fertility charting

Methods of Charting Fertility

"Fertility charting allows you to predict ovulation, pinpoint your most fertile time in your cycle and increase your chances of becoming pregnant..."

A woman is fertile for only a few days each cycle. Because the ova (or unfertilized egg) has a life-span of less than twenty-four hours, timing lovemaking around these fertile days before ovulation is key to conceiving during each cycle.

The purpose of fertility charting is to pinpoint your fertile days during each menstrual cycle so you can time intercourse. Charting requires that you understand the dynamic of your ovulatory cycle - the the physiological changes that take place as you pass through the various phases of the month (e.g., menstruation, the follicular phase in which ova are nurtured, ovulation in which the egg is released, and the luteal phase in which a pregnancy may take place).

Once you understand these patterns and changes, you can learn to predict ovulation by using your fertility chart. Charting fertility is defined as the combination of a number of discrete predictive strategies. These methods include:

1) daily monitoring of basal body temperature - or BBT charting 2) analyzing changes in cervical mucous and the position of the cervix 3) ovulation prediction using fertility tests like urine lh tests or saliva ovulation microscopes 4) monitoring physical symptoms that may accompany ovulation (e.g., mittelschmerz pains) 5) maintaining a calendar of ovulation dates to predict future ovulation dates.

Together, these methods constitute the fundamentals of fertility charting. The only tools you need are pen, a fertility chart and a basal thermometer, and perhaps an ovulation microscope or a handful of urine lh ovulation tests.

Methods of Fertility Charting

Basal Body Temperature: The BBT method asks you to measure your basal - or resting temperature - every morning. Fluctuations in basal body temperature after ovulation are caused by a rise of the hormone progesterone in your system. At the moment you ovulate, your basal body temperature will increase between 0.4°F and 0.8°F. The purpose of the temperature change is to establish a warmer, fecund environment for the embryo/fertilized egg. This temperature increase is typically sustained from the moment you ovulate through the rest of your cycle. If you fall pregnant, your temperature should not decrease and menstruation will not take place. Test for pregnancy!

Cervical Mucus Exams: By observing changes in cervical mucus (CM) you may be able to predict fertility patterns and anticipate when ovulation will take place. Monitoring CM/cervical fluids should take place at the start of your ovulatory cycle and run through your ovulation date and into your luteal phase. Following menstruation, the presence of cervical fluid will by light, the texture sticky, the color opaque. Prior to ovulation, cervical mucus will become abundant, the texture clear and slippery to the touch. This indicates fertility and time for lovemaking!

Ovulation Testing - OPKs and Ovulation Microscopes: There are two fundamental methods for ovulation testing: using urine lh tests and ovulation microscopes. Urine ovulation tests detect the sudden, brief surge in luteinizing hormone that takes place just days before ovulation. Ovulation scopes let you to know when you are fertile by detecting a more gradual increase in the hormone estrogen (which occurs a number of days before ovulation).

The Ovulation Calendar Method: The ovulation calendar strategy is a mode of fertility charting that helps you perceive patterns in fertile and non-fertile times of the month. The ovulation calendar involves keeping a written record and helps you predict ovulation by knowing the history of your cycles and seeing an overall 'fertility gestalt'. Looking at a few months of data, you can perform a quick mathematical computation to learn when you will most likely conceive.