Your body’s natural cycle

Your cycle begins each month with the first day of your period. That’s right, your cycle begins with aunt flo’s visit. This is what is referred to as calendar day 1 (CD1) of your monthly cycle. Around CD7, The pituitary gland releases Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and a little bit of Leutinizing Hormone (LH) that begin to ripen an egg in your follicle. As the eggs ripen over approximately 7 days, they secrete more and more estrogen into the bloodstream. Estrogen causes the lining of the uterus to thicken. It causes the cervical mucous to change. When the estrogen level reaches a certain point, the pituitary will release a large amount of LH. This surge of LH triggers the one most mature follicle to burst open and release an egg at approximately CD14, (remember, all women are different, if we were the same, we wouldn’t have to measure these things). The release of the egg is called ovulation, and the time between ovulation and your next menstrual period is called your luteal phase. The luteal phase lasts for about 14 days. After the egg is released, the LH levels sharply drop off and progesterone levels in the body rise in case your body will need to support a pregnancy. Progesterone causes a rise in body temperature, so if you’re watching your temperatures, you can tell if the egg has been released by an increase in body temperature. If implantation and pregnancy occur, the body temperature will remain high because progesterone continues to be secreted. If implantation and pregnancy do not occur, the progesterone production decreases and the uterus of the lining will shed itself in your monthly menstruation.

So what should I measure to track my cycle?

Well, to get an accurate and useful chart, the following 5 things are key:

• When your menstrual bleeding occurs.
• Your waking basal body temperature, taken before you get out of bed in the morning.
• Record the time you take your temperature each morning
• Your data on when you have intercourse
• Your cervical fluid consistency

1. Recording Menstrual bleeding

To understand where in your cycle you are, you will need to reference the first day of your period. This will tell you how long your cycles are, as well as where you are in your cycle at any given time.

2. Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

Measuring basal (at rest) body temperature can be used to gain a better comprehension of your ovulation cycles. As mentioned above, not every woman is the same, so knowing when you ovulate, when you menstruate, and how long the time between these events is for you. When you’re between CD1 and ovulation, your temperature is at it’s lowest. Estrogen is a “cool” hormone and keeps your body at a slightly lower temperature. When the LH surge occurs you will normally get an even lower temperature than average, this is called an ovulation dip. Then when the egg is released from the follicle and your progesterone production begins, you’ll get a rise in temperature of about 0.4 degrees or more (again this varies by person). This rise in temperature tells you that you’ve ovulated and is called a thermal shift. The BBT will remain high until just before your next period.

You may see a one-day dip in your temperature after you have ovulated, this is called an implantation dip (when the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall). Typically this dip will occur 7-10 days after ovulation (7-10dpo), but may occur from 5-12 days. You may not have a dip, some women’s temperatures do not shift from implantation, while other women get a very large dip. If implantation does not occur, 12-16 days after ovulation, your progesterone levels will decline, your temperature will begin to decline, and menstruation will occur.

Measuring your BBT starts with a trip to the drugstore. You can buy a special thermometer for measuring BBT. You can get a reliable but inexpensive one for around $10 most places. A BBT thermometer is more sensitive than your standard thermometer. It will often be far more accurate and measure to two decimal places instead of just one on many other thermometers. It is definitely worth the $10.

So to use all this information to your benefit. Chart for a few cycles to understand your cycle. You’ll begin to know if you usually ovulate on CD12 or CD14 or CD17. You’ll also begin to see your ovulation dips. It is best to time your intercourse 12-36 hours before ovulation, so you can time it based on this dip. And then you can see your thermal shift and know that your dreaded “2 week wait” has begun. This is an affectionate term for the time between ovulation and menstruation where you might be pregnant, but you just don’t know yet. It can be a grueling time for women trying to conceive, but well worth the wait in the end!

3. The time you recorded your temperature

This is an important bit of information. Your resting temperature cycles, much like your menstrual cycles. It is higher at points in the day, due to activity, heat and stress. The time it’s most consistent is just upon rising in the morning. This is when the least number of factors are affecting it. However, it will still change over the times of the morning. It is important to try to take your BBT at the same time each morning. Your temperature can shift 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit within 20 minutes to 1 hour, even when you’re sleeping. This may not seem like a lot, but if you think about your thermal shift being only 0.4 degrees, a 0.1 degree error can make your chart much harder to decipher. You can adjust your temperatures for waking time, but it is best to just set an alarm and take it at the same time every day.

4. Recording your intercourse data

This may seem a little silly or personal, but it’s important. You should know when you have intercourse in relation to when you ovulated. That way when you’re agonizing over whether or not to take that home pregnancy test or not, you can look back and determine if your intercourse was well timed with your ovulation or not. Intercourse should optimally take place 12-36 hours before ovulation. Sperm may last for up to 5 days in the uterus, but that’s not the optimal condition for conception. When trying to conceive, you should attempt to have intercourse every 24-48 for the 5-7 days before ovulation occurs. By the time you see a rise in temperature, you have probably already ovulated and it may be too late to time intercourse for conception purposes.

5. Charting Cervical Mucous

The increase in estrogen as you get closer to ovulation causes the cervical mucous (CM, mucous released by the cervix) in your vaginal canal to change. The closer to ovulation you get, the more fertile your mucous is. Which is to say that it will support carrying sperm to your egg better. One word of caution, avoid checking your CM just before or after intercourse as arousal and seminal fluids may give you a false reading. You can check your mucous several ways:

Externally: after you use the restroom and wipe, wipe the outside of your vagina a second time and note what (if anything) you find on the tissue. You will get used to the idea easily and it will stop seeming so weird after awhile!

Internally: insert two fingers into your vaginal canal until you can feel your cervix. Place one finger on either side of your cervix and press gently. Collect the fluid by wiping the cervix in a gentle pinching motion and pulling your fingers out . When you pull them out, notice the consistency of the mucous you see.

Note how much fluid you see, the color, consistency, feel, and stretchiness of it. What do you see:

Dry: use this to record when you have no CM. This is most common just before and after your period and just after ovulation.

Sticky: use this if your CM is crumbly, stiff or gummy. It breaks easily when you try to stretch it. It will probably be yellow or white, but also may be cloudy or clear.

Creamy: use this if your CM is like hand lotion. May be white or yellow or cloudy or clear. It is like milk or mayonnaise. It may stretch a little, but not far and it breaks easily.

Watery: use this if your CM is clear and moist, like water. It may also be stretchy. This is considered fertile mucous. It is conducive to carrying sperm. It will stretch further when you pull your fingers apart than creamy will.

Eggwhite: the most fertile CM. It is just like it sounds, it will look, feel and stretch like eggwhites do. It resembles semen as well because it has similar properties to help the sperm get to your egg. You should be able to stretch this between your thumb and forefinger fairly easily.

Spotting: use this when you have any pink or red or brown spots that leave a small mark on you underwear or if you see them when you wipe. It does not require a pad or tampon. This is not yet menses. Do not start a new chart until you see red flow.

Menses: chart this when you see the first day of red, flowing blood that requires a pad or tampon. This will be the start of a new chart for you.