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Pregnancy causes numerous changes in your body. Some occur early, even during the first few weeks. In addition to breast tenderness, morning sickness and a missed period, you may notice some important changes in your body temperature. Although you may not feel any warmer, a special thermometer can help you monitor your temperature closely and may indicate the presence of a fertilized egg. By keeping a close eye on your temperature, you can notice any fluctuations.

A woman’s hormones cause her body’s basal temperature to fluctuate before and after ovulation. Charting a woman’s basal body temperature is an inexpensive method to predict a woman’s fertile times and has no side effects. Couples may use the basal body chart as a natural birth control method for religious reasons. Infertility specialist may often recommend this as part of infertility testing and, in some cases, the basal body temperature chart may be an early indicator that pregnancy has occurred.

Charting your basal body temperature gives you valuable insight and information about your menstrual cycle. Simply taking your temperature every morning tells you when you have ovulated, shows where you may have fertility problems and can even tell you that you are pregnant. However, using your basal body temperature as a sign of pregnancy is easier if you have been charting it for several months. Reading and interpreting your basal temperature chart takes practice. Once you become adept at understanding your temperature cycle and chart as well as determining your exact day of ovulation, then when your chart does start to show a pregnancy, it will probably stand out.

Lots of bodily changes happen during those first precious weeks of pregnancy, including potential spikes in body temperature. While most hot flashes and temperature changes during pregnancy are nothing for expectant moms to become overly concerned with, excessive heating must be avoided to help ensure your future child’s development, according to the Mayo Clinic and Pregnancy Today. Likewise, if you do find yourself dealing with a lot of unwanted heat during pregnancy, you must not take aspirin or ibuprofen; if you need to take a pain reliever to reduce painful pregnancy-related symptoms or the common cold, it is safest to use acetaminophen.