The day you get your period is the first day of your new cycle. After your period ends, your body prepares to ovulate. You'll experience cervical fluid that will increase in water content and as you approach ovulation. At ovulation, you may experience mittelschmerz (ovulation pain) as your egg is being released from your ovary. It's also normal to experience some spotting during this time. Ovulation marks the end of your pre-ovulatory phase.

After ovulation your waking oral temperature will rise and stay high until you get your next period. Your cervical fluid will go back to a drier, less fertile, quality. The day before you get your period you may experience a watery cervical fluid as your uterine lining starts to break up in preparation to be shed. Your temperature will drop the day you get your period. This marks the end of your post-ovulatory phase.

Is your cycle short, average, long, constant from cycle to cycle? Does it change seasonally? You can find out!

Understand how it changes throughout your cycle, (color, consistency, amount).

Learn what is normal for your body so you can understand when something occurs that's not normal, such as an infection.

Did you know that you can bleed every month, but not be ovulating? By charting your temperature you can see if and when you ovulated each cycle.

Typically, it's the same length for each cycle, usually between 12 and 16 days long.

If it's shorter than 12 days, you may have trouble getting pregnant. If you have a cycle in which your luteal phase is 18 days or longer, you may be pregnant.

Once you have confirmed ovulation you can expect your period 12 to 16 days later. Additionally, at the end of your cycle, due to a decrease in progesterone, your waking oral temperature will drop on the day of your period.