Let's talk Ovulation

I had a question from a friend of mine about Ovulation so thought that would be a good topic for me to chat about today.

I think now would be a good time to say that I am in no way a fertility specialist or expert. I'm just someone who has done a load of research and is passing on some of that info to you. I may not be spot on with some of the stuff I write but but it's a good starting off point for us to exchange our stories :)

When I got pregnant the last two times I thought that you could be fertile throughout the month at any time. It wasn't until I was speaking to a dear friend of mine about this that I found out this was in fact not the case. Did you know that you when you ovulate you only have a 12-48 hour window where the egg can be fertilised?!? Crazy!

What is it? When a mummy & daddy love each other very much....nah I think we can skip that part..Ovulation is a phase in the menstrual cycle. It is specifically when the egg is released from the woman's ovary.

When does it happen? Every woman is different and the time that ovulation occurs can vary for all. From the info I've found it usually occurs between days 10-14 of your cycle (this is based on a 28 day cycle where day 1 of your cycle would be the first day of your period) The timing of this is determined by your luteal phase (aka DPO - the days from ovulation to the first day of your next period, usually 14 days) You have a fertility window of 4-5 days BEFORE Ovulation and 24-48 hours AFTER ovulation. Once you've done the deed, sperm can live in your body for 4-5 days (lovely thought isn't it?) and the egg can live for only 12-48 hours - this time frame is the only time you can get pregnant within the month. You are most fertile on the day before and the day after ovulating.

How to help getting the timing right? The above is all well and good, but it's tough determining exactly when you are ovulating (I was never too good at Maths!) so there are a few things you can do to help get the timing right:

Download an app for your phone - I use a free one called 'What to expect fertility' which gives you a nice colour coded calendar of when you should ovulate, when you are fertile and when AF is due.  

Chart your BBT- each morning before you get out of bed, take your temperature and record it. Use a thermometer that has the ability to record 4 digits ie 36.67. When you Ovulate hormone triggers a spike in your temperature - the normal BBT is around 36.1-36.6 and when you ovulate your temperature will start climbing. For eg when I was ovulating this month my temperature went to 37.1 - 37.3. Your temperature will remain high while ovulating and if you are pregnant should remain slightly elevated throughout your pregnancy. Your temperature shouldn't start to decrease around the time of your period as this may indicate you are not pregnant. Track your temperature over a month and see the changes that occur. Only take your temp in the morning when you've first woken up and use that reading. Don't use readings from other times of the day. You can use an app for this but I use an excel spreadsheet which I'm happy to send to anyone via email just send me a comment and I'll get it to you :)

Cervical position and CM - I've never done this as I honestly think my cervix feels the same way every day. But I am going to try it out this month and let you know how I go. You can record this on the same sheet that you record your BBT so you can see all the changes that occur. The position and feel of your cervix changes during the course of your cycle. As you approach ovulation your cervix becomes soft, high, open and wet - you can remember this with the acronym SHOW. After ovulation these signs reverse and the cervix becomes firm, low, closed and dry. After your period, you may find that you have a few days with no CM (dry). Any CM that is seen at this time is infertile. If you do find mucus, it will likely be sticky and may come out as a blob. Infertile CM feels more dry to touch than fertile CM. It may be yellow, white or opaque. Upon observation by touch between your thumb and index finger, you will find that it does not stretch or move – it is quite thick. Slightly fertile CM is usually sticky and may feel damp. There is only a slight chance of conception – sperm will find this form of mucus particularly hard to swim through. it feels more dry to touch. It may be yellow, white or opaque. Upon observation by touch between your thumb and index finger, you will find that it does not stretch or move much but it may be damper or in more quantity. Fertile CM may change to a more watery state and feel more slippery. You may find this CM feels wet and slippery compared to infertile CM. It’s likely to be clear mucus or have a cloudy/white colour to it. It will even smell sweeter however the most important observation to make is the wetness/slippery observation. Highly fertile CM this time is the most likely time to find what is commonly known as EWCM (egg-white cervical mucus) EWCM is ‘stringy’ hence coming from the word spiderweb. It may appear as a glob, or in smaller amounts in more watery mucus. Not all women experience this form of mucus so don’t be alarmed if you don’t notice any EWCM. If you were to stretch EWCM between your thumb and index finger, you may notice it stretches, unlike the infertile mucus which keeps it’s shape. You can see why this form of mucus favours sperm – it has a consistency similar to sperm and creates an ideal environment for them to reach the egg.

Ovulation kits - you can purchase kits to help tell you when you are ovulating. These are much like pregnancy tests but a heck more expensive. Depending on the type of urine-based OPK, you'll either collect your urine in a cup or hold a stick in your urine stream. Coloured bands will appear on the test card or stick to indicate whether or not the luteinising hormone surge is occurring (in normal terms whether or not you're ovulating). Instructions may vary slightly depending on what kit you use, but in general you should try to collect your urine between 10am and 8pm; the best time is supposed to fall between 2pm and 2:30pm.The test should be read within 10 minutes for best results. I havent used these yet (as when I looked at how much they are they can be as expensive as $65 for two tests) however if i'm not pregnant in a few months I'll give these a go.

 What happened to me? So after finally figuring out my correct cycle I think I ovulated around the 14th Jan. I did check my temp around this time and it was 37.1 and spiked to 37.4. Now that I know how my cycle is I can beginning tracking it all properly and at the end of the cycle I'll upload my tracking sheet. Because unfortunately AF arrived today....

I hope this post has been useful - anything else you want me to look into just let me know.

Thanks for reading!

Mandi O xx