Your Menstrual Cycle And Conception
“There are two phases to the menstrual cycle: the follicular phase occurs before ovulation, and the luteal phase occurs after ovulation,” says Lauren Sundheimer, M.D., MS, FACOG, an OB-GYN practicing in Orange County, California. Dr. Sundheimer explains that people who have 28-day cycles typically ovulate approximately 14 days after the first day of their period.
Though ovulation tends to occur 14 days prior to the next period, cycle length varies for from person to person and even cycle to cycle. This variation can make predicting ovulation especially tricky if you have irregular cycles since you don’t know when your next period will arrive.
The egg that’s released during ovulation survives for only 24 hours. Sperm, on the other hand, can survive three to five days in the uterus and fallopian tubes under the right circumstances, says Barbara Stegmann, M.D., a triple board-certified OB-GYN and women’s health clinical lead at Organon, a global health care company. So having PIV sex during ovulation or the days beforehand can result in pregnancy since the egg can meet with existing sperm in the reproductive tract.
Chances Of Getting Pregnant Right After Your Period
I recommend having sex frequentlytwo to three times a week, but every other day if you canshortly after you stop menstruating to cover your window of pre-ovulation, says Kelly Pagidas, M.D., a fertility specialist with Women & Infants Center for Reproduction and Infertility in Providence.
Heres why: Around day seven of your cycle, youll notice a vaginal discharge that seems a little springy to the touch. Within a few days, it will turn white and creamy, a cue that your fertility is returning once again. It doesnt mean the egg has been released yet, but it indicates that ovulation is on the way and that your cervical mucus is a friendly environment for sperm.
Remember, you can get pregnant right after your period, even if youre not yet ovulating. Thats because sperm can live up to five days if its trapped in fertile cervical mucusso it behooves you to get a few of his swimmers in place. One study showed that people who had sex only one time during this phase, even four to five days before ovulation, still got pregnant, says Steven R. Bayer, M.D., a reproductive endocrinologist at Boston IVF fertility clinic in Boston.
Your chances of conceiving: Good. An egg isnt technically released during this phase, but youll want to step up your sexual routine in the event that you ovulate earlier than planned.
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If You Want To Get Pregnant Timing Is Everything
Many people have only a vague understanding of a womans menstrual cycle and when she is most likely to get pregnant.
For people trying for a baby, it helps to know when a woman is most fertile and when to have sex to increase their chances of having a baby.
Knowing whens the right time
When a woman ovulates, an egg is released from the ovary and if there is sperm waiting around at that time there is a good chance that it will be fertilised and grow into a baby over the next nine months.
Ovulation happens about 14 days before a period starts, but womens menstrual cycles are not all the same length. To work out the day of ovulation, it helps to know how to count the days in a menstrual cycle. A cycle is counted from the first day of one period to the day before the next period. So, the day a womans ovulation occurs depends on the length of her cycle.
Conception is possible during the fertile window the five days leading up to, plus the day of ovulation. There is even more chance of a woman becoming pregnant if she has sex during the two days leading up to or on the day of ovulation.
Women who have a period every 28 days will ovulate around day 14 and their best chance of conceiving is between days 11 and 14. For a woman whose cycle is 24 days, ovulation happens around day 10 and her most fertile days are between days 7 and 10, while someone who has a 35 day cycle will be most fertile between days 18 and 21.
Noticing when its the right time
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Changes In Body Temperature
When youve just ovulated, your body temperature may increase very slightly, by about half a degree Celsius. If youre using temperature as a means of keeping track of when you are most fertile, you need to use a special thermometer to take your temperature every morning before you get out of bed. If you record the readings every day using a graph or a spreadsheet, its possible to learn your pattern over time. The time when you are most fertile is 2 to 3 days before the rise in temperature.
Fertility Awareness And Family Planning
Some women use fertility awareness as a method of natural birth control. One of the tools used is something called the Standard Days method. This establishes that if you have a period that is between 26 to 32 days long, days eight through 19 will be your most fertile days. However, this method is most effective when you have regular menstrual cycles.
If a woman has a regular period and uses the method perfectly, less than one to five women out of 100 will become pregnant. However, the key words here are perfect use. The typical use rate is different. Typical use means that the methods may be done incorrectly or measured inconsistently. In the first year of this typical use, 12 to 24 women out of 100 will become pregnant.
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Best Time Of Day Totake A Pregnancy Test
Taking a pregnancy test first thing in the morning gives you a better chance of getting an accurate result. Assuming you have not been waking up to drink a lot of water through the night, your urine will be more concentrated right when you wake up.
More concentrated urine means there will be a build-up or higher content of hCG in it if you are pregnantespecially if you are testing before yourperiod is expected or just a day or two late.
When you are farther along in pregnancy, there is a greater chance of the test detecting hCG at any time in the day.
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.
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How Do Pregnancy Tests Work
Pregnancy tests are a quick and easy means to know whether you are pregnant. Most at-home pregnancy tests work by detecting the levels of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin in your urine.
- HCG is also known as the pregnancy hormone because the levels of this hormone increase considerably when you get pregnant.
- This hormone is released when a fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus .
- Thus, when you pee or dip the test stick into your urine, it detects whether HCG is present in your urine.
Most pregnancy tests can be taken beginning on the first day of your missed period. Because the HCG concentration increases rapidly , taking a test early may not be accurate enough. Refer to the label instructions in your test kit to know the best time to take the test.
- It is generally advised to take the test first thing in the morning because during this time the urine will have the highest concentration of HCG.
- Drinking a lot of water before the test may dilute the HCG levels in your urine, increasing the chance of a false-negative test result.
Changes In Cervical Mucus
Have you become a student ofyour cervical mucus? Then check it out now: If it becomes creamy and stays that way after ovulation, its a good sign youll have a positive pregnancy test.
As your pregnancy progresses, youll also notice increased vaginal discharge, calledleukorrhea. This thin, milky-white discharge is normal and healthy, but speak to your practitioner if it appears lumpy or thick.
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Using Ovulation Test Kits
Ovulation predictor kits are available from chemists and are quite easy to use. They work by detecting a hormone in your wee that increases when ovulation is about to take place. The simplest urine kits test for luteinising hormone , which surges 24 to 36 hours before ovulation. This will help to identify the best 2 days for conception, although you can be fertile for a day or so before and after this time.
It is best to become familiar with your usual menstrual cycle to help figure out when you should start testing. If you have an irregular cycle, then an ovulation predictor kit can help you identify the time of ovulation, but you will probably end up using a lot more of the test strips. There is also no evidence that using an ovulation predictor kit will improve your chances of getting pregnant naturally.
Read more about apps, tools and kits for predicting ovulation.
Chances Of Getting Pregnant After Your Period
You can get pregnant after your period ends in fact, the fertile days last for up to 3-5 days after the end of your period. Regular sex on alternate days is recommended if youre planning to conceive. This should be continued up until a few days after the halfway mark of the period. For example, if the halfway mark is 14, 6 days before and 4 days after are considered ideal.
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I Never Used A Hormonal Birth Control Method So We Should Get Pregnant As Soon As We Start Trying
Just because your hormones havent been affected by hormonal contraceptives doesn’t necessarily put you at an advantage. Your body may be better able to regulate itself but this doesn’t mean you can get pregnant any more easily. Your fertility can be influenced by many factors other than contraceptives.
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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What To Do If You’re Struggling To Determine The Best Days To Conceive
You’ve been checking for CM and charting your BBT, but for some reason, it seems that you’re not ovulating every month or not at all. If you think you’re not ovulating, check in with your OB/GYN.
From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.
How Does Fertility Differ On The Pill
Birth control pills aim to prevent unintended pregnancy. The pill prevents pregnancy by releasing synthetic hormones that stop ovulation from occurring and the uterus lining from thickening.
So, even if the ovaries do release an egg, a fertilized egg would be unable to implant in the wall of the uterus. The pill also thickens cervical mucus, making it harder for sperm to reach an egg.
According to the CDC , the pill is more than 99 percent effective with perfect use but only 91 percent effective with typical use. This means that, with typical use, around 9 out of 100 women would become pregnant in a year of taking the pill.
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Types Of Pregnancy Tests
As recently as the 1970s, you had to miss yourperiod before you took a pregnancy test, and the results could take up to two hours. Today, you can find out that you’re pregnant much earlier, faster, and with better accuracy using home pregnancy tests.
At-home pregnancy tests are easy to use and almost as accurate as those given at the healthcare providers office. However, there are some things to consider when deciding what kind of pregnancy test is right for you.
While Youre On Your Period
As any woman with a calendar and a bunch of best friends will tell you, the amount of days each woman spends menstruating can vary a lot.
Your menstrual flow may start to diminish and lighten in color, or turn brown towards the end of your cycle. It feels and looks like youre still menstruating, but your body is already gearing up for your next fertile time.
If you have sex towards the end of your period, you may actually be getting close to your fertile window, especially if you have a short cycle. Lets take a look at the math.
Say you ovulate early, about six days after your period starts. You have sex on the third day of your period. The sperm have no egg to fertilize, but theyre also in no hurry to die so they hang out, doin what sperm do.
A few days later, while theyre still swimming around, you ovulate and theyre drawn to that egg like a fish to water. One gets through, and there you have it fertilization has occurred as a result of period sex.
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How Many Days After Your Period Do You Ovulate
Ovulation varies in each woman depending on the length of their menstrual cycle. It generally occurs from day 11 to day 21, depending on the menstrual cycle. These days are counted considering the onset of vaginal bleeding as day 1.
Women with shorter cycles tend to ovulate around day 11 after the period, while women with longer menstrual cycles tend to ovulate around day 21.
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Fertility During Your Period
A menstrual cycle is a cycle that begins inside a woman’s reproductive system on the first day of her period. This is not to be mistaken for the actual ‘period’, which is simply the act of bleeding.
Cycles can be regular or irregular and can last anywhere between 21 and 35 days. They are not always consistent and even for the same woman, one cycle can be very different from the next. A regular menstrual cycle only fluctuates between 21 to 35 days while an irregular menstrual cycle can be inconsistent and unpredictable, this usually lasts less than 21 days or more than 35 days. Knowing your menstrual cycle, period, and when you ovulate can help you pick the right time to have unprotected sex to get pregnant.
If you are a woman who has been going through cycles for quite some time now, you will more or less have an idea of what you might find in this article. However, if you are new to all this, perhaps you are a person trying to conceive or are wanting to learn more about contraception, here are some explanations of terms that you need to know before moving forward.
Ovulation: This is when a mature egg cell is released from the ovary into the fallopian tube where it gets a chance to be fertilized by a sperm cell. The egg will stay in the tube for about 24 hours, which is the best time to have sexual intercourse and increase the chances of pregnancy. Whilst ovulation happens as part of a cycle, some women can ovulate early from time to time.
Getting To Know Your Cycle
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Use A Cycle Charting App
Phone apps can help you chart your cycle. You record details like the first day of your period, OPK results, and basal temperature. Youll get alerts when youre likely to be more fertile.
The drawback is most use a standard 28-day cycle, with ovulation on day 14, which isnt accurate for many women.
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Who Plays Abby In Evil
PREGNANCY TEST DAY. One of the master tools for calculating the most fertile period of ones menstrual cycle is the ovulation calculator. It is a readily distinctly accessible online tool to help plan pregnancy and improve conception chances. … In a typical menstrual cycle of 28 to 30 days, ovulation occurs around 14 or 15 days after the. When you’re taking an OPK, you’re testing for a surge in the luteinizing hormone. According to Dr. Sherry Ross, OB-GYN and womens health expert at Providence Saint Johns Health Center.
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