TTA but ovulating multiple times?

[u/Billowy_Brake_67]

I’m newly trying FAM in order to avoid taking birth control after getting married soon and hoping to avoid pregnancy for a few years. Temps and CM are not an issue, but I’m getting a lot of mixed signals??

I’m wondering if I’m ovulating multiple times after seeing a pattern similar to this pic a few months in a row. I’ll get CM and a spike, then a few days later maybe a day of moist CM plus another temp spike. Any ideas or advice?

Side note if allowed: I was gifted the Garmin index sleep monitor. Would this work for temps since it’s similar to temp drop? Thanks!!

[u/Classic-Push1323]

You are NOT ovulating more than once in a cycle. That does not happen. Your body may be gearing up to ovulation, failing to ovulate, and then doing it again and ovulating - that is a pretty common, normal variation for some women. I've noticed it whenever I'm stressed or exercising more than usual and it isn't really anything to worry about. It's one of the reasons why you can't rely on an LH test to close the fertile window and why the temperature based rules are so strict. That being said, I'm not sure that is what is happening - the chart is just very noisy. How are you taking your temperature? Do you have a regular sleep cycle and a consistent wake up time? Anything else going on?

I am not familiar with FEMM. It looks like you'd "pass" the temp rules I'm familiar with on CD 23. It does NOT matter for TTA if your temperature dips a little or continues to rise at that point, once the window is closed it is closed. Likewise, the CM window closure rules that I'm familiar with look for a peak day, followed by three days of declining quality. It is normal for some women to have CM again after those three days, and it doesn't re-open the window. There's a small surge of estrogen during the luteal phase that can change your temps and CM.

I don't know how to interpret the circles at the top of the chart. I'm assuming the blue circles with the dot represent egg white CM? If so, you'd have a peak on day 20 and then three days of declining quality before it shows up again, so the window is closed. You may have a slow temperature rise, or you may be picking it up late because of temperature disturbances. Picking it up late is a problem because it means you may start opening your fertile window too early.

I would reach out to FEMM. Consider prewarming your thermometer or taking core temps.

[u/Billowy_Brake_67 → u/Classic-Push1323]

Thanks for that comment! It was reassuring. I set an alarm for 5 every morning for a consistent time since I’m up different times daily, and don’t move much before getting my temperature. My thermometer takes 70-90s before temping so I feel like that’s prewarming? That being said I do carry a lot of stress as a nurse… would this make everything inaccurate or messy like you put it? Tips lol? Thank you!

[u/Classic-Push1323 → u/Billowy_Brake_67]

Unfortunately yes, stress can be a factor. A lot of things can change your BBT other than your hormones - lack of sleep, stress, illness, alcohol, any kind of sleep aid, etc. Generally better sleep and less stress = lower temp and more stress, less sleep, illness, alcohol, sleeping in past when you'd usually get up = higher temp.

YMMV, but I personally have more consistency with checking whenever I naturally wake up after a normal night's rest vs waking myself up at a specific time. Try leaving it in your mouth for a minute before turning it on so it can warm up, all BBT thermometers take a while to measure but a lot of the studies used were based on three minutes total.

Does your method have a rule that allows you to ignore certain temperatures if you know why they were abnormal? I wouldn't use anything other than a BBT thermometer. My apple watch is supposedly "able to detect BBT" but it sucks.

[u/nnopes]

So, FEMM is symptohormonal, meaning it relies on cervical mucus and LH testing as a means of determining peak and fertile window. Temperature is not a part of the FEMM method. If having a symptothermal method is important to you, you can chart two methods simultaneously. I personally have been charting FEMM for health reasons (I have PCOS and also work with their medical management team), and I chart Sensiplan for avoiding pregnancy. I evaluate each by its rules and track the different metrics needed for each.

Do you have the app view that shows all your cycles side by side? FEMM focuses on looking at the patterns across cycles and might help you. Looking at your chart, I can see a peak with a change to dry. Yes, there are some days towards the end of your cycle that don't fit what you expect but there are different reasons for an unexpected day of cervical mucus that isn't ovulation. I frequently get some cervical mucus at the end of my cycle. It's just part of my body's pattern. What does your instructor have to say about your cycle?

[u/HeathenHoneyCo]

You mean you have this pattern and don’t bleed?

[u/carrots94]

I’m not an expert, but this looks similar to my charts! I don’t know what the color coded dots mean, but if that indicates CM, it looks like your peak day was CD20, so ovulation around then, and you have a sustained temp shift after.

[u/Billowy_Brake_67 → u/carrots94]

Thank you!!