Shift workers and BBT

[DoubtOfTheOrdinary]

Hi all, new to this board as just started TTC baby number 1. This month we were just having unprotected sex but not really tracking my cycle (and just started AF today ) but next month I want to be more conscious of when I'm ovulating. I have the period tracker app that guesses at when I'm fertile based on the length of my cycle but Id like to try something like the Billings method (cervical mucous + BBT) to get a more accurate idea. Problem is I work hospital shifts. So some days I wake up early morning, some days late morning, some days sleep all day and wake up at 4pm, some days I'm awake for 24 hours except for a long 3-4hr nap...
So should I still test early morning regardless of whether I'm just waking up or just finishing a night shift, or should I always test on waking, regardless of whether I've slept 8 hours or 4? Or is BBT not an appropriate indicator of ovulation if you don't have a regular sleep routine?
Thanks in advance!

Bbt doesn't work if you don't have a regular sleep pattern, unfortunately.

If you have a Fitbit, the resting heart rate feature works in much the same way though! And you don't need to sleep at the same time for that to work.

Thanks physicskate! I don't have a fitbit but will look into getting one.

In all honesty I agree with what dr winston said on a couple interviews I saw him do.

Focusing sex around when you THINK you're fertile is self defeating.

He said he frequently got women/couples at his clinic who thought they had fertility issues but often simply didn't understand cycles and/or weren't having enough sex!

He said he found it annoying this wasn't the first thing gp's said to such couples "how often are you having sex?" Iirc he reckons you should be aiming for AT LEAST 3/4 times a week every week except obviously when on period (though no harm in doing so then of course just most prefer not to).

This has been borne out in my real life experience.

I've been pregnant 3 times, first time I was on pill and taking correctly but having a LOT of sex - sometimes 2/3 times a day!

The 2nd time ttc and again we just went for it and had sex as much as possible, I was pregnant in 2nd month.

Same for 3rd.

Friends who've confided in me were struggling to conceive - closing in on that 1 year "rule" I'm very open and honest with my friends - they know this - and I've said "how much sex are you having?" And in most of these "struggling to conceive" cases they were focusing on sex on what they THOUGHT was their fertile week/days but often not having sex at all in the weeks either side. And once they started having more sex all the time they conceived.

The very few who this didn't work for had clear gynae issues that they had other symptoms for - but that's a whole other soapbox of mine

Basically - shag as much as possible and enjoy it! Female orgasm is also important for conception