How charting your temperature can give insight about your hormones.

Fertility awareness combines charting of your waking temperatures, and other signs of fertility to track, monitor and understand what is happening with your body reproductively speaking. People who are into doing things the natural way, those who are having trouble conceiving a child and those who are religious often learn the fertility awareness method. It allows you to conceive or prevent conception of children during your fertile years.

Today I am outlining the two reproductive hormones Estrogen and Progesterone that are naturally produced by our bodies and how your waking temperature (BBT) provides information about your bodies production of these hormones.

Obviously your waking temperatures can be inaccurately influenced by sickness, fever, the time you take your temperature from day to day, alcohol consumption and many other factors but if you are thorough in noting these occurrence and inconsistencies you will be able to make sense of your bodies function through these temperatures.

Basically estrogen typically results in cool waking temperatures, progesterone results in warmer temperatures. A normal reproductive cycle (from the end of menstruation to the next menstruation period) looks like this:

• A period of lower waking temperatures/ estrogen is present.
• Then a temperature dip followed by an increase in temperature/ progesterone is present.
• After 3 consecutive days of elevated temperature you can confirm that ovulation occurred.
• Sometimes dip in temperature during the high temperature days is noted anywhere from 5-12 days past ovulation (DPO) and this is often referred to as “the implantation dip” which means the woman may have become pregnant.
• The high temperature days (DPO) typically last from 11-15 days and are followed by a decline in temperature (which also means a decline in progesterone) that leads to menstruation.

Some notes about pregnancy and your temperature chart:
If your temperature does not decline after 18 days you are likely to be pregnant. Taking a pregnancy test is recommended if you note 18 days of high temperatures after ovulation.

The two weeks between ovulation and the day you expect to get your period is often referred to by women trying to conceive as “the 2 week wait” because If you had intercourse around your ovulation time you will not know if you are pregnant till the 2 week period has passed.

Taking a pregnancy test during this 2 week period is not recommended, it will often render inaccurate results because the HCG hormone that the tests detect will not be produced until after implantation has occurred and the hormone has had a chance to build up in your body. Implantation can happen anywhere from 5-10 days after ovulation, it does not happen immediately.

A sample chart is available for your to view here. If you are interested in getting an electronic chart like it or want to find out more about charting your fertility I would encourage you to use the sign up link at the top of the chart.
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Did you know?

• Excessive creamy cervical fluid is noted in pregnant women and it often concerns women because they don’t know it is normal and common.
• High temperatures during menses (your period) is normal.
• Not all women experience a temperature dip before ovulation, this is normal.
• The only way to predict future ovulation is by observing your cervical fluid. Eggwhite, stretchy cervical fluid means ovulation.
• Charting your fertility signs will help you to know what is going on with your hormones and it can help your doctor diagnose any hormone imbalances. Charting is beneficial for those trying to prevent pregnancy, achieve pregnancy and it is even beneficial for those who are approaching or experiencing menopause.