It was one of mornings I really dread waking up to. My alarm went off at 5.45 am and as it would happen every morning I switched it off and went back to my short deep sleep. Then it just crossed my mind that I need to stick that thermometer in my mouth to find out what was really happening in my body's "hormone matrix". I put the thermometer under my tongue around 6 AM and I dreaded seeing my BBT drop. Though I hate to see that, I had to face it. My temperature had dropped from 97.2 to 97.0. That was not a good sign. I lost my sleep and woke up to start another day of "facing the unknown".
Just to give you an idea of why am talking about BBT here. BBT stands for basal body temperature. It is the lowest temperature attained by the body during rest (usually during sleep). It is usually taken first thing in the morning or after an undistrubed 3 hour sleep before any physical activity using a BBT thermometer. BBT thermometers measures to the 1/100th degree. Some genius found that there is a link between hormones and BBT. Talking about hormones these are the basics any woman should know:
A woman's menstrual cycle has two phases - follicular (pre-ovulatory) phase and luteal (post-ovulatory) phase.
Follicular phase begins when your period starts and ends when you ovulate. Luteal phase begins after you ovulate and lasts until your period begins. Follicular phase could be anywhere between 14-25 days depending on your hormones.
Luteal phase is normally 14-16 days for most women unless you have a luteal phase defect (we will talk about that later).
So how does hormones affect the basal body temperature (BBT)?
This is the rule you need to remember - Follicular (pre-ovulatory) phase is governed by estrogens which keeps the basal body temperature lower. Luteal (post-ovulatory) phase is governed by progesterone which increase the basal body temperature. If you want to know whether you have ovulated or not, your best bet is to use a basal body temperature or monitor your follicles everyday through ultrasound. The latter method is expensive unless you have an ultrasound machine at home which no one does! The temperature monitoring method is simple, easier and inexpensive. It just require your diligence to monitor your BBT everyday. Do not use a fever thermometer for this purpose. All pharmacies sell basal body thermometers and that is what you need to buy.
Couple of months back, around September 2010, I had this question in my mind that how do I find whether I ovulate. When I was reading about methods to detect ovulation I came across the BBT method. I found that reliable and inexpensive compared to ovulation predictor kits (OPKs). I have been sticking the thermometer in my mouth everyday since October 2010 and its going to be a year now. I am still waiting for that break to this routine....
Now back to monitoring temperatures. All you need to do is:
1. Get a basal body thermometer
2. First thing in the morning when you wake up - put the thermometer in your mouth and when it beeps note the reading
3. Step out of your bed (clean your thermometer on a regular basis)
Here is one of my charts that shows how to monitor your temperature on a daily basis.
As you can see my temperatures remained below 97.5 F until I ovulated and when I ovulated it rose by 0.3 F. During my post ovulatory phase my temperatures remained above 97.5 F until I got my period.
97.5 F is my coverline for this cycle.
What is a coverline temperature?
Coverline is the highest of the last six temperatures before ovulation. You cannot determine your coverline temperature just by charting one cycle. From my experience you need to chart at least 2 cycles to determine your coverline temperature.
Two principles you need to remember while charting temperatures:
1. Basal body temperature increases after ovulation. You cannot determine pending ovulation based on the temperature. Your BBT will only show that you HAVE ALREADY OVULATED.
2. Do not come to conclusions based on your temperature everyday. You need to sit back and see if there is a pattern with a clear thermal (temperature) shift. That will indicate you have ovulated.
We might think whats the use knowing that you have ovulated when you want to know beforehand. But at least its a good indication of what your body is going through. A typical annovulatory cycle will not have a thermal shift and the chart will not follow a pattern.
This cycle I have not seen a pattern yet in my chart. I am still in my follicular phase trying to ovulate but something is stopping me. Here is my chart from this cycle.
I just spoke to my RE and they asked me to come in on Monday to do a blood progesterone. That will show them if I have ovulated or not. Doctors do not just go with temperature charts, they have more techniques to determine ovulation. My RE will review my blood results on Monday and we will talk about our next action plan.
If any of you want to chart your temperature or read more about charting temperatures you can log on http://www.tcoyf.com/. I have been charting my temperatures on this website and I find it very useful. You might want to read the Toni Weschler's book - 'Taking charge of your Fertility' which is amazing and has tons of information on what you need to know about your cycle.
My goal for this weekend is to put all this aside and enjoy my two days with my beloved hubby. He is going through a lot of this with me and I just want to see him happy :)
