Fertile Window
When you are most likely to become pregnant throughout your menstrual cycle is known as your fertility window. The five days prior to ovulation, the day of ovulation, and the day after ovulation are the most common times for this to occur. If you're trying to get pregnant, knowing your monthly fertility window might help you plan when it's best to have sex. Natural family planning does not offer protection against STDs, making it a less effective kind of contraception.
You must comprehend your menstrual cycle if you're attempting to conceive and desire to track ovulation. Your body uses your menstrual cycle to get ready for pregnancy. It starts the first day of your period and ends when your subsequent period starts. Menstrual periods typically last 28 days, however, regular cycles can last anywhere from 21 to 35 days.
Throughout the cycle, your body experiences several changes, including variations in hormone levels. One of your ovaries delivers a mature egg around the midpoint. The egg is transferred to one of your fallopian tubes, where it awaits sperm fertilization. Your uterus' lining thickens as well. This gets the uterus ready for the fertilized egg's implantation.
If you are unable to conceive a child, it may be because the fertilized egg failed to implant in the uterus or because it failed to fertilize. In some circumstances, your menstruation occurs and the uterine lining sheds.
What is a fertile window and how long is it?
Their fertile window typically lasts six days for most people. The fertile window is typically thought to be 6 to 7 days per cycle since the egg is viable for 1 to 2 days and sperm may dwell in the female genital canal for 4 to 5 days, according to obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) Dr. Jenna Flanagan. Nevertheless, this might vary significantly from person to person. The five days leading up to ovulation, the day of ovulation (typically on or near day 14 of your cycle), and the day following ovulation all start soon after a person's menstruation is over.
During your reproductive window, your estrogen levels increase, and this will probably be reflected in changes to your vaginal discharge. It turns stringy and slick (resembling egg white). This enables the sperm to pass past the uterus and cervix on their way to the fallopian tubes, where they can meet the egg. The initial stage of pregnancy, egg fertilization, can then take place, according to OB-GYN Dr. Jennifer Boyle.
As you get closer to your next period, your basal body temperature, the temperature you have while you're at rest, often increases by around 0.3 C or 0.5 F right after ovulation. Because progesterone is released during ovulation to prepare for conception, you can determine if you've likely ovulated by monitoring your progesterone levels.
Importance of fertile window
Understanding when your ovulation window may perhaps help you comprehend any symptoms you may be having at this time in your cycle, such as a shift in discharge and your menstrual cycle as a whole, whether you're trying for a baby or not. Additionally, it aids in timing sexual activity for conception or alerts you when a backup form of birth control is necessary.
You may use our online ovulation calculator, download a period tracker, or use ovulation testing kits to determine when you are ovulating. These check the hormone levels in your urine to determine if an egg will be discharged in the upcoming 12 to 36 hours.
It might be helpful to clarify to your doctor how frequently you ovulate and how regular your cycle is if it's the same length every month if you've been trying to become pregnant for some time but haven't succeeded.
Signs of ovulation
A person can find out exactly when they ovulate each month by keeping track of the ovulatory symptoms. Signs include:
- slight lower abdominal cramps.
- Vaginal discharge that is more slippery, clearer, and wetter than egg white.
- a little rise in the body's core temperature.
- an increased sexual urge.
Some of these symptoms, including changes in basal body temperature, will persist beyond ovulation. The fertile window should not be predicted using temperature for this reason. To obtain a sense of what is usual for their body, it may be useful for someone to keep note of the symptoms over a few months. However, they should be aware that there are a number of factors and that ovulation time might vary from month to month. Utilizing an ovulation prediction kit or fertility monitor is an additional choice.
In order to predict the ovulation day each month, fertility aids monitor the amounts of particular hormones in the urine. Some tools can also pinpoint fertile days. For the highest accuracy, a person may use a mix of these techniques.
How to increase fertility and chances of conception?
To increase the likelihood of getting pregnant, one should time sexual activity to take place two to three days before and including ovulation. A 20–30% risk of pregnancy may result from having sex on any of these days. Other suggestions to raise the likelihood of conception include:
Have sex on a regular basis. Partners who have sex every two to three days throughout the course of the month have the highest pregnancy rates.
Don't smoke. Smoking has an effect on a fetus's health and decreases fertility.
Drink with moderation. Alcohol use can impair a fetus and decrease fertility in both sexes.
Sustain a healthy weight. Obese or underweight people are more prone to experience irregular ovulation.
Be less stressed. It is obvious that minimizing stress can be helpful for a person trying to conceive, even though the study on whether worry or stress might impair fertility is not definite.
Take care of comorbidities. Any medical conditions that can cause infertility should be ruled out or treated. This can affect women in a variety of ways, such as autoimmune diseases, endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), uterine fibroids, and hormonal issues.
A doctor can evaluate a couple's general health and perhaps suggest ways to increase the likelihood of conception.
What affects male fertility?
There may be reasons why the sperm might reach the egg, even if a person is tracking ovulation and engaging in frequent sexual activity. Male infertility has several causes, including:
Sperm morphology: Variations in sperm size and shape might affect fertility.
Low sperm count: There are not enough sperm in the male partner's ejaculate. Low sperm counts, defined by fertility specialists as less than 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen, are associated with reduced odds of pregnancy.
Low sperm motility: The sperm cannot get to the egg as effectively.
Any of these issues with male fertility can be brought on by a number of illnesses, including hormone imbalances, infections or injuries to the testicles, surgeries nearby, and diseases like cancer.
Getting pregnant outside a fertile window
Whether you've been trying to conceive for some time or have only recently begun to consider having a child, it's critical to remember to take care of yourself. Avoid putting pressure on yourself to have sex at this time. While your fertile window is when you're most likely to become pregnant, if you're not taking birth control, there's still a risk that you may fall pregnant at any point throughout your cycle.
After intercourse, sperm can survive and continue to function for up to five days before they can fertilize an egg. Even if a person had sex days before ovulation, pregnancy is still possible provided the sperm is present and ready when it happens.
Ovulation dates are frequently estimated, so if your real ovulation happens earlier or later than anticipated, pregnancy may occur outside the anticipated fertile window.
Numerous techniques, such as tracking cervical mucus [discharge], keeping track of basal body temperature, and using ovulation prediction kits, can be used to keep track of the fertile window, although none of them are precise.
From cycle to cycle, your ovulation date may shift, and there may be months when you don't ovulate at all. If you've gone through this once or twice in a year, this is quite typical and you shouldn't be concerned.
Numerous techniques, including tracking, basal body temperature monitoring, cervical mucus, discharge, and ovulation prediction kits, can be used to monitor the fertile window, however, they are not precise. Speak with your doctor if you have any concerns about not having ovulated or if your cycle has become unreliable.
Your viable window may change significantly each month since menstrual cycles might range in duration. Your odds of correctly estimating your fertile window rise if you keep track of your cycle over time.
Determining when your fertile window is can help you feel more in charge of your family planning by providing you with the best notion of when to have sex for conception if you're trying to get pregnant. If you don't want to get pregnant, though, understanding when you ovulate and how your hormones vary may help you comprehend any symptoms you have during the month.
Contact your healthcare practitioner if you ever have questions or concerns regarding your menstrual cycle or fertile window. They will be able to describe any symptoms you may be having as well as the changes your body goes through each month.