd more when not staying with inlaws!
Cosmic had the same problem last month and was poorly so that messed up her temps for that month.
I too found the first month temping rather confusing and was worried about getting erractic results. However I'm glad I perservered because I could see the pattern emerge and I got in the habit of doing it every morning. I think you need to do it over at least a cycle and not stress about individual results.
Also helped that I've got the Period tracker app on my iPhone. There's a bit where you can enter you temp each day and it draws the graph for you.
I use a combination of OPK's, checking CM and charting BBT to pinpoint my OV. Using all three sort of helps build a picture of where you are in your cycle, as each one individually may not be conclusive.
Some ladies also check their cervix (the iPhone app will chart this for you too!) but I've not tried that yet. I just know that DH would walk in whilst I was having a good rummage about and get funny ideas
As you can see on my chart I'm also tracking CM, I do check cervix position, but I feel like I can't really feel enough of a difference to write it down, and that I might end up "feeling" what I am "supposed to feel" But I do remember notiving my cervix was high before my positive OPK and lower after, and even on the day I had the positive OPK, which I thought was strange.
I will keep tracking, and hopefully it will all be clearer with time! Thank you for taking the time to reply!
