What is the point of temping?

I'm going to try it next month -I even bought the special thermometer (is that necessary?). Anyway, I know you get a spike in your temp after you O, so, is it just to confirm that you did in fact O? What good does this do me? Any tips or advice? TIA!!

Re: What is the point of temping?

Helps to you to learn your cycle so you can confirm what day you O'd. Its very helpful to me because over a time I saw a pattern. (for me its not good though as I know I have a short luteal phase).

Re: What is the point of temping?

Do you mind telling me how you established you have a short luteal phase by temping? I feel like such a dummy.

What is the point of temping?

I would definitely recommend temping. It's the only way to know what day you actaully O on. I got PG the month I temped.

You need a basal thermometer. Take your temperature the same time every day and record it in an app like fertility friend. Fertility Friend has a temping video tutorial, I would watch that, it gives you all the basics in a few minutes and will explain to you want you are looking for.

We BD every day until I had a temp raise and than a day or two after to make sure we caught it. Between that and OPKs I was confident I covered by O date.

Re: What is the point of temping?

Sure... your temps are usually low before you O. So pre-O my temps were usually around 97-97.4 degrees. Once you do O, the next day your temp will rise (mine usually around 98-98.3) and will stay high until your AF comes when your temp drops again. Fertility Friend (the app I use) is usually pretty good at pinpointing my O day. I have short cycles, usually around 22-24 days, but my O day is around CD 14-16 days so most cycles I find myself with an 8 day LP (when ideally it should be around 12 days or more).

If you want to confirm O in addition to temping, you can check CM or use OPK's.

What is the point of temping?

Your luteal phase is the time between O and Day 1 of full flow.

It is consistent from month to month (for the most part).

So no matter what CD you Ovulate (which can vary) you will always have a X day luteal phase in order words, you will get your period in X days.

Re: What is the point of temping?

Thanks, ladies. This is all good advice. Right now I just use FF to track my cycles, but I will look into using it (or the other app jessnbrian suggested on the other link).

Can I ask a follow up question? If your luteal phase is always the same length, why is your cycle different or irregular (as mine is). I mean, I'm pretty regular, I can go long some cycles, but I think stress plays a large part.

What is the point of temping?

It means that you ovulate on different cycle days - so one month you might o on cd 14, the next on cd18, next cd20... There are a lot of things that could change your O day, including stress, illness, even a change in environment and the women around you. The cycle I got pregnant, I wasn't tracking my O w/ the CBEFM that month, and it looks as though I o'd on CD 25ish, which was about 4 days late for me.

What is the point of temping?

Irregular cycles don't really mean much, except that it's harder to track and DTD when you are o'ing.... What matters more is that your LP is long enough.

What is the point of temping?

I don't know the exact science behind it, but the reason your cycle length may vary is because your follicular stage (time before Ovulation) can vary in length, thus causing your O date to vary. Luteal phase is almost always consistent.

Re: What is the point of temping?

Thanks for bearing with me, ladies. I feel like maybe one of the reasons why this isn't working is because of my own ignorance about this stuff. I have to figure it out.

Re: What is the point of temping?

Message edited 7/22/2014 4:42:45 PM.

What is the point of temping?

I used temping to confirm O and CBEFM to predict when I was going to O so I knew when to BD.

What is the point of temping?

I used the CBE digital OPK for a long time while ttc my first. When we were trying for our second I tried temping too. It worked for me the first month, everything went exactly as I read it should and got a bfp but it ended in a chemical. I kept it up for another month or two and realized that just tracking my symptoms and using opks was giving me accurate info so I didn't feel the need to continue. I went back to just opks and conceived again not long after. If you're just using ff or an app I would suggest the OPK first. I found it so much easier, less stressful, and less confusing than the temping was.

What is the point of temping?

When I was ttc, I temped vaginally, every morning before moving out of bed. It's more accurate that way. I then logged temps into FF. I also monitored cervical mucus. There's also a tutorial on FF about the consistency and what to look for. Those were the easiest things for me to determine exact date of ovulation, to know when to BD.

What is the point of temping?

I recommend tracking cervical fluid to help determine when you are actually ramping up to ovulation vs. guessing based on your historical pattern based on temping (since you can randomly ovulate early or late any month). A quick internet search would suffice to learn how to read cervical fluid, but if you have the time, "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" explains temping and cervical fluid changes. Tracking cervical fluid is super easy and no stress.