charting your fertility signs

basal body temperature

Basal body temperature (BBT) is the normal temperature of a healthy person immediately upon awakening in the morning. Before ovulation, your BBT ranges from about 97.0 to 97.5 degrees. Then, as you start to ovulate, hormonal changes trigger a spike of 0.5 to 1.6 degrees in your BBT, which lasts at least until your next period. Temperatures may spike on other days, but unless it stays elevated you’re probably not ovulating. And if you become pregnant, your temperature will stay elevated throughout your pregnancy. You’re most fertile the day of, and a few days leading up to the spike in your BBT.

You’ll need a basal thermometer to check your BBT. This thermometer is highly sensitive and more accurate than a standard thermometer – digital models are best. Basal thermometers are inexpensive and range from approximately $5 to $10 at most drug stores.

As soon as you wake up in the morning, take your BBT and record it on a chart. You should always take your BBT:

• At the same time each day – after waking up in the morning and prior to activity/showering, etc
• From the same location – orally, vaginally, rectally
• Before doing any activity

Most basal thermometers come with a temperature-plotting chart. Save all the charts to review with your healthcare provider if required down the road. Three or four months of consistent charting should be adequate to recognize patterns and trends in your cycle, such as its length.

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cervical mucus

Ideally, it’s best to chart both your BBT and your cervical mucus. The consistency of your cervical mucus, or vaginal discharge, also changes throughout your ovulation cycle. Charting these changes over a few cycles can provide further clues as to when you are most fertile.

The cervix is the opening between the uterus and vagina. It produces a wet, slippery mucus, the consistency of which changes throughout the cycle. Typically, there are three to four dry days after your period. Then the mucus wetness increases daily, lasting approximately nine days until the wettest day. At this point, the mucus is abundant, sticky and very stretchy (resembling egg whites), one of the many signs that you’re now ovulating.

You can examine and chart your mucus in many ways – it’s just a matter of finding what works best for you. Try looking at your toilet tissue after wiping, or insert two fingers and gently take a small pinch of mucus from the cervix.

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shape and position of cervix

The shape and position of your cervix also changes throughout the cycle. Leading up to ovulation, the cervix changes from a firm pointed shape to become soft. It also opens up and rises higher so it becomes harder to reach. Around the time of ovulation, the cervix changes yet again to become hard, closed and back in its lower position.

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