Charting Newbie

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone. I am excited to say that I am going off birth control at the end of this pack and will begin charting immediately. Just to be clear, since I am such a newbie, Day 1 is the first day that I have a full menstrual bleed?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

correct! best of luck and remember.. the first monoth (or more!) after the pill you may not have a "regular" cycle so just keep charting!!

[Anonymous]

Yes, Day 1 is the first day of your period. You don't have to start temping until your period is over, however.

[Anonymous]

There is no reason to wait to start temping. I would start now to get in the habit.

I purchased the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility and used the software that was part of the book (I think it is a $30 activation charge after a 30 day trial period).

I found using the software very easy and it helped remind me to take my temp every day.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the advice. I started charting today. So my alarm is set for 6:30 am and I planned on temping then. But the birds woke me up at 5:30 - is it okay to still temp at 6:30 as long as I don't get out of bed and do something...just basically dozing for an hour?

[Anonymous]

I would go ahead and take the temp at 5:30 and keep in mind it could be up to a degree lower than the temps at 6:30. I think taking it after an hour of being awake would be less accurate.

[Anonymous]

I agree with pp. It has been awhile since I had to chart, but I think it is more important to record your temp right after you awake than to record it at the exact same time every day.