Question about NFP and charting BBT

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Contra_Mundum_1

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I started charting my BBT a week ago in order to get more accurate info on my cycle. I have used the Billings method for a couple years but I don’t feel confident with only checking the cervical mucus anymore. My cycles have changed since my miscarriage 6 months ago, and I’m not sure what is going on. The research I’ve done suggests that charting my BBT will reveal if I am ovulating or not.

There is nobody to teach me to chart my BBT and I am relying on the internet. I think I understand what I’m supposed to do and how to do it and so far my chart looks as I expect it to be.

I was wondering if you can tell me how long it took you to learn to chart properly, so you could confidently interpret the data.

Any advice on what to do and not do?

Your suggestions for online sources that you found helpful are most welcome.
 
It only took me a full month or two. Fortunately, my thermal shifts have always been quite clear.

I’m sorry I can’t offer any suggestions about online resources; I learned from several books. Probably the most helpful (albeit not written from a Catholic perspective) was Toni Weschler’s “Taking Charge of Your Fertility.” It’s basically the STM, but it has at least a chapter dedicated to temperatures. There is also a TCOYF website on which you can chart.

(I know I recommend this book on just about every other NFP thread I’m on, but it’s just THAT good and comprehensive.)
 
Thank you for recommending it again 🙂
It sounds like it is worth buying.

Do you check the position of your cervix as well?
I’ve tried but have no clue what is going on there LOL I’m just wondering if this is essential or not.
 
Toni Weschler’s “Taking Charge of Your Fertility.”
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yep, seconded. This is a wonderful resource. You can always inquire if the library has it first, and buy it if you will use it :). Most have an online cataloge now days you may be able to look on!
 
You could also see if you could pick up an amazon copy of “The Art of Natural Family Planning.” That is the CCL book that is used the teach stm NFP. There are two editions, it probably doesn’t matter which one you get. I know the old version, has more rule options and the new one supposedly streamlined and simplified the rules. That has example charts and worksheets for you to do.

As far as BBT, it took me a 2 or 3 months to actually get my cycle, mostly because I was not married at the time, not used to checking my symptoms and bad about temping. Since you have already been checking your mucus symptoms, you should get the hand of it pretty quickly. (While I am a stm user, I haven’t used BBT in a long time, and rely completely on mucus and cervical position).
 
Contra_Mundum said:
Thank you for recommending it again 🙂
It sounds like it is worth buying.

Do you check the position of your cervix as well?
I’ve tried but have no clue what is going on there LOL I’m just wondering if this is essential or not.
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I’m pregnant now, so I don’t “mess around” up there at the moment. Cervix position is really difficult for me due in no small part to the fact that mine is so dratted high; I have to lie on the floor and push on my belly while straining in order to bring my cervix low enough that I can juuuuuuuust reach it with my middle finger.

It’s definitely a secondary sign. The last couple of months pre-pregnancy I was teaching myself to use it daily so as to be more familiar with it, but I did not use it as a sign of fertility because I wasn’t sure enough about it. After this baby, I’ll start learning it again.

It isn’t essential. If I had to avoid today (well, obviously not, since I’m pregnant, but you know what I mean) I’d go strictly by temp and CM and feel perfectly confident doing those alone.

This is probably going to gross out one or two people, but one option with cervix position is…could you have your DH check that for you? I know one couple for whom this works really well. For others it wouldn’t, of course.
 
jilly4ski said:
You could also see if you could pick up an amazon copy of “The Art of Natural Family Planning.”

While I am a stm user, I haven’t used BBT in a long time, and rely completely on mucus and cervical position.
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Thanks, I’ll look for that book.

Are your cycles regular? Do you always get enough mucus in order to determine where you are in your cycle? Mine used to be like clockwork with plenty of mucus, but now there is no mucus. Zero. I suspect I’m not ovulating, so am looking to BBT for a possible explanation.

But I’m completely confused in regards to the cervix position. :confused: Not sure where to start with that aspect of charting.
 
UbiCaritas said:
It isn’t essential. If I had to avoid today (well, obviously not, since I’m pregnant, but you know what I mean) I’d go strictly by temp and CM and feel perfectly confident doing those alone.

This is probably going to gross out one or two people, but one option with cervix position is…could you have your DH check that for you? I know one couple for whom this works really well. For others it wouldn’t, of course.
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I’m TTA. Glad to hear that temping and checking CM is enough.

Hmmm, interesting idea about asking the hub to check it. Although he would probably be as confused as I am. Maybe I just need to carry on until I start recognising changes. Practice makes perfect, right?
 
Contra_Mundum said:
I’m TTA. Glad to hear that temping and checking CM is enough.

Hmmm, interesting idea about asking the hub to check it. Although he would probably be as confused as I am. Maybe I just need to carry on until I start recognising changes. Practice makes perfect, right?
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Actually, he might not be nearly as confused as you are! The way my friend describes it is that she gets confused because her cervix is part of her body, and feels very subjective to her, while it isn’t part of her husband’s, nor is it like anything else he feels. So when he checks it, it’s very obvious to him how high/soft/open it is, while when she checks it she’s so wrapped up in “but I had to lift my leg higher to reach it this time and my CM is creamy but my temp hasn’t spiked…” that she has a much harder time figuring it out. Finally, men tend to have longer fingers, so if your cervix tends to be high, they can feel it better than we can because they can actually reach!

To be extra careful, they don’t discuss the symptoms that each of them are responsible for (in her case, CM and temp and in his, CP) until all three have been checked that day. That way, one observation can’t confuse another, if that makes any sense.

All of that having been said…don’t stress about it! Temp and CM are quite easy, and are definitely sufficient. CP is just a nice extra sign.
 
Contra_Mundum said:
I’m TTA. Glad to hear that temping and checking CM is enough.

Hmmm, interesting idea about asking the hub to check it. Although he would probably be as confused as I am. Maybe I just need to carry on until I start recognising changes. Practice makes perfect, right?
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I can only find my cervix when I am fertile. :rolleyes: It is way too high and out of reach normally. So I can use that as a sign. 👍

I also keep track of temp and CM.
 
UbiCaritas said:
Actually, he might not be nearly as confused as you are! The way my friend describes it is that she gets confused because her cervix is part of her body, and feels very subjective to her, while it isn’t part of her husband’s, nor is it like anything else he feels.
To be extra careful, they don’t discuss the symptoms that each of them are responsible for (in her case, CM and temp and in his, CP) until all three have been checked that day. That way, one observation can’t confuse another, if that makes any sense.

All of that having been said…don’t stress about it! Temp and CM are quite easy, and are definitely sufficient. CP is just a nice extra sign.
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Yes, it all makes sense. Thanks.
 
Contra_Mundum said:
Thanks, I’ll look for that book.

Are your cycles regular? Do you always get enough mucus in order to determine where you are in your cycle? Mine used to be like clockwork with plenty of mucus, but now there is no mucus. Zero. I suspect I’m not ovulating, so am looking to BBT for a possible explanation.

But I’m completely confused in regards to the cervix position. :confused: Not sure where to start with that aspect of charting.
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Well… I used to be very regular, like clockwork. Even after my first two children, I had a nice mucus patch (that was different from all the other postpartum mucus I had) and then got my period 12 days (my standard luteal phase) after that. Each cycle would shorten until it was normal. This time around my first cycle was over 100 days long, and they shortened and lengthened, and my luteal phase was even irregular. Now my cycles are hovering around 30+ days, and I am having good mucus cycles alternating with poor mucus cycles. (My last cycle I had one day of scant mucus, it was a slight change in my cervix that really tipped me off, but it could have been an anovulatory cycle). We normally abstain from day 7 until confirmed ovulation (which has been around day 18 lately), unless I have mucus on day 7). The cervical position for me is very helpful, because I will still have lots of mucus sometimes after a confirmed ovulation (and waiting the 3 days, and the cervical position confirms that I am hard and closed (despite the quantity of mucus) and that I am not going to ovulate twice that cycle. I am almost 15 months postpartum and still nursing.

To check my cervix I squat down, it took me awhile to get this sign, and if you are not ovulating it might be hard to figure out. Though if you are getting mucus patches it might help there to confirm either nothing is happening or there is a chance of ovulation.
 
Contra_Mundum said:
I started charting my BBT a week ago in order to get more accurate info on my cycle. I have used the Billings method for a couple years but I don’t feel confident with only checking the cervical mucus anymore. My cycles have changed since my miscarriage 6 months ago, and I’m not sure what is going on. The research I’ve done suggests that charting my BBT will reveal if I am ovulating or not.

There is nobody to teach me to chart my BBT and I am relying on the internet. I think I understand what I’m supposed to do and how to do it and so far my chart looks as I expect it to be.

I was wondering if you can tell me how long it took you to learn to chart properly, so you could confidently interpret the data.

Any advice on what to do and not do?

Your suggestions for online sources that you found helpful are most welcome.
Click to expand...
You might try the Couple to Couple League home study course. (If they still offer it; it has been a while since I visited their web site.)
 
jilly4ski said:
Now my cycles are hovering around 30+ days, and I am having good mucus cycles alternating with poor mucus cycles. (My last cycle I had one day of scant mucus, it was a slight change in my cervix that really tipped me off, but it could have been an anovulatory cycle).

To check my cervix I squat down, it took me awhile to get this sign, and if you are not ovulating it might be hard to figure out. Though if you are getting mucus patches it might help there to confirm either nothing is happening or there is a chance of ovulation.
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Thanks. This has been really helpful. I have to get used to having cycles that are normal, alternating with those that are possibly anovulatory. I feel a bit nervous about this, because I used to have super reliable CM signs. I guess this is not uncommon at my age, so I better get used to the changes.
 
PaulGH said:
You might try the Couple to Couple League home study course. (If they still offer it; it has been a while since I visited their web site.)
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I’ve heard about them, and will check the website. Thanks for the tip.
 
Aggies08 said:
yep, seconded. This is a wonderful resource. You can always inquire if the library has it first, and buy it if you will use it :). Most have an online cataloge now days you may be able to look on!
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Third the suggestion of TCOYF!

I also recommend fertilityfriend.com for an in-depth charting tutorial, as well as for charting online. The free version is more than enough and the algorithms do a pretty good job of predicting fertility.
 
MaryAlex said:
Third the suggestion of TCOYF!

I also recommend fertilityfriend.com for an in-depth charting tutorial, as well as for charting online. The free version is more than enough and the algorithms do a pretty good job of predicting fertility.
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Great! Thank you for the suggestion, I will look into it.

The internet sources available are amazing and I have learned so much. I definitely feel more confident using NFP and using several methods that complement one another.
 
I have another question, maybe someone can help.

I tend to wake up during the night and go to the bathroom. That is around 2am or 4am. Sometimes I also wake up around 6am and then drift into a half-asleep state for another half hour or so. I take my temperature when I finally wake up, between 6.30 and 7am. I worry that my erratic sleeping disrupts the accuracy of temperature taking.

What has been your experience? Does waking up during the night influence your result? How can you tell if this is the case?

Thanks!
 
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