When it comes to getting pregnant naturally, your basic knowledge about your reproductive health states you to have unprotected sex during ovulation. Usually, you can estimate your ovulation, or fertile days, by charting your menstrual cycle. However, tracking menstrual cycles and having sex mid days between periods is not easy for some of you. It is due to variables in your menstrual cycles that are lesser or longer than a typical 28 days.
In general, you have ovulation when either of your ovaries releases a mature egg. After its release, your egg travels through the fallopian tubes and meets with your partner’s sperm if everything takes place according to the made plan or a natural process. Your egg has fertilisation after meeting with sperm and implantation in your uterus. Further, the egg grows and turns into a child through a gradual development process. Determining the time of your ovulation is tricky for you, especially when your menstrual periods are not regular.
Determination of ovulation
The determination of your ovulation helps you conceive. And for the calculation of highly fertile days, ovulation time, you need to track your menstrual cycle. Your menstrual cycle starts on the first day of your period, when you bleed through the vagina. And it ends with the beginning of your next period. Keep in mind your period actually starts on a day when you have bleeding for the first time in a month and there is a shed in your uterine lining. It lasts for five to seven days. Your menstrual cycle could range between 21 and 35 days. In rare cases, it can go beyond 35 days.
Many of you have length variations in your menstrual cycles. In a month, it can last for 28 days. In another month, it can be 24 or 32 days. Such a variation in the menstrual cycle is quite normal. And so, tracking your menstrual cycles is crucial for you when you are trying to get pregnant. By charting your menstrual cycles for a few months (3-6 months in a row), you can determine your average length. And it will help you estimate your ovulation time, the fertile window.
To find the average length of your menstrual cycle, you can mark the day/date on a calendar when you bleed. You need to count the number of days until your next period starts. Track your menstrual cycles for 3 to 6 months and add the number of days together. Further, you have to divide the number of days by the number of months (menstrual cycle months).
In general, you ovulate on the day 12 to 16, in the middle of your menstrual cycle. The second part of a menstrual cycle, usually after ovulation, lasts for 14 days. It has not any change in any further months. For example, you have ovulation on day 14 if your menstrual cycles are 28 days. You ovulate on day 12 if your menstrual cycle lasts for 26 days. Your ovulation date is day 18 if your menstrual cycle lasts for 32 days.
If manual day marking and ovulation calculation seems hard for you, use an online calculator, which is usually available on the websites of fertility clinics. Further, you can use an OPK (ovulation predictor kit). You need to subtract 14 from the total days of a menstrual cycle to estimate your ovulation day. To have no ovulation miss, you can start using the kit two days before that day.
Other ways to determine your most fertile window/days
Apart from charting your menstrual cycles, you need to pay attention to your body to know when you are going to ovulate. You can keep a close watch on the changes in your cervical mucus. Around ovulation, it is slippery and clear and has an egg white appearance. It indicates you are highly fertile or an optimal time to get pregnant. In addition, you can monitor your basal body temperature, which is the one just after leaving your bed in the morning. It sees a rise when you are about to ovulate.
What to do while calculating your menstrual cycles and ovulation
When you are tracking your menstrual cycles to estimate your ovulation, you and your partner should follow a healthy lifestyle. It includes a well-balanced diet, exercising, weight management, enough rest, leaving bad habits, and stress management. Apart from it, you should take prenatal supplements and go for a pre-pregnancy checkup. At Mannat Fertility Clinic, we offer all the requisite help to couples willing to conceive a child.
