Confused - basal temperature rose 2 weeks after predicted ovulation date.

[BeccaT123]

I was wondering if someone could help me. As I am so confused! I am using the Natural Cycles app, and had a predicted ovulation date on day 18 of my cycle. My basal temperature remained around 36.40 until day 30 of my cycle when it jumped to 36.62 and for the last few days it’s been around 36.80. I came off the pill/birth control 7 months ago and my cycles have generally been 30-35 day’s long. I am now on day 38 of my cycle, still haven’t got my period. Yet I took a home pregnancy test for the second time today and it was negative. I am so confused. Do basal temperatures always rise once ovulated? But surely I can’t have ovulated on day 28/29 of my cycle??? That’s so late and annoying didn’t BD around then. Has my body still not adjusted to coming off birth control or what’s going on?? Why am I not getting my period if not pregnant?? Can you even ovulate as late as day 28?? And do basal temperatures always rise after ovulation or could I have ovulated mid cycle as predicted?? Can anyone please help.

It sounds like you ovulated on CD29 as there was a clear rise in temperature from CD30. The pill really messes up your cycle, some ladies have had very long cycles coming off the pill (50 days +). You might be ovulating later than you think and having short luteal phases. It's best to use OPKs and BBT monitoring, that will help you pin point ovulation exactly. If you're now 9DPO, af should arrive within the next 5 days.

When did you start hormonal contraception? The official line is that the pill won't alter your cycle once you're off it, but may mask what your natural cycle is like, so you won't know what's normal for you.

@BeccaT123 remember the app predictions are just a guide. I don't use Natural Cycles, but my app always predicts my ovulation date based on my shortest cycle length (mine are usually 25-28 days) so that you don't miss ovulation. That way you can start to BD early enough, and then you keep BD until your temp rises to confirm ovulation (if you don't want to BD that much then you can use opks to narrow the window). It sounds like your app predicted ovulation on day 18 based on a 30 day cycle, so in previous cycles have you had a 12 day luteal phase? (I.e. you usually get your period on 13dpo). If so your period should arrive in about 4 days time. If you are still temping your temps should be high for another few days and then start to drop ahead of your period. As for the late ovulation, if you've had 7 regular(ish) cycles after coming off the pill, this could just be a random long one. Lots of thing can delay ovulation - illness, stress, travel etc. If your longest cycles are usually 35 days, then with a 12 day luteal phase you would usually ovulate on day 23 in those cycles. So that means your ovulation was delayed by about 7 days this cycle. Mine was randomly delayed by 4 days this cycle - I have no idea why as I wasn't stressed at all, it was Christmas! If it's just a one-off, it's nothing to worry about to much. You should see over the next few cycles whether you go back to a regular pattern.

I came off the pill in July and started tracking after my first proper cycle.

First cycle I tracked was 57 days, I ovulated on CD47 according to BBT rise (but had given up using OPKs at that point in the cycle).

Second cycle i ovulated CD39 and tracked it with OPKs and BBT. I actually was at the fertility dr on CD40 and he did a scan and confirmed I actually had not ovulated. However I am now 6.5 weeks pregnant, so he was wrong.

Whenever I've come off the pill in the past my cycles have been 32-34 days long, so PP is correct - the pill can just mess with your cycles and it can take your body a while to adjust afterwards 🤷🏻‍♀️ this is probably just a random one for you and as above, AF will arrive in the next 4-7 days.

Thank you so much for taking the time to come back to me, this makes me feel better! Will my body eventually adjust so I ovulate earlier? I didn’t realise it was even possible to ovulate as late as day 29! I was using the clear blue ovulation kite but started early and just got the flashing smiley, not the still smiley for ovulation so presumed I missed it. I’d stopped testing by day 24 so next month I’ll test later. Thanks again!

Thanks again for all your help. So strange, was expecting AF in 4 days as you all said but had spotting last night already, this would mean my luteal phase is short? Also my temperature is still high at 36.80, I thought it should drop right before you come on?

@BeccaT123 do you usually spot before your period, if so how many days in advance? Do you have any info from previous cycles about how long your luteal phase is? Do you have any info from previous cycles about whether you have a fast rise in bbt after ovulation? Although it sounds most likely that you ovulated on the day before your temperature spiked, some people do have a slower rise (mine sometimes doesn't spike until 2 or 3dpo). If this is your first cycle tracking opks and bbt then you should try not to read into anything too much at this stage. It takes 2 or 3 cycles of tracking to start to see what your individual patterns are, as everyone is a little bit different.

Thank you.. usually do get a bit of spotting a couple of days before yes. I think you were all right I ovulated around day 29. In terms of basal temperature rise.. this month again it’s gone from 36.47 to 36.72 (I presume this shows I ovulated the day before?) but then 2 days later it rose again to 36.90. So weird! Is this normal? Or does it mean I didn’t ovulate until it moved up to 36.90?im confused now as to when I ovulated! I hope it was the first shift as I stopped BD’ing then!

@BeccaT123 it sounds like the first shift was when you ovulated. The only way to see what's normal for you is to chart for 2-3 cycles and then you will start to see patterns emerging that will help you understand your cycle better x

Thank you!