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If you're trying to get pregnant, it's helpful to know exactly whenyou're ovulating so you can time sex accordingly. Many women havehad success using ovulation predictor kits, which are handy becausethey tip you off before you ovulate. But the natural (and free) wayto get a sense of your ovulation cycle is to chart your basal bodytemperature (BBT) and monitor your cervical mucus (CM).What is basal body temperature?Your basal body temperature (BBT) is your lowest body temperaturein a 24-hour period. The best time to take it is when you firstwake up in the morning. Before you even get out of bed to brushyour teeth or start your day, pop a basal thermometer into yourmouth. (This kind of thermometer shows the very tiny degree changesthat a regular one can't.) It's important to try to wake up andtake this reading at about the same time each morning.Basal thermometers are available at most drugstores and usuallycome with a chart for recording your temperature each day so thatyou can start to see your body's patterns. We have a blank chartyou can print out, along with step-by-step instructions on how touse it and a prefilled sample chart. You'll probably want a fewcopies of the blank chart because it will take at least a cycle ortwo to figure out your ovulation pattern.Ovulation CalculatorFind out when you're likely to ovulate – and boost your chances ofconceiving.Before ovulation, your BBT probably ranges from 97.2 to about 97.7degrees Fahrenheit. But two or three days after you ovulate,hormonal changes cause a rise of 0.4 to 1.0 degree in your BBT,which lasts at least until your next period. (You may notice yourtemperature spiking on other days here and there, but unless itstays up, you probably haven't yet ovulated.) If you becomepregnant, your temperature will stay elevated throughout yourpregnancy.Of course, since a BBT chart will only tell you that you've alreadyovulated, the first month of recording your temperature won'tnecessarily be very fruitful. But by charting your BBT for a fewmonths, you'll be able to see whether there's a pattern to yourcycle, which will enable you to predict ovulation the next timearound – and the best days to have sex if you want to getpregnant.Keep in mind that if you're sick or don't take your temperatureimmediately after waking up, any pattern that you find may beinaccurate.In addition to helping you predict the day of ovulation, BBT chartscan also shed some light on infertility issues.