Basal Body Temping

I have started trying to track basal body temperature this month for the first time.  I had avoided doing this in the past because it felt like it would be just one more daily reminder of our infertility and add to my stress/anxiety.

I think the amount of time this has now been going on and starting this blog have both helped me to not feel that way.

I also didn't jump on board to chart BBT because of all the things that may be the underlying cause of our unexplained infertility having enough sex/sex timed around the likely time of ovulation is not one of them.  When you have sex every day to every other day you shouldn't be missing your window of opportunity.

That being said, with the plan to start Clomid in August I felt like it wouldn't hurt to get a better idea of when I'm ovulating to give Clomid all we've got and hopefully avoid the need for further infertility treatment. 

That still doesn't mean that I always remember!  It's hard to wake up to my alarm which always feels too early and try to not move much and reach over to grab the thermometer. 

I did some reading about BBT on BabyCenter and other websites and on the thermometer insert.  Here is what I gathered:
-Before ovulation your basal temperature should range 97.2-97.7
-About 12-24 hours after ovulation your temperature rises by 0.4-1 degrees and will remain elevated for at least 3 days, or until menstruation
-If you become pregnant it will remain elevated throughout the pregnancy
-Since the temperature elevation does not occur until after ovulation, it only helps you if you notice reliable patterns over time. Your most fertile days are the 2-3 days before the temperature rise.

www.clearblue.com

You can also use cervical mucus to help predict timing of ovulation but I've never really noticed this changing so I haven't put any effort into figuring that out.

This month my temping worked out pretty closely to what is listed above.  My cycles range 28-32 days and Days 1-14 my basal temperature ranged 97.2-97.6.  On day 15 it jumped to 98.05 and has remained in the low 98s to just below 98 range since then.  This should mean that I ovulated around day 13-14 which is a little surprising given my cycle is often closer to 32 days.

I guess I will just have to follow it the next few months and see if it helps.  My OB/Gyn told us to have sex every other day on days 8-18 of my cycle.  My hubby asked if that was at a minimum (cue my red face!).  She said, "No at a maximum" which really surprised both of us.

We are no good at following rules.



***Update:
I posted a little too early. My temperature remained elevated for 7 days then fell to 97.7 and continued to remain in the pre-ovulation range 97.2-97.6.  I began menstruating on Day 28 which fits with ovulating on day 13 or 14 since the luteal phase is typically fixed at 14 days.