When should I start to track my BBT?

Question

I'm about 4dpo. It may be a little late now, but i'd like to do it soon so i can at least get the hang of it and see what my average temperature is. When could I start tracking that? I probably wont have the mental capacity to use one of those charts... i'll just write it down in my notebook... Is that just as good?

Answer 1

You can start now and that will give you the hang of it for the next cycle (if you have one ;) and beyond. Then when you start your next period the first day of red flow is day one of your cycle and new BBT chart.

www.fertilityfriend.com will help you out also. All you have to do is enter the temperature and a few other signs and it will chart your BBT for you. I think that will be a lot better than just writing it down in a notebook because you will not see a pattern as easily with just the numbers.  

Answer 2

definitly start now.  If you're like me, you'll end up enjoying the chart because it helped me to see how long my luteal phase was (which helps a lot) to know when my period was suppose to come to the exact day.  After a couple of months you can pick up your own pattern and the usual average length of your period.  I use fertilityfriend and it's easy.  Just input the temp and that's all.  I usually write my temps down too, in case I miss a day.  As far as a notebook being good enough?  It could be, but I think you'll need more mental capacity to figure the patterns out on your own, where as fertilityfriend will figure it out for you.

Answer 3

I agree start now to get in the habit. The on line thing sounds great. I made my own charts for a long time and some times it was hard to figure one peak.  I started using the ovulation predictor kits.

Answer 4

Here on ivillage, the chart is really, really easy to use.  You can also print it out and share it with your doctor.  :-)  A lot of folks use fertility friend; I did not find that as user friendly, but thats just me.  I do find that having the visual is really, really helpful, as opposed to a notebook.  Again, thats just me.

I started charting the first day of my period and have been doing that for 2 months.  Its a very enlightening thing.  I did find it hard to get in the habit, but once its been a week, its easy to remember.  

Answer 5

You can start doing it now just to get into the rhythmn of taking your temp every morning but the best way to start is on day 1 of your cycle - thats the first day of RED bleeding on your next period.  that will give you a picture of your whole cycle.

If the idea of using a chart freaks you out, then try charting online at

www.fertilityfriend.com

Its free and all you need to do is input your temp every morning - the computer draws the chart and does everything else for you!  I've given up using hand-written charts and do it all online now, so much easier!

Good luck!