Tracking your cycle is about more than just being able to figure out when your period is coming although that is great to know. Cycle tracking gives you a window into your overall health, it can help you to conceive a baby and also avoid conception. When I was younger, I didn’t have any clue about any of this in fact I didn’t even know how long my cycles were typically. It wasn’t until we started trying to conceive that I even paid attention to when I would get my period and even then, I only tracked the days that I got my period. Now I track my basal body temperature, my cervical mucus, and my period itself. Looking back, I really wish I had learned how to do this sooner it would have certainly saved me a lot of difficult years on birth control.
Before we get into how to track your cycle let’s talk about why. As I said above tracking your cycle can not only let you pinpoint exactly when to expect your period but also can give you a way to read your body’s signs and help you with planning for or preventing against getting pregnant. Every part of your cycle is a window into your overall health, from the color of your menstrual blood to the varying length of your follicular and luteal phases. Problems with your cycle is your body communicating that something is going on and can even give you hints as to what specifically is going on. Tracking your cycle also allows you to confidently know when you are in your fertile window. Did you know that there are only 5 days that you can actually get pregnant in your whole cycle? Yup so whether you are trying to conceive of trying to prevent learning your body’s fertile signs is important. For tracking using this method you will want an app or a paper tracker. Fertility Friday offers a super cute paper pencil tracking journal but if you prefer to go digital my favorite app is ovuview but I have heard good things about kindara and fertility friend as well.
Ok let’s dive in. When tracking your cycle, the first thing you should know is that there are 4 phases in your cycle. Your cycle begins on the first day of menstruation and is often referred to as CD1 (cycle day 1) this first phase of your cycle is the menstrual phase and lasts for the days that you bleed. The menstrual phase. Following your Menstrual phase is the Follicular phase and then you have the ovulation phase this phase is a short 2-day time period that is really just a moment but without constant ultra sound watch we don’t really know when it happens. Finally, you have your luteal phase which is the time period between ovulation and your next period.
Throughout all of your phases an important symptom to track is your basal body temperature (BBT). BBT is the temperature of your body upon waking. This temperature is affected by your hormones and is lower during your follicular phase and higher during your luteal phase. There are a lot of different options out there from fancy wearable technologies like temp drop (a great option if you work odd hours or have issues with getting up in the middle of the night) to fertility specific thermometers like Daysy, but any old mouth based thermometer can be used (I use a $5 thermometer from wallgreens). When you are taking your BBT in the morning it is important to take your temperature first thing upon waking before getting out of bed your temperature will start to rise as soon as you wake so laying around before taking it is not going to give you proper results. Also, when you take your temperature with a mouth-based thermometer it is important that you hold the thermometer under your tongue for 10 minutes before turning it on to take your temperature. This allows the thermometer to get up to temperature before your take it otherwise the thermometer is using and algorithm to guestimate your temperature based on how quickly the thermometer’s temperature itself is rising while in your mouth.
When tracking your menstrual phase, it is important to track any pain you’re in and the flow, color, consistency of your menstrual blood. You should also pay attention to the consistency are there any clots, is it watery, is it viscous, or is it thick and sludgy. What would be considered normal is a slightly viscous (think unset jello) consistency and maybe some small clots (nothing larger than a dime). Your BBT at this time can vary especially if you are taking NSAIDs to deal with any menstrual pain.
During your follicular phase you will want to keep track of your BBT and your cervical mucus. The main star of the follicular phase is cervical mucus. Cervical mucus may sound gross but it’s a vital part of your menstrual health. The easiest way to check for cervical mucus is to wipe and look at your toilet paper before and after you pee. Starting about a week before you ovulate you may start to see how your rising estrogen levels are showing up at first you might just see a sheen on the toilet paper but you can’t pick the mucus up off the paper as you get closer to ovulation you should see more cervical mucus and you should be able to pick it up off the toilet paper and stretch it between your fingers. Generally, you know you are in your fertile window if your cervical mucus is showing up as stretchy and clear. This is when you want to try or avoid (or use protection). You are most fertile during the last 5 days of your follicular phase as you head towards ovulation. This is because this fertile mucus helps to keep the sperm alive for up to 5 days in your body.
We have now reached the main event of our cycle: Ovulation. This happens in a quick moment where the egg bursts out of the follicle and heads towards the fallopian tube. The egg is ready to meet the sperm and is considered viable only for a few hours after ovulation actually occurs. But since we don’t have a practical way to know exactly when you ovulate, we have to look for the signs that it is about to happen and then the signs that it did happen. We pretty much only know when our ovulation phase was after it’s already over.
Once you have ovulated you have reached the final phase of your menstrual cycle the luteal phase. During the luteal phase you can still track cervical mucus but it’s less important. The most important thing to keep track of during this time is your BBT. Once you have ovulated you will know that it has happened because your BBT will rise by at least .2 degrees Fahrenheit over all normal temps in the last 6 days of your cycle. In order to be completely sure, you have ovulated this must be sustained for at least 3 days in a row. Some other things you may want to keep track of during this time is any PMS symptoms you may be experiencing as these can tell you that there is something going on with your hormones.
While this is a relatively long blog post it still only scratches the surface of tracking your cycle and everything that goes with it. If you want to learn more about how to chart your cycle especially for when your are trying to conceive check out my ebook where I give you all my tips and tricks for making this as easy as possible. Bonus- you get access to my Facebook group where you can share any struggles and ask questions!