[Sugaree]

I'm on my fourth day of charting and I'm seeing a nice coverline starting to develop around 97.7 F. However, I'm concerned that I'm not doing it right. I've always had somewhat disordered sleep patterns. At the moment I have a bad habit of waking off and on throughout the night. It's never for very long, usually just long enough to look at the clock, realize I still have lots of precious sleep time left, and go back to sleep. I also tend to wake up 30-60 mins before the alarm goes off and lay in bed going over what I need to do that day. More than likely I drift in and out of sleep during this time. I never get out of bed until the alarm actually goes off and then I hit the snooze button for 5 minutes of snuggle time with SO. This is when I've been temping. Is this going to cause distortion in my charts or is it okay since I'm doing it the same way every day?

[ThaiSpice]

Ideally I think it would be as soon as you woke up, rather than after laying in bed partially awake for some period of time. Consistency is definitely important, though, so if you are doing it exactly the same way and at the same time every day (before talking, getting up, eating/drinking, etc), you are probably fine. I think that once you've got a month of charting under your belt, you may have a better idea if you're getting accurate enough temps. If you are able to detect a thermal shift after ovulation, I wouldn't worry too much about each individual temp, if that makes sense.

[CrochetingMama]

Urgh. This is my first month temping, and I just cannot remember to do it before I get up. So I generally get up, go to the bathroom, come back in to lay down again...curse and grab the thermometer. LOL! The temps I'm getting are within .2 of eachother, though.

[ThaiSpice]

I hear ya...my first month was like that. It just takes a while to become habit.

[Sugaree]

Thanks for the info. I assume that as long as it's fairly consistant I'll be okay. I think the one morning that I actually slept to the alarm was lower than the rest, so maybe it has something to do with that. What I'm finding funny is that my whole life my normal temperature has run high. Every time I went to the Dr. I had to explain that it's not low-grade fever, I'm just normally in the 99.0-99.3 range. The temps I'm getting now are consistantly lower than average. So weird.

[Purple_cat]

Just stick with it and see what your chart ends up looking like this month. I do believe that it takes a couple months to get the hang of charting and learn what a normal pattern looks like for you. If you consistently wake up an hour before your alarm goes off you could try temping then instead. Also post a link to your chart so we can watch it with you.

[captivate]

I've been charting too long...... I noticed I could easily go 5 hours difference in when I wake for the morning but I had to take temp before I moved much.

I'm vaginal tempting at the moment. Gross for some but important to me because in 3 days I've noticed much better temps than years ago when I orally tempted.

[Jeanie915]

Snuggling might throw your temp off. If you absorb SO's body heat before you temp you might not have a clear jump when you do O. But consistency is the key. Good luck!

[LPNMOMMY84]

I find that if I wake within the same hour, dont talk, reach for the therm and take it, it usually is ok. Shawn comes in though to say bye and moves me and nuzzles me and talks to me and I want to punch him lmao. as long as your fairly consistent and get a few good hours before temping, you should be ok. You will know if things are inaccurate, you will get zig zag temps, high then low and so on

[lelila]

Your body temp is lowest during the middle of the night and gets higher toward morning. Once you wake up and start moving around it will drop. It only raises during the day if you are physically active.

I've temped at 3 AM and my temp was 94.5, but I take my temp the moment I wake up, even if it's a little earlier or later than my normal wake time. My pre-O temps are between 96.5 and 97.5 but my post-O tempts are between 98.0 and 98.6

That being said, we have a waterbed and during the winter we heat it. My temps are 1 -2 degrees higher when the heat is on.

[Sugaree]

I added my chart to my signature (I hope) so anyone who feels the urge can take a look at it. On the bright side, it seems that the witch is on her way out of town so let the BDing begin!

[ThaiSpice]

^ So far, so good! I think after a month of charting, you'll be able to get a feel for how things affect your temperature, and if what you're doing is working well enough to detect a thermal shift.