If you are planning for a baby, it’s very important to know your most fertile days i.e. When you are going to ovulate. Having sex during these days, increases your chances of getting pregnant.
Let’s just discuss in detail about ovulation: What is ovulation, ovulation window, common signs of ovulation, and ovulation home-tests.
WHAT IS OVULATION?
Every woman is born with millions of immature eggs. Eggs will start getting matured and release from the ovary when you start getting your periods, usually one at a time, every month. When an egg is released from the ovary is called as ovulation. In general, ovulation happens once a month, mostly after two weeks from the first day of your menstruation. You are most fertile during these days, so chances of getting pregnant are also more if you have sex during those days.
But every woman’s cycle is different. If you have a regular menstrual cycle, then it gets easier to predict the ovulation window. But if your menstrual cycle is irregular for any reason, it gets difficult to predict when’ll you ovulate. Just make sure to adapt a healthy lifestyle and treat your health issues (if any) to get your menstrual cycle regular, and then plan for a baby (to avoid any further complication).
OVULATION WINDOW:
Now, after getting to know about ovulation, let’s look at when are you going to ovulate. In general, ovulation occurs halfway through your menstrual cycle, like if your menstrual cycle is of 28-days, then you are mostly going to ovulate around the 14th days (starting from the first day of your period). Ovulation varies from woman to woman and depending upon the length of your cycle i.e. your menstrual cycle is between 28 to 32 days, so your ovulation also varies from 10 to 19 days of your cycle. So, to know about your ovulation window, it’s important to keep track of how long your cycle lasts, and when your period starts and ends.
The egg released during ovulation mostly survives for around 12-24 hours and your partner’s sperm survive for few days in your body. So, it’s ideal to already have sperm in your body when you ovulate to get fertilization, which results in pregnancy. So it’s recommended to have sex to increase your chances of getting pregnant either on the day of ovulation or 2-3 days before you ovulate. You can also use different apps and calendar to predict your ovulation window.
COMMON SIGNS OF OVULATION :
Listening to your body also helps to predict when’ll you ovulate. Some physical changes in your body help to predict that your ovulation is about to occur or ovulation actually has occurred . Let’s look at some of the common signs of ovulation, which you may feel when you ovulate which are as follows:
Change In Cervical Mucus:
Your body produces more estrogen when you are near your fertile window (i.e. ovulation), this changes your cervical mucus. You may start feeling more vaginal discharge and the cervical mucus becomes clear, sticky, and stretchy (just like egg white). This is one of the most common signs of ovulation, which is experienced by most of the women. Whenever you feel or figure out this king of cervical mucus, it means you are in your fertile window.
Increased Sex Drive:
One of the other changes which you may feel is your increased desire for sex. Whenever you feel more desire to spice things up with your partner, then the chances are high that you are ovulating. But if you feel stressed or depressed when you ovulate, you may not feel the increased sex drive. And increased sex drive doesn’t always mean that you are ovulating, but if you feel so, just go ahead and enjoy.
Cervix Changes:
Your cervix also changes when you are ovulating. Just before ovulation, your cervix gets higher, softens, and opens, which means you are in your ovulation window. But after ovulation, your cervix gets lower, harder, and more closed. You can’t notice this change at first, you may need some experience to notice the change in your cervix. Just stand in the position of inserting the tampon, then insert your finger to feel inside.
Breast Tenderness:
Sometimes you may feel breast tenderness and nipple soreness, which may be due to ovulation. Because the hormones level suddenly increase just before ovulation, which makes your breast tender (just before or after ovulation). But it doesn’t always indicate ovulation, it may get tender due to some other reasons as well.
Mild Pain:
Some women experience mild pain in their lower abdomen when they are ovulating, which is called as ovulation pain. With this mild pain, you may also experience light vaginal bleeding or nausea for a short duration, which is normal. While some women may feel just little cramps when the egg is released from the ovary. But if these symptoms get severe, you need to consult your doctor.
OVULATION HOME-TESTS
Predicting the exact date of ovulation is quite tricky because it may vary from woman to woman and may vary a little from month to month as well. Let’s look at some of the ways to predict ovulation at home, which are as follows:
Mark The Calendar:
First of all, you need to keep track of the length of your menstrual cycle. Then you can use ovulation calendars, apps or predict it normally to figure out the day of your ovulation. Then, have sex as near as your ovulation as this helps to increase the chances of conceiving. But if your periods are irregular, then your ovulations are not normal. For that you may go ahead and consult your doctor.
Basal Body Temperature(BBT):
The temperature of your body when you are resting is called as Basal Body Temperature. Actually your BBT increases after ovulation. For this, you need to write down the temperature of your body early in the morning at the same time (even before getting out of the bed). Actually before ovulation, your BBT goes to it’s lowest i.e. around 97 or 98 degree Fahrenheit. Then after ovulation, it’ll rise to 0.4 to 0.8 degrees. But most of the time, some women get mistaken and consider themselves more fertile when their BBT increases. Actually, it is before your BBT increases. So even with BBT, you can’t predict ovulation, but it tells you the approximate day of your ovulation. By analyzing your BBT regularly may help you figure out the lowest BBT temperature before ovulation. This may help you predict.
Ovulation Predictor Kit:
This is one of the most effective ways to predict ovulation. You can use an ovulation predictor kit or fertility home monitors to predict your fertile window. Actually, the LH (luteinizing hormone) increases one or two days before you ovulate. These kits and monitors are used in measuring the LH level through your urine test. Get your urine tested even before when you think you’ll ovulate, when it’s higher, you are most likely to ovulate. Sometimes, you may need to get it tested for 2-3 months to understand the normal and the increased level of LH.
Hope this article will help you understand the concept of ovulation and when to have sex to maximize your chances of getting pregnant.