[Coley]

Ok, this may be a bit of a long post... So be warned. LOL!!

Started charting temps back on 8/31/08. Charted through mid January, when we moved. Moving threw off my schedule and everything, so I kinda let it stay on the back burner until we got settled in the new house. Now that we're settled, I pulled out my copy of TCOYF and my old temps, which I had not actually "charted".

A little history... at my heaviest, I weighed 210 lbs and had some pretty serious digestive issues that the doctors were never able to identify even after a myriad of tests. I'm now about 129 lbs and almost all of the digestive issues have pretty much faded. The weight loss was due to the digestive issues, food running through my body very quickly, LOTS of bm's throughout the day, etc.

Back to the temps. Saturday I charted them all out and, man were they all over the place! Granted... these were temps from months ago and may not necessarily be indicative of what is going on with my body now. But, that being said, I saw a chart or two with no noticeable Thermal Shift, I saw charts where my temps dropped back down to pre-ov temps, the temps seem so erratic that I couldn't even determine how or where to place my cover line.

After looking at the "normal" charts of other women, I could clearly see where the spike in temp was and the sustained temps for the rest of their cycle til AF or BFP. I don't see the sustained temps on my old charts. I don't even see a clear day, every cycle, where my temp rises enough to pick out ovulation.

I've started my charting again, as I started bleeding on Saturday (so I thought ok, here's day 1), although there's hardly any trace of it now, which is not normal for me. The only consistent thing seems to be my temp on the 1st day of AF... it's almost always 97.5

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has had temps/charts anything like mine. I'm worried that maybe I'm not ovulating, although there have been months where I'm all but positive I felt the egg break through, taking turns on each ovary over the months. I remember feeling the same pain on my left side last week. So, if an egg is breaking through, why wouldn't my temps stay up? Could something be wrong with my luteal phase?

All thoughts and/or suggestions are appreciated!

[kruff79]

It's a lot easier for us to help if we can see a chart. Most of the women here use the free version of Fertility Friend online. You plug in your info and the program sets up your chart for you. Personally I liked the program from Ivillage (also free) but it was more accurate for me.

[sjkduke]

Are you able to post a link to your chart???

Before you ovulate, it's very normal to have temps all over the place. Also remember that every cycle is different, so what may be normal for you one month, may not be the norm the next.

Hang in there! Please post a link if you can!

[Coley]

Ok ladies... I'm gonna try to post the link from FF...

BUT... be warned, it's all freaky and you'll have to look back at the OLD charts to see the stuff I'm talking about because my new chart is only 4 days old.

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/26ef23

[ShawnaCAN]

Originally Posted by Coley

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has had temps/charts anything like mine. I'm worried that maybe I'm not ovulating, although there have been months where I'm all but positive I felt the egg break through, taking turns on each ovary over the months. I remember feeling the same pain on my left side last week. So, if an egg is breaking through, why wouldn't my temps stay up? Could something be wrong with my luteal phase?

You're right, it does look like you have several annovulatory charts there. But there might be a few reasons for that.

First of all, being overweight can affect your fertility. Fat cells store your hormones, and so with an abundance of fat cells - the hormones can be really confused. At a healthy weight, your hormones are more balanced. So if your weight loss is very recent, you might begin to see an improvement in your cycles!

Secondly, stress affects your fertility. Weight loss is a physical stress on the body. It's healthy, but it's still a time of transition that can make your fertility go "What the heck is going on???" Illness can do the same thing. Once you maintain a consistent weight over time, you may start to see your cycles improve. How long has it been since you stopped losing weight?

As for pain, that is not proof of ovulation. You can feel pain if your body is trying to ovulate. It's from the follicles in the ovaries being stimulated, but it doesn't guarantee that one will be released. You can also feel pain when the egg is released, and you can feel pain in the days after ovulation from the fallopian tubes contracting to propel the egg towards the uterus. It's impossible to know which process is causing the pain, so only charting the mucus pattern and/or temps can be used as evidence that an attempt at ovulation was successful or not.

Hope that helps!

[Coley]

ShawnaCan - A lot of what you said makes sense. I stopped "losing" weight about 3 months ago... my weight has pretty much remained the stable since, give or take a lb or two. I do have A LOT less stress now than I did then as well.

It's funny... last night, while laying in bed waiting to fall asleep, I started thinking back about this previous cycle (one I did not chart). The more I thought about it, the more I think there were signs that I confused.

I thought O time had passed already... and I remember there being days where I REALLY felt like I was "leaking", but I don't recall it being clear like egg white, so it never occurred to me that it could be fertile fluid. I could almost swear it was a few days after that, that I remember feeling that pain on my left side. Not saying it definitely was an O pain... but the timing seemed curious at the very least.

[ShawnaCAN]

Yeah, if you only just stopped losing weight 3 months ago - I'd give it another month or two to see what happens. The effects of a big stress like that can linger for a few months.

And yes, feeling wet is caused by cervical mucus - even if there isn't enough to see! What you feel is just as important as what you see. More important actually.

[Coley]

Thanks so much for all of your help!! You've got some great Chart-Eyes!! LOL!!

I am definitely keeping an eye on cervical fluid, position and texture going forward. It has been made more clear to me now that temps only tell a small part of the story.