The best way to determine if you are ovulating is to chart your basal body temperature. Basal body temperature is the temperature of your body at rest. Taking your temperature first thing in the morning, before you get out of bed, eat, drink or go to the bathroom will give you the most accurate basal body temperature. When charting your bbt (basal body temperature) you will want to purchase a special thermometer called a basal body temperature thermometer. It records temperatures to the tenth degree and is the most precise thermometer. By charting your temperatures you can see patterns in your menstrual cycle and hopefully determine when you ovulate.
During the first part of a woman's menstrual cycle basal body temperatures will be lower. The first half of your menstrual cycle is called the follicular phase. Right before ovulation you will have a slight drop in temperature followed by a sharp rise in temperature. Not all women will have a drop in temperature before ovulation but if you notice your temperature drop, you should start having intercourse then.
Around the time of ovulation, you will see a rise in temperature. By the time you notice this rise in temperature, you have already ovulated. That is why charting works best when done for a few months. What you are looking for is a rise in temperature of about .4 degrees or more. If you have ovulated your temperature will remain higher. If your temperature remains higher for three days or more, then you can assume you have ovulated.
Most reproductive specialists will tell you to try for 1 year and if still not pregnant then come back and see them.
fertilityfriend.com is a site that has excellent charting tools that can help you. It is free, you can pay for the membership where you get some extra bells and whistles but its not necessary.
You can use an OPK (ovulation predictor kit) but they get kind of expensive and a lot of time you wont get a positive due to bad timing. You have to take them at the right time. It is best to wait until you have an idea of when you ovulate and use them a few days before, the day of and the day after that way you dont have to waste money. I used mine at around 2-4 in the afternoon. I also used the clear blue easy digital because it gives you a smile if you are, a blank circle if you arent. The other kind where you have to decipher the lines are way to confusing and its hard to tell which line is darker.
Oh yeah, If you want to spend a tad more money (about $100) you can get the clear blue easy fertility monitor. You pee on it every day and it tells you what days you are fertile and what days you arent. It usually takes a couple cycles before it adjusts to your particular body.
Good luck!How do I know if I'm fertile? Do I get those kits from the market, or directly seek expert advice?
I personally would seek expert advice, if those kits come back wrong (they regularly do) it will play on your mind forever.
If you go to your doctors they can also do more than one test just to double check, and give you a blood test.
They wont do anything that hurts - I don't know exactly what they do but they may decide to do a smear test also just to make sure theres no unusual discharge or infections.
I hope it all goes well but remember this for the future - if in doubt seek an expert!
blood tests, baby dust to u
I would try an ovulation kit first.
The best way for me is to seek expert advice. I was TTC last year and went in for regular check ups with my doctor. She would do transvaginal ultrasounds to monitor the ovaries to see if any of the eggs are maturing, then when the time is right, she'll do a blood test to check the level of your hormones and will tell you when your most fertile date is.
I got pregnant after just two months of this procedure. Good luck!
you get alllloooot alot alot of discharge from your vagina and you could try a kit but look for discharge and then take an ovulation test. try going to dr amy and it says when you should be ovulating and start recording everytime and for how long you get a period.
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