HERE’S HOW TO USE BBT CHARTS WHILE TRYING TO CONCEIVE

TestingFertility

Feb 3

BBT charts can be great tools — if you use them this way.

Before I get into the nitty gritty of BBT (basal body temperature) charting for fertility, let me tell you about how BBT charts were key in my own path to pregnancy.

I was in my late twenties, had been on continuous birth control pills for years to manage endometriosis pain, and when I finally came off them... crickets. Nothing. No period, no ovulation, no cycle whatsoever. Turns out when you combine PCOS with years of birth-control pill suppression, your body sometimes needs a minute (or 24 months) to sort things out and get back to a cycle .

Now, you'd think as a burgeoning fertility acupuncturist I would have panicked. But here's the thing: Chinese medicine taught me that every body “issue” is just an accurate and appropriate reflection of one or more bigger picture patterns of imbalance. And that those patterns of imbalance ALWAYS make sense. We don’t have to like them, but radical acceptance can help us shift from, “Why me!?” to “Oh! This is why, and I can do something!”

So between Chinese medicine and what I knew about hormonal feedback loops, I figured my body wasn't broken — it was just doing it’s best in a pretty out of balanced state. I had way too much fight or flight (qi stagnation), inflammation (toxic heat and blood stasis), and allergies (dampness), and not enough good nourishment and processing energy (blood and qi deficiency). This is a lot of patterns of imbalance. But this is a very common pattern for people with complex PTSD and generational trauma. Check, and check.

Because I had all these patterns of imbalance and for good reason, my body wasn’t really feeling like reproduction was a priority. Which makes sense! The hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis is a bit like a conversation between three parts of your endocrine system, and mine had basically gotten so off-kilter that they were in survival mode and not interested in talking with each other. They needed gentle care, nourishment, improvements, and reminding — not forcing.

So I spent about a year working on it. Food therapy, lifestyle changes, acupuncture (obviously), Chinese herbs — the whole holistic toolkit. I started getting what I'd generously call "periods" — very light spotting, just for a day every few months. But hey, something was happening. I was curious about what my hormones were actually doing, so I did my first ever BBT chart.

BBT Charting Basics

For those unfamiliar, BBT charting is old-school, classic fertility tracking. You take your temperature down to a hundredth of a degree every morning before you get out of bed, and over the course of a cycle you should see a biphasic pattern — lower temps in the follicular phase before ovulation, then a shift up to higher temps in the luteal phase after ovulation when your progesterone kicks in. It's simple, cheap, and can tell you a lot about whether you're actually ovulating and how your cycle is functioning.

I’ve got all the instructions and FAQs on BBT charts at the end of this post.

Lessons From My First BBT Chart

My first chart? A hot mess. Literally. The temps were higher than they should be and all over the place, no clear phases, and my cycles were 50+ days long. But you know what? It gave me a baseline. I could see that yes, something was happening, and no, I wasn't quite dialed in or consistent yet. Cool. Data point acquired. It jived with my big picture. Now back to the work.

A handful of months later, I charted again. This time? Two distinct temp phases aka Biphasic! Shorter cycles at 40 days! Progress! Except... the whole thing was still shifted overall UP. Again, in Traditional Chinese Medicine terms, I'm what we call an energetically hot person (Think: always warm, tend toward inflammation, very constipated, kind of intense energy). My BBT chart was still saying "TOO MUCH HEAT!"

So I dialed in on clearing heat: more cooling foods, less inflammatory stuff, specific herbs and acupuncture points for heat patterns, lifestyle adjustments. And four-ish months later, I charted again. This time? Pretty darned close to textbook: 35-day cycles, beautifully biphasic, not running too hot. Woo hoo! I was still barely bleeding, but way more was right than wrong.

Fast forward several more years. My efforts had long shifted into maintenance phase and my cycles had settled into a comfortable 30-35 day pattern with very light flow. Not perfect by any standard, but functional and consistent. When my husband and I decided to try for kids, I figured I'd probably need to dial things in even more and optimize all the things.

But much to my (and my hubby’s) surprise…

Turns out "good enough" is actually good enough. We got pregnant right away.

My Way vs The Standard Way

My BBT Approach

Baseline snapshot and periodic check-ins
Be strategic — chart when you need info
Progress report every few months
Confirms what you're working on is helping
Celebrates improvement, not perfection
Tool for learning your patterns
Uses data to inform next steps
Good enough IS good enough
Empowering self-knowledge
Fun detective work (really!) — keeps you calm and curious

Standard BBT Approach

Obsessive monthly tracking
Compulsive - chart because you "should"
Daily anxiety about every temp fluctuation
Confuses with noise and overthinking
Chases perfection that doesn't exist
Tool for controlling your patterns
Uses data to create more anxiety
Perfect or panic
Exhausting self-surveillance
Stressful obligation — keeps you in fight-or-flight mode

What To Understand

Here's what I want you to understand: BBT charting and hormone monitors (I regularly suggest ones that track all three main hormones — estrogen, LH, and progesterone, like Mira or Inito) can be incredible tools when used strategically. They give you baselines and snapshots of what's happening in your body. They let you see patterns over time. They confirm that the work you're doing, whether that's food changes, stress management, supplements, acupuncture, whatever, is actually making a difference.

But they're not meant to be used month after month in a crazy-making obsession with perfection.

Think of it like checking your weight when you're working on metabolic goals. Sure, you might weigh yourself at the beginning to get a baseline. Maybe you check in every few weeks or months to see if you're trending in the right direction. But stepping on the scale seventeen times a day and having an emotional crisis over every half-pound fluctuation? That's not helpful. That's not data collection. That's torture masquerading as self-improvement.

The same is true for BBT charts and hormone tracking. Use them intentionally.

When to chart:

Getting a baseline when you're first learning your cycle
Checking progress after making changes (give it 3-4 months minimum)
Troubleshooting specific issues with your provider
Confirming ovulation if you're trying to conceive
Satisfying your curiosity because you genuinely think it's interesting (which I love!)

When NOT to chart:

Every single month "just because"
As a substitute for trusting your body's signals
To create a false sense of control over uncertainty
When it's making you more anxious instead of more informed
To chase some mythical "perfect" chart that doesn't actually exist

Here's the thing nobody talks nearly enough about. Unrelenting stress, threat, and anxiety, is exactly what obsessive daily tracking and a perfection seeking mindset creates. This absolutely does NOT help the three parts of your endocrine system communicate better. It gives your hypothalamus the message that now is not a good time for reproduction. Your body diverts resources away from fertility and toward survival. Standard hormone testing and BBT charting, done the anxious way, literally works against what you're trying to achieve.

My cycles were never perfect. They were long, light, ran hot, took forever to regulate. And yet I got pregnant quickly when the time came because ‘good enough and chill’ beats ‘obsessive and clenchy’ every single time.

What To Remember When You BBT or Use Fertility Monitors

Your body doesn't need to perform like a textbook to be wise and working beautifully. It just needs to do its thing with enough consistency that the feedback loops can communicate. Sometimes that's a 28-day cycle with a pristine biphasic shift. Sometimes that's a 35-day cycle that's a little wonky but gets the job done. Both can be fine!

I see so many people torture themselves with daily tracking, obsessing over every tenth of a degree, spiraling into anxiety when their chart doesn't look like the examples in the fertility apps. Their use of the tools creates more stress, not less. They externalize all their power to the data instead of learning to read their own body's language. And meanwhile, all that stress is telling their hypothalamus, "DANGER! NOT SAFE TO REPRODUCE!" which is not helpful when you're trying to get your cycle functioning or trying to conceive.

So take the better path! Be holistic! Learn what your body is telling you through symptoms and patterns. Use BBT or hormone monitors occasionally to get objective confirmation and track progress over time. Make adjustments based on what you learn. Check in periodically to see if things are moving in the right direction. Trust that good enough is actually good enough. And stay curious and calm instead of anxious and controlling, because your HPO axis functions so much better when you're not constantly triggering your stress response.

And if you don't know where to start with all of this — what changes to make, how to interpret what you're seeing, what ‘good enough’ even looks like for YOUR body — that's literally what I do in my 90-day The Baby You Want fertility program and in one-on-one clinic sessions. I help you learn your body's language, make strategic changes, use testing wisely, and stop chasing perfection that doesn't serve you.

Here's the truth. I charted exactly three times total over several years while getting my cycle back. Those three charts gave me all the information I needed to guide my choices and make progress. I needed to understand my patterns, make informed changes, and trust the process. Most importantly, I needed to stay out of fight-or-flight mode so my body could actually do the work of regulating itself.

You can do the same.

Your body is already trying to tell you everything you need to know. The charts and monitors are just occasional translators, not daily instructors.

And honestly? Once you stop trying to control every data point and start working with your body instead of against it, this whole charting process becomes kind of fun. Like solving a really interesting puzzle where you're both the detective and the mystery. Way better than the alternative of making yourself miserable in pursuit of a perfect chart that won't actually make you any more fertile.

Ready to learn how to work WITH your body instead of obsessing over perfect data? My 90-day online course teaches you how to read your Chinese medicine patterns, make strategic changes, and use tools like BBT and hormone monitors wisely — without the anxiety. Or come see me in my Minneapolis clinic for personalized guidance. Let's make this actually enjoyable instead of exhausting. Let’s talk about what really works.

Nicole

FAQs

You need a basal body thermometer - these are different from regular fever thermometers because they measure to two decimal places (like 97.34°F instead of just 97.3°F). That extra precision matters for catching the subtle temperature shifts.
Good options:
- Basic digital BBT thermometer ($10-20) - works great, takes about a minute
- Tempdrop or similar wearable ($150-200) - if you're a restless sleeper or have irregular wake times, these are game-changers
- Femometer or other Bluetooth thermometers ($20-40) - syncs to an app automatically
What you DON'T need: Fancy apps, expensive monitors, or complicated tracking systems. Paper and pencil works fine (and protects your personal data).
Short answer: It's fine. Skip that day and move on.
Longer answer: You don't need every single day to see the pattern. If you miss a few days, just keep going. The biphasic pattern (low temps before ovulation, higher temps after) will still be visible even with gaps. Remember, you're not trying to create a perfect chart - you're trying to see if you're ovulating and roughly when.
Lots of things can affect individual temps, which is why you look at the overall pattern, not obsess over one day:
- Alcohol the night before (raises temp)
- Poor sleep - less than 3 hours before temping
- Being sick - fever obviously raises everything
- Time zone changes or travel
- Stress (physical or emotional)
- Late-night eating or getting up to pee multiple times
- Changing thermometers mid-cycle
- Taking temp at vastly different times
What to do: Note these factors on your chart but don't freak out. One weird temp surrounded by normal temps is just noise. If everything is wonky for days, you might be sick or stressed - and that's useful information too.
Take your temperature first thing in the morning, before you do ANYTHING else. And I mean anything - before you sit up, check your phone, pee, or even have a full conversation.
The process:
1. Keep thermometer on nightstand within arm's reach
2. When you wake up (ideally after at least 3-4 hours of sleep), grab thermometer
3. Take temp while still lying down
4. Record it immediately (you'll forget the exact number otherwise)
5. THEN get up and start your day
Oral vs. vaginal: Either works, but be consistent. Vaginal tends to be slightly more accurate and less affected by mouth breathing, but oral is fine if you do it the same way every day.
This is super common and honestly one of the biggest reasons people get frustrated with BBT charting.
Here's what you do:
For different wake times: Try to temp within the same 2-hour window if possible. If you usually wake at 7am but one day wake at 5:30am, you can still use that temp - just note the time difference. Your body temperature naturally rises about 0.1°F per hour after you'd normally wake, so if you're significantly earlier, you might be slightly lower (and vice versa for sleeping in).
For restless sleep: If you had a terrible night - up multiple times, couldn't fall back asleep, hot flashes, sick kid - either skip that day's temp or note it and take it with a grain of salt. One wonky temp won't ruin your chart. You're looking for the overall pattern, not perfection.
Best solution if this is your life: Get a Tempdrop or similar wearable. It takes your temp continuously while you sleep and uses an algorithm to give you a reading that accounts for movement and timing variations. Total game-changer for shift workers, parents, or anyone with disrupted sleep. Or check out the MIRA or Inito to track your cycle with hormones instead of temps.
You've got more right than wrong going for you when you can see a general pattern emerge over time, even if it's not textbook perfect:
What you're looking for:
- Lower temps (typically 96-98°F) in the first half of your cycle
- A noticeable shift UP (usually 0.3-0.5°F or more) that stays elevated
- Higher temps (typically 97-99°F) in the second half of your cycle
- Temps drop back down around when your period starts (or stay up if you're pregnant)
You're NOT looking for:
- Every single temp in perfect order
- Exactly 0.4° shift on exactly day 14
- Zero variation day-to-day
- Temps that match the example charts online
Real charts are messier than examples. That's normal and fine.
My recommendation: Chart strategically, not obsessively.
For learning your pattern:
- 1-2 complete cycles to see what's happening
- Look at the data, learn from it, then stop
For confirming ovulation when TTC:
- Chart the cycle you're actively trying
- Once you see the temp shift and can confirm ovulation happened, you can stop for that cycle
- You don't need to keep temping through the entire luteal phase unless you want to
For tracking progress after making changes:
- Chart one cycle as baseline
- Make your food/lifestyle/supplement/acupuncture changes
- Wait 3-4 months (let your body actually respond to changes)
- Chart again to see if things improved
- That's it - you don't need to chart every month in between
Remember: The goal is DATA to inform decisions, not a daily anxiety ritual.
Honestly? Whatever you'll actually use consistently.
Paper charts: Old school but totally effective. Print a blank BBT chart, keep it with your thermometer, plot temps by hand. You can literally SEE the pattern emerge, which some people find more intuitive.
Simple apps:
- Fertility Friend (free, comprehensive, not pretty but very functional)
- Kindara (beautiful interface, easy to use)
- Femometer or Easy@Home apps (if using their thermometers)
What to avoid:
- Apps that "adjust" your temps for you (you want raw data)
- Apps that predict ovulation based on past cycles rather than current temps (you want confirmation, not prediction)
- Apps that make you feel anxious every time you open them
My take: Start simple. You can always upgrade later if needed, but don't let fancy tech become a barrier to just starting. Also, depending on where you live, consider privacy factors!
No. Here's why:
1. It creates anxiety - which works against fertility
2. It's unnecessary - once you know your rough pattern, you can use other body signs (cervical fluid, libido, etc.) to time intercourse
3. It can make sex feel like work - the whole "we must have sex on exactly these days" thing kills spontaneity
Better approach:
- Chart for 1-2 cycles to confirm you're ovulating and roughly when
- Then use body literacy (cervical fluid is your best friend) to identify your fertile window
- Have sex throughout your fertile window without obsessing over exact timing
- If you're not pregnant after 3-6 cycles, maybe chart again to confirm timing or troubleshoot
Remember: BBT charting tells you ovulation HAPPENED (past tense). It's useful for confirmation and pattern learning, but cervical fluid tells you ovulation is COMING (future tense), which is actually more helpful for timing intercourse.
Probably not! Here's the truth: most real-life charts don't look like textbook examples.
Common "imperfect" but totally fine patterns:
- Slow rise: Temps creep up over several days instead of one dramatic jump
- Fallback rise: Temp dips one day during the rise before going back up
- Rocky temps: Lots of day-to-day variation (as long as the overall pattern is there)
- Higher overall temps: Some people just run hot (like me!)
- Longer cycles: 35-45 days can be totally healthy and ovulatory
When to actually worry:
- NO clear biphasic pattern at all after multiple cycles of careful tracking
- Luteal phase (high temp phase) consistently shorter than 10 days
- Temps all over the place with no pattern whatsoever, cycle after cycle
If your chart is "imperfect" but you can see a shift from lower to higher temps that stays elevated for at least 10 days, you're probably ovulating just fine.
You should be thoughtful about this. Here's the reality: many fertility apps collect and sell your data, and in a post-Roe world, that data could potentially be subpoenaed or used against you.
What fertility apps track and might share:
- Your cycle dates and length
- When you have sex
- Pregnancy tests results
- Miscarriage or abortion data
- Your location
- Search history within the app
Some apps have been caught selling this data to advertisers, data brokers, or sharing it with third parties. And depending on where you live and what's happening legally, this information could potentially be used in ways you didn't consent to.
Most private option: Paper tracking
Seriously. A printed BBT chart and a pen in your nightstand drawer. No company has access, no data can be subpoenaed, no algorithms are learning your patterns. This is what I used when I was getting my cycle back. Old school is often best school for privacy.
If you want to use an app, here are the more privacy-conscious options:
Read Your Body - Specifically designed with privacy in mind, stores data locally on your device, no account required, no cloud sync. This is probably your best digital option.
Fertility Friend - Been around since the early 2000s, collects minimal data, has a clear privacy policy, and you can use it without cloud backup if you choose. Not pretty, but functional and relatively private.
Kindara - Allows local data storage, has privacy-focused options, transparent about what they do/don't share.
What to look for in ANY app:
- Can you use it WITHOUT creating an account?
- Does it store data locally on your device vs. in the cloud?
- Can you opt out of data sharing?
- Read the actual privacy policy (I know, it's boring, but do it)
- Is it based in Europe? GDPR gives better privacy protections than US law
Apps to be MORE cautious about:
Apps like Flo, Clue, Ovia, and others have faced scrutiny for data sharing practices. Some have improved after backlash, but the business model of "free app" often means "your data is the product."
Red flags:
- App is free with lots of features (how are they making money?)
- Asks for way more info than necessary (why does a period tracker need your location?)
- Privacy policy is vague about third-party sharing
- You can't delete your data easily
My actual recommendation:
If you're just learning your cycle or confirming ovulation, use paper for a few cycles. It's more private, often more intuitive (you can literally SEE the pattern emerge), and there's something powerful about the tangible act of tracking by hand.
If you really want an app for convenience, use one of the privacy-focused options above and:
- Don't give permission for location tracking
- Don't sync to the cloud if you can avoid it
- Use a burner email if creating an account
- Don't log sensitive info like pregnancy test results or sexual activity if you're concerned
- Regularly check what data is stored and delete old data
Bottom line: Your fertility data is YOUR data. In this political climate, being cautious about digital tracking isn't paranoid - it's smart. When in doubt, go analog.