Ovulation calendars are very helpful for helping women achieve pregnancy. They are also wonderful for women who are trying to avoid pregnancy without medication by watching their body’s natural cycle. Ovulation calendars help women identify their fertile periods during the month. They also pinpoint problems with the cycle if they exist, and assist doctors by providing detailed data. Ovulation calendars are also easy to make, but it’s important to make sure they contain the necessary information.
On a piece of graph paper, make a graph with the temperature on the vertical axis and dates on the horizontal. Keep the temperature range so that all temperatures will fall on the chart. A good range is between 97 degrees and 101 degrees F. Anything outside that range indicates illness, and won’t be of interest when determining ovulation patterns anyway.
Start on Day One of menses. On the horizontal axis, the first day of the dates needs to be the first day of menstruation. This is the first day of the woman’s cycle.
Chart basal body temperature. Basal body temperature (BBT) is simply temperature taken with an oral thermometer first thing in the morning. Don’t wait to take it, as this skews the data. It must be immediately after waking up. Most women keep the thermometer on their nightstand and reach over to grab it first thing upon waking.
Leave room for test results. Ovulation and pregnancy test results are very important data. Include a row of the graph under the date to note any test results with a simple “+” or “-“.
Note symptoms at the bottom. Common symptoms can have their own row; when they occur, you just fill the box under the date.
Keep track of cervical mucus. Again, this can be a row underneath the date. Cervical mucus (CM) is important in determining fertility. Thick CM, or egg-white consistency CM, indicates a fertile period. Thin CM indicates a lack of fertility.