Symptothermal Method for Pregnancy San Jose CA

Steps

1. Monitor basal body temperature. This will help you know when you are most fertile. Female *waking* body temperature tends to be 97-97.5 degrees. After ovulation it rises to 97.6 or 98.6, and remains there for up to three days. It then drops back to the basal temperature unless pregnancy has occurred, in which case temperature stays elevated for more than 17 days. You must wake up and take your temperature at the same time every morning.
2. Monitor cervical mucus changes. Cervical mucus, as opposed to vaginal secretions, will be wet, sticky, stretchy, creamy, slippery, etc. Vaginal secretions without cervical mucus tend to be dry, sticky, tacky, gummy, and so on. Many other factors can affect these characteristics besides fertility.
3. Keep a menstrual cycle calendar charting all the above, each and every day.
4. Have intercourse or inseminate on potentially fertile days. These are from when cervical mucus appears, until four days after it stops, and/or until temperature has been raised for three days.

Tips

• If you were on a past method of birth control, or just gave birth, it can take a while for your system to get back to normal. Sometimes over a year.
• Relax! It will happen in time. Most doctors say try for at least a year before consulting a fertility doctor. It's normal, don't stress.
• Make sure you have regular appointments with your gynecologist. Certain things, even small things from infection to a irregular cycle can affect this. She will be able to help you and give you tips.
• If you're in a relationship, make sure it isn't so much of a science you forget it is about love. A child is created from your love.
• Have the right state of mind going into it. Stress and worry and fears can take it out of you.
• You can use this method to prevent pregnancy as well. If done conscientiously and well, it can be quite effective, but you must have an instructor. See warnings below.
• Monitoring excretion of LH (luteinizing hormone - the ovulation triggering hormone) is also helpful, but not strictly part of this method. There are kits you can buy to assist you with this.

References

• Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New Century by the Boston Women's Health Book Collective ISBN 0-684-84232-9

Warnings

• If after a while you are still not having luck, talk to a doctor. It's not a big deal. Not a his or her fault type of thing.
• Keep in mind that this method is simple in concept, but complex in application. You cannot learn to use this method reliably from a wiki article, or even a book. If you want to actually practice this method, you need to learn directly from a qualified instructor.
• You must chart your observations every day.
• Do not confuse this with the "rhythm method", which uses the length of your cycles to predict when you may ovulate, and is less accurate than this observational method.

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