Yes, I use the Kindara app. I think you can pay for upgraded features, but the free version is working just fine for me.
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I have enjoyed using Natural Cycles (which is not free, about $90 per year) but I also graphed on paper. I remember reading somewhere that if you have a hard time seeing the shift, graph it yourself but round up or down (97.81 to 97.80 or 97.67 to 97.70) and it can sometimes help illustrate the shift over time. Not sure if that is helpful!
@Maerad @her05 I would recommend rounding as well. Kindara only allows for graphing tenths (98.2 vs 98.16) so I have to round when I enter my number on my digital chart.
Taking Charge of Your Fertility shows you how to graph on paper and includes a blank graph (but no need for anything fancy if you’re only graphing temps. It demonstrates charting cervical fluid and other signs and symptoms too.)
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[name_f]Do[/name_f] any of you have recommendations for a good thermometer for getting bbt? It seems like the changes are often really small and I don’t image our current one is accurate to a small enough change.
I’ve always used the $8 ones from the pharmacy. The first one lasted 4 years. I can’t complain at all!
Just make sure you get a bbt or ovulation thermometer as they will have two decimal points. One decimal is not specific enough.
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I ordered a $10 digital one online over a year ago. No complaints yet. I agree, make sure it’s labeled for BBT/ovulation tracking.
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[name_f]My[/name_f] call with my fertility doctor is today, got a laundry list of things to ask him and going to explore the idea of Letrozole which he’d mentioned previously, my period showed up on CD24 which is frustratingly ridiculous. Been pretty down this week and headed to a different clinic today to see about strange blood counts (WBC/Neutrophils) in some work I had done a few weeks ago. Wish me luck.
RE: BBT I use the Fertility [name_u]Friend[/name_u] app. I started out using a different app (can’t even remember which one) and actually painstakingly moved all my data over after a few months. I like the interface. There is a paid version with fancier features but the free version is plenty. I also just have a random drugstore thermometer which works fine. I actually believe it was in Taking Charge of Your Fertility she said you only WANT a thermometer that has one decimal place (97.4 vs 97.42 for instance). You’re looking for trends, not exact numbers. I’m sure that my thermometer wasn’t marketed as a BBT one.
@Kibby I hope that the appointment went well! Am I understanding this would be the first time you are doing a mediated cycle? I have had a couple periods start at CD24 and it definitely feels frustratingly early. I am so sorry you are feeling so down, infertility is such a horrible thing to work through.
[name_f]My[/name_f] husband had his varicocele repair surgery yesterday! It went really well. [name_u]Doctor[/name_u] said the surgery was textbook. He had three of these surgeries yesterday alone, so he is very skilled at this. We feel grateful to be in town with a very good teaching hospital and have access to really great providers. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband has had no pain since the surgery and hasn’t felt any need to take the narcotic pain meds they said he would definitely need! He also hasn’t had any swelling yet. It has been only about 24 hours since the surgery, but so far it was a much smoother process than either of us were expecting. Now fingers crossed it actually makes a difference in his sperm count and quality and we can actually get pregnant!
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@Beort12 ah you are correct! She says the extra decimal point is “unnecessary and confusing.” She says a digital thermometer accurate to tenths (97.4) is sufficient.
[name_f]My[/name_f] charts became clearer after I got my BBT thermometer, but that very likely had more to do with practice than with the thermometer itself.
So, @NameSearchAccount, it sounds like any half-decent digital thermometer will do the trick. If you’ve charted consistently over several cycles and are still only seeing tiny changes and no clear shift, there might be something else going on.
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@Beort12 — I’m so glad to hear your husbands appointment went well!! I hope it makes all the difference in your conception journey, with any luck you’ll have a baby on the way sooner rather than later. [name_f]Do[/name_f] they do a follow up semen analysis? I’ve not heard of anyone having this procedure so I’m kinda fascinated haha
And I’ve not taken any fertility meds in my journey so far, shockingly! None of the issues we’ve experienced ever really called for medication and we actually didn’t really discuss that route yesterday either. I had gotten pregnant so quickly with all my miscarried pregnancies that it was never a question of helping me get pregnant, we’ve also never done a semen analysis!
The appointment overall was really good, since it’s been a few years we are retesting all my bloods, doing another HSG, doing an internal ultrasound to check my cyst and adenomyosis, and doing a uterine biopsy. He is a bit concerned that we haven’t conceived intentionally or accidentally since our last loss back in 2018. He was actually apologetic about how he hasn’t helped me faster but most of that is on me, I take forever to follow up and book appointments. With fiancé working away so much we tend to miss opportunities more than we get them.
I’m sitting waiting to get my blood taken as we speak and will be arranging the rest of the tests shortly. We will also be doing a semen analysis but I don’t expect to see anything shocking on that but you never know. I figured we should do one finally just to be sure, he is pushing 40 at this point and I’d like to know all our obstacles up front this time.
A two decimal reading is required for Celsius charting, so it depends on where you live / how you measure temperatures.
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@_thelittlefairywren that is a great point about celsius! I didn’t think about that, since that is not how I naturally gage temperature.
@Kibby yes, we will have a few follow up SAs actually! The first will be at 3 months, then at 6 months and 12 months. The doctor said it is possible his results will be lower at 3 months just because of the stress surgery puts on the body, but from my research I am a little skeptical. I think that may be him trying to set expectations, because most studies do indicate that at 3 months we likely will start to see some improvement if we are going to. The doctor gave us about a 65% chance of seeing improvement in his numbers, although it’s possible they will never reach the threshold of normal. There is also some indication the repair can improve sperm DNA fragmentation, but that is very rarely tested (we haven’t), so potentially there could be improvement to the quality of the sperm even if it isn’t reflected in a SA. The surgery is not a slam dunk, and in lots of ways the medical community still isn’t sure if or how varicoceles impact fertility, but surgery does seem to improve in most men both sperm counts and pregnancy rates. That was enough for us to give it a shot, at least.
I am glad the appointment feels fairly positive. A bit annoying to do all the testing again, but I understand wanting to know everything going on at once. That way you can make plans with as much info as possible. I don’t know much about adenomyosis, I will be interested in hearing more about that. 2018 is a while ago now, but with your fiancé gone so much it sounds like you haven’t actually had as many tries over that time as you would think.
In my own desire to know everything up front while we wait to do the 3 month SA I am going to get all the baseline testing done on me. We are in the unusual (for fertility) position where we have done lots for the male partner, but still know nothing about me! I am expecting we will do some blood tests and a HSG, and go from there depending what we find. I am praying for no further issues with me, so we just have my husband’s situation to contend with. We will keep trying on our own at least up to the 3 month analysis, but may move to IUI after that depending on the results.
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I’m working entirely in celsius so helpful to know that two decimal places is what I should be doing. I am a little tempted to sack it all in and just have regular attempts any time I’m not actively bleeding, not sure which would cause more stress at this stage.
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I’m sorry it’s so stressful 
I starting charting four months postpartum, for pregnancy prevention, and it felt like the worst time ever to try and figure all that out. But because we were trying to prevent at the time, it probably wasn’t as stressful!
It took 3 or 4 cycles of charting before my shift became clear, 5 or 6 before I really started to feel confident that I could see the patterns and start to understand what and when my body was doing. From what I’ve read, 6 months to a year is normal for a woman to take to understand her patterns well. I so wished I had learned to chart before I started trying to get pregnant or trying not to!
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@Maerad I’m sorry you’re feeling overwhelmed. Tracking and TTC does take a toll after a while. I stopped tracking temps for about two years after my miscarriage because I was so exhausted and defeated by the whole process. I’ve only just started again because I found not tracking was actually more frustrating in the end - I hate not knowing when to expect my period and how long my cycle is going to be. My point being that it definitely can feel more stressful than it’s worth, and it’s okay to take a break if you need to. Look after you and your mental health xx
RE apps - I used Read Your Body. It’s created and run by a completely female, not for profit team and it is completely customisable. I love the deph of detail it allows and that it was entirely developed by women who were sick of sub-par apps. It is also only stored directly to your device, so there’s no dodgy file sharing happening in the background like had happened with some of the other fertility apps.
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@Maerad - I found temping really overwhelming at first, like it would never make sense or come together, but it’s actually become my favourite way to track cycles. Stick with it for a few cycles if you can then reassess!! I got some really cool charts and a better understanding of how my body works. Not sure I’ve mentioned it, but I track in Celsius, also to 2 decimal places and use Fertility [name_u]Friend[/name_u] App, it’s low tech but makes the clearest charts in my opinion. Some of the fancier apps make it more confusing.
@Beort12 - Fingers crossed for improvement at 3 months already! Fingers crossed that you just conceive ASAP!!! There’s so many factors to contend with in fertility and it is often rare they will investigate the man first but male factor infertility is actually a huge percentage of why people struggle, I honestly think if they test the woman they should test the man, so I love that your situation was reversed and you’ve not had to advocate for everything. It’s also great that you are getting everything checked out too, hopefully you aren’t contending with anything on your side that complicates things but it’s definitely best to know!
I definitely mentioned to my doctor that part of the issue is that we’ve not had as many chances to try, which is also why I put off contacting him for a bit. It sometimes feels over dramatic to me, like, I’m faking infertility or have infertility imposter syndrome, but then I also remember recurrent loss and the adenomyosis are legitimate issues I’m facing, infertility is such a weird rollercoaster of emotions.
Also- Adenomyosis is where the uterine lining grows into the muscle layer of the uterus in spots, it was found by chance on a ultrasound I had a few years ago, it doesn’t resolve itself and can worsen with age often leaving to hysterectomy for pain and relief. In some cases it can lead to second trimester pregnancy loss. It’s probably the most frightening part of what I’ve got going on for me, I’m hoping to get some answers about the severity of it, especially as I’ve not had it checked in a couple years now.
I had FIFTEEN vials of blood taken on [name_m]Friday[/name_m] and [name_f]My[/name_f] blood test results have been rolling in all weekend slow and steady, I love that it gets posted online and I can check it out. All of my hormones are coming in at great levels, my FSH is a bit elevated but hopefully it’s not a concern. I’m eagerly waiting the rest of my results, I find it fascinating. I’m really curious to see if my AMH is still great, I hope so, doctor said a few years ago that I had the eggs of a 19 year old, let’s hope they are still young and fresh, as I’ll be 34 soon 
[name_f]My[/name_f] CBC and blood smear tests that aren’t fertility related are still coming back abnormal in some things, so it’s looking like I may be anemic or something, I’m not sure how much that effects fertility and I’m trying to not sink into google doctoring myself!
Also recently found out my childhood friend is having all her fertility tests done, I’m heartbroken for her. I was hoping they’d have an easy time conceiving and now they are coming up on a year, they’ve mentioned something about lesions to her and I’m just so sad her journey is turning to this, I don’t wish it on anyone.
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@Maerad I am sorry you find temping so stressful! I have felt that way too at times. There was a period of time I was waking up throughout the night worried about what my temperature would be, particularly around ovulation. I took a month off last fall and we just relied on CM to plan our tries. I also haven’t been temping this month because my husband surgery meant we couldn’t try. I will say what ultimately helped me, personally, was not relying 100% on temp. I also track CM and take ovulation tests, simply because then I can remind myself “I am using 3 indicators no 1 indicator is that important”. I am sure this wouldn’t work for everyone, but for me it makes me slightly less obsessive.
@kibby I am glad the results are looking good! That is a lot of blood to have drawn, though!! That is interesting about the adenomyosis, and I can see how it is very worrying, especially since you already have a history of recurrent loss.
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A day or two away from AF being due and over here telling myself “Don’t test yet, don’t test yet, hang in there just another couple days!!” 
I don’t have all my usual pre-AF symptoms, but some months I just don’t… I’ve been feeling a tiny bit nauseated off and on, but it could be nothing…
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The battle is real every . single . cycle !! 
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I should be finding out my current natural cycle pretty soon. I’m excited to have data on how I feel through the whole thing, even though I haven’t been great at tracking signs of fertility yet. I mostly just want to get started already, so I am trying to reframe the time waiting as time to get data and learn more.
That annoying bit of me that is convinced there is no way it could end up being quick for us needs to keep being reminded that our stress will only be increasing into [name_u]June[/name_u] and there are multiple reasons why that wouldn’t be great timing. I just wish it were easier to believe that it could, in fact, not take very many tries.
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