Making the Most of Fertility Charting For Pregnancy Achievement

What is Fertility Charting?

Fertility charting involves observing and recording your fertility signs so that you can easily see your daily fertility status and identify your most fertile time. It is highly effective because your body provides clues, or signs, that tell you about your fertility status throughout your cycle.

There are only a few days each cycle when conception is possible. Charting your fertility helps you to find those days so that you can best time intercourse to get pregnant.

You may have been told that you ovulate or are most fertile on day 14 of your menstrual cycle, mid-cycle or even 14 days before your period is expected. These are myths. While this may be the case for some women, it may not be true for you, even if your cycles are regular. Your own fertility pattern is unique to you and charting your fertility will help you to see it.

What are Fertility Signs?

The most important, or primary, fertility signs are your basal body temperature (BBT) and your cervical fluid. Your basal body temperature can be measured when you wake up with an inexpensive special thermometer that you can buy at your drugstore.Your cervical fluid can easily be observed when you go to the bathroom.

Your basal body temperature increases after ovulation due to increased progesterone in your bloodstream. Your cervical fluid is the fluid that is produced by your cervix that you can see and feel in or outside your vagina. Cervical fluid, which is sometimes called cervical mucous (CM), changes throughout your cycle depending on your fertility status.

Taking note of these observations and recording them is enough to provide the clues you need to help time intercourse appropriately to get pregnant and see when (and if) you ovulate. Other, secondary, optional signs can add extra insight and help to cross-check the interpretation from your primary fertility signs.

Secondary, optional fertility signs that you may or may not choose to observe include: observations of the position, texture and opening of your cervix, results from tests and devices, and other personal observations that you learn to associate with your fertility.

Recording these fertility signs, you can see when you are fertile on a graph. The information can be analyzed and interpreted and the feedback lets you see when you are approaching ovulation, when you have already ovulated, when you should expect your period or a positive pregnancy test, along with other insights that will help you get pregnant and learn about your unique fertility pattern.

Charting with Fertility Friend, you enter your daily observations about your fertility signs online on your personal account on an easy-to-use data entry form. The feedback, interpretation and analysis is interactively and automatically provided for you. The analysis will tell you the best time to have intercourse to maximize your chances each cycle. It will show you when you are fertile, when you have ovulated, when you are no longer fertile, when to expect your period if you are not pregnant, and when you can expect a reliable pregnancy test result.

It can take a cycle or two to really get the hang of charting your fertility signs. Once you understand the signs, however, it quickly becomes second nature. Indeed, many women who start to chart are amazed to discover that their bodies have been offering these signs all along. Some are even outraged that they were not taught to recognize these signs sooner.

Our bodies are providing a bounty of knowledge and it only takes a couple of minutes a day to tap into it. With a little bit of awareness and support, what you gain can be tremendous.

Your fertility signs, what they mean, and how to observe and record them are discussed in great detail in the following Handbook chapter: How to Observe and Record Your Fertility Signs.

The Benefits of Charting Your Fertility

What can charting my fertility signs tell me?

There are only a few days each menstrual cycle that you can get pregnant. Charting your fertility signs can help you find those days so that you can maximize your intercourse timing to increase your chances of conception each cycle. It can also help you make sense of your entire cycle. Even if you do not get pregnant in a given cycle, what you learn from charting your fertility signs that cycle will help you increase your chances in future cycles.

Your fertility signs are directly related to the hormonal changes your body experiences throughout your cycle. Recognizing and understanding the role of these signs can offer you the information you need to help you achieve pregnancy, understand your own fertility pattern, and make informed choices at every stage of your Trying To Conceive (TTC) journey.

Charting your fertility signs offers a way to visually make sense of these signs and unravel the mystery of your fertility. Many people are astonished at just how much they can learn by taking a few minutes a day to observe and record their fertility signs. Many more are delighted to discover that charting their fertility signs is all that is needed to time intercourse and achieve pregnancy. Others find that they can identify fertility issues early and decide on a course of action early. It can be an enlightening and empowering experience.

Observing and recording your fertility signs takes just a couple of minutes a day, but allows you to see the following:

• Determine if and when you ovulate: This is a logical first step and is probably the first thing you will want to know if it is taking you longer than expected to conceive. While this is not the only information you need, knowing whether or not you ovulate will help you learn if you should consider seeking medical attention. If you do ovulate, knowing when you ovulate will help you better time intercourse and to know if you are timing intercourse well.
  
  
• Determine the start and length of your fertile phase. Knowing when your fertile phase begins and how long it is will help you better time intercourse and know how often and when to have intercourse to maximize your chances of conception. This information can offer you control, guide you, and if necessary help your doctor help you with your unique situation.
  
• Determine the end of your fertile phase. While the end of your fertile phase is not as critical to pregnancy achievement as its start, it does provide clues about your cycle and lets you know when you can stop having scheduled intercourse. It also lets you know when you enter your post-ovulatory, or luteal phase of your cycle which also offers clues about your fertility.
  
• Determine the length of your luteal phase. Your luteal phase is the time between ovulation and menstruation. In most cases your luteal phase is fairly constant and does not vary much from cycle to cycle for the same woman. Knowing the length of your luteal phase will let you know if your luteal phase is sufficiently long to sustain a pregnancy.
  
• Plan and predict your cycles. While your cycles may vary slightly (or greatly) and we know that they can vary a great deal from woman to woman, charting your fertility signs will help you predict when you are most fertile, when ovulation is likely to occur and when your period is expected. Each cycle charted will give you an increased awareness and better ability to predict what is likely in future cycles. With this awareness you can improve your intercourse timing. You will have advanced warning of the beginning of your fertile phase and will know when to expect ovulation. If you are aware of your own typical cycle you can also know early if you conceived in a particular cycle.
  
• Determine the length of your cycles. Knowing your usual cycle length or the range of your cycle length if it varies can help you know when you are most likely to be fertile, if you are likely to be pregnant and when you can test for pregnancy on an early pregnancy test. This information is also useful for your doctor and is something you are likely to be asked should you seek medical attention.
  
• Time intercourse or fertility treatments to maximize the chances of conception. Knowing your unique fertility pattern will help you time intercourse increasingly well as you gain greater awareness of your fertility. When you know when you are fertile and when you ovulate, intercourse timing can be maximized for conception purposes.
  
• Time when to use ovulation predictor kits (OPKs). It is not necessary for everyone to use OPKs, but if you do use them, you want to maximize their use since they are expensive and often only allow for about 5 days of tests. Knowing when you are entering your fertile phase and knowing about your past cycles will help you make the best possible use of OPKs.
  
• Bring clear, clean and accurate data to your doctor. Whether your doctor has suggested that you chart your fertility signs, or if it becomes evident that you need to seek medical attention after you have charted for a few cycles, your doctor will appreciate your charting efforts. Doctors are becoming increasingly supportive of women charting their fertility and they are also becoming more experienced at reading and interpreting fertility charts. The more data you have, the better able your doctor will be to evaluate, analyze and make sense of your charts with you. Having several cycles charted can help you and your doctor decide on the best course of treatment if treatment is necessary. Having charted cycles available for your doctor in advance can also minimize your waiting. This is especially important if age is a factor.
  
• Maximize the timing of fertility tests and treatments and medications. Your charted cycle data will help your doctor offer you the best possible care by timing tests and treatments to coincide with the most appropriate time in your cycle. Many tests and treatments are most effective when they are well-timed and you can avoid the guesswork if you are charting your fertility signs.
  
• See if you timed intercourse well. Many people find the time after ovulation to be the most stressful. They are waiting and hoping to have conceived. Once your fertile time has passed and ovulation has been confirmed by your fertility signs, you can examine your chart to see if conception was possible in any particular cycle. Though your chances are only about 20% in any given cycle, you will know if you have reason to be hopeful. If you do not conceive for several cycles, in spite of well-timed intercourse, you will know that there may be factors that require medical attention.
  
• Know early if conception occurred. Your chart offers clues that can tell you that you may have conceived.
  
• Know when conception occurred to better estimate your due date. Once pregnancy is confirmed, doctors typically estimate your due date based on your Last Menstrual Period (LMP). This estimation assumes a typical cycle length and ovulation date that may not apply to you. If you know when ovulation occurred, then you can more accurately determine your baby's due date.
  
• Time when to take an early pregnancy test. If you know when your period is really "late" then you can decide when you can reliably take a pregnancy test. This can help to avoid the disappointment of seeing negative pregnancy tests and the anxiety of ambiguous results and early false-negatives caused by testing too early.
  
• Gain awareness of your hormonal profile and your body. Charting your fertility signs eliminates the mystery that may have surrounded your fertility. It is really no mystery at all when you are aware. Each sign is tied to processes that are governed by the hormones that are running through your body. Recognizing these signs and knowing what they mean is eye-opening and enlightening.
  
• Take control of your Trying to Conceive experience. Charting your fertility signs and learning what they mean and how they are related to your fertility is something you can do to take control of your trying to conceive experience. This is something proactive that you can do to dramatically increase your chances of conception every cycle. You are informed and in control. There is nothing to lose by doing it and everything to gain.

Charting your fertility signs is something that you can do to increase your chances of conception, understand your own fertility pattern and put you in control of your trying to conceive experience. If you have decided to chart your own fertility signs, read on for more about how they relate to your hormones and how best to observe and record them. It is also not possible to underestimate the role of support when you are trying to conceive. Talk to others who share your experience and ask for advice and hints from those who can offer guidance.

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