Further newbie charting questions (kind of long)

Davie813

OK, so I started charting this month.  I wasn't sure how well it would work for me, because I have very disturbed sleep, but I got some great advice here and proceeded.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I wake up every 2-3 hours, every single night.  I've been temping every time I do and (in order to observe the overall pattern day-to-day, rather than random fluctuations here and there) have been recording the highest single temperature I get each night (this is fairly consistently around 2:00 am).

First, does that approach make sense?  Should I record the lowest instead?  The temperature after the longest time asleep?

Second, the temperatures I record on any given night can fluctuate a lot (by ~.5 degree).  Given all this, do you think the chart I've compiled so far has any validity?  FWIW, given the temp spike two days after my +opk, I do think the O date is right....

Third, my chart is in my signature.  I've been looking at the chart gallery on FF, but I'm still so new to this...Do you think it looks, I dunno, reasonable?

Thanks for your help!

ETA: just to clarify--when I ask if it looks "reasonable," I don't mean "does it look like I might be pregnant?"  I mean "does it look like something a standard human who is charting somewhat correctly might produce?" 

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ksgsmu

your chart honestly won't be as accurate if you aren't charting at the same time every single day.   You might see a pattern though so you never know...

HeathernSteven

Taking your temp at a consistent time is best. That being said, we have to do the best we can with what we have….

I read that for most accurate temping to do it after your longest sleep, preferably at least 4 hour stretch.  I became a master of “holding it in” from 2-6am. Then at 6, I would temp and fly to the bathroom.

So do you wake and get up, or do you wake look at clock and roll over asleep? If you’re not getting up you aren’t particularly raising your body temp, the second you start walking around you are raising your temp. So think about that.

I would recommend maybe you look at temping vaginally that is very consistent; also I (if I was you) would take 1 temp a night after the longest sleep, preferably at the most consistent time. That one temp will probably be the lower temp, as you rest your body temp drops, and those are the temps we want to chart.

I hope I have given you some guidance to help make the best choices for you….of course I am not a Dr., just have some experience. Good Luck!!

gscoville

I'm an insomniac, I have always had very poor sleep patterns and wake several times through the night, often up for an hour or two in the wee hours. I do, however, almost always get a few hours of sleep when I first go to bed, so I always temp the first time I wake up no matter when that is - could be anywhere from 1 to 4 am for me. My temps are a bit jagged, but I still have always been able to see the temp shift at O, and I just put NA in for the time so I don't end up with open circles.

You should not be temping multiple times a night and 'choosing' a temp to chart based on if it's your highest or lowest of the night, that's not going to give you any accuracy at all.  That being said, though, the whole point of temping is to get your resting temp, which is usually the lowest your body gets to in a 24 hour period - that's why temping before you get up is so important, any movement, getting up, etc. raises your heart rate and therefore your temp, taking you out of that resting state that is crucial for BBT charting.  

I would strongly suggest limiting your temping to the first time you wake up no matter when it is.  I've been temping for over a year and this has worked for me, but it took many months to figure this out.  I started out trying to temp at the same time every morning, but then would wake up multiple times a night and then stress about getting to sleep in time to get enough hours before that time, or even just to get more than an hour of sleep in a row at all.  Talk about ugly charts!  And stick with it, it can take several months to get into a good routine with temping and start to see patterns, you just have to be patient and it will come.  Good luck!

Davie813

Thanks, all!

Ok, so it's a little late this cycle to change my methodology, but I have some good options for next time. I think I'll try temping the first time I wake up, and temping when my husband's alarm goes off (regardless of how I've slept) for a couple of cycles each and see which seems to work better for me.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

ETA, oh, yes, I do take OTC sleep aids. I go back to sleep quickly when i wake up in the middle of the night, but I still do it a lot.