Basal Body Temperature & Cervical Fluid

[onelasttime]

Hi there,

I have been TTC # 2 since December (and of course no luck). I have very irregular periods so it's hard for me to know when I will ovulate. My friend suggested trying the Basal Body Temperature and watch for the cervical fluid and see if it changes when I am ovulating.
I got a bunch of information regarding the two from the internet, but I'm a bit sceptical.

Just wanted to ask if anyone does these two methods and if so, any luck falling pregnant? Also what other methods do people do to find out when they are ovulating. Do you buy ovulation predication kits? Are they expensive? Are they reliable?

Any suggestion will be great!

[nicoleE]

I am relatively new to TTC although have done ALLOT of research on the internet and from books and had advice on forums such as the people on this site.

In my mind the best thing to do is draw together 'results' or 'signs' from your Basal Body Temp (BBT) and your CM, atleast. I am currently doing both and have also just yesterday purchased a Maybe Baby www.maybebaby.com.au

The Maybe Baby should give you a some pre-warning when your body is building up eostrogen preparing to ovulate, this would be better than OPKs for an irregular cycle. OPKs are expensive and not reusable, they are more suited to a regular cycle so you dont 'waste' them! Maybe Baby is expensive (around $70) however completely reusable, month after month, year after year!

For BBT charting, i hightly recommend www.fertilityfriend.com they have allot of information on there about it and you can sign up to record your charting. I think you get a month or something free and you can then decide if you want to join or not (i think it was about $30 for 90 days). This charting allows you to record ALL tests results, Pregnancy, OPK, Maybe Baby (ferning test) CM signs etc and their program takes it all into account and will tell you when you are most fertile (although as you do research yourself you will be able to tell straight away)

For CM observation I recommend reading up on the Billings Method http://www.woomb.org/bom/rules/index.html, it is basically a method of tracking your natural monthly Cervical Mucus pattern to determine your fertile and infertile times of the month. CM is necessary in conceiving as it creates a 'sperm friendly' environment and helps the sperm get to the egg, without it or with little CM your chances are lower.


I have not conceived yet using these methods however I only went off the pill 2 months ago and am still waiting for Ovulation to return (hoping the Maybe Baby will give me some pre warning as i have NO idea when to expect it!)



Hope this helped!
Good Luck! :fingerscrossed:

[janellejori]

your situation is me all over!!! I havn't used temps yet but i will prob try. How irregular are you?? I am sometimes 12 months to 3 months. I am buying the maybe baby cause i have to test everyday and ovulation kits are too expensive to use everyday.

[nicoleE]

Please note that you can still get what we would call a 'period' without actually ovulating.

You can ovulate irregularly but you can also have anovulatory cycles where the lining of your uterus builds up to a certain extent without ovulation and you get bleeding to rid it all, which many people see as their AF and assume they have ovulated. I think the bleeding can also happen after a eostrogen rise where the levels in your body rise but not quite enough to release an egg, however still triggering bleeding afterwards.

This is what I have read (and been told) and from my memory please do some googling though for more information.

[annb]

I used the fertility friend website and sucessfully have a 17mth old....i recntly started using it again and after only 1 month of temping/charting conceived again (and Im 41) Be aware that temping is pretty stressful and you do become so involved in it that it can take over your every thought!!!! This 2nd time round I told myself I would not let myself be taken over and just temped and used my Maybe Baby to give myself an idea of when ovulation was happening and whatever would be would be. If you have no idea of your cycle and its irregular then its certianly worth starting off with the temping before you turn to blood tests and the like. I was very surprised with my cycle thinking that everyone ovulates on or around day 14, instead I found for me sometimes it was day 16 or 17 or even 20 which a lot of Obstetricians consider too late for conception, when I did conceive I did ovulate on day 15....so dont be sceptical...but just be aware it can rule your life!!!

[Hokey Pokey]

We will start ttc at the end of the year but I am starting to watch my body now so I can know when to go for it!
I have a maybye baby and I use fertlity friend to chart my temps and my CM.
Good luck!

[onelasttime]

Wow, thanks for all your advice.

I just went to have a look a Fertitility Friend, its great. I will be starting to monitor my BBT and CM as of tomorrow.

I had no idea about Maybe Baby... I'm headed to the chemist right now and going to buy one. Im just looking at their website now.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person with a weird body clock.

Janellejori...my periods are the same as you. They range from 2-3 months apart, then 6-8 months apart. It's very frustrating when you don't know when they are coming, always come at the worst possible time.

Anyway I hope these methods can help, I hope the next post I put in will be telling everyone I have a BFP

Has anyone had success using Maybe Baby?

[annb]

I have just got Pg after using Maybe Baby and monitoring my temps , I also have a 17mth old, I was temping for a few months before got Pg with him, this time only 1 month and mainly relied on maybe baby to tell me when i was ovulating and then my temps to show that I had ovulated and finally that i was pg when I didnt get a temperature dip