Tracking one's fertility used to involve a lot of graphing, line-drawing, and above-all, early morning temperature readings. Some of these activities are still popular, but with the advent of easy-to-use phone apps and computer software, more and more women are using online or phone-based fertility charting software.
One thing to think about before you choose is how intensely you want to track your fertility: many women who haven't tried for very long may choose to use a simple app that just helps them remember how close they are to an estimated ovulation date based on a standard 28-day cycle. Other women want to make sure they are getting accurate Basal Body Temperature every day and tracking each month compared to past months. Both kinds of tracking are possible with these modern day fertility charting methods.
Options for Modern Day Fertility Charting
Want a browser-based and app-based fertility chart that will let you really geek out about the next time you ovulate? MyFertilityCharts is the answer you've been looking for. Their free version is much like other fertility charting apps and software, but premium features help you to synthesize information like cervical mucus, BBT, and symptoms through a variety of analytical methods and with interesting "shading" features that allow you to identify over time your best cycle statistics.
This app is possibly the most popular of all fertility trackers, with free and paid versions as well. The paid version connects you to discussion forums as well as to analysis engines that can help you understand timing of intercourse and possibly note a pregnancy earlier than you might otherwise. The app also advises you, with the free version even, of when to take a pregnancy test, which can help a lot when you are antsy and just want to take one even if it isn't likely to be conclusive. Their many years of experience and responses to women who are tracking their ovulation has made this the go-to option for those who both want substantive charting and a casual tracker in one.
If you prefer a desktop or laptop interface, Ovusoft is well-regarded as a software that will do the calculations for you after you input each day's temperatures. While Ovusoft can be used online, it's a good option if you don't have home internet, and one of the interesting features it offers is the ability to change the level of "emphasis" that each symptom (things like mucus or BBT) has in the prediction of when you will ovulate. If you have done extensive ovulation research, or tend to ovulate at abnormal times, this software can help you pinpoint based on your preferred methods of prediction.
This simple, free app does a good job offering features for tracking anything you can think of while using its predictive algorithm to identify the best days to predict as ovulation days. It also comes with substantial forums, original content related to fertility, and an upbeat, colorful interface. It is quite popular as both a basic period tracker and as a way to keep track of your BBT, but it has less substantial predictive modeling than some of these other softwares and apps.
Ladytimer offers a way to easily and quickly track your basal body temperature and time that your periods arrive. Most women found it more effective, however, as a period tracker and as a source of information (they have a trivia section), rather than as a comprehensive choice for those who really want to note major changes in BBT and pinpoint ovulation to a very technical degree.
By using one of these modern fertility charting apps, you can save yourself some precious minutes in the early morning when charting, as well as keeping track in a mobile format that allows you to access your data and compare it to the past. The more you learn using a modern day fertility charting application, the more you are able to accurately pinpoint the important moments in your monthly cycle. Many women feel empowered by the ability to analyze remote changes in BBT and cervical mucus each month; during a process that can feel a little arbitrary like TTC, it can be very comforting to optimize your intercourse timing with fertility charting.