The Importance of Charting
by Lori Ramsey

Whether you've just begun the journey of trying to conceive or if you are a seasoned veteran - charting your fertility signs can be of significant value. For the novice - charting can shorten the time you need if you have an infertility problem - thus allowing you to seek help much sooner. Most physicians will want at least 3 months of "good" charts before even initiating fertility tests.

Charting your fertility signs can determine many different potential problems about your fertility cycle. Of these things are anovulation, low progesterone, thyroid dysfunction, low estrogen, luteal phase defect, poor quality cervical fluid and polyps or cysts on the cervix. Some of these conditions can be easily corrected with over-the-counter remedies and some require the attention of a physician and possibly prescription drugs and infertility procedures.

Anovulation can be discovered through charting. When you have a full cycle of no drastic temperature shift and yet you have menstrual bleeding this is most certainly anovulation. Anovulation can be further tested by your doctor and action can be taken to possibly remedy this.

Low progesterone can be discovered if when your temperature shifts upward only it stays up by .1 a degree or so. A simple blood test can determine how low your progesterone level is and medication can given to increase the level.

Thyroid dysfunction can be determined - though not always the case - by too low temperatures during the first week of your cycle, called hypo thyroid, and too high temperatures can indicate hyper-thyroid. If you suspect this a simple blood test can indicate if the thyroid is truly a problem. One word - I had low temperatures during the first week and had my thyroid checked - it turned out to be normal. This is just one indication of "possible" thyroid dysfunction.

Low estrogen can be detected through charting if your pre-ovulation temperatures aren't low enough - or if you have poor quality cervical fluid. It's the surge of estrogen that causes your body to produce good fertile quality cervical fluid.

A luteal phase defect is determined if the number of days from ovulation to menstruation are less than 10. This too can indicate a low progesterone problem. It can be remedied by over the counter methods such as vitamin B6 and progesterone cream and may need to be treated by your physician with the use of the fertility drug Clomid and or with prescription progesterone.

Poor quality cervical fluid is determined if you are consciously checking your cervical fluid - and one culprit is low estrogen. There are things that you can do to improve the fertile fluid such as drinking lots of water and taking guaifenesin - which helps to thin the cervical fluid out.

Cervical polyps or cysts are found by checking the position of your cervix. These are usually harmless, lasting only a couple of days - however if they stay on the cervix for more that several days - you should contact your physician.

So you see, the importance of charting can be paramount if your are trying to conceive a baby and want a timely conception.

Lori Ramsey's website:  Stages in Pregnancy
© Lori Ramsey