• Buy either a basal mercury thermometer or a digital one that measures in .1 degree increments. Temperature can be taken orally, vaginally, or rectally, but should be taken consistently the same way throughout the cycle with the same thermometer.
• Get your hands on a decent chart. Basal thermometers generally come with cursory instructions that will include a teeny tiny little chart. TCOYF has some in the back that can be photocopied.
• You can start charting temps at any time, but I would recommend either Chart Day1(CD1) (the first day of true period flow) or within a day or so of period stopping. -- Can never hurt to start at any time just to get in the habit of it, but don't expect to be able to interpret anything if you start charting mid-cycle.
• Put your thermometer by your bed and be prepared to roll over and take your temperature before you get out of bed. If you have to pee, hold it. -- Though seriously, I've sometimes taken it before and after getting up to go to the bathroom and gotten the same reading.
• Set your alarm for the same time each morning. If you like to sleep late on the weekends, get that out of your system. Wake up long enough to take your temp and then go back to sleep. Tape the thermometer to your snooze button!
• If you wake up early, add .1 degree to your temp reading for every half hour you take it early. If you get up late, subtract .1 degree to your temp reading for every half hour you take it late. (Example. Base time is 6:00. You take your temp at 7:00 and register a 98.1 so you record 97.9 on your chart and note the time that temp was taken. Please note that once you go past about an hour and a half from your base time, I've found that the resulting adjusted temp may not be as accurate.)
• Rule of Thumb - If you are sick and running a fever, if you went to bed 6 hours late, if you didn't get 3 hours of continuous sleep, if you overslept by 3 hours, etc., rule of thumb the temp. If you record an unexplained temp that is just way out of whack with what you would expect, rule of thumb the temp. That means skip that day and connect the previous day and the next day's temps instead.
• Record your waking temperature on your chart. You're done! Well okay, not quite. Now you have to look at the chart and decide what it is telling you. That's the tricky part.

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1. Follicular phase. This is from CD1 until ovulation. Temps will be in a low pattern. Usually between 96.8 - 97.9. Individual temps will vary depending on your body and your thermometer. Temps can bounce up and down, or they can be a remarkable flatline. Your thermometer is not broken.
2. Thermal Shift - I OVULATED! When you ovulate, you should see a temperature that is higher than your previous temps by at least .2 (there is an annoying little exception to this called the slow rise -- temps can take up to 4 days to rise following ovulation). When you see this rise, you probably ovulated the day BEFORE. Go ahead and have intercourse again for good measure (better in the morning), but it's probably too late. And keep in mind that not all women see the temp dip telling them that they are about to ovulate. It's probably pretty uncommon actually.
3. Coverline is determined by counting back the last 6 temps prior to the thermal shift. Look at the highest temp in those last 6 days and draw the coverline .1 degree higher. This is important because if your post-ovulation temps hover around cover or dip below you may be looking at a low-progesterone situation. As you can see from how coverline is calculated, it can vary from cycle to cycle.
4. Luteal Phase - This is the number of days from ovulation until true period flow. Temps will be in a high pattern. Generally from about 97.8 - 98.8. Notice that there is some overlap with the low pattern temps in the follicular phase that I mentioned earlier. That's due to the variation among women and thermometers. In your own individual case, you should clearly see a distinct low set of temps followed by high sets of temps. Again, your post-ovulation temps can bounce up and down, flat-line, bell curve, etc.
5. Triphasic - Am I pregnant? Well I hope so, but not necessarily. Many women see a triphasic pattern cycle after cycle. Triphasic means "3 phases". Essentially it is referring to a second thermal shift resulting in a 3rd set of temps that are even higher to the 2nd set. This would occur following implantation. It generally means pregnancy, but not always.
6. Well then how do I know that I'm pregnant? Hearing a heartbeat is always a clencher, but you probably want to know before that don't you? Using charting alone, 18 straight days of high temps after ovulation usually indicates a pregnancy. The "normal" LP is generally 12-16 days. The corpus luteum will break down by then if no implanted fertilized egg is present. There are rare situations where a woman can have 18 straight days of high temps and not be pregnant. If this is the case, please see your health care practioner for diagnosis.
7. What if I'm not pregnant? Many women get a drop in their temp the day of or day before their period starts. This is nice because you can prepare yourself mentally for it. Temp will drop to around coverline or below coverline. But don't count on it. The temp drop isn't always a good indication that period is coming. Some women have had a period start 15 minutes after recording a 98.8 with a coverline of 97.7.