Keeping Track Of Ovulation
Heres the science bit: there are four phases of your cycle. The menstrual phase which is the first few days during your period. The follicular phase which also starts on the first day of your period but lasts a bit longer, usually until around day 13. The ovulation phase which is the one to watch and starts just after the follicular phase. And finally the Luteal phase which is the time after ovulation until your next period.
If this sounds a bit involved when all you want to do is a make a baby, our simple ovulation calculator can help you understand your cycle better.
If youre worried at all or think you might have any issues getting pregnant, talk to a healthcare professional.
Trying to conceive
Important notice for parents
What Is The Optimal Age To Get Pregnant
A womans fertility declines with age. So, your 20s is when youre most likely to be fertile and you have the best odds of getting pregnant. But you dont need to get pregnant in your 20s . In fact, according to the CDC, the rate of women giving birth in their 30s is at a higher rate than women in their 20s. So, if you are not in your 20s, you havent missed the boat: You can still go on to have a healthy baby and get pregnant over 35 its worth speaking to your doctor to give yourself the .
Trying for a baby is one of the most exciting times for in a couples life and knowing your body and when you are at your most fertile can help you get pregnant more quickly.
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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Best Pregnancy Tests: First Response Comfort Check Pregnancy Test
The only thing that seems to happen most when TCCmore than sex and more than hate stalking everyone with a bumpis pregnancy tests. Even when you know its too early, even when you feel your period coming, its impossible to ignore the little voice in your head that says maybe this month. Thats how we all end up taking a zillion tests before getting a single positive.
For this reason, Dr. Kashani suggests First Responses Comfort Check Test Kit because it comes with eight tests per pack which should last you at least two if not three cycles, depending on how much self-control you have. First Response is also more sensitive than some of the cheaper HG strips, so youll find out earlier when you do conceive. Praise be.
Ultimately, trying to get pregnant is a rollercoaster for many couples. If you experience infertility, know youre not alone. By using the tools at your disposal and being an advocate for your own reproductive health, youll be closer than ever to posting the sonogram picture of your dreams.
Featured image courtesy of Ava Women.
The Best Time To Conceive: When To Have Sex To Get Pregnant
Lets unpack what you need to know to maximize your chance of getting pregnant. Well explore when youre most fertile, how frequently to have sex, and which factors may impact conception.
Do you want to know the best time to try for a baby? You have come to the right place. Did you know you could get pregnant even during your period?
Getting pregnant happens when a male sperm fertilizes a female’s egg. For some people, this can happen quickly for others, it may take longer.
Out of every hundred couples actively trying to become pregnant, about 80 percent will do so within the year. The remaining 20 percent will take longer or may need medical help to conceive.
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Have Frequent Sex During Your Fertile Window
One of the most common questions among people trying to conceive is: How often should I have sex if Im trying to get pregnant?
The short answer is that it depends on your preferences as a couple, and whether there are any known fertility issues.
Overall, studies have shown that couples who have sex every day or every other day during the fertile window have the highest rates of pregnancy. Also, doctors often recommend sticking to just once a day during the fertile window.
If having sex every day or every other day isnt possible or enjoyable, set a goal to have sex throughout your cycle. This can get you and your partner into a regular sex routine, which can carry you into the fertile window.
Best Time To Have Sex To Conceive
Because sperm lasts several days in the human body, and a womans egg only lasts a maximum of 24 hours, the best time to get pregnant is a few days before ovulation occurs. Couples should start having sex five days before ovulation until the day after ovulation, and should try to have sex every other day.
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Best Time To Get Pregnant How To Figure It Out
So at this point youre probably wondering how on earth youre supposed to figure out the best time to get pregnant, especially if you have irregular cycles! But dont worry its easier than it sounds.
Identifying your fertile days is easy when you learn the Fertility Awareness Method. Not only will you discover your best time to get pregnant each cycle, but youll also discover a wealth of valuable information about your fertility health too!
The fertility awareness method is based on the observation of scientifically proven fertility signs that all women experience during their menstrual cycles. These fertility signs are recorded on a specially designed fertility chart, either on paper or in a digital format on your computer or device.
Once you learn how to correctly interpret this information, youll gain an intimate understanding of whats happening with your fertility each menstrual cycle and youll know whether or not youre fertile on any given day.
The Fast Track to Pregnancy program is designed to make learning fertility awareness easy. You can find out more here.
Should I Have Sex Before During Or After Ovulation
For the best chances of pregnancy, you should have sex every day or every other day during the:
- Five days leading up to ovulation
- Day of ovulation
- Day after ovulation
Theres a lot of information about methods for having sex that could increase your chances of getting pregnant. Theres no specific sex position that increases your odds of conceiving. Some lubricants may negatively affect sperm and prevent them from reaching the egg. Talk to your health care provider about which lubricants to avoid.
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Does A Lubricant Affect The Odds Of Getting Pregnant
Just under of women use a lubricant during sex, but there have been questions about whether these products might affect sperm quality. In lab studies, water-based lubricants like Astroglide and K-Y Brand Jelly reduced sperm movement by 60 to 100 percent.
Before you panic and throw out the lube tube, of actual couples trying to conceive have found no negative effect on fertility. In fact, lubricant might aid in your efforts to get pregnant by making sex comfortable enough to have more often.
If youre concerned about lubricant reducing your chances of getting pregnant, try sperm-friendly brands like Pre-Seed.
Estimation Of Due Date
Due date estimation basically follows two steps:
- Determination of which time point is to be used as origin for gestational age, as described in the section above.
- Adding the estimated gestational age at childbirth to the above time point. Childbirth on average occurs at a gestational age of 280 days , which is therefore often used as a standard estimation for individual pregnancies. However, alternative durations as well as more individualized methods have also been suggested.
Naegele’s rule is a standard way of calculating the due date for a pregnancy when assuming a gestational age of 280 days at childbirth. The rule estimates the expected date of delivery by adding a year, subtracting three months, and adding seven days to the origin of gestational age. Alternatively there are mobile apps, which essentially always give consistent estimations compared to each other and correct for leap year, while pregnancy wheels made of paper can differ from each other by 7 days and generally do not correct for leap year.
Furthermore, actual childbirth has only a certain probability of occurring within the limits of the estimated due date. A study of singleton live births came to the result that childbirth has a standard deviation of 14 days when gestational age is estimated by first trimester ultrasound, and 16 days when estimated directly by last menstrual period.
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When Does Conception Take Place
Conception starts at the moment of fertilisation, when the sperm penetrates the outer shell of the egg, and an embryo is formed. Over the next four to six days the embryo moves down the fallopian tube to the uterus, where it implants in the uterus lining and hopefully continues to grow. To check if you are pregnant, you should wait two weeks after ovulation before undertaking a pregnancy test.
Best Wearable Fertility Tracker: Ava
If you dont think youll remember to take your temperature at the same time every day, or you want even more science involved to doubly make sure youre ovulating, Ava is for you. This celebrity-beloved, FDA-cleared tracker analyzes five different data points to decipher your fertile window, ovulation day, and when your period will start. It can also confirm whether or not youre actually ovulating , which is important info you can take with you to the doctor.
Its also the easiest to use since Ava looks like any other fitness tracker. You literally just put it on your wrist at night, go to sleep, and take it off in the morning. It monitors things like your temperature, your heart rate , and your breathing rate, and puts all the info on an easy-to-understandand well-explainedgraph in the app. This device also had me rightfully suspecting I was pregnant since it kept pushing out my expected period date.
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Get A General Health Check
Planning a pregnancy is a good chance for both parents to get a full health check. If your doctor plans to prescribe you new medications or antibiotics, remind them that you are planning a pregnancy.
If there is a family history of medical conditions on either side, such as cystic fibrosis or diabetes, let your doctor know. You may need genetic counselling with a trained specialist or referral for diabetic specialist preparation to pregnancy.
Some sexually transmitted infections can be passed on to your baby during pregnancy, so make sure you have both been treated for any infections before planning to conceive.
If the mother has a medical condition such as diabetes or epilepsy, or is being treated for depression or other mental illness, medications for these will need to be checked before conceiving to make sure they will not affect the baby.
Check Your Basal Body Temperature
It’s also a good idea to pay attention to the signs that your body is ready to ovulate. Checking your basal body temperature is one way to do this.
The BBT is your temperature first thing in the morning. Just after you ovulate, it rises slightly — sometimes by less than a degree — and stays higher until your period starts. If you record your temperature every day, you can spot the subtle changes that mean one of your ovaries has released an egg.
To take your BBT, you need to:
Use a basal body thermometer. It’s more sensitive than a standard one and will show temperature changes down to a fraction of a degree. You can get them at many pharmacies for less than $20.
Take your temperature at the same time each morning. Always do it before you get out of bed. Even getting up to go to the bathroom can affect your body temperature. So can smoking, drinking, or getting a bad night’s sleep.
Remember, your BBT won’t tell you exactly when you’ve ovulated, and it may take a couple of months before you start to see a pattern. You’re most likely to get pregnant 2 or 3 days before your ovary releases an egg, and then another 12 to 24 hours after that. When your temperature has spiked for 3 days, your chances of conceiving drop.
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Best Fertility Thermometer: Daysy
Easy to use and totally non-invasive, special oral thermometers designed to track your basal body temperature are one of the simplest ways to accurately detect your fertile window. Your temperature rises by approximately 1/2 a degree to 1 degree just after ovulation, explains Dr. Kashani. This occurs after the oocyte is released from the ovary, and as the ovary starts producing a hormone called progesterone.
Technically, the Daysy thermometer can be used as contraception or for TTC, which means you can get multiple uses out of the device depending on where youre at in life. Basically, you take your temperature the second you wake uplike before getting out of bedand it tells you whether youre fertile, possibly fertile, or not fertile that day. Daysy pairs with a app that charts your data, making it easy to see patterns in your cycle. It was this chart, in fact, that made me suspect I was pregnant again because instead of dropping on the day I should have gotten my period, my temperate remained elevated. Cool, right?
How Does Fertility Differ With 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 birth control pill is more than 99% effective with perfect use but only 91% effective with typical use. This means that around 9 out of 100 women would become pregnant in a year of taking the pill with typical use.
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Tracking Ovulation With Irregular Periods
If you experience irregular menstrual cycles, tracking ovulation could be helpful using several different tools.
Cycle chart
If your cycle is irregular, try tracking it on your calendar for a few reasons. You might notice a pattern, and you can share the information from your tracking efforts with your gynecologist or fertility specialist.
Cervical mucus
Your cervical mucus changes when you ovulate. Cervical mucus is minimal during the first few days after your menstrual cycle. Then, it will start to increase. As you approach ovulation, your cervical mucus will become more plentiful, clear, slippery, and sticky. A lot of people compare its consistency to egg whites.
Maximizing Fertility And Chance Of Conception
There are many things prospective parents can do to maximize their peak fertility and chances of conception. One of the most important is to time intercourse correctly. The best time to get pregnant is when you are ovulating. You can track your ovulation by monitoring your basal body temperature or using an over-the-counter ovulation predictor kit.
Another key factor is sperm health. To ensure healthy sperm, men should avoid drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and being exposed to environmental toxins. They should also eat a healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight. Sperm health can also be improved by taking supplements such as zinc and vitamin C. You can also take reproductive medicine which is alright for womens health.
Finally, women should also eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. They should avoid caffeine, alcohol, and cigarettes, and take a prenatal vitamin supplement. Taking care of yourself both physically and emotionally will help you have the best chance of conceiving a baby.
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Track Your Basal Body Temperature
This is your temperature when you first wake up in the morning. When you ovulate, it goes up slightly and stays up until your next period.
To track it, you’ll need a basal body thermometer, which measures small changes. You can get one at most drugstores and supermarkets.
Take your temperature before you get out of bed every morning. Note the first day it goes up.
“Once you identify the day you ovulated, you can predict that ovulation will happen on or close to that day in future cycles,” Manglani says.
What Is Ovulation Anyway
Its the word for when your egg, or ovum, leaves your ovary to take a trip down to the fallopian tubes. If the egg meets sperm here it could become fertilised.
Once the egg is released from an ovary its only good for about a day, while sperm can live in the body for up to 7 days.
Its not that easy to know exactly when youre ovulating so thats why our ovulation calendar is worth checking out.
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