For me, using my BBT (Basal Body Temperature) to predict fertility proved hugely successful.
I reasoned that BBT charting might be a solution to allow for prediction of the onset of labour.
A quick Google search only turned up information about dogs! (Their BBT will drop by 2degsF in the 24 hours before labour).
A more intense search came up with a University of Utah thesis from August 1983 by Diana P. Selvey titled, ‘Changes in Basal Body Temperature and the onset of labor’.
This study concluded that there was no significant drop in the baseline BBT during the final 21 days before labour, and that BBT was not a viable solution in predicting the onset of labour in humans.
After three days of my own BBT charting (results were 98.6F, 97F, 97.2F) I can see that this could be tricky!
You really need 3 hours of consecutive solid sleep before taking your temperature, and need to take the reading before talking, drinking , getting up etc.
The readings can be affected by fever, restless sleep, consumption of alcohol the night before, and so on.
I’ve been sleeping very lightly, and wake up pretty much every other hour – not because of any calls of nature … just because I’m not sleeping well.
I think it’s safe to say that reliable readings will be hard to come by at best, and despite really hoping that this could be a useful method of predicting Eliza’s arrival, I feel that perhaps is isn’t such a viable solution.
We’ll see…