first a little bit about me; this isnt my first time charting... but Im still pretty clueless on it. After my ds I charted and we were able to conceive our dd on our first month of "trying". (I do sort of a cm/calender method) But when I was temping ff never said "you ovulated on yada yada date" and my temps were all over the place so I just stopped. Now that we have our dd we are in that "not sure yet" stage, so we're hoping that we can do nfp again to be able to plan our family accordingly w/o having to wait for drugs to wear off or make screwy cycles.
I know that the best way for us to be able to do that is to chart not only my cm, but my cp (which Im pretty much clueless at as well) and my temps... I've heard that I HAVE to have a bbt to be able to chart accurately and that is why ff was never able to get my O date, is this true? Do I seriously need to go out and buy a bbt?

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Well the important thing is to have a thermometer that reads out to the hundreth of the degree. Ex: 96.54 instead of 96.5. It does make a big difference.
The nice thing now is that most thermometers automatically read out that far and you can buy a store brand name for like $5.00.
I have a BBT and a regular that reads out to the hundreth degree. They work the same.
Oh, I would add that if you are charting for NFP and are not looking to conceive right now you should definitely invest in the right thermometer.

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Well, I don't use one that goes to the hundredth, and TCYOF, says you can, but it isn't necessary. However you do need one that is accurate within .1 degree, because that is important. I dont use a BBT(I lost mine somewhere along the way) but it is a good regular thermometor, accurate to the.1 degree. If your thermometer is old, or not a good quality thermometer, I would get a BBT. They are only 7 or 8 bucks at Walmart.

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Shannon

I don't think mine was a bbt and it only read to the tenths. Hundredths really aren't necessary. You'll see the rise when you O.

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I've been charting off and on for several years and I only used a BBT for a few months. I have used regular thermometers since and they do just as well, as long as it's a digital one. I always saw the shift of O.

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