One of the best things about Ovatel is that it gives you a 5 day fertility window. It tells you when you are most fertile and likely to get pregnant each cycle. You will be able to time intercourse in order to optimize your chances. What you cannot do with the scope is confirm that ovulation has indeed occurred. That is what the basal body temperature method – or BBT – is for.
The basal body method allows you to see when your ovulation window has ended. You will see a rise in temperature that means that ovulation is done and that you have 14-16 days until you can take a home pregnancy test and your period is due. It will also tell you if your luteal phase is healthy enough to actually conceive or not. The key to learning this information is to learn how to take your BBT correctly.
Learning the Proper BBT Method
There are rules to BBT that are very important to be able to determine that ovulation is over and when it happened. This will also show you that your Ovatel is picking up your fertility window. The first and most important rule is to make sure to take your temperature first thing in the morning as soon as you wake up. You will also need a BBT thermometer that is specifically designed for this as it reads the slightest temperature change and to the hundredth degree.
Every single morning you are going to want to take your BBT at the exactly same time. This is because you want a consistent chart to look at. You will do nothing else before you take your temperature. Make sure not to drink, eat, kiss your husband, or even go to the bathroom. You can even keep your chart next to your bedside with your thermometer so you can go back to sleep after you recorded it. Once you choose a time that works for you every day of the week, then you will have to choose a place to take your temperature. Yes, there is more than one location.
You can choose to basal body temperature either vaginal or orally. Each one has benefits to the user. Taking your BBT orally is a lot less messy when you are on your period, as you can well imagine. You will simply place the thermometer under your tongue and wait for it to beep a response. The cons to this method is that if you are a frequent night waker or sleep with your mouth open, then you will not get a very accurate chart. Your temperatures may be misleading and that can make it hard to confirm ovulation.
The other way to take your BBT is to do it vaginally. While it can be a bit messier during your period, it is nothing that a wipe cannot fix. The benefits definitely out way the one con by a mile. You will not have to worry about night waking, sleeping with your mouth open, or your temperatures giving you a crazy looking chart. You will get a much more accurate chart that will be much easier to see when ovulation has occurred.
How to Chart Your Temperature
You need to actually chart or write down your temperatures if you want to actually confirm your ovulation. The point is to see the thermal shift that occurs right after ovulation happens. You will see the shift of at least 0.20 degree to up to 1.0 degree the day after ovulation has happened.
For the first half of your chart you will see nothing spectacular. As ovulation approaches and your Ovatel is showing ferning, your temps might even dip lower than normal. Depending on how you take your BBT, your temperatures can range from the high 96 area to as high as the low 98’s. Once ovulation has occurred and you see a spike that lasts for over 3 days in a row, you can assume that ovulation has happened. This will also be confirmed by the lack of ferning on your Ovatel scope. The normal temperature range during the luteal phase is between the low 98’s and 99’s.
When you use a chart with a graph, such as MyCycleDiary, you will be able to see this temperature jump very easily. The average luteal phase is approximately 12 – 16 days long. Anything lower can make conception hard or indicate a progesterone deficiency. Once you have charted for three cycles in a row, you will be able to see and predict when ovulation will occur.
Adjusting BBT to Fit Your Life
There are couple cheats you need to know about when taking your basal body temperature. You need to know that you have a two hour window to adjust your temperatures when you get up too early or late. Wow! Who knew? The best way to pick the time you want to temp each day is to look at a four hour window of the earliest and latest you tend to rise each morning. Select the time in the dead center as your temp time. This allows you to adjust your temp if you have to get up early or late for some reason, but it will still be accurate.
An example would be if you wake up no earlier than 5 AM or later than 9 AM, set your temping time to 7 AM. This allows you to adjust easily. Subtract 0.10 degree for every 30 minutes that you wake late, up to 2 hours late. This is because the later you sleep; the higher your temperature is first thing in the morning. If you wake up early, add 0.10 degree for every 30 minutes. Your temp is lower when in deeper sleep, so you would be cooler than your wake up time normally.