Question about when to start BBT

houseofsetters · January 2016

Hi there! I am new here, but have been lurking for a couple weeks and have already learned so much, so thank you ladies!!

DH and I started TTC in October. I (stupidly) decided not to do BBT to start, as I am a total stressball normally and thought it would only make me worse. I am now realizing that I'd be less stressed if I had that information!

I had been having regular 34 day cycles, but am currently on CD64. I have an appt with my gyn this Friday about that. All that to say, I want to start BBT but didn't know if it would be better to start now or wait until I start my next cycle?

Thank you for any wisdom you can lend me!!

AmMcc12 · January 2016

It's up to you. You can start now to get used to it or just wait until after AF

pretzel2plus1 · January 2016

Hello and welcome! You can, of course, start at any point, but I'm not sure what temps will tell you at this point in such a long (probably anovulatory) cycle. However, if it were me, I would go ahead and start temping just to get in the routine. That way, if your doctor gives you something to jumpstart your cycle, you'll be ready to go. I am by no means an expert, so if someone else has more knowledge in this area, please chime in.

CajunSnowWhite89 · January 2016

I agree with PP that you can start now to get yourself in the habit, but the temps themselves won't be useful until after AF. Good luck!

ETA** I'm giving this advice under the assumption that your doctor will give you something to jumpstart AF and that it'll be hopefully starting soon-ish.

MissAmeliaPond · January 2016

PPs gave you solid advice, but I just want to chime in with an anecdote. I'm normally a pretty anxious person, and I was always worried about what my temps were going to be when I first started temping, so I would constantly wake up early and did not have a very good chart the first month. It definitely took a while for me to let go of the anxiety around temping, but I'm used to it now. So, what I'm trying to say is, if you want to start temping for practice now, you should go for it.

I hope your appointment with your doctor goes well.

[Deleted User] · January 2016

I am a wildly anxious person. I'm not even officially TTC yet and I've been temping/charting for over a year. I like information

Graphs settle my nerves.

houseofsetters · January 2016

Thank you!! I'll go ahead and start collecting some meaningless information. ;-)

@MissAmeliaPond that's great to know!! Thank you!!

br0co1ii · January 2016

The only advice I have to offer other than what PP's have already stated is to not get a Target bbt. Worst mistake ever. Since you have time before AF starts, I'd highly recommend ordering the Mabis one from Amazon. (I went with Target because I decided on CD6 to start temping and felt I didn't have time to spare.)

korycir · January 2016

I have been to 3 different stores today and can not find a basal thermometer!! Very frustrated! Thanks @br0co1ii for the info on the target brand. That's one of the stores I was at tonight. I'm going to check Walmart for the mabis. Quick question...I'm on cycle day 2 of usual 5-6 day AF and was planning on catching the last few days of AF temps. I have seen people say they wait until AF is over then start temping. How do they determine the cover line? I'm very new to the idea of temping and I don't want to mess up my data. Any advice?

PeggyOlsonFTW · January 2016

@korycir Can you just order one on Amazon? My WalMart does carry the Mabis, but it's under a different name. If I can find it, I'll update.

I don't start temping until AF leaves because I temp vaginally. It doesn't mess up my coverline or anything because there's plenty of pre-O temps to determine it.

PeggyOlsonFTW · January 2016

Reli-On. Same thing as Mabis and what my local Walmart carries.

AmMcc12 · January 2016

I have the ReliOn from WalMart and haven't had any issues with it

korycir · January 2016

Thanks a lot @PeggyOlsonFTW! Is one method suppost to be better than the other? And does FF calculate cover lines? And I've seen people talking about crosshairs and I'm not sure what they mean. Sorry if I hijacked someone's thread.

PeggyOlsonFTW · January 2016

korycir said:

Thanks a lot @PeggyOlsonFTW! Is one method suppost to be better than the other? And does FF calculate cover lines? And I've seen people talking about crosshairs and I'm not sure what they mean. Sorry if I hijacked someone's thread.

I temp vaginally because I'm a mouth breather, which makes temps screwy and harder to read. FF will calculate your coverline and put in crosshairs when it detects ovulation. All you have to do is put in your temps and whatever else you're tracking and FF will do the rest.

AmMcc12 · January 2016

@korycir do the tutorials on FF they are sooo helpful in answering those questions!!

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