Questions - timing, charting

twentysomething215

Hi All,

My hubby and I recently decided to start trying! The first few months we just sorta played around, not paying attention to the When but enjoying the What. This month I am going to temp (currently chart day 7), and we are going to "give it our all" starting in July.

So my questions have to do with temping. I'm pretty sure I have some habits I need to change. Thanks so much for any help/feedback you can provide.

 1) Do you need a consistent amount of sleep for accurate results? I didn't read this anywhere, but my sister said was a rule. Right now, my sleep ranges from 4-8 hours a night.  

2) How much does movement throughout the night affect temping? I sometimes fall asleep in the living room, and then move to the bedroom when I wake up in the middle of the night. Even after moving I have had 4+ hours of sleep in my bed.

 3) How much should my temps vary day to day?  I have only been doing this for 7 days, but my temps range from 96.5 to 97.7. When looking on fertility friend, it seemed that this was a big variance that I didn't notice on the example charts. 

4) How important is timing? So far I have done well and have temped within minutes every day. However, I am realizing how  this may not work long term (I have a bit of a sleeping problem - If I wake up earlier then normal, I cant fall asleep again. Sometimes this has me up two hours earlier then normal. Didn't think about it until my husband made a crack about how lucky I have been for my first week). If this happens, do I just disregard the temps that day? Do I still add it in and choose "disregard" on FF?

amberlocke

All of this can be found in the tutorials and FAQ at fertilityfriend.com

1 At least 3 consecutive hours of sleep.

2 3 consecutive hours of sleep.

3 You are looking at the overall picture with a temp shift, not each individual temp.

4 The same time every day is the goal, but sometimes I temp up to an hour before my normal temp time and I uaully still see a shift. Don't disgard temps. If you temp at a different time, FF will notice and give you an open circle. Try not to do it too often.

Clarinet35

amberlocke:

All of this can be found in the tutorials and FAQ at fertilityfriend.com

1 At least 3 consecutive hours of sleep.

2 3 consecutive hours of sleep.

3 You are looking at the overall picture with a temp shift, not each individual temp.

4 The same time every day is the goal, but sometimes I temp up to an hour before my normal temp time and I uaully still see a shift. Don't disgard temps. If you temp at a different time, FF will notice and give you an open circle. Try not to do it too often.

This. Welcome and GL!

jackiea2m

Good advice above...  just wanted to wish you luck.  :-)  Keep enjoying the what, whenever it happens!

gscoville

I'm an insomniac and have very crappy sleep patterns, but I still temp very successfully. When I first started charting I tried for the same time every morning, but because I wake often and am restless, that just didn't work for me. I tend to always get my longest period of sleep when I first go to bed, so now I always temp the first time I wake up, no matter what time that is. Could be anywhere from 2-5 am, but it's when I've almost always had my 3+ hours.  My temps are a bit jagged/varied day to day, like you've noticed with yours, but I'm still always able to see a clear temp shift at O.  Have a look at my charts if you like and you can see what I mean. Mine are not like the typical examples on FF, but they work for me.

Good luck, you can do this!  

ETA I don't enter a time in FF when I enter my temps, I just put in N/A. That way I don't get all open circles.