How do I know when I ovulate?

How to calculate the fertile days when you want to get pregnant

First of all, understand the menstrual cycle to be able to get pregnant

In an "ideal" cycle lasting 28 days, ovulation and therefore the release of the egg would occur on day 14 of the cycle. Just that day and the days before ovulation is when we are most fertile, and so, each woman's cycle.

In this post we are going to talk about different methods to determine the days you can get pregnant not only with the calendar, but also with the position of the cervix, with the graphs and basal temperature test and knowing your fertile cervical mucus that will allow the sperm to pass through and thus fertilize the egg and create an embryo that will be implanted during the second phase of your cycle.

Remember, to calculate your cycle, you have to take into account that the first day of your period is your day 1 and from here it is counted until the last day before the cycle starts again with a new menstruation or the period does not come because we are pregnant. Also, not only can menstrual cycles be very different between women, but at different times in your life, you can have very different menstrual cycles and periods. Each woman is a world and the best thing is to know your own menstrual cycle.

Lubricants and search for pregnancy

Ovulation and irregular cycles

For women who are not so regular in their cycles, these calculations are usually not enough to determine the ovulation date as well as the fertile days and it can make it difficult to get pregnant for this reason.

It has been shown (1) that, although the average woman usually has cycles between 27 and 28 days, up to 58% of the cases studied had variations in their cycles of more than a week. Bearing these calculations in mind, there are family planning systems based on sexual practice, with or without protection, depending on the objective, during a window of fertile days. For women with cycles of 26 to 32 days (78% of all cases) the fertile days could be between days 8 to 19 of the cycle.

Already at the beginning of the century, the famous Dr. Ogino, identified that the menstruation came about 14 days after ovulation making the duration of this second part of the cycle more fixed, from ovulation to menstruation (Luteal Phase). Most of the irregularities in the cycles are due to alterations in the first phase of the cycle, which goes from the first day of menstruation until ovulation (Follicular Phase) (2)

The fact that having a cycle that is not 27 or 28 days does not mean that it is not a healthy menstrual cycle, or that you can not detect your fertile days or that you are going to have problems getting pregnant. The important thing is that this cycle is as regular as possible and that you can detect other ovulation symptoms that give you clues, since the calendar is not going to be your best ally to promote and schedule sexual relations.

The menstrual cycle must be coordinated

The body works like a music orchestra where each element has its specific function but where only with the sum of the joint work the precious melody is achieved.

So that the ovules mature, so that they get out of their follicle and ovulate, so that they can receive the sperm, so that they can travel to the uterus ... For everything, coordination between substances, hormones and mechanisms that make it possible is necessary. And these physiological changes often have a subtle but noticeable physical impact that we can watch out for.

Teaching the woman to identify these changes is the only way to be able to identify when her fertile days are. And like all teaching, It requires a time of attention and practice to be useful. But of course, if you want to get pregnant, knowing your menstrual cycles and fertile days is going to be very important to know when to promote sexual intercourse.

5 ways to know your ovulation

👉 Changes in vaginal discharge:

The increase in estrogen generated by the follicle when it matures favors the production of a type of lubricating mucus that facilitates the ascent of sperm into the uterine cavity. This mucus will evolve until it changes its composition and texture, induced in this case by the hormone progesterone, to the contrary, to block the passage of sperm and reduce their survival. Note that Sperm can live for 3 to 5 days inside a woman's body. waiting for the mature egg, so if you have had intercourse in the days before ovulation, whether it is two days, three days or even 5, you have the possibility of getting pregnant if you have had unprotected intercourse.

During the cycle, it will change in density: from more creamy or grassy to more runny or slippery; in elasticity: from thicker to more elastic; and in color: it will go from being more yellow to white or transparent.

The appearance of changes in vaginal discharge indicate the onset of fertility usually occurs around 5 or 6 days before ovulation, a period that coincides with what we have seen so far. The body is wise.

The so-called 'peak day' is the last day that the mucus appears elastic and transparent, similar to egg white. Or the last day in which a sensation of lubrication or humidity is evident in the vagina. And it is usually a sign that ovulation has already occurred.

The more elastic and transparent discharge and the sensation of humidity or excess lubrication in the woman's vagina are the most obvious symptoms that a woman is fertile these days. According to the nomenclature used by the WHO, the F mucus corresponds to the typical mucus of the very fertile days, the f mucus that of the fertile days and the S mucus that of the non-fertile days.

MOCO f (fertile)

MOCO F (very fertile)

MOCO S (not fertile)

SENSATION

Sticky

Humidity

Wet

Lubricated

Dryness

ASPECT

Yellowish

Blanco

Creamy

Transparent

Raw egg white

Form threads

No mucus

There are two validated efficacy methods that have been studied in this regard: 'The Billings Method', which pays more attention to vulvar sensations, while the 'Creighton Model' assesses the amount and physical characteristics of cervical mucus. The difficulty of both lies in the teaching and learning to differentiate the types of mucus throughout the cycle of women. It takes a while so, start investigating, slowly but surely. It is something new to learn.

You should keep in mind that if you enhance sexual intercourse after ovulation, the chances of getting pregnant go down and you will notice that your cervical mucus is no longer elastic and therefore the sperm can no longer go up to the tubes. Fallopian where fertilization should take place with the mature ovum.

👉 Changes in the cervix

Another way to distinguish the days that are favorable for conception from those that are not is by self-palpation of the vaginal cervix, which is usually within the reach of the human finger.

We may run into some resistance in which cases, but this method seems to be another of the few tools that exist to identify with some success the fertile days of women.

With a little practice, changes in resistance, height, angle and opening can be identified -this is the most obvious of the changes- during the periovulatory phase, that is, before, during the moment of ovulation and after ovulation. Also, if you have regular cycles, it will be very easy for you to detect the days to get pregnant each cycle without having to explore many previous days before ovulation.

Such is the reliability of this technique that there is the so-called 'Two-Day Method' or 'Two-Day Algorithm'. It is an easy method to teach, learn and use and has been very successful within accessible and free sex education throughout the planet and knowing which days are more likely to get pregnant if you have sex. It consists of differentiating whether the woman has noticed cervical secretions one day or the day before, it should be considered at a fertile moment. If, on the other hand, there have been no secretions the day before or the present day, the woman is not fertile that day. As simple as that.

It is also important to teach women to identify some other type of mucus that can generate doubts, especially differentiating it from vaginal infections, where the mucus tends to be yellowish, with a strong color and is usually accompanied by itching or discomfort to the touch or to the touch. to pee.

👉 Basal temperature test:

In 1926, the scientist Van de Velde (3) related the activity of the corpus luteum (what the follicle transforms into after ovulation) with a slight rise in basal body temperature (between 0,2 and 0,5 ºC). Namely, ovulation occurs on the first day of high temperature but now we know that the fertile days are prior to it, so this method is once again somewhat useful to seek conception.

Subsequent studies by Gnoth (4) and Barbato (5) found that ovulation takes place before the first day of high temperature in 62% of cases, so we would be late if we used this parameter exclusively. In other words, it is important to know that the fertile days start before ovulation so that the sperm can reach the fallopian tubes and fertilize the mature egg. If we only have sex during or after ovulation, we may be late and less likely to get pregnant.

However, continuing to observe the temperature can be interesting to confirm, a posteriori, whether or not there is ovulation and to confirm, if positive, a possible pregnancy, since a high temperature level that is maintained for 20 days is a diagnosis of probable pregnancy. The temperature will remain elevated during the first three months of pregnancy.

This method is not exempt from difficulties since body temperature is sensitive to several factors that must be taken into account: it must be taken at the same time and under similar conditions. Not sleeping well, drinking alcohol or eating too much or too little can alter the temperature slightly and mislead us, making it difficult to get pregnant if we only use this method to schedule sexual intercourse.

LINK: Ovulation thermometer with two decimal places to accurately measure the change in basal temperature

👉 Mood swings and/or mood swings:

Unfortunately, according to this study (6) carried out in 53 women by the Department of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, the symptoms related to abdominal pain, changes in libido, mood and even flow analysis were not very reliable. vaginal in women not specially formed in its detection. Women were correct in their sensations only in half of the cases, when these sensations were contrasted with biochemical analyzes of hormones in the blood.

Therefore, it is very important to educate women in the previous methods that are validated. In fact, the 'The symptothermal method'It is undoubtedly the most widespread and complete family planning method to date and includes the measurement of the first three points of our post today.

This blog post may interest you: Pre-menstrual Syndrome Why do I suffer from it? What are the causes?

👉 Ovulation test:

The ovulation test Most of the pharmacies are sensitive to the amount of hormone that is triggered just at the moment of ovulation (Luteinizing Hormone), therefore, by the time the test is positive, we are already in low hours for fertility again. As we have seen, there is a window of opportunity prior to ovulation that we must be attentive to through the symptoms that we can notice. This is a widely used home test to know the menstrual cycle and increase the possibility of getting pregnant thanks to the fact that you can easily recognize your fertile days, whether or not you have regular cycles.

LINK: Digital ovulation test

LINK: Test Strip Ovulation Test

There are digital tests, more expensive, and rod tests, somewhat cheaper. In any case, a good way to maximize them is to use them wisely, taking into account the rest of the signals we have talked about today and doing a few simple calculations. In addition, in this way, we save ourselves the odd displeasure and even some involuntary alteration of the cycle due to the anxiety that ambiguous results can generate.

As I said at the beginning, if your cycles are regular, between 27 and 28 days, you should expect menstruation around day 14, about 14 days before the end of the cycle. So you could restrict the use of the tests from day 9 0 10. And remember not to forget to have sex with your partner from the same date that you start the tests. And use a suitable and specific lubricant so as not to hinder the flow of sperm, such as Concive Plus.

If you have longer cycles, around 32 days, you should calculate that ovulation will be about 14 days before, that is, around day 18 of the cycle. So you can start using the tests from about 4 or 5 days before, from the 13th or 14th day approximately. And, equally, these would be the dates in which it would be necessary to seek to have sexual intercourse to increase the chances of pregnancy. And likewise, use a suitable and specific lubricant so as not to interfere with affecting the half-life of the sperm.

In case your cycles are very irregular, with the test system it will be difficult to get it right and it will mean that you have to use the tests for many more days to be able to confirm whether or not there is ovulation and on what day. After a few cycles of writing down these data, you will be able to get a better idea of your fertile days.

If you have any questions, go to your specialist doctor and do not forget to have your check-ups up to date!

Here I leave you the three products that can surely be useful to you if you are looking to get pregnant or know your menstrual cycle.