Some Temping Q's

[VillainV]

This is our first cycle TTC. I've been using Fertility Friend website to chart, and I have some questions about charting temps.

1. FF said it's important to take my temp immediately when I wake up, before getting out of bed, and that this should be at the same time every day. The problem is that I don't wake up at the same time every day! I generally wake up anytime between 4 and 7. What's more, this morning I checked my temp at 4 and again at 6, and there was a .2 degree (Celsius) difference, which is pretty big. How important is it to temp at the same time every day?

2. The only thermometer we could find at our local drug store in the UK reads in C, and it reads in 0.1 degree increments. I read that most "fertility" thermometers read in 0.1 degree FAHRENHEIT increments (which is much smaller than 0.1 degree Celsius). Should I get a different thermometer?

3. While I'm looking at new thermometers, does anyone have one that has a backlit display and doesn't beep? The combination of turning on my reading light to check the readout, and the incessant beeping, is waking my husband up (sometimes at 4am, which he doesn't seem to appreciate).

Thanks in advance!

[Cheesecake]

1: I actually set my alarm to temp at the earliest time I'll need to get up. Take my temp, which takes 10 secs, then go back to sleep until my real alarm goes off (yay for phones that can handle multiple alarms.)

2: I get enough of a difference with my .1 C to notice spikes and such, but I do need to temp at the same time. Indeed 2 hours can be .2 difference and my spike is usually about .2 as well, so that could screw things up.

3: no great ideas here. Mine beeps incessantly as well and isn't backlit. If it's already light out, I can easily read it in a milisecond and turn it off so the beeping stops. If it's still dark out that's difficult. Mine does have a memory function, but it needs to finish beeping for it to memorize. What I usually do in that case is actually hold it under our comforter until it finishes beeping. It muffles the sound enough that it doesn't wake up DH and then I can just access the memory from a well lit room once I get up.

Fortunately my DH is good with waking up and falling back to sleep, so if I screw up, he usually doesn't even remember that he woke up from it.

Good luck!

[thoseareradishes]

Setting an alarm for the earliest you usually wake up is a good idea. Unfortunately, it did not work for me! I slept really poorly my first month temping. It was the anticipation of the alarm going off, not wanting to wake H, etc. So month 2 I just took my temp whenever I woke up, which was usually between 4 and 5:30am. I still got a clear temp shift, so I guess it worked for me, but you'll have to experiment and see what works for you.

See if you can get a thermometer that will save the last temp. That way you can record it when you get up for real in the morning. Sticking it under the comforter or pillow does help with the beeping.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Oh, I think Fertility Friend will record your chart in Celsius.

[VillainV]

FF does record a temps in C, I was just worried that I'm looking for a 0.2 degree shift on a thermometer that only measures in 0.1 degree increments, when my temp seems to vary 0.2 degrees or more in only a few hours....I guess my confidence in my thermometer is kind of low....

[statlerwaldorf]

My temp varies a lot and waking up at the same time was very important. I had to set an alarm for the same time each day even if I went back to sleep after taking it. Mine saves the last temp, so it wasn't a big deal.

[Jalapeñomel]

You need to take your temp around the same time every morning. Your Celsius thermometer should be just fine.

[VillainV]

Thanks so much for answering my questions! I just downloaded the FertilityFriend iPhone app, and it seems that you can use it to set an alarm to wake yourself up at the same time every day to take your temp, then immediately log it using the app. Maybe the light of my iPhone will be enough to read the thermometer without using my reading light? Worth a try anyway:-)