What it is
Ovulation is when an ovary releases an egg. The egg lives about 12 to 24 hours. Sperm can live up to five days inside you. So the fertile window is about six days: the five days before ovulation and the day of. Cycle tracking is how you find that window, with basal body temperature, cervical mucus, LH strips, or an app.
What's typical
In a 28-day cycle, ovulation often lands around day 14. But cycles from 21 to 35 days are normal, and ovulation day shifts with them. Mucus turns clear and stretchy, like egg white, just before. LH strips turn positive 24 to 36 hours before ovulation. Basal body temperature rises about half a degree after ovulation. So it confirms rather than predicts. Apps that guess from past cycles alone are often off by days.
What's known
ACOG describes sex every one to two days in the fertile window as the simplest approach. Studies find mucus tracking is as good as or better than apps for timing.
What helps
- If you chart, take your temperature at the same time each morning, before getting up.
- Do not let tracking turn sex into a chore. Every other day through the window is enough.
When to call someone
- Nowsudden severe pelvic pain on one side, with or without fainting. That can be a cyst or an ectopic pregnancy.
- Todaybleeding between periods that is heavy or new.
- At your next visitcycles under 21 days or over 35, no sign of ovulation after three months, or no period for three months.
Who helps
Tools: Due Date Calculator
Related
- Trying to conceive: how long is normal, when to ask for helpBefore Pregnancy
- Coming off birth controlBefore Pregnancy
- Trimester Zero: preparing your body before pregnancyBefore Pregnancy
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Sources
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Fertility awareness-based methods of family planning FAQ
- NHS — How can I tell when I am ovulating
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