Part 1: Help please! Am I ovulating?
We thought this week we’d make it all about the fabulously fun topic of OVULATION.
We see a lot of people with concerns around fertility so one question we hear a lot is, “Have I ovulated yet?”
We think that’s a pretty fair question.
If you’re trying to make babies, you need to know when you’re ovulating so you know when to try (and when you can stop trying!).
We thought we’d give our best shot covering these topics:
How to know if/when you’re ovulating
Pictures! Breaking down the facts about ovulation for you
What’s BBT Charting? and how it helps your practitioner
How Do You Know When You’re Going To Ovulate?
Straight up, the most honest (albeit annoying and frustrating) answer is that your best estimation is based on your previous ovulation dates. We know. That’s not as helpful as it could be.
How do we know when you’ve ovulated? That’s the next question, right? Here’s a list of how NOT to track your ovulation dates.
Not by period apps: Did you know they only count ovulation as 14 days before your next period is due? That’s rarely accurate.
Not from ovulation “pee” sticks: These measure LH hormone surges, which aren’t a guarantee of ovulation. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong. It’s particularly inaccurate in Poly Cystic women.
How do we know, then?
We know from Basal Body Temperature (BBT) Charting. This won’t tell you when you’re ovulating, but it does track when you HAVE ovulated in previous months to give you the best idea of when ovulation will happen.
How does BBT Charting Work? Great question!
If you’re wanting avoid a pregnancy, Daisy, Natural Cycles & Lady Comp are good ones (though more expensive) as they have a computer in them to work out when your fertile or not.
An alternative to this option is to download an app called Fertility Friend App, and pick up an ovulation thermometer (not a regular one). It’s easier and much cheaper!
You’re usually fertile a maximum of 3 days before and the day of ovulation. How many days before you ovulate you’re able to conceive depends more on sperm quality. For best practice, sex 1-2 days before you ovulate is generally best.
Step 1: Make sure you get a fancy thermometer. The good ones have a computer in it to work this out for you!
Step 2: With your new thermometer and the app on your phone, press the thermometer next to your back teeth, under the base of your tongue and hold it there until it beeps.
Step 3: Take your temperature every morning when you wake up and record the reading in your Fertility Friend app.
Step 4: Pop in your period from the last cycle.
Step 5: Pop in if/when you get fertile mucus. (Check out our blog about mucus here).
Step 6: Add in when you have sex (to know if you’re timing it correctly!)
And in case you need it, here are some more temp-taking instructions.
Once you’ve got your details entered in, this is what your pretty little chart will look like:
Let’s play “Spot the Info”
Check out the chart image above, and see if you can spot the following features:
Period info (heavy, medium, light, spotting) - a new chart starts for every new cycle, and the cycle starts on the first day of each period.
Fertility Mucus (hint: it’s also called cervical fluid)
When this couple tried to conceive (PM sex, perfectly timed within the fertile window - hint: check out days 17 and 18!).
Lower terms on average before ovulation
A jump in temps followed by higher average temperature - ovulation has occurred!!
The “mathsy” (so definitely a word) way to work it out is this: if there’s a jump in temperatures followed by 3+ consistent days of at least 0.3’ higher than average follicular temperature, then you’ve ovulated!
OR you can look at the temperatures in chunks. Low chunks of temperatures followed by a spike in temperatures, followed by high chunks of temperatures = ovulation happened.
We made you pretty pictures to help you visualise what we mean.
Day 17 ovulation = Temps jump up and stay up from day 17
See? Easy! And another one.
See the lower temps, jump up & higher average temps (even if they missed a key day on day 17!)
And one more, just for fun.
Day 15 ovulation = The temps are above the pre-ovulation temps only from day 15
We’ve shown you 3 examples here, but we’ve also collected some other examples to help explain how to read and interpret BBT charts. Check out our blog here.
How Do We Use Your Charts?
Your practitioner helps interpret the charts for you and can tell you:
If/when you’re ovulating
If you're having sex at the right time
Are there issues in the first half of the cycle? Early or late ovulation? (ovulation on day 12 - 16 = excellent egg quality)
Do you have enough days post ovulation to hold a pregnancy?
(Need 11+ days)
Are your overall temps really low or high?
Do you have an early pregnancy!?
BBT charting contributes to your overall Chinese Medicine pattern and we base our Acupuncture points and herbs on your personalised info. So, you can see, BBT charts are super helpful! Grab your thermometer, app and get charting today!
Like some help? Come see us in the clinic for personalised, tailored treatments.