Alexandra

Okay so I need an explanation please ladies. I'm no temp whiz. I do get it that there's a dip to be looked for before ovulation but which sorts of temps show one is pregnant and which show is coming? Are higher temps a show of pregnancy or the reverse?

Mine were higher (37.1-37.5) for a few days and they have been back to 36.3 and 36.6 in the past few days.

How does this work?

tansey

Hi Ky, my understanding of temps is that you get a rise above your coverline after OV and it stays above it until arrives when it drops. If you are PG it should stay elevated for 18DPO or more. It can fluctuate and can go high again when arrives - here is mine last cycle (i think it is a straight forward one)
http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/1f6cd3

Nic

Hiya that's my understanding too. Last month I thought I was in with a shout but it took a nosedive in the two days before she arrived. So I don't think temps give you much more warning that the fact that the witch is late! But it does help me feel more in control of my ttc efforts.

BrittBS

I'm not good at explaining things, but you can look at my chart that is in my sig.... I got a positive pregnancy test on Tuesday so you can see what a pregnancy chart looks like.

Jayne

Hi girls,

Yep, if you're pregnant, your temps will stay above the coverline and if not, they'll go below it. However, they might not drop till the day AF arrives or even the day AFTER AF has arrived so you have to temp for a few months to get an idea of your own cycle. Also, there isn't necessarily a dip before ovulation, just as there isn't necessarily an implantation dip if you've conceived.

Feel free to check out my charts (link in my siggie) to give you an idea of a normal chart versus a pregnancy chart. The overlay at the top shows how different my pregnancy chart actually is compared to all my non pregnancy ones.

GL!

Alexandra

Thank you ladies, I think I got it now. However it does look like the differences are so minute one had better have a good idea from the previous cycles of what's normal. I guess I can't use this as an indication of where my AF is but after it does -as I presume it will eventually- I'll give this temping thing a real careful shot.

wantababybump

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/1f9d55

Here's my temps hun, I took my temps until I was 18dpo and am also pregnant. Hope this helps.

Margerle

Just some more information. The reason why this whole temp charting thing works is because of a little hormone called progesterone. After ovulation progesterone 'readies' the lining of the uterus for implantation, and if implantation occurs, it protects the pregnancy. And it also increases your basal body temperature (which is the temperature you chart).

Progesterone is produced ONLY by the corpeus luteum (the sac the mature egg was in). When you are getting ready to ovulated, normal fertile hormones are coursing through your system. Once that egg sac ruptures and progesterone starts pumping out, your basal body temp rises (and is charted by you), and stays risen unless implantation occurs and the baby signals the corpeus luteum to keep making progesterone to protect that little bean. If baby fails to implant, or if no conception occured, there is no signal to the corpeus luteum to make more progesterone, and the 'cool' hormone estrogen takes over and brings on AF.

Some women may or may not have a temp dip prior to ovulation. BBT charting is not a primary indicator of fertility... that is, there is no way to confidently predict ovulation based on temping alone. Women who temp use lots of cycles to find their fertile window, and to time the taking of OPK's which do tell when ovulation is imminent. Some women use CM as their primary indication of fertility and watch for that EWCM.

Some women experience an implantation dip... 6-10 days after ovulation, their temps will drop below the coverline again for a day or so, then jump back up over the coverline and stay there up to and through the expected date of AF. But this is not reliable either.

If you are staying above the coverline, I think it would be fair to test the day AF is due, and every other day beyond that (remember HcG doubles every two days so we wait two days to test for best outcome of HcG.)

Good luck to you!

keira

Also, sometimes when you are pregnant you will have "triphasic" temps, where they actually go up even higher after the embryo implants.