basal body temperature to monitor ovulation

[kiaragirl]

I was reading a post on here recently about the use of body temperature and how subtle changes can indicate more accurately if/when we ovulate. If anyone can remember which thread it was on Id be grateful, if not, where can I get this information and should a basal themometer be used and why? I tried a digital one and within 10mins it gave me 3 different temps!!!! Any advise??

[Glenda306]

I think using BBT in conjunction with OPKs is the best way to go.  I'm a usually slow-riser, but the OPKs are sometimes hard for me to judge.  Using the 2 together helped me confirm ovulation.

Best wishes.

[sk123]

There's an ovulation tracker on MedHelp that you can use to track BBT. I use the ovulation tracker, so if you look at my profile, you can see what it looks like.

There's also an Overview and FAQs over in the Fertility Community's Health Pages.

Baby Dust to you!

[PamelaBee]

I agree with Sheri, my temperature would fluctuate at different times during the month as well, so I never felt completely comfortable sticking with that method.  The best way (in my opinion) to ensure you cover your most fertile/ovulation time is to start having sex several days after your period--every other day for about 2wks...I know it sounds exhausting, right : 0...but at least you will know that you had a good chance of hitting your peak fertile days and the big "O"  Happy BD'ing!!!

[popeyesgirl06]

I can only say that BBT was only good to show that I was ovulating not any good for predicting when to BD other than if you were showing a pattern after months of temping.

You have to  use a BBT thermometer in order to get your basel body temp. You can Google BBT and find charts and even online ones to track your temping. There is information in the box that the BBT thermometer comes in. You can buy this near the pharmacy at stores like Kmart, Wal Mart, etc.

Once I knew I was for sure ovulating (take temp same time everyday before getting out of bed)  I used OPK's to show the best times for possible conception. This is all like searching for a needle in a haystack anyway but the best tools available to map out the search.

Note: I did not use either method to achieve this pregnancy but it did give me a calm state of mind that I was indeed ovulating monthly (occasionally I didn't ovulate but was rare).

Best of luck to you!

[Sheri1972]

Hello!

Just my humble opinion... BBT never really worked that well for me.  The shifts are so tiny and many things can effect your temperature, that even with a correct thermometer it was somewhat difficult to get that triphasic reading that everyone is looking for.  My temperature is whacky anyway.. it shifts when someone even turns on a ceiling fan!

Some people swear by BBT readings though.

I found the ovulation predictor test kits to work really nicely, with little fuss.  I even used one of those saliva microscope thingies that show your saliva "ferning" when you are getting ready to ovulate. It was pretty accurate too (or so I think...)

If you just google Basal Body Temperature Pregnancy you'll get a ton of articles on it. :)

Sheri