Basal body thermometry
Basal (or basis) is the temperature of the body at rest. It must be measured immediately after sleep, before any activity – in the mouth, rectally or vaginally.
The principle of this method is as follows: daily, during the cycle, measure BBT and enter the indicators into the chart. Each point corresponds to the day of the cycle. Next, you need to connect all the points and get the basal curve.
What are the standards of BBT before and after ovulation?
In the first half of the cycle, while the egg matures, estrogen prevails in the body. It provides the development of a dominant follicle and the growth of the uterine endometrium. BBT during this period is low, on average, from 36.2 to 36.8 °C (97.16-97.88 °F).
After rupture of the follicle (ovulation), a corpus luteum forms in its place, which begins the active production of progesterone – the hormone of pregnancy. This hormone increases the average BBT by 0.3-0.5 °C (0.54–0.9 °F). If you notice that the indicators go up, above the usual norms of the first phase of the cycle, then the egg has already come out.
The basal body temperature before ovulation
Here is the only sign that can help to determine a follicle rupture in the next 6–48 hours – BBT drops by 0.2–0.3 °C (0.36–0.54 °F) compared with the average values of the first phase. This is called the retraction before ovulation of the basal temperature. This is how it looks on the chart:
Pay attention(!): On this day, ovulation tests will show a bright second strip. At first, while you are mastering the method, if you doubt whether this is a retraction before ovulation, do an LH test or pay attention to the nature of cervical mucus (there should be a consistency like egg crude protein). Read more about the definition of ovulation by BBT in this article.
What is the disadvantage of this method?
It often happens that there is no retraction of BBT before ovulation. Indicators simply remain at the usual low level. In this case, you will not be able to predict the beginning of ovulation (except for lucky women with a regular cycle day to day, I will tell you about this in the last chapter).
Thus, it turns out that it is only possible to confirm the fact of ovulation occurring because of progesterone growth and an increase in BBT began.
There is no drop in basal temperature on this chart; it is possible to understand that the egg was released on the 17th DC only by an increase in indicators from the next day.
Who should not start measuring BBT?
To maintain a basal temperature chart, you need to get enough sleep (3-6 hours of continuous sleep). In addition, you need to get up in the morning at the same time (± 30 min.). Basal thermometry will not work for you if your life is connected to it:
- duty;
- regular nightly activity;
- or you usually go to the bathroom several times a night.
Second, if you have a small child and you cannot sleep soundly or for a long time, this will also be displayed on BBT indicators.
Third, if you take any hormonal drugs, it makes no sense to take measurements, the basal temperature changes under the action of any hormones.
Remember(!): Regularity and compliance with the same measurement conditions are very important for the correct construction of the chart. Then the BBT chart will be indicative and it will be easier for you to catch the ovulation.
Essential conditions for measuring BBT
To take accurate indicators that are not distorted by external factors, you should:
- Wake up at the same time, after 3-6 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
- In the evening, shake the mercury thermometer, leave it near the bed with a mobile phone (to monitor the time and highlight the scale). Try to move as little as possible – excessive activity warms the body and distorts the actual performance.
- If you have chosen a measurement in your mouth, you need to keep it under your tongue for 8 minutes. With a rectal or vaginal method – 5 minutes.
- Use constantly the same thermometer (electronic or mercury).
- After the procedure, immediately write down the indicators, as it is easy to forget right after sleep.
And finally, if something went wrong and there were deviations in the measurement somewhere – make a note in a graph like: “slept badly,” “woke up an hour later,” “SARS,” etc. A lot of factors affect basal body temperature. You need to know them and take them into account when decoding the chart, sharp jumps of BBT are quite likely and your notes and observations will help to explain them perfectly.
Why mark additional parameters on the BBT chart?
If you look at several options for online charts, you will probably notice below the blank for additional marks:
- medicines;
- discharge;
- pain;
- illness;
- ovulation test;
- SI;
- pregnancy test;
- chest pain;
- alcohol, etc.
Some notes are needed to find out what could potentially distort BBT in a higher direction, and others to trace patterns before, during and after ovulation.
For example, every month you notice pain in the lower abdomen, discharge like egg white during ovulation, or chest pain immediately after it. In the future, even when you stop measuring BBT, familiar symptoms and observations will tell you about the beginning of the most favorable period for conception (high fertility).
Determination of ovulation by cervical mucus (CM)
By the special nature of the discharge, it is very likely to find out the beginning of the most favorable period for the conception of a child. After menstruation, the cervical mucus is cloudy, viscous and sticky, sometimes creamy. 5-6 days before the release of an egg, it begins to change: it gradually becomes thinner, viscous.
In about a day or two, cervical mucus reaches the consistency of a crude egg.
A simple test(!): Grip some mucus between your thumb and forefinger and try to stretch. Pre-ovulation CM stretches well for 4 cm – this means that the fertile period began.
If sexual intercourse takes place today/tomorrow, then with a high degree of probability, by the time a mature egg is released, the sperm will have time to reach the fallopian tubes and “meet” it.
Why does the crude protein structure contribute to pregnancy?
The main task of cervical mucus is not to pass the infection through the cervical canal into the uterus. That is why during the greater cycle time it is sticky, thick and viscous, and the environment is acidic. If sex occurs during this non-fertile period – after 1 hour, all sperm cells will die, being stuck in the mucus, without having passed through the cervical barrier.
This is interesting(!): The structure of the egg protein is more alkaline and similar to the tubules, along which the sperm are easy to glide. In such an environment, sperm quickly overcome the distance (at a speed of up to 4 mm/min) from the vagina, through the cervical canal and further to the uterus. After that, they can calmly stay in the female body for up to three (to five days in some cases).
What does cervical mucus look like after ovulation?
With the beginning of the active production of progesterone, the level of estrogen drops sharply and the nature of the CM changes accordingly. It again becomes viscous and sticky. This is a signal that the period of high fertility is over.
I recommend repeating sexual intercourse today, just in case (the egg lives for a day (24 hours) and, perhaps, some nimble sperm can still get through the cervix). In this way, you can increase your chances of pregnancy!
Statistics(!): According to medical data, 10.30% of all successful pregnancies began after sexual intercourse the day after the follicle rupture. You can also be among them.
Bloody discharges
There is nothing wrong with a slight blood spotting during ovulation. If the blood capillary is damaged, blood in the CM is possible. Usually, such spotting is limited to once or just one day – nothing more.
If you notice a pink or brown spot about two weeks before the expected menstruation, this is a very likely sign of ovulation and you still have time for open sexual intercourse while the egg lives.
When the method does not work
Some women, due to their own characteristics, do not feel the humidity. The characteristic period of early ovulation. CM may be released a little or vice versa, mucous inclusions are regularly visible on paper or a wet wipe. In this case, use additional methods for calculating the favorable period, while continuing to monitor the discharge.
Over time, you will learn to catch the slightest difference and correctly, only the nature of the cervical mucus, to determine high fertility.
Cervix Monitoring Method
Attention(!): Self-diagnosis of the cervix requires mandatory hygiene. My gynecologist negatively refers to this method of determining ovulation. I agree, it is not good to catch an infection and inflammation in the planning process. Always use disposable sterile gloves.
And now about self-diagnostics
It is necessary daily to feel the cervix during the cycle. This is done to determine the difference in the position and structure of the organ. The best position is squatting or on the toilet. Do not change body position and quickly evaluate:
- the height of its location;
- density;
- openness (does not work for most women who gave birth).
How does the cervix change before ovulation
On the day before or on the day the egg is released, it is located high, since the length of the cervical canal is shortened and can be easily reached only with the tip of a finger. It is soft like lips or earlobe. In the very center, there is a small fossa, a valley (the cervical canal is open).
Note(!): After natural childbirth in women, the cervix is often open. Besides, the method may be not indicative after suffering ruptures during childbirth, abortion, cleaning, and other mechanical manipulations with the cervix (when there is cicatricial deformity).
After the end of the fertility period, the cervix again becomes dense and unyielding (like the tip of the nose). It is located low and it is easily reached by the middle of the fingertip. The cervical canal is tightly closed and only the alkali is felt. The same characteristics remain for almost the entire first half of the cycle until ovulation.
Self-monitoring – pain during ovulation
You can learn how to determine independently the release of the egg, based only on subjective sensations (you feel pain, but do not see with your eyes).
The fact is that shortly before ovulation, the follicular vesicle with the egg inside increases in volume (up to 18-24 mm). It presses and bursts – than the pain, tingling on the right or left side, depending on which ovary the follicle ripens.
Further, after rupture and oocyte release, follicular fluid is poured into the abdominal cavity. It irritates the peritoneum and spinal nerve roots, causing aching and pressing, bursting pain in the lower abdomen, lower back or rectum.
From experience(!): After dozens of times determining ovulation by BBT, tests, by the nature of CM, I tried to listen carefully to my feelings. What I feel before and immediately after the release of the egg. So I learned literally up to an hour to determine if ovulation occurred. Most often, it occurs in the afternoon, in the evening. The tension and swelling of the lower abdomen and pain in the rectum, it means that the follicle burst. On the day before I felt increased humidity and wanted intimacy – all match!
If you feel a bursting pain in the lower abdomen, then take active planning as soon as possible. If the previous SI was more than three days ago – most likely you will have a boy.
The pain after ovulation usually remitted within one to two days with the end of the fertile period.
If you feel nothing
It is possible that you have a high pain threshold and you will not feel anything at the time the egg is released. It’s not scary, there are many other inexpensive options.
Do not stop trying to listen to yourself – with practice it will come. If not, use the temperature method or saliva ovulation tests or LH test. You can verify the correctness of your calculations after about 14 days from the beginning of your period.
Calendar method
Unfortunately, it is only suitable for women with a regular cycle (possible deviation is 1 day). The calculation of the day of ovulation is as follows: you need to subtract the duration of your second phase from the length of the cycle. The average length is 14 days, but sometimes from 12 to 16 days.
For example, if menstruation comes every 30 days, then: 30 – 14 = 16 DC. If the length of the luteal phase is 15 days, then: 30 – 15 = 15 DC. The egg will be released on the 15th day of the cycle. Thus, the fertile period is three days before, during and one day after ovulation. The best SI time for early pregnancy is the 13th and 15th DC, or the 12th, 14th and 15th DC.
To calculate the ovulation day, you need to subtract the length of the second phase from the length of the cycle. Yellow – ovulation, green – the period of high fertility, red – menstruation.
Important(!): The duration of the luteal phase (yellow hormone-secreting body phase) is a constant value for the same woman (permissible tolerance is 1 day). Only the duration of phase I changes. This rule applies to all healthy women of reproductive age.
How to find out your luteal phase length?
To do this, you need two or three cycles to determine the exact date of ovulation. How many days will pass after it until the first day of menstruation, such is your duration of the luteal phase? Why determine several cycles if phase II is constant? This is necessary to confirm the correctness of your calculations. There are 2 ways to do this:
- Folliculometry. According to the ultrasound, the doctor will establish the exact date of when ovulation will occur and after it will confirm the calculation.
- The temperature method. The day after the egg release, the basal temperature will begin to rise due to the action of progesterone.
When is the best time to have sex to give birth to a boy or girl?
To plan a child of a certain gender, use the rule: the closer the SI is to the egg release, the more likely it is to conceive a boy. In other words, if sex takes place 6–12 hours before ovulation or 12 hours after it, XY sperm will be the first to get it. But they do not live long, until about 24–36 hours.
It follows that open contact for 36 or more hours before ovulation is likely to ensure the birth of a girl. You can read more about child gender planning in this article on ovulationdiary.com.
Final recommendations
So, you have learned about all the most reliable ways to determine the best time for planning a child. I advise you to start with the most accurate – folliculometry or tests for LH plus BBT measurements and gradually add and test other options.
When you know for sure that ovulation is coming, observe the cervical mucus, if there is a fern effect, if there is a pain in the lower abdomen. In a word, find which of the listed methods work exactly in your case. In the future, you can focus on one, the simplest, most indicative and convenient.
I wish you a happy pregnancy!