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If you are interested in the basal body temperature then it means that you would like to get pregnant and you want to know when you have your fertile window. If you chart your temperature for a few months you will see a pattern and you will be able to make predictions.

When to start charting your BBT?

According to the fertility specialists it is best to start taking your BBT on the first day of your menstrual cycle. This is easy to determine even if you have irregular periods because this is the day when your menstrual period begins. You could use this temperature as basis for comparison.

At what time?

If you are thinking about BBT charting you should know that your temperature could rise or fall 0.1 degrees in half an hour if you don’t measure it at the right time. This is why it is very important to take your temp about the same time every day.

This means that if you take your basal body temperature at 6 a.m. during the weekdays, you have to do the same in the weekends as well, or you will have to make adjustments. Log the time when you took your temperature to know what kinds of adjustments you will have to make.

The thermometer

When thinking about BBT measuring you could use a digital thermometer or a traditional glass thermometer, but it is best if you use a special BBT thermometer. No matter which one you choose, it is important to always have at hand the same thermometer.

In case you use a traditional thermometer to take your basal body temperature make sure that you shake the thermometer down and that you wait at least five minutes before you take a look at the results. In case of the digital thermometers wait for the beeping sound and then don’t round up the results.

How to take the BBT?

The truth is that you could use any of the methods to take your temp. This means that you could take it vaginally or orally. The main point is to make sure that you are consistent with the method that you choose during the entire period when you are charting your body temp.

Morning temperature

In case you are thinking about your basal body temperature it is very important to take it right after you wake up. This is because the body temperature starts fluctuating when you start moving around. In case you wake up in the middle of the night and then you return to bed, you should sleep for 3 hours to get accurate results in the morning.

If you want to log your BBT but for some reason you have to wake up earlier than scheduled, you should take your temp when you wake up and not at the time when you were supposed to wake up.

Now you know all about charting your basal body temperature. Keep in mind that the most important thing is to be consistent with whatever method you choose for charting.