Living and dying by the chart

Thursday, July 26, 2012

So my temp was way down today at 5 dpo (see off the the right).  I know that it is too early to tell if I am pregnant or not, but I feel like that is a bad sign.  The only preggo chart that I have was from my 3rd miscarriage (see below).  It was triphasic and continued to climb up, up, up.  I was on progesterone at that time so maybe that had something to do with it.  I'm not sure.


I always wonder if all of my pregnancy charts will look like this or if they might all look different.  Will my next pregnancy chart be triphasic also?  I often wonder if I should stop charting during the TWW to give myself a break so that I don't have to think about it or over analyze it.  I also wonder if I should put any stake into comparing my chart to the thousands of preggo charts on FF and seeing that mine never looks like a typical pregnancy chart.

For all you charters out there I have some questions for you...  If you have charted multiple successful cycles, were your charts similar all of the times?  Do you put any stake into triphasic charts?  Do you think that there is any way to tell if you might be "a little bit pregnant" by the way your chart looks at the beginning of your LP?  What about at the end of your LP?  For those of you that have charted while on and off fertility meds, did your charts look much different?  This is only my 6th cycle charting, so I am still trying to figure out the answers to these types of questions.  My RE would tell me to go take a hike...she (and their office) don't "believe" in charting.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

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8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Living and dying by the chart”

  1. I have had two pregnancies (one ended in a miscarriage and one ended with a healthy baby girl) and the charts from those cycles do look different. I think there is something to be said for triphasic charts, but in my most recent pregnancy, it took some time for it to become triphasic...it was just before I took an HPT that I could clearly see phase 3. I also had several temperature dips during the LP of that cycle, so I was convinced that I wasn't pregnant, but lo and behold...I was. I really think it's just a guessing game if you're looking at the beginning of your LP on your chart...there's just no sure way to tell if you're pregnant. By the end of the LP, I think it becomes a little more clear, but I still think that can be iffy. I find that there are a lot of things that can alter my BBT when I take it in the morning, so there are so many factors that may change the way my chart looks. Just know that it's still early for you and there's still hope. Wishing you the best!

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  2. I am a huge believer in charting! Now if I could just figure out what each temp means!! Haha. I put a lot of time in to analyzing mine each month and the only things I have ever been able to determine were ovulation and if I should expect my period or take a pregnancy test. And usually if I get higher temps in my follicular phase my ovulation comes late.

    I have not gleaned any information from the temps in my luteal phase. I do think that the progesterone is responsible for the temperature continuing to rise so that may be part of the explanation.

    It actually seems like a good idea not to temp after ovulation. I don't know, I am hoping that your temps are exactly what they need to be for a positive this month!! Charting is just one way to be crazy in the 2ww. Keep the hope!!

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  3. I think the LP of a chart must be interpreted with a lot of caution when supplementing with progesterone. It is what elevates the temp, so if you are using shots or suppositories it may increase your temperature even more. For example, this is my first LP where I've supplemented from 2 DPO on and my temps have been higher and more consistent than a normal cycle. As for triphasic charts, I once had a beautiful triphasic chart that resulted in a BFN. I think there is some credence to the triphasic charts, but it also could be random temps. More often than not the pregnancy charts I've seen tend to look just like yours. They go up, up, and up. Also, your dip today could be implantation! That would be fun.

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  4. I am by no means an expert charter... I used to do it a couple of years ago, abandoned it because I was driving myself bananas.

    BUT from what I understand - just like pregnancy symptoms - your chart can look completely different. Plus I was still charting for a couple of cycles of clomid, and that sprayed some funkiness all over the situation.

    Annnnnd holy goddess of fertility meds progesterone can make things look funky and different. It messes with EVERYTHING. Everything I tell you! It made my temps weird, my mood weird, my body weird, re-organized my kitchen, moved my bed from one end of the room to the other.. EVERYTHING.

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    1. My chart is so much more variable on the meds. My pre-O temps are much more wacky then before where they all stayed around the same level. I decided to ditch the progesterone while on the Femara...I feel like that gives me enough. Progesterone did make me wacky and how gross is all of that crud coming out all day...YUCK!!

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  5. My charts are always different during each pregnancy. And my only triphasic I wasn't pregnant! This month I had big dip at 5 dpo, almost to the cover line. Hang in there!

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  6. Random question, but how did you get your chart on the side of your blog? Thanks! :)

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    1. Add an HTML part to your blogger layout. Then go to FF and select Sharing > Get Code. Paste that code into the HTML part and that should work.

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