Chart Your Way to Pregnancy
| free_downloadable_bbt_chart.pdf |
Why didn't anybody ever teach me this before??
If you are trying to get pregnant, the very first thing you should do is to chart your menstrual cycle.
The menstrual cycle tells the tale of the health of the rest of the body. The best way to learn about your menstrual cycle and therefore your health is to chart your cycle. Therefore, I believe every woman in reproductive years can benefit from charting.
For those of you going through IVF or IUI, you do not need to chart during your procedures as the information will be skewed due to the hormones you are receiving. But don't stop reading! You can still benefit from learning how to chart as this is a lifetime skill. You may be able to avoid using synthetic birth control pills one day because you know how to chart.
There are three steps to charting:
Step One: Get a digital thermometer, and take your temperature first thing in the morning – ideally within the same hour every day and before you get up, go to the bathroom, or do anything. Record this temperature on a chart (see link on the top of this page to download your own chart) or you can enter it online at www.fertilityfriend.com.
Step Two: Check and record your Cervical fluid every day of the month. When you are dry, you are not fertile as sperm will die within a few hours. When you have egg-whitey or slippery cervical mucous, you are fertile. If you are not noticing slippery cervical fluid, you may want to get maca (a fertility superfood) or Pre-seed which is a lubricant that allows sperm to survive.
Step Three: Check and record your Cervical position throughout the month. Notice if it is high or low, soft or hard, open or closed and wet or dry. Most of my patients have never checked their cervix before so if this seems a little strange to you, you are not alone. The best way to get familiar with this fertility sign is to practice. Some like to check everyday in the shower.
Now you have a basic understanding of charting. To find out more, I highly recommend Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler.
How charting will help you get pregnant faster
You will get pregnant faster through charting because you will be able to identify any potential problems that are getting in the way of conceiving. You will also be able to pinpoint your peak fertile day so that you can time intercourse precisely. And there's more...
You will know if you are ovulating or not. Just because you get your period every month does not mean that you are ovulating as some women have anovulatory bleeding. If you are not ovulating, you will not get pregnant.
You will know if your luteal phase is long enough to sustain a pregnancy. You luteal phase is the time from ovulation to the beginning of your period. You may require progesterone to sustain a pregnancy. Ideally your luteal phase lasts 13-14 days. If yours is shorter than this, ask your doctor about progesterone. Also if you have had recurrent miscarriages, you will want to chart your cycle to see if your luteal phase is the reason your body cannot hold the pregnancy.
You can determine your peak fertile day. You will know when you are fertile and when you are not. Some women ovulate on day 20, some on day 10 – it can vary greatly. So if you have been given the advice to time intercourse for around day 14, that may not work for you. Once you begin charting, you will know what your peak fertile day is.
You can pick up possible thyroid problems. If your temperatures are consistently lower than 97.7, you may want to get a complete thyroid panel. When I say complete, know that most of the time doctors only do a screening thyroid test and this may only pick up thyroid problems 30% of the time. You may have been told your thyroid is within range and normal when in fact it is not. There is a lot more to say abut this topic but let me just say that if you are tired, gaining weight, have low libido, dry skin, are moody and your hair is falling out, you want to get your thyroid checked. And if you have had your thyroid checked and you have been told it is “fine” or “within range” check out www.stopthethyroidmadness.com
Free Printable BBT Chart
| free_downloadable_bbt_chart.pdf |
