Tracking the three primary fertility signs (BBT, cervical position, and CM)
Updated 12-27-17
While we no longer think tracking your fertility signs is important for swaying, here is how you do it if you want to. Pink swayers, be aware that this level of constant attention and thought to the inner workings of your body and swaycession may undermine your sway; blue swayers, be aware that feeling like you have to do all these things perfectly and feeling overwhelmed by it all may undermine your sway.
First, a quick overview of how our hormones rise and fall during our menstrual cycle.
Every cycle, your body plans to get pregnant. Getting pregnant is what our reproductive organs are designed to do and every fluctuation in our hormones is a part of this amazing process. The first hormone in this hormone cocktail our bodies brew up every month is FSH, or Follicle Stimulating Hormone. FSH triggers 15-20 eggs to start to mature in each ovary, each in its own separate follicle (The idea that the ovaries alternate producing eggs every other month has been debunked. Both ovaries develop eggs every month and the ovary that actually releases the egg is entirely arbitrary.) These follicles produce estrogen.
These eggs begin to race to see which follicle can grow the biggest. This race averages around 2 weeks but can vary, anywhere between 8 days to a month or even longer (as those with very long cycles can attest to). Ovulation occurs only when those follicles have built up enough estrogen to cross "the estrogen threshold". In addition to triggering ovulation, estrogen also causes the lining of the uterus to build up. We refer to this period of time as the follicular phase, pre-ovulatory phase, or AF-O (Aunt Flo/menstruation-ovulation)
When the levels of estrogen get high enough, LH (Luteinizing Hormone) is released in a sudden "surge". Whatever egg (or two) has won the race and is the biggest and best developed at the point of the LH surge, will now pop out of the ovary (usually within a few hours or a day of the LH surge.) and head down the Fallopian tubes shouting "Come and get me" to any sperm in the neighborhood. All the other eggs will now disintegrate and get reabsorbed by the body - this is called "attresia" for those of us who like to know such things.:wink:
The follicle that released the successful egg now undergoes a major change. It collapses and becomes what is known as the corpus luteum. It prevents the release of any other eggs (obviously it is possible for another egg to emerge from the ovary and that's how twins are conceived, but this is always within a 24-hour period max and usually only within a few hours. It is probably impossible for a woman to release another egg weeks or months later and become pregnant again, despite some well publicized claims to the contrary.) The purpose of the corpus luteum is to produce large amounts of progesterone which sustains the thickening of the uterus until it breaks down 12-14 days later. This period of time is called the "luteal phase", or LP, or also the two-week wait/2WW. Once the corpus luteum breaks down, menstruation begins. (There is an excellent graphic that helps to visualize how the hormones fluctuate through the cycle available here Menstrual cycle)
Anyway, all this hormonal fluctuation causes a lot of physical symptoms going on with our bodies and we can observe and monitor these symptoms and use it to help us pinpoint ovulation, whether it be for using timing to try and conceive a child of a particular gender, or just so we know when to have intercourse to get pregnant. Tracking these symptoms is even highly reliable as a method of birth control if you are consistent with it.
There are many symptoms that go along with our cycles but three of them are very reliable and fairly consistent between all women. These are referred to as "the Three Primary Fertility Signs" (from Toni Weschler's excellent book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility). They are your waking (basal body) temperature (BBT), your cervical position (CP), and cervical mucus (CM).
We'll take these one at a time and see what they are and how they work, but a couple helpful links to get started - Ovulation Calendar by Fertility Friend - Fertility Tracker, Ovulation Calculator and Fertility/BBT Chart and Home - Taking Charge of your Fertility both have interactive features where you can chart your cycle.