CHECKING FERTILITY: TEMPERATURE TAKING
The temperature rise around the middle of the cycle confirms that ovulation has taken place, though it cannot predict it in advance. But charting your temperature each day tells you that you are ovulating and when. So this is another way to identity when you are likely to be fertile in future cycles.
If your cycle is regular there should be a temperature rise between days 14 and 16. It is on the days just before this point that you should be at your most fertile. Count the days from the beginning of your last period when you are estimating this. Using this method, you should have intercourse every other day from about day 11 to day 16 even if you are unsure about the mucus changes.
Because the temperature reading has to be the basal body temperature it needs to be measured first thing in the morning. Our normal body temperature rises as the day goes on, so it is important to take it at the same time each day, in order to distinguish between a routine rise and the rise that occurs after ovulation. To use this method:
• Take your temperature first thing in the morning while you are lying in bed, before you have a drink or go to the toilet. You should wake up and immediately put the thermometer under your tongue.
• The easiest type of thermometer to use is an electronic digital thermometer, now available from most chemists (B-D is a good make), as it registers the temperature within one minute and often has a memory. This can be convenient if you like a lie-in at the weekend. Then you can just set your alarm, take your temperature at 7am, turn the thermometer off when it ‘bleeps’, and the temperature reading will be stored for later when you can write it down.
• If you are using a mercury thermometer then it must be a special ‘ovulation thermometer’, as it needs to have an expanded scale. If you can get a Fahrenheit thermometer (either digital or electronic) it will be easier to see the rise in temperature at ovulation.
•You will need to plot the temperatures on a graph to see the changes over the cycle. Use a different graph for each cycle, counting the first day of your period as day 1. Since most (but by no means all) women have a 28-day cycle, you have to count the actual days and not rely on calendar dates to pinpoint the vital days in the month ahead when you should be at your most fertile.
Remember, however, that many factors can affect your temperature – illness (fever), disturbed nights, travelling across time zones, shift work, alcohol and drugs. So there are now a number of other ways of charting ovulation.
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