What are basal body temperatures, what should they look like, and how do you take them? That’s what we’re going to cover in today’s blog post.
Basal body temperatures, which you will hear me refer to as BBTs, are the baseline temperature that your body is working at. Another way to think of this is if you were to do nothing, but just lay in bed and sleep, what temperature is your body at? So it’s not going to be the temperature that you normally have when you’re up and moving around during the day. It’s going to be the temperature that you take first thing in the morning. So again, it’s the baseline temp that we’re working with and gives us some insight into what’s going on with your hormones. They are so super easy to take and can give us so much good information, so I highly encourage taking them, at least for a few months.
First things first, get a thermometer.
It can be an electric one that’s fine. A basal body temperature thermometer is what you want to use. And it should not be expensive. You’ll go online and some are $50 to $100 – do not get those. Get the cheaper $12 to $20 one. For example, Fair Haven ProHealth usually has a good one for around that price range.
So you have your thermometer, now what?
Keep the thermometer on your nightstand, and take those temps!
As soon as you wake up in the morning, you’re going to take your temperature orally, under your tongue, and you’re going to record that temperature.
You’re going to record it in correlation with the cycle day you’re on. A quick refresher, the first day of your period is cycle day one. Look at your calendar, see when the first day of your period was, and count from there. So let’s say I woke up this morning and it was cycle day seven. When I take my temperature, I’m going to record that temperature for cycle day seven.
You can use a paper chart or you can use an app such as Fertility Friend or something similar to keep track of your temperatures.
Taking your temps – the short version
So you’ll take your temperature orally, as soon as you wake up in the morning, before you sit up, roll over, get up to pee, start talking to your partner or your spouse, etc. Before you do any of that, you’re going to take your temperature and record that information on the corresponding cycle day. You can also read this short blog post with the same steps outlined.
Some other tips for accurate BBTs
You want to take your BBTs at roughly the same time every day. So that means if you normally wake up around six, you want to take it within 30 minutes of that time. I always tell my clients that if you are going to sleep in on the weekends or on their days off, more than an hour past our usual wake-up time, just skip taking your temperature for that day. It’s more important for you to get the rest to really recharge and replenish blood and energy and things of that nature rather than for you to go ahead and get up at your usual time, six o’clock, and then try to go back to sleep and get some extra rest.
Make sure you’ve had at least five hours of sleep before you take it for it to be more accurate.
I usually want to see an average of people’s temperatures. So it’s okay if we skip a day here and there, do not stress over it if you miss a few days.
What should basal body temperatures look like?
This is a question I get a lot – what should these temperatures look like? So what they should look like in the first half of your cycle, which is called the follicular phase, is 97.2 to 97.4 degrees (Fahrenheit).
Around ovulation, we should see a nice drop in your temps, by about half a degree. When we see that drop we’re ovulating within 12 to 36 hours. So when your temperature goes down, you’re ovulating that day or the day after.
Then usually after that, within about three or four days, they start going back up and they should go up higher to the low 98s. After ovulation, we call this part of your cycle the luteal phase, and 98.2 or higher during this phase is perfect.
If you want to learn more about basal body temperatures and what they tell us about our hormones and fertility, check out my YouTube Channel – Conceivable Coach. And while you’re there on that YouTube channel, go ahead and subscribe. That way I can go ahead and make sure that you get all the updates whenever I post videos about fertility, reproductive health, and healthy living.
Until next time – don’t stop dreaming,
Misty Reed, Fertility Consultant and Coach
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