Help... ov tests and temp...

[Sunflower]

Hi Girls

I am new here but it looks like a good forum so hope you dont mind me joining you all


I had a mc at the end of march so this is my second month trying after getting back to normal! Its been an extremely hard three months but i finally feel positive and am ready to start trying!

I have a clearblue ov test that i am using to check my cycle. But have seen a lot of you take and chart temperatures and am wondering how this works can anyone tell me what to do with temps and how it works

thxs all

Gxx

 

[A&J]

Hi and welcome.

The best people to ask is the chart stalkers in the chart stalker thread. What they don't know about charting is not worth knowing

Good luck and sending babydust

 

[Loola]

Hi and welcome Sunflower Sorry to hear about your m/c

I am one of the girls that charts her temp. Basically, you need a basal thermometer which you can get very cheaply from ebay or most chemists. Then you need to start at day one of your cycle, the first day of your period in full flow. You should temp as soon as you wake up, before you have done anything! Before you have a drink, get out of bed at all, pretty much before you do anything at all! (As soon as I open my eyes I reach over for my thermometer!) And you should try to do this at the same time every single day. Its not always possible to do it at exactly the same time, but as near as possible. I set my alarm for the same time every day, and then go back to sleep on the weekends.

Then once you have taken your temp you should either right it down, or some thermometers remember the result. In chartstalkers (see thread) we all use FertilityFriend.com to chart our temps (you are more than welcome to join) Dont worry too much about the actual temp, its more about what the pattern of the temps look like over the month. The temps should stay low and then rise once ovulation has occurred. They will then drop again once you get your period, or a bit before (this gives a good indication that you are not pregnant so can save a lot of heartache and HPTs!), or if your temp stays high for longer than usual there is a good chance you are pregnant.

I find charting really useful firstly as I said before it saves a lot of heartache and because you can see that you have definitelly ovulated. If your temps go up and down without any definite sign of ovulation then that is something you can tell the Dr. I very much doubt that would be the case for you as you have been pregnant. Its really useful to work out how long your cycles are, to match up other fertile signs such as Cervical Fluid, OPKs or Saliva tests. You will after a few months of charting you will be able to define your luteal phase length (the 2 week wait). This should should hopefully be between 10 and 16 days (any less than 10 days could be too short a time for an embryo to be able to embed in the womb). Once your know your luteal phase length you will know exactly when to expect your period. So if you are patient (unlike most of us ) you shouldnt have to take a pregnancy test early or unneccessarily.

I wont lie to you charting can be a pain in the ass, and it can make you quite obsessed, but in a good way!

There are some things that will affect your temps, such as drinking the night before, being ill, lack of sleep. You should try to take your temp at the same time every day but if that is not possible, say you hadnt slept properly, then taking your temp after at least 3 hours of consecutive sleep should be ok.

Im sure this sounds really complicated but its not really! I find it fun and the chart stalker girlies are fabulous! We are a good, close little family and its especially good to see one of them get a BFP after all their hard work! You are more than welcome to join us! Just get a fertility friend account and add it to your signature on this forum so we can all see it, and we can help you with any questions or tell you what we think might be happening with your chart. This is an invitation to anyone who wants to join in fact!