Every month, about 15 to 20 eggs are produced in your body. Ovulation happens when one or more of those eggs are released from your ovary. Usually it’s the largest that gets pushed out of the pelvic cavity and into the fallopian tube.
To determine when you ovulate, try marking the calendar on the first day of your period and marking it again on the first day of your next period. That’s how long your cycle is. Depending on the length of your cycle, your ovulation date will come at a different time. If your cycle is, for example, 28 days, count forward from the first day of your period 11 days to find your probable fertile window.
An unfertilised egg will only survive 12 to 24 hours, so that gives you a relatively small window each month to conceive. While many people think that your ovulation period is when you are most fertile, it is actually in the time leading up to ovulation, particularly the 5 days before ovulation, which is called ‘the fertile window’.
While healthy sperm can last inside you for about a week, the best time to get pregnant with the highest chance of success would be in the two days leading up to ovulation.
But how do you know for sure when you are ovulating? There are a few indicators that your body would give you, and you can also use tools including an ovulation predictor kit. These will help you identify your fertile window, but they won’t necessarily guarantee a pregnancy. They are useful tools if you find that you and your partner work different hours or spend a lot of time away from each other and need to schedule in a time. They are also useful if you have an irregular cycle, which would make it difficult to plan your ovulation.
These kits work by testing your urine for a surge in luteinising hormone (LH) that happens a day or two before you ovulate. You are most likely to conceive the 12 to 36 hours between the start of the LH increase and the moment your egg is released.
Each brand differs on how to use it. You’ll either collect urine in a cup or hold a stick under the urine stream. Like a pregnancy test, bands will appear on the stick to let you know if there is an LH surge. If you’re using a digital brand, something like a smiley face might pop up.
The best times to collect urine are between 10 in the morning and 8 at night, with the absolute best time being between 2 and 2:30 pm. Don’t do it right when you wake up, because the surge of the day might not have happened yet. If you don’t get it on the first try, make sure to test yourself at the same time every day. In addition, try not to drink too much a few hours before you plan to test yourself, as the liquid will dilute your urine making it harder to detect the hormones and nutrients. Wait about ten minutes to read the test results.For more information about how to know when you’re ovulating, feel free to enquire with Dr Alex Polyakov
For more information about how to know when you’re ovulating, feel free to enquire with Dr Alex Polyakov here.
