First time charting bbt questions

[Tkgrl88]

Sooo sorry this is kinda very long & rambly.. thanks for bearing with me..!!

Ok so I have *VERY* irregular cycles and no clue if and when I ovulate.. I am pretty sure I have not had a period in about 2 months although it may be slightly less than that but definitely been at least 5-6 weeks..

I just started charting my BBT a few days ago although I am not sure how much it will help. Any idea what a slow rise means..? (if anything) or are my results skewed because of my weird sleep schedule (detailed below)

Day 1 - 98.04
Day 2 - 98.20
Day 3 - 98.50

On the first day I got super curious and measured it again and it went down to 97.90 then a 3rd time and it went back to exactly what it was the first time 98.04.. what would be the reason for that..?

Also I read somewhere that you need to have been asleep for like 3-4 hours..? What happens if you weren't..? My husband works until 1am and then gets up around 8:30 to go work out and I usually wake up and usually can't get back to sleep until I know he made it OK (he tends to get very close to falling asleep sometimes when driving.. makes me nervous) .. then sometimes I'll drift in and out of sleep.. waking up when he comes home around 10.. sometimes even going back to sleep again, etc. Basically the point is my sleep schedule is really weird and not consistent.. each day is sorta different.. I work from home 2 days a week so those days are different, and hubby works weekends and no workout class those days so those days are different as well.. how important is it to test at the exact time or after the same amount of sleep..?

Does the temperature really vary if you sit up/talk etc.? For example this morning hubby came home and called up to me and I responded to him before remembering that crap I needed to measure my BBT..!

Is it even worth it for me to do BBT charting since the whole point is to measure patterns and I am pretty sure that I do not have any..?

Oh and yeah does the rise mean ovulation or it is not a high enough rise..? If we bd the morning of day 3 did we miss our "window" .. ?

[karmab]

these are all good questions.

first question- this might sound silly, but just to double check- you are 1.) using a BBT thermometer and 2.) taking your temp either orally under your tongue or vaginally, correct? these 2 things make it much easier to make sense of charts.

so you are somewhere between 5 wks and 2 mths into your cycle. you might be right that you aren't ovulating, or are o'ing late. as far as those 3 temps, it's unlikely that this is what is called a slow rise. i say that because a slow rise is the beginning of a thermal shift that happens in the 2 or 3 days after o. it doesnt mean anything good or bad in itself, it's just how some women respond some cycles to the progesterone that comes after ovulation. so for this to be indicative of a slow rise, you would have o'd like precisely 4 days ago and just by crazy coincidence, started charting a day or two after it happened. possible, but unnlikely.

we do tend to think of temps in the 98s (oral) as post-o, so it is one possibility that you are now in your luteal phase, which would mean af will come within 2 weeks-ish.

it's also possible that if you havent o'd, aren't getting ready to o anytime soon, that these are just random temps- which is what an anovulatory cycle looks like- temps go up and down and all over, and 3 days is not enough to see that, you have to keep on keeping on.

as far as the sleep/talking/moving etc. well, to get the clearest results on your chart, you have to sleep at least 3 but preferably 6 hours before taking your temp, take it at the same time every day, and do it first thing upon waking. that's the best case scenario. if you cant do that, try to come as close as possible. the closer you are to that, the more reliable temps are. if there is something different, make a note on your chart so you can remember later on as you look at the pattern.

are you coming off hormonal bc, or have you just always had irregular cycles? if it is just something you've always had, and you are now ttc, i would, if it were me, make an appt with a doctor to check out some of the reasons for long cycles, like polycystic ovarian syndrome or thyroid issues. there is a thread on this forum for women with "loooong cycles" which can be different than "irregular," but if that fits, you may want to ask some questions there.

last thing- do you use fertility friend for your chart? they are free and they have really good charting courses you can watch and read online. if you are just starting, i would definitely recommend you check them out.

good luck, girl!

[karmab]

oh and i forgot to say- YES, i think it's a great idea to chart, even if you dont see a pattern like you would expect, because that is great info to have. ideally, of course, you start a chart on cd1- the first day of af. but even without that, you may be able to get some good info from what you are doing now, like if it is anovulatory, you will likely be able to tell that even at this point.

lastly, you havent had af in at least 5 wks. just out of curiosity, you are sure you arent pregnant?

[Tkgrl88]

Yup, using bbt thermometer orally

So do you think my doctor would be able to help me already..? I thought they generally don't like to get involved until after at least 6 months of trying, although I suppose since I already *know* I have long/irregular cycles and may or may not be ovulating they *can* do something for me now..? Luckily last year I switched to an obgyn that I feel takes me seriously and would probably help me.. Is there any information that I can give him to help him help me..? Like how do they figure out what my situation is just by talking to me or from tests, etc.?

I have definitely always been this way I remember even my first year of periods worrying about it because sometimes I would go 3 months without a period and I thought I would "grow out of it" then I was on the patch and later the pill for about 2-3 years on and off and sorta forgot about it since it regulated my periods then. (I have been off since December)

[Tkgrl88]

Oh and I do have fertility friend it is here -
http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/2e3ad7

Thanks!

[karmab]

yeah, i dont think they should have a problem doing a pre-conception check-up in any case. im not talking a total infertility workup or anything drastic, just some basic stuff to see if they can figure out why you have had long and/or irregular cycles for a long time. if you just came off the pill or similar bc and now you've had a cycle or two that's wacky, i wouldnt think it's necessary to worry about anything, because that can just take a few months to settle out, although i still think it's a good idea for anyone who is ttc to see a health care provider, start taking prenatal vitamins, and make any health changes that they would if they were already pg.

now, depending on your hcp, he/she may not really understand charting, but if you do have a couple charts to discuss with them and you can interpret them well, yeah, that helps too. my first month ttc, for example, i had a very short cycle, and because i was charting, i could say for sure it was my luteal phase that was the issue- 7 days- not long enough to get pg. so i called my doc and she said, ok, here's a rx for progesterone suppositories, and now my lp is 15 days. problem solved. (well, there was a little more to it than that, but not much.) even if you keep track and at least can say to the hcp, look, my last 4 cycles were (whatever...45 days, 56 days, 22 days, and 80 days) and i want to get pg, can we figure out what is going on? the extra thing about the charting is that you will know whether or not you are ovulating, because some long cycles are just long cycles, but then you o and have a normal lp, and can get pg no problem once you finally do o. some long cycles are anovulatory, and that is readily apparent on a carefully done chart.
so that's my anyway!