Basal temperature measurement is an effective and handy method to increase your chances of getting pregnant. How to do it, what kind of thermometer to use and how to interpret a graph are in the article.
During a month, our body undergoes many changes related to the menstrual cycle. As our hormonal profile varies, so does our body temperature (called basal temperature -TB, i.e. body temperature early in the morning, right after waking up) depending on key moments of the menstrual cycle, such as ovulation. Thus, shortly before, during ovulation, and shortly after this period, the body temperature increases by 0.15 -0.5 degrees Celsius. It means, in total, between 12 and 16 days. The temperature should start to drop on the first day of the cycle.
At the beginning of the menstrual period, the basal temperature level is 36.1 degrees Celsius to 36.38 degrees Celsius. However, if your temperature is higher during this period and you notice that month after month this is repeated, do not worry. Your body probably produces more progesterone, which influences the basal temperature level. Immediately after the menstrual cycle ends, you will notice how the temperature drops. It is important that the temperature values keep a rule from month to month.
When does ovulation occur?
Why does it help to know your basal temperature? Ovulation usually occurs a day before the basal temperature starts to rise. But there are exceptions, when the egg is released a few days before or a day after. If the temperature, at its maximum, remained like that for three days, it means that the egg was not fertilized. If the temperature remains high for more than two weeks then the stork brings good signs. The temperature remains high until the beginning of the 2nd trimester of pregnancy.
Steps to follow
The thermometer must have divisions of 0.05 degrees C
For the measurements to be more accurate, you need a special glass thermometer, which has smaller divisions of 0.05 degrees Celsius. Body thermometers have fewer divisions, so you won’t be able to accurately capture slight increases. If the mercury stops between two lines, write down the lower value.
Why does it vary?
Hormonal changes are responsible for the temperature variations of our body. Thus, in the period before ovulation, our body produces estrogen, which results in a drop in temperature. At ovulation, another female hormone, progesterone, enters the scene, which leads to an increase in basal temperature. As the secretion of progesterone stops, the basal temperature also decreases.
