Why is BBT important in your TTC journey?

BBT or your basal body temperature is your body temperature at rest, charting the changes in your BBT daily can help to indicate when ovulation has occurred and when used in conjunction with CM (cervical mucus) and even OPK (ovulation prediction kit) it can often show quite clearly when you are the most fertile in your cycle.

During your cycle your BBT will fluctuate only slightly provided of course there are no other circumstances creating temperature fluctuations (we will go into this a little further down) however in the hours prior to ovulation your temperature will take a slight dip and then will raise to typically up to 1 degree higher than the previous couple of days and stay raised for at least 3 days. It is that rise in temperature; which occurs dues to an increased production of progesterone that indicates that ovulation has in fact occurred, this spike in temperature will continue to stay up until progesterone starts to drop indicating implantation did not occur and the body is getting ready for menses or in the case of pregnancy it will continue to stay raised. It is recommended that you chart each day of your cycle for at least 2-3 months to get a true indication of your ovulation patterns, once you have a couple of months of charting you can look for these patterns in your cycle, for example a rise or fall of temperature at the same time each month. This information in conjunction with OPK’s and your CM can give you a greater understanding of your cycle and allow you to be aware of your most fertile times of the month. For a step by step on how to chart your Basal Body Temperature (BBT) and more information about charting during TTC download our FREE brochure by clicking image below.