Fertility charting

What is fertility charting?

Using fertility charting can help you pinpoint the days in each cycle that you are most likely to conceive. It can be a very useful aid to fertility as every woman has an individual monthly cycle and therefore may not actually ovulate on days 12-14, fertility charting gives you a personal cycle pattern. In addition charting can help to determine if you are ovulating each month and the length of your luteal phase. Charting can also help determine if you have conceived during a cycle, and the best time to take a pregnancy test.

How does it work?

There are a number of things to look for when you are charting fertility. Your basal body temperature increases after ovulation and falls again before or during your period. By charting this temperature over a number of cycles you can predict at what point you are due to ovulate and so when you are most fertile. The rise is normally about 0.1 degrees centigrade; it will remain elevated for between 10-16 days if there is no pregnancy and will then fall as you start your period. If pregnancy has occurred the temperature will remain elevated. You can also measure cervical fluid and position to try and predict fertility, in general you will find that you see increasing fluid towards your more fertile time.

Charting Fertility signs

If you are recording cervical fluid patterns always take the most fertile you have seen in a day for your measurement. Any cervical fluid that is watery or has an egg white texture is considered fertile. Watery or egg white cervical fluid shows a good time to conceive, as it appears just before ovulation. Measuring body temperature must be done with a very accurate thermometer (called a basal body temperature thermometer). It shows ovulation only after it occurs but is useful in determining a pattern over a number of cycles and in showing if ovulation is occurring at all. You can also measure cervical position as a sign of fertility; a fertile cervix will feel high and soft whereas a cervix that is not fertile will feel low and firm. Some other signs that can signal ovulation are; ovulation pains (near your ovaries), spotting a small amount of blood or tender breasts.

 

Confusing Fertility signs

If you are having trouble reading your fertility signs there could be a number of explanations. Cervical fluid patterns can be affected by Medications, vitamins, an STD, delayed ovulation, being overweight, breastfeeding, illness, or if you have recently stopped taking birth control pills. BBT can be affected by illness, medication, alcohol and smoking, sleep disturbances, changing waking time or breastfeeding. In general one or two temperatures that are inaccurate in a cycle (for example if you get up late or early for a day) should not affect the general picture of your cycle. If you find that you show no pattern of temperature rise over a few cycles there could be a number of explanations, for example the thermometer you are using may not be sensitive enough to detect the temperature shift, or you may not be ovulating.