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ask: What is a basal body temp and how do women use it to get pregnant?

By Anonymous October 31, 2009 - 12:46pm
 
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My aunt told me that I should take my body temp every day and track it because it can be helpful when trying to get pregnant. How does it work ? and how am I to do this? does your body temp elevate or decrease when youre ovulating or something? Very confused!

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Susan Cody HERWriter Guide

Dear Anon,

Basal body temperature when the body's temperature when resting. So people test their basal body temperature as soon as they get up in the morning. When a woman is ovulating, her basal body temperature is often higher during ovulation - up to a degree higher (Fahrenheit) and then returns to it's regular temperature when ovulation is over. This is a tool women use to gauge ovulation.

You can buy a basal body thermometer at a drug store (they are different to the regular glass ones as they are accurate to .1% as opposed to a thermometer we use to check for fever - these are accurate to .2%.) Your best bet may be a regular digital thermometer.
Take you temp. as soon as you get up every morning on day 1 of your cycle, and it'll probably be around 98 F give or take 1 degree (with 98.6 being average but you'll figure out your own average within a week, even woman is slightly different) and you may see it go to 99 or 99.6 mid cycle as a sign of ovulation. This is when you would try for a pregnancy.
Good luck!

October 31, 2009 - 1:19pm
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