Community post

I HIGHLY recommend the book Taking Charge of your Fertility
http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Your-Fertility-Anniversary/dp/0060881909/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329519362&sr=1-1
I got a BBT from walmart in the pharmacy section for about $8. It was pink and white and had a memory function. I set my alarm for 30 minutes before my normal wake-up time (this just helped me be consistent). I kept the thermometer under my pillow. First thing every morning (before you get out of bed, got the bathroom, etc), is to take your temperature. You need to do it at the same time EVERY morning. If it's more than 90 minutes late/early, the temp doesn't count. You need to do it after a period of 4+ straight hours of sleep. If you BBT has a memory function you can take your temp and then record it later in the day. So if i woke up 1 hour before my alarm and needed to pee, i could take my temp and record it later. Since 1 hour of more sleep wouldn't have given a good temp.

I charted my temp here, at fertilityfriend.com and tcoyf.com because sometimes one works better than others in my opinion. You should try and start day one of your cycle (the first day of AF flow (enough to need a pad or tampon). That way you get a better picture of your whole cycle. Your temp will bounce around a lot, that's OK. But in general, once AF starts your temp drops and stays low until you O. Then your temp jumps .3-1 degree and stays high until AF comes again.