Fertility Basics: Basal Body Tempurature and Pituitary Tumor

I write these posts on fertility basics as I learn new tips because I know that I am no expert. I must admit it's kind of difficult knowing that I can't get pregnant right away. Most women who experience issues with fertility know that feeling of wanting to get pregnant "right now" but not being able to. It's heart wrenching to say the least. With each passing month the reality of not being able to have children gets more and more real and it brings me back to the moment in the doctors office 4 years ago when I asked my doctor if I would be able to have children. I can still remember his expression as he slowly shook his head from side to side (meaning no). Since then other Doctors have said different things ranging from "it shouldn't be too much of a problem" to "all you'll need to do is take some medicine first". Well which one is it? I guess we'll just have to wait find out.

Why did they tell me this? About 5 years ago I was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor. It's actually more common than you may realize but a lot of people don't even know they have it. I won't go too much into detail on it except to say that it was treated and my last two MRI's were completely normal. So this should mean that my body is back to normal right? That's what I thought too. Maybe I just need to be a little more patient. After all, I am only 23 and I still have time to figure this all out...

So back to fertility basics.

Basal Body Temperature: This is your lowest body temperature within a 24 hour period. The best time to take your temp is right when you wake up in the morning, before you even get out of bed. Chart your temperatures and try to take your temp around the same time every day. Before you ovulate your BBT is probably somewhere between 97.2 - 97.7 but after you ovulate it should raise anywhere from 0.4 to 1.0 degrees. This isn't a huge help the first month but it will help you to identify a pattern and this way you can figure out which days are your most fertile for future months.

This info was found at BabyCenter. They also have other great tips and advice for getting pregnant.

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