I am a true advocate of charting and tracking your cycle if you are actively TTC. It worked like a charm for us! Both times I got pregnant, it only took one cycle of charting to get the job done. By using an OPK (ovulation predictor kit) in conjunction with charting my temperature (which confirms ovulation when I see my daily temp rise as shown in my chart above) I know exactly when I will ovulate so we know when to *ahem* do the deed ;) OPKs are little pee sticks that I use every day until I get a positive, detecting the hormone surge that kicks off ovulation. This tells me that ovulation is about to happen. Temping confirms for me that ovulation actually did occur when I see the temp rise, which happens in the the days after ovulation. It is possible to get a positive OPK but not actually ovulate. Temping only tells you about ovulation after it occurred, so by the time you see a temp rise it can be too late to conceive. So temping alone, or using OPKs alone, is not enough. Using both together gives you all the info you need to know exactly when to make that baby!
When we started TTC I didn't chart the first cycle. We just kept to our usual routine and hoped for the best... and nothing. So the 2nd cycle I decided to try charting and BAM! Pregnant. It was awesome! But of course, that ended in miscarriage. So after waiting one long wonky cycle after miscarriage to get my body back on track, I charted again during the 2nd cycle and BAM! Pregnant again :) The chart above is my latest chart, and where the blue line turns green indicates when I entered in my positive pregnancy test information. I love seeing that beautiful green color :)
