NFP Experts: Help!

vanessahurd

I've been practicing NFP for the past several months and love it, save one dilemma: I never wake up at the same time. I have my alarm set 6:45am, which is the time I consistently take my basal body temperature, but the time I wake up varies between an hour to two hours before, but it's never the same. So my question is, will my chart be more accurate if I take my temperature first thing when I wake up, even if the times are inconsistent? or is it better to keep taking it at the same time every morning, regardless of whether or not I've been awake in bed for a while? When I do wake up before my alarm goes off, I don't get out of bed or move around too much, just lay there half-asleep/half-awake. Please help! Thanks girls

meltoine

It's not so much your activity that affects it. I mean, obviously if you got up and went running or drank hot coffee, it wouldn't be accurate.

Your body temperature is at it's lowest between 5am and 7am. It rises steadily after 7am until about noon, and it stays pretty constant after that until it dips again after midnight. 

As long as you're not too active in while you're laying in bed in the morning, it shouldn't make a difference.

Are you noticing a clear thermal shift in your charts now? If you are having trouble interpreting your charts, I would try to make some changes to your routine. But, if you are having no problem reading them, I wouldn't worry about it. 

ExpatPumpkin

I set my alarm and take my temperature earlier than I ever get up - at the same time every morning - because my wake up times vary so much as well...  Then I quickly jot it down (pen and paper are on my nightstand for that purpose) and go back to sleep.  I log the data later.

The point of taking your BBT is to get the reading before you do anything - even get out of bed to use the restroom - so I would imagine that it's best to do it at the same time every morning.  

Also, think about it:  why/how would what you do AFTER taking your temperature - getting up immediately or two hours later, for example - affect your BBT?  Whether you're sleeping or running a mile at 8AM won't change what your BBT was at 6:45AM.  And that's the point

Good luck figuring it all out!  I'm still trying to decipher my CF/CM

kikibird

I also wake at different times, but usually within an hour to hour and a half of a range (5:30-7:00 am usually).  I take my temperature as soon as I'm aware that I'm awake, and I don't move any more than I have to (i.e., roll over to grab the thermometer, and that's about it).  You want to get the temperature immediately, at least to start.  Maybe with time you'll see that your temperature doesn't change much if you're awake for a bit (like if you took your temperature twice each morning to compare), but I would think that when you're awake your body starts going into more action than when you're stone cold asleep... and it's that base temperature that you want.  

When i first started charting (I record using fertilityfriend.com) I would get a lot of open circles -- meaning my times were too far off.  Over time my body got used to waking up around the same time, so there might be a 45 minute variance but I get solid circles almost all the time now.

Maybe you should set your alarm earlier (like pp suggested), say, for 6:00 am, take your temp and then snooze until 6:45, so that you can catch yourself more often right out of sleep.

bel138

I use the alarm on my phone and have the option of setting more than one alarm. Of course, you could do this with two alarm clocks too. I have a daily alarm set for 5am. I take my temp at this time every day, except for the rare instances that I need to get up earlier (curse you, surgerical electives!). I set the other alarm for the real time I need to get up.

There is some debate as to whether a particular time or a particular number of hours sleeping are more accurate. I find that my temps don't change much whether I've been asleep for 4 or 8 hours, as long as I hit the minimum 3 hours. Some other ladies can see a difference.

vanessahurd

Thanks for all your input! Maybe I will try setting my alarm a little earlier (begrudgingly so). It hasn't seemed to affect my readings too much. I was just paranoid and wanted to make doubly sure that I was doing it correctly because as it stands now, it looks like I'll be "highly fertile" throughout our entire 5-day honeymoon...agh! :S

agapecarrie

Try another method if temping doesn't work for you. Marquette, Creighton, and billings do not use temperature. Temp is a secondary observation, not the main one.

Calypso1977

when i first started, i did the 530am alarm so i'd take it at the same time.  then as i started to see the patterns developing, and my ovulation day appeared to be the same each month (within a day or two) i started just taking it wehn i wake up, which like you, varies by maybe an hour or so each day.  I saw no change in patterns so now i dont set the alarm for that early anymore.  for some gals, the consistency time of day matters.

ive even started experimenting wtih taking it before or after my morning bathroom trip.  no difference. aagain, for some, it may increase the temp if you go pee first.  for me it doesnt.

lauraNkieran

My alarm goes off at 7 every day.  I used to turn the alarm off on the weekends but once I started temping I left it on.  Now once it goes off I turn it off, reach up for the therm. and put it back once it beeps.  It has a memory so I jot it down after the fact - don't even have to open my eyes lol.  I use fertility friend onlne to keep track of everything and taking it at the same time every day helps.