Boston Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
~JCam~
This is probably a really dumb question, but because I am new to charting I have to ask....why doesn't it predict any fertile days for me? Is it just too early to tell? Do you mind looking at it??? Thanks.
Re: ~JCam~
Since you haven't had a chart with FF yet that shows ovulation, it doesn't have anything to go by. I believe you said you don't plan on temping at first? If that is the case, it won't be able to determine an ovulation date for you. If you do temp, and chart your CM, it will detect when you ovulate (so long as you do) and from there determine a pattern for the following cycles.
However, if you don't have the VIP version, it won't be able to predict it no matter what.
Either way, I wouldn't rely on that. Personally, my O date varies each cycle. It has been anywhere from cd19 to cd31. If FF predicts a fertile time, it will be a 5 day range (I think) so that wouldn't do me any good.
Have you read Taking Charge of Your Fertility? It is SOOO informative about all of this, and you don't have to read the whole thing to learn it. Just the first section teaches you how to chart, then after that it gets into specific conditions and such, and you can just look up in the index what you are trying to find out :-)
Feel free to pick my brain about it all though! I don't mind :-)
Thanks girl! Hmmm....I wonder if I am wasting my time with FF then. I thought that by charting the CM, and inputting the menses dates that it would forecast my fertile days. I wasn't planning on temping because I read that you are supposed to take it at the same time every day, and I don't get up at the same time every day. I have not read TCOYF. I should get it.
So how do you figure out your O date? Do you need a couple of regular cycles to figure it out? My cycles are irregular which is why I was thinking FF would be helpful.
That calculator you found will not be accurate at all. Unless you are taking your temperature, you cannot figure out what day you ovulate. Those charts are based on averages, and since you said you have irregular cycles you won't fit into that average, you know?
Basically the way it works is that before ovulation, your temps will stay in the same range, and then after you ovulate they will jump up. Once you have three higher temps in a row, plus fertile CM, you can assume you have ovulated.
Plus, no matter how you do it FF cannot forecast your fertile days if you haven't given them any information to go by yet.. which you haven't. From what I see on your chart all you have entered is your period days.
As far as temping - I said the same thing at first. That I couldn't temp every morning because I don't always wake up at the same time, or that I could never remember to take my BCP every day, how could I remember this? But after reading TCOYF I decided to give it a shot, and it really is so super easy.
You don't have to wake up at the same time, just set your alarm and take your temperature at the same time. For instance, I took mine at 7 am every day. My alarm went off at 7 every morning, I took my temp, and then some days I got up, and some days I hit the snooze til I had to get up. On the weekends I turned the alarm off right after I took my temp and went back to sleep. It doesn't matter if you stay up, just so long as you temp at the same time.
Basically I strongly urge you to give charting a shot, since you have long and irregular cycles - it's the only way you will figure out when you ovulate, and if there is some problem causing your cycles to be wonky this will be your best shot to figure out what that might be.
Don't be silly, you aren't bothering me!
Basically all of those fertility calendars/calculators assume that every woman has a 28 day cycle and ovulates on day 14. Which is totally inaccurate. So that's why it didn't really add up for you :-P
The thermometer to get is called a BBT - Basal Body Thermometer. I got mine at CVS, you can get them at Target too. Just get a store brand one. It's just a little more accurate and precise than a standard thermometer (it measures XX.XX degrees, rather than XX.X).
If you want you can borrow my book, so that you don't have to pay for a new one :-)
I'd like to ecco the temperature thing. As long as go to sleep at least 3 hours before you temp, you're okay. Like J, I take mine at 7am because that's when I wake up for work. On the weekends I temp at 7 and go back to sleep. I was really worried I'd have a hard time getting back to sleep on the weekends, but it has never been an issue. You're only awake for a couple minutes and you don't get out of bed so you don't really "wake up".
Also, if you wake up within 3 hours of temping and you don't get out of bed and know you can fall right back to sleep you can temp at the normal time. This happens to be sometimes when the cats will wake me up at 6:30am and I just go back to sleep and temp at 7am and haven't seen a problem with my charts. If you have to get out of bed to pee though, do temp before you get up. Moving around will affect your temp.
Good luck Christa!
Oh, too late haha. You're welcome though :-)