Can I Get Pregnant Just After My Period Has Finished
Yes, although it’s not very likely. If you have sex without using contraception, you can conceive at any time during your menstrual cycle, even during or just after your period.
You can also get pregnant if you have never had a period before, during your first period, or after the first time you have sex.
There’s no “safe” time of the month when you can have sex without contraception and not risk becoming pregnant.
But there are times in your menstrual cycle when you’re at your most fertile, and this is when you’re most likely to conceive.
Reasons For Delayed Ovulation
There are a number of reasons why ovulation may be delayed.
Some people simply have a longer first half of their cycle. For some women thats pretty consistenttheyll have a delayed ovulation every month, says Dr. Acharya. For those women, theyre probably ovulating just further into the cycle than a woman with a 28-day cycle.
Its also possible to have a cycle where you dont ovulate. This is simply due to variation in the natural cycle, explains Dr. Acharya.
However, in some cases, delayed ovulation could occur alongside an underlying issue, such as polycystic ovary syndrome. Taking a hormonal medication, such as Plan B, may also cause delayed ovulation, as could extreme stress beyond the typical day-to-day stressors. Malnutrition can also cause delayed ovulation.
Timing Is Everything
Leaving things to chance can be funbut also inefficient. With over 99.9% accuracy, Bird& Be’s Ovulation Tests predict when youre about to ovulate.
How Long Does It Normally Take To Get Pregnant
No one can say exactly how long it will take to become pregnant, since so many factors come into play. Some people may conceive immediately, while others may need fertility treatments. In general, it may take more time if you’re older, have lifestyle habits that can affect fertility , or have a health condition that impairs fertility.
Of all people trying to conceive meaning they aren’t using contraception it’s estimated that about 85 percent will become pregnant within the first year. By two years, it’s over 90 percent.
Maternal age plays a big role in the speed of conception. The older you are, the longer it may take you to become pregnant. This is largely because egg quality declines over time especially after age 35. As years pass, fewer eggs are able to join with sperm to grow into a healthy embryo.
Male fertility also dips with age. Though some men can father children into their 60s, 70s, and even their 80s, sperm quality generally starts deteriorating in middle age, with a pronounced drop around age 50.
People have the greatest statistical odds of conceiving naturally during their 20s. Most women in their 30s have no issues, either. At age 30, a healthy person has about a 20 percent chance of getting pregnant each month. By the time you’re 40, that likelihood drops to around 5 to 10 percent. By age 45, very few people get pregnant without the help of a specialist.
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How Much Sex Is Too Much
You should have sex as often as you want during your fertile window. However, the key word there is want. You shouldnt be having so much sex that it becomes a negative thing. You shouldnt be in pain, dreading it, or feeling like its a chore without any fun involved. If it reaches that point, you may end up having less sex, which could reduce your chances of conceiving.
Be open and honest with your partner about sex while youre trying to get pregnant, and try not to feel too much pressure. Once you do conceive, remember that one-on-one moments with your partner are soon to be limited, so savor that time alone together while you have it!
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When Does Implantation Happen
After fertilization, the new zygote travels down the fallopian tube and goes through tremendous changes. It develops into a morula and then a blastocyst. Once it reaches the blastocyst stage, its ready to implant in the uterine lining and continue growing into an embryo.
Implantation is essential to achieve pregnancy. Without it, the blastocyst will break down and be expelled with the rest of the uterine lining during your period.
As for timing, implantation usually happens between days 6 and 10 days after fertilization. Symptoms you may experience are mild and include things like cramping and light spotting. Some women may notice no symptoms at all, however.
Once the implanted embryo starts producing hormones , pregnancy symptoms may begin.
The earliest symptoms include:
If you experience these symptoms or otherwise think you might be pregnant, its a good idea to take a home pregnancy test.
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How To Track The Best Time To Get Pregnant
To properly plan your baby-making schedule, you need to know when youre ovulating. Regardless of the length of your cycle, ovulation usually occurs about 14 days before your next period. Physical signs, such as watery vaginal secretions, or pain on one side of your pelvis, can also tip you off that your egg is about to drop. You can easily ballpark when to have sex by looking at the calendar, says Shapiro. And add to that your own body changes to confirm what you already know.
Apps, such as the one my husband was using, are like Google Calendar for your ovaries. Their basic function is to flag when youre expected to ovulate based on information you plug in from past periods. If your cycle is regular, apps are highly accurate. But, if you have irregular periods, the calculations can get more complicated and more likely to result in error.
Shapiro points out that its normal for your cycle to vary in length by up to eight days. This can make narrowing down when to have sex more challenging, which means youll have to spend more time in the bedroom to maximize your chances. Having sex a couple of times around ovulation, 48 hours apart, is probably sufficient, Shapiro says. And if youre not sure when youre ovulating, add an extra day.
Trust yourself, Shapiro says. Youre probably getting the timing right. Dont stress too much over it. And dont forget to have fun.
How To Know When Youre Ovulating
Knowing when you ovulate can help you plan for sex at the right time and improve your chance of getting pregnant. You can keep track of your menstrual cycles on a chart, in a diary, or on a free period-tracker app on your smartphone.
To work out the length of your menstrual cycle, record the first day you start bleeding . This is day 1. The last day of your cycle is the day before your next period begins.
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Some people think the menstrual cycle and a period are the same thing.
A period is when you bleed .
A menstrual cycle starts on the day when a period starts and ends the day before the next period. A cycles length is considered normal if its between 21 and 35 days. They can vary between women and from one cycle to the next.
- Working out your average menstrual cycle length
If your menstrual cycles are different lengths you can work out your average cycle length.
The number of days in a womans menstrual cycle can vary month to month. Periods are not always regular. It can be useful to work out an average cycle length, based on the length of three menstrual cycles, to estimate when youre most likely to be ovulating.
If you add the number of days in three cycles and divide the total number by three, it gives you your average cycle length.
Example
Sarah tracked her last three menstrual cycles by counting the time from the first day of one period, to the day before the next period.
Cycle 1 was 28 days Cycle 2 was 32 days Cycle 3 was 27 days
28 + 32 + 27 = 87
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When Is The Best Time To Have Baby
The best time to have sex to conceive can be hard to pinpoint exactly. So, your best bet is to have sex on the days around and during what you believe is your fertile window, as there’s no completely accurate method to to use at home to detect precisely just before you are about to ovulate. It’s possible for an ovulation predictor kit, body temperature charts, and cervical mucus patterns to all indicate a slightly different ovulation day.
In a study of people with regular, 28-day cycles, ovulation occurred most commonly on day 15 after the start of the last menstrual period , followed by day 16 LMP and day 14 LMP . Researchers found a 10-day spread of observed ovulation days even among a group of people with “clockwork” cycles, and a similar variation for people whose cycles were a little longer or shorter.
Another group of researchers set out to pinpoint the most commonly fertile day in the menstrual cycle across the general populationincluding those with irregular cyclesusing menstrual period surveys and ultrasound measurements rather than ovulation signs. They found a sharp rise in the probability a person will conceive beginning at day 7 LMP, reaching a maximum probability of conception of 13% at day 15 LMP. By day 25 LMP, the statistical probability of conception is zero, according to the data.
What Is Fertile Window
Fertile window is the 6 possible days in your menstrual cycle that you can easily get pregnant. It is usually calculated with lifespan of the egg and sperm. Normal sperm has a life span of about 5 days. While normal ovum or egg has a lifespan of 24 hours. This means that if you have intercourse 5 days before ovulation, you can still get pregnant.
Your fertile window is therefore 5 days before you ovulate and one day after.
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When To See A Doctor
Females who track their fertile window with the aim of getting pregnant should see their doctor for preconception planning.
As well as identifying barriers to conceiving, a doctor can advise on the use of folic acid or prenatal supplements to encourage a safe pregnancy.
Most couples who have frequent sex without contraception will conceive within 12 months.
Women under 35 years of age should see their doctor if they do not conceive after a year of trying. Those over 35 years of age should seek medical advice after 6 months of trying to conceive.
Anyone who has irregular cycles or does not appear to ovulate should also speak with their doctor. There may be an underlying medical cause that is preventing ovulation and conception.
Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about when pregnancy can occur.
How Many Days After Your Period Can You Get Pregnant
A female can get pregnant at any time during her menstrual cycle. The likelihood of pregnancy is highest during ovulation, which is typically days 10-14.
Intermenstrual bleeding can occur between periods. To pinpoint the start of a menstrual cycle, a female must correctly identify their actual period.
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Being Stressed Will Stop Me Getting Pregnant And Using An Ovulation Test Will Make It Worse
While stress is never healthy, unless its interrupting your periods or sex life it wont stop you conceiving. It has been suggested that using to time intercourse on the most fertile days can be stressful, but a study by Prof. William Ledger and Clearblue found that using these tests is no more stressful than trying to conceive without them. In fact, in this study 77% more women got pregnant in the group that were using the tests3. Also remember its normal for sex to start to feel mechanical if youve been trying for a baby for a while. This is something a lot of couples experience and it doesnt mean theres anything wrong with your relationship. Most couples accept that baby-making sex can be different.
How Long Does A Period Typically Last
Theres a pretty big range of normal when it comes to period length. Usually, it can last anywhere between five to seven days, says Jessica Shepherd, MD, a minimally invasive gynecologist in Dallas. But there are times at which it can be a few days longer or shorter.
Heres a little Menstrual Cycle 101: During each cycle, your bodys sending hormones to thicken the lining of the uterus to make it a nice little home for a potentially fertilized egg. About midway through your cycle, one of your ovaries releases an egg, which then travels down the fallopian tubes to this newly plush uterus where, if its not fertilized by a sperm, it flows out of the body, along with the uterine lining that built up.
While this process is the same for nearly every woman, the length of their periods might differ depending on their specific hormonal shifts over the course of their cycle, which affects the endometrium development, and in turn, the number of days it takes for it to shed, Dr. Shepherd explains.
So, if your period is a day or two longer or shorter than your usual period length and you dont notice any other symptoms or issues that seem unusual for you , its probably not a reason to be concerned.
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How Can I Get Pregnant In My Fertile Window
Now you know how to calculate your fertile days, you can easily get pregnant by having regular intercourse every 2 to 3 days within your fertile period. It is easier to get pregnant if youve had intercourse before your ovulation.
The most fertile time to get pregnant is 48 to 72 hours before ovulation and 24 hours after ovulation. Having intercourse during this time will increase your chances of getting pregnant.
A Fertile Window Refresher
Your fertile window generally begins anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after the end of a period , and ends one day after ovulation. For someone with a 28-day cycle, this leaves about two weeks between the end of your fertile window and the start of the next expected period.
Ovia marks your fertile window on your in-app calendar. Although the exact date of ovulation is tough to pinpoint, you can assume that its usually the second to last day of your fertile window.
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Finding The Best Time To Get Pregnant
If you want to get pregnant and you have regular periods, the best time to have sex is the day before you ovulate. You also have a good chance of conceiving in the five days leading up to as well as on the actual day of ovulation. Basically, the more often you have sex during this window, the better. Frequent intercourse means increased sperm and, since sperm quality has a short shelf life, its good to strike when its fresh.
Many people use a variety of fertility methods and products to track changes to their basal body temperature and cervical mucus however, turning your journey into a complicated project wont necessarily help you get pregnant any more quickly. In fact, it could create obsessive behavior and be hard on your relationship with your partner. If youve already been tracking and collecting all of this data, your doctor will certainly take it into consideration. But if youre healthy and have regular periods, the most effective way to get pregnant is to simply stop using contraception .
Preventing Pregnancy In The Fertile Window
While finding the fertile window can help identify the best time to get pregnant, this knowledge can also be used to do exactly the reverse: preventing a pregnancy. A short fertile window means theres only actually six days in a month when a woman can get pregnant.
This means, in theory, that identifying ovulation can be used as birth control if a woman uses protection or abstains from sex during the time when there is a risk of pregnancy. However, ovulation day can vary cycle to cycle and sometimes we dont know until after it has happened. This is where Natural Cycles comes in.
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How Do I Calculate My Fertility Window
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You Can Do A Pregnancy Test As Soon As You Have Had Sex
No you can’t. It takes about six to seven days after an egg is fertilised before your body starts to produce the , and a few more days before the level is high enough to be detected by a pregnancy test. can be used up to six days before you , although the pregnancy hormone levels in your urine may not be high enough to be detected. So if you test early and you get a ‘Not Pregnant’ test result, we recommend you test again when you expect your period.
- If you have irregular cycles, it’s a good idea to allow for your longest cycle in recent months before testing
- If you are testing from the day you expect your period, you can test any time of the day
- If testing early you should use the first urine of the day
- To get an accurate result, avoid drinking a lot of any liquid before testing
- If you get a ‘not pregnant’ result:
- If you tested early, test again when your period is expected
- If you tested on or after the day your period is expected, wait for three days and test again
- If your second pregnancy test still gives you a ‘Not Pregnant’ result and you still haven’t had your period, you should see your doctor
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