When Am I Ovulating?

Whether trying to get pregnant or trying not to get pregnant, a rather common concern from women is: When am I ovulating? This isn't really a question which offers a universal solution given that all women have different bodies with different cycles. Nevertheless, there are some ways you can help discover your probable ovulation time. To get the most reliable prediction of your ovulation, it is better to make use of a combination of measures, including understanding your cervical fluid, tracking your menstrual cycles, and charting your body temperature. There are also ovulation kits and fertility monitors available that can guide you. By monitoring your menstrual cycles and paying attention to ovulation symptoms, you will likely become very mindful of your body and cycles and be able to feel when ovulation is about to occur.

Is there a certain day in my cycle I might count on ovulation to occur?

The idea that women are fertile on day 14 in their cycle is a very common misconception. This is something that countless people have considered for years, but it just isn’t usually the case. Many women do ovulate on day 14, yet it can differ by woman and sometimes by month, even if you have a 28-day cycle. If you have a typical 28 to 32 day menstrual cycle (with day 1 being the start of your period), ovulation can happen between days 11 through 21. Once again, this tends to vary depending on a handful of components, such as your cycle length and consistency of your periods. So depending entirely on counting days in your cycle won't be the best approach to predicting ovulation.

How can I tell when I am most fertile?

A ideal starting point to predict when you are ovulating would be to begin monitoring your cycles. This could be as straightforward as keeping a calendar and noting the beginning and end of each of your cycles. Day 1 of your cycle would be the day your period starts. By doing this you will be able to note how long your cycles are and how regular they are. Most women have 28 to 31 or 32-day cycles, but some also have very short cycles, very long cycles, or cycles which are different every month. By monitoring this data, you'll already be a step ahead on establishing your likely ovulation and it may also end up being useful to your physician if you have menstrual troubles or difficulty getting pregnant.

The next step in monitoring your cycles is to graph your basal body temperature - the lowest temperature your body reaches in a day. The best time to take your temperature is first thing in the morning - immediately after you wake up but just before you get out of bed. Aim to take your temperature at the same time each morning. This is best achieved using a thermometer especially created for basal body temperature readings, for the reason that they indicate very small changes in your temperature that normal thermometers are not able to. These thermometers usually are obtainable on the web and at many drugstores and most often come with handy graphs for monitoring your temperature each day. Try not to read too much into your daily temperature, but at the end of your cycle, you will more than likely notice a temperature shift on the graph close to your ovulation time. By doing this over a number of cycles, you will probably discover a pattern in what your temperature does throughout the month. Ordinarily, your temperature will shift up a little right after ovulation and remain elevated until the start of your next cycle. By repeating this over a few months, you will be able to predict what day you are likely ovulating.

The last factor which will help you pinpoint your ovulation is to examine your cervical mucus. Doing this in combination with the two methods mentioned above can give you a very accurate sense of when you are ovulating. The consistency, color, and amount of cervical discharge changes during the month as your hormones fluctuate. As you get close to ovulating (a couple days before) you will most likely notice the mucus becoming clear, slippery, and fairly stretchy - quite similar to raw egg whites. This is the discharge you are going to see when you are fertile, as it is the most effective consistency to help sperm get to the egg. This can last for about 3 days, and you are likely to be most fertile on the last day of this discharge.

You can keep track of your cycles, temperature, and cervical mucous each month on a fertility chart and start to get a pretty precise idea of when you are ovulating. This can make it easier to get pregnant or avoid getting pregnant and will help you become knowledgeable of the changes your body goes through during the month.

Find out more information about ovulation on the When Am I Ovulating blog. Shannon Adrian is a work-at-home mom blogger specializing in women's issues, family, and lifestyle.