Baby Making

If you desire to get pregnant and are prepared to initiate outlining the most excellent period to have intercourse, here are a few essential things to come across that will specify when you are ovulating.

The countdown:

If your cycle length is usually 30 days, you would probably ovulate somewhere between days 14 and 18.  The twelve to sixteen days refers to what's known as the luteal phase. Every cycle is made up of two parts, the ovulatory phase and the luteal phase.  The ovulatory phase starts on the first day of your period and ends on the day that you ovulate.  The length of this phase can vary from month to month so that you cannot always accurately predict the day you will ovulate.  One of the things that can cause a delay in ovulation is stress.  So if you normally ovulate on day 14 for example, and you find yourself in a stressful situation early in the month, your ovulation can be delayed by a few days.  Other things that can affect ovulation are travel and illness.

The second half of the cycle is called the luteal phase.  Once you ovulate, the number of days until your period comes will be fixed each month and will not be delayed by any outside conditions such as stress.  It varies from woman to woman, but once you know the length of your luteal phase, it will stay consistent from month to month.   It is important that your luteal phase not be too short, as this would be a sign there is a deficiency of progesterone, which can cause problems in achieving a pregnancy. Typically, the luteal phase can last from 12 to 16 days, with the optimum being around 14 days.  Some doctors say anything less than 12 days could be a problem, while others think 10 days or less is worrisome.

The only way to determine the length of your luteal phase is to keep track of the day you ovulate, and then count the number of days until your period arrives

Basal Body Temperature (BBT) Charting:

To determine the basal body temperature the first step is to purchase an inexpensive basal digital thermometer. With this, you can document your body temperature each morning before you get out of bed on a special chart and start to look for any times when it increases (apart from when you're ill).

Generally speaking your temperatures will have minor fluctuations on a daily basis of about a tenth of a degree.  This can best be seen on a special basal body thermometer, not on a typical thermometer you would use to check for fever.  Once you see the temperature go up a few tenths of a degree higher than it had been for several days before that tells you that you have just ovulated.  The reason being, right after you ovulate, the left over egg releases progesterone in an effort to prepare your lining for the implantation of a fertilized egg.  The release of progesterone causes the increase in temperature. 

Unfortunately, BBT charting will only tell you that you already have ovulated - it cannot predict ovulation. By monitoring your temperature over the course of a few months, you'll begin to see a pattern emerge that can be helpful in several ways.  For one thing, by charting you will be able to establish if you are in fact ovulating, which some women just don't know.  Secondly, you can count the number of days in your luteal phase to determine if you have a luteal phase defect which requires progesterone supplementation in order to conceive.  Also, even though you can't use the charts to predict specifically what day you will ovulate, you will get a good feel for approximately what day each month you ovulate and can time intercourse better to coincide with your fertile window.

Another benefit of charting is you can probably determine if you are in fact pregnant without even taking a pregnancy test!  If your temperature stays elevated for 18 days following ovulation, then you are very likely to be pregnant!  

Once your temperature drops a few tenths, it means you are likely to get your period that day or the next day at the latest.  This information can be helpful as well -not in your quest to get pregnant - but it's nice to have a warning that your period is about to arrive as sometimes it comes as a complete surprise when we are not exactly prepared!!

Cervical mucus:

As you get closer to ovulation, you will notice that your cervical mucus (vaginal discharge) changes from somewhat creamy to the consistency of an egg white-clear, stretchy and wet.  This happens because the levels of estrogen are rising as the body prepares to release an egg.  As a rule, if you are not sure when you will be ovulating exactly, you should start having sex as soon as you see the cervical mucus becomes similar to an egg white.  You should continue having sex as long as you have this type of cervical mucus.  Usually on the day of ovulation, the cervical mucus is the most abundant and stretchy.  And you will know when you have already ovulated, as the cervical mucus immediately changes-it gets cloudy and kind of dries upright after you've ovulated. 

Possible pain in the abdomen:

This is called mittelschmerz (which is German for ‘middle pain') and this is felt by up to nineteen percent of all women. The problem for using this pain as an indicator of when to time intercourse, is that doctors aren't sure if the pain is occurring right before, during or after ovulation.  Obviously, if it's occurring right after, it would not be a reliable method to time intercourse.  Also, since the sperm live for several days, you would lose the opportunity for having intercourse a few times before ovulation, and therefore having much more sperm ready and waiting!

Cervical Position

Another alteration that takes place in the body as you move toward ovulation is finding cervix.   To check your cervix, make sure you have clean hands and be sure to check your cervix around the same time each day.  It's probably easiest to squat down and gently insert one or two fingers into your vagina and reach back until you can feel your cervix.  Depending on the time of the month, there will be some noticeable differences.  (You may have to practice this awhile before you can easily notice the changes).  During the first half of your cycle, the cervix will feel rather firm -like touching your nose-and dry, and the position will be low in your vagina (easy to reach). The entrance to the cervix will feel closed. 

These changes in the cervical position, along with the changes in the cervical mucus and the body temperature can give you a good chance at predicting your most fertile time which will ultimately help you in getting pregnant fast.