temperature charting, am I doing it right?

[dizzy36]

been ttc for 3 yrs, charted for approx 6 months when first started trying, temps were all over the place and was not clear when ovulating (had a young baby at the time so never had undisturbed sleep!). Have started charting again, this month is the first, and although temps not as erratic as when did it few years ago, still not clear when ovulating (have had tests done so know that am ovulating). My understanding is that the temp shift is supposed to be at least 1 degree higher than previous 6 readings, this happened on morning of day 12, reading for day 13 was still higher than previous 6 but then since then temp has come right down even lower that previous readings, what does this mean. Have had undisturbed sleep for last couple of days as ds is poorly but thought the temp would go right up when this happens. Can anyone explain if it sounds like temp shift did happen on day 12 and why temp has come down since then as I thought it supposed to stay up.

You need to do the reading at about the same time each day, and before you get up and move around.

If you have ovulated you will see a clear change in temperature over a few days. Have a look here - lots of good examples.

It sounds like you haven't ovulated yet this month (12 days may be a bit early - how long are your cycles usually ?)

Instead of temp charting again I would go to your GP to get some blood tests done. You need to have your LH and FSH levels looked at (these two are important as these determine whether ovulation happens or not; ideally these two should be the same) along with your progesterone level (this is usually measured later on in a cycle. This is the surest way of determining whether you are ovulating or not. Temp charting is not 100% accurate by any means and can be misleading. It can also become a daily reminder that there could be a problem.

Generally speaking you are more likely to be ovulating if your periods are regular in nature. If they are erratic in nature then ovulation is, again generally speaking, less likely to be occuring every month.

Gynaes usually like to see people after 12 months of ttc without success.

actually I think charting is a good way to get to know what your body is doing. For example I was never a regular 28 day cycle - nearer 33-35 days for me. It was useful to work out when I ovulated and realise that I had a short post-ovulation phase - I took vitamin B6 which seemed to sort it out.

If you are the obsessing type then it may be one more thing to get hung up about, but otherwise it is a useful tool sometimes.

throckenholt- usually have between 26-28 day cycles, usually ovulate between day 12 and 14. I think the last few nights of disturbed sleep may have messed up my chart as seemed to start off ok - just the fact that temp has gone done rather than up which is what normally happens after disturbed sleep does it not? To be honest am not very good at interpreting the temps on the charts and have just looked at some of the examples on the site you mentioned and still isn't clear to me what happens to temp after ovulation, some of the charts show the temperature going down again after ov and others show it staying high - which is right or does it vary from person to person

usually it goes up after ovulation and stays up until your period starts. Sometimes if you are pregnant it goes up higher after a few days. Sometimes you get a dip down again for a day or two - but generally if you have ovulated then the temperature stays high. If it is up and down generally that means you haven't ovulated.

If you have had disturbed nights (and less than say 4 hours sleep before taking your temperature) then your numbers may not be very accurate. Give it another couple of days and see what it looks like.

It may be that your body was gearing up to ovulate but didn't - possibly because of your lack of sleep.

I would be happy to look at your numbers and let you know what I think (although I haven't charted for about 3 years) - cat me if you like.

The base line rises about a day after ovulation. I tried to conceive for 12months following a miscarriage between ds1 and dd1. I started charting 2 months before I conceived. I combined it with acon ovulation kits bought over the web.(which were about 40pence each) I used free trial soft ware from two websites to interprete results. The better one was ovusoft. I didn't end up buying it as I conceived It is free only for 15 days but allows you to put in as much old data as you wish. I started using it day 13 of cycle and inputted data from the previous month as well
I thought I ovulated on day 12 prior to charting turned out to be day 18. It was much better than me at detecting thermal shift and even predicted my positive preg test when I went triphasic

are you any clearer about what is going on with your cycle now ?

hi, no, afraid not, temp carried on going down after day 12 (which was highest temp ) until day 17 when started to go up again, day 18 was same temp as day 12, missed day 19 and 20 as ds poorly and was up all night so didn't see the point (wish I had now!). did temp on day 21 and was same as day 12 and 18. So... it looks like by day 12 may have ovulated but with missing those 2 days can't be certain. my understanding tho was that after ov temp usually stays high but mine went right down after what may have been ovulation and then back up again after 5 days. R u a regular 'charter', if so does my chart tell you anything at all? Think am going to have to ignore this one and start next month. AF due this Saturday, am still hoping as always.

dizzy - why not use a website to help you (maybe you are already ?) the best is

fertilityfriend.com

you can sign up and it takes all the guessing out of it by doing it all for you

just did my chart on fertilityfriend. with the info that I had (which was limited) came out as ov undetected. think I'm gonna wait till next cycle to get a better idea

I was a regular charter - not at the moment. I was going to say it sounds like you haven't ovulated yet.

As you say - maybe write this cycle off given the problems with broken nights.

any clearer yet ?