For couples trying to conceive, timing is key. With only a few fertile days in each menstrual cycle, couples often turn to ovulation tracking methods to maximize their chances of conception. One popular means of ovulation tracking is basal body temperature (BBT) charting, in which the woman tracks her temperature to watch for pattern changes that indicate ovulation. BBT charting has been around for decades and costs very little to use. Yet while charting may be beneficial for some women, for others it's more of a mixed blessing.

Trina Lambert of Englewood, Colo., counts herself a believer in BBT charting. After experiencing a miscarriage, Lambert hoped knowing her cycles would help her get pregnant sooner. Instead, charting her temperatures alerted Lambert to a hidden problem. "After three months of tracking, I noticed that I didn't seem to be ovulating at the normal time," she says.

The realization led her to read Your Fertility Signals: Using Them to Achieve or Avoid Pregnancy Naturally (Smooth Stone Press, 1989) by Merryl Winstein, which discusses normal and abnormal charts. Convinced there was a problem, Lambert called her doctors and showed them her charts. Her doctors agreed to infertility testing despite her relatively young age of 28 and only four months of actively trying to conceive. Testing revealed low progesterone and low thyroid function. With treatment, Lambert became pregnant three cycles later and went on to deliver twins.

"I believe that without BBT, I would have either had more miscarriages and/or not gotten pregnant, and I wouldn't have sought medical treatment early in the process," she says. "I think BBT saved me a lot of heartbreak."

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