Hellobee Boards

The first one! Waking up warms you up.

Also make sure your therm is accurate. 96.8 is low, but it's not totally out of the ordinary. I was all over the place my first week or so, but then really got used to it and it seems like my temps evened out.

Mine were always low too- but after ovulation I always saw a very noticeable spike in temperature to confirm that ovulation happened.

I routinely had temps in the 96 range. I just looked up the month where I became pregnant, and I had several days of 96 degree temps before I ovulated.

@mrskc: not huge, let's see

10 march: 97.7
11 march: 97.7
12 march: 97.6
13 march: 97.6
14 march: 97.3
15 march: 96.8
16 march: 96.5
17 march: 96.6
18 march: 97.6
19 march: 97.6
20 march: 97.5 (positive OPK)
21 march: no temp recorded
22 march: 97.7
23 march: 98.1
24 march: 98.1
25 march: 98.1
26 march: 98.3
27 march: 98.3
28 march: 98.3
no temps recorded from 29 march to 5 april, where I got my first BFP

Just an fyi, low temps can mean a low-functioning thyroid - that was originally how I realized that my thyroid needed attention. If you have other symptoms of low thyroid function, you might bring that up to your doctor.

But it could also be what time you take it - for example, when I had a different job and woke up later, my temps were higher. Now though, because I get up earlier, my temps are lower than they were then. There is a .5 degree temp shift per half hour of additional sleep, if I am remembering correctly (if you haven't already, read Taking Charge of Your Fertility!) So much good stuff in that book

@mrskc: Taking it at 5:20am does likely have a big effect. There is a companion website for the book that I mentioned, and it discusses the waking time variance for temperature:
As explained in the previous option, basal temperature rises in a predictable manner beginning early in the morning. For most women, it has been observed that this rise is roughly 0.1° Fahrenheit per 30 minutes.

http://www.tcoyf.com/wikis/tcoyf/temperature-amp-time.aspx

So, for example, if you are comparing your temp to someone who wakes up at 7:30am, your temp would likely be closer to 97.8, rather than 97.45, if you slept that late. Hope that helps!

I'd suggest the following: set your alarm for the same time every day, weekends included and take your temperature at this time. Record only that one, and if you find you are waking up naturally earlier, reset your alarm. Note this time on your charts, so you remember when you're looking back.

You really need a few months of data to be able to make anything from the information. If you want to know that you're ovulating this month, use OPK sticks.

I really think we're conditioned to think that the normal temperature is 98.6, and that's just not the case. There are so many factors involved, like if you drank alcohol the night before, woke up to pee, etc.

@mrskc: I sometimes only saw a jump of 0.2-0.3 degrees with O.