Fertile days means

Calculating Your Monthly Fertility Window

Your fertility window is the time during your menstrual cycle when you’re most likely to get pregnant. For most people, it’s the five days leading up to ovulation, the day of ovulation and the day after ovulation. Calculating your monthly fertility window can help you target the optimal time to have sex if you’re trying to conceive. However, natural family planning is a less reliable form of contraception and does not protect against sexually transmitted infections.

Understanding Your Menstrual Cycle

If you’re trying to get pregnant and want to track ovulation, you need to understand your menstrual cycle. Your menstrual cycle is your body’s way of preparing for pregnancy. It begins on the first day of your period and starts over when your next period begins. A typical menstrual cycle is 28 days, but cycles ranging from 21 to 35 days are considered normal.

Lots of changes happen in your body during the cycle, including hormone fluctuations. About halfway through, one of your ovaries releases a mature egg. The egg goes to one of your fallopian tubes, where it waits to be fertilized by sperm. The lining of your uterus gets thicker, too. This prepares the uterus for implantation of the fertilized egg.

If you don’t get pregnant, it could mean that the egg didn’t fertilize, or that the embryo (fertilized egg) didn’t implant into the uterus. In those cases, the uterine lining sheds and you get your period.

When am I ovulating?

Knowing when you’re ovulating is key to tracking your fertility window and determining the best time to get pregnant. There are a few different fertility awareness methods, also called rhythm methods. It’s best to use all three methods if you’re doing natural family planning.

Calendar method

Use the calendar method to track the length of your menstrual cycle. Each month, mark the first day of your period on a calendar or in a period-tracking app. The number of days between the first day of consecutive periods is the length of your menstrual cycle. You should do this for at least six months to get good data.

You ovulate about 12 to 14 days before the start of a new menstrual cycle. Your fertile window is the five days leading up to ovulation, plus the day of ovulation and the day after ovulation — so about seven days in total.

It’s important to note that if you have irregular periods and the length of your menstrual cycle varies from month to month, the calendar method won’t be accurate for you.

Cervical mucus method

Hormone fluctuations during your menstrual cycle change the amount and consistency of your vaginal mucus. You need to feel and look at your vaginal mucus each day and record the results on a chart. You’re likely ovulating (and most fertile) when the mucus is heavy, wet and slippery. It will have the consistency of raw egg whites.

You should chart your vaginal mucus for at least one menstrual cycle. It may be difficult at first to know what to look for, so talk to your provider if you want to try this method. He or she can explain how to chart and describe the mucus each day.

Ovulation predictor kits

Ovulation predictor kits are an at-home tool to help predict your ovulation. These tests may be helpful if you have regular periods, but still aren’t quite sure if you are seeing natural signs of ovulation (cervical mucus or a rise in basal body temperature). Ovulation predictor kits test your urine for levels of luteinizing hormone. When the ovulation predictor test becomes positive, ovulation will typically occur within 24 hours, indicating that you’re fertile and should have sex. These kits might not be reliable if you have irregular periods due to polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Basal body temperature method

Also called the temperature method, you take your temperature each morning as soon as you wake up (before you get out of bed). You use a basal body thermometer, which may go in your mouth or your rectum. A basal thermometer is more sensitive than a regular thermometer. It measures body temperature to a tenth of a degree.

A woman’s basal body temperature rises slightly during ovulation (increases by 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit). If you track your temperatures leading up to ovulation, you should see a sustained rise in your basal body temperature after ovulation.

To help you plan, write your body temperature down each day on a tracking sheet. You should track your temperature for at least three months before using this method for family planning.

However, it’s important to note that the basal body temperature method is not good at predicting your ovulation when trying to conceive. Once you identify the rise in your temperature, you’ve already ovulated. However, this method is a good tool to monitor your pattern of ovulation.

Should I have sex before, during or after ovulation?

For the best chances of pregnancy, you should have sex every day or every other day during the:

Five days leading up to ovulation
Day of ovulation
Day after ovulation

There’s a lot of information (and misinformation) about methods for having sex that could increase your chances of getting pregnant. There’s no specific sex position that increases your odds of conceiving. Some lubricants may negatively affect sperm and prevent them from reaching the egg. Talk to your health care provider about which lubricants to avoid.

What if I have irregular periods?

If you have irregular periods, meaning that your periods are outside of the 21–35-day window or if your cycle intervals vary by more than seven days each month (30-day interval one month, 23 days the next month), you should speak with your Gyn/OB or a fertility specialist. This irregularity may be due to a hormone imbalance and could make it more challenging to get pregnant using natural family planning methods.

How else can I prepare for pregnancy?

In addition to tracking your ovulation to determine your fertile window, it’s important to schedule preconception counseling with your doctor. There are a variety of screenings and lifestyle modifications that can help increase your chances of a successful planned pregnancy.

If you’re under 35 and have been trying to conceive for more than a year, or if you’re over 35 and have been trying for six months, it may be time to talk to your doctor about why you can’t get pregnant.

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Fertile days are the days a woman is most likely to get pregnant.

Infertility is a related topic.

When trying to become pregnant, many couples plan intercourse between days 11 to 14 of the woman's 28-day cycle. This is when ovulation occurs.

It is hard to know exactly when ovulation will happen. Health care providers recommend that couples who are trying to have a baby have sex between days 7 and 20 of a woman's menstrual cycle. Day 1 is the first day of menstrual bleeding. In order to become pregnant, having sex every other day or every third day works just as well as having sex every day.

Sperm can live inside a woman's body for less than 5 days.
A released egg lives for less than 24 hours.
The highest pregnancy rates have been reported when the egg and sperm join together within 4 to 6 hours of ovulation.

Watch this video about:Ovulation

If you have an irregular menstrual cycle, an ovulation predictor kit can help you know when you are ovulating. These kits check for luteinizing hormone (LH) in the urine. You can buy them without a prescription at most drug stores.

There are various other methods to help detect when you are most likely to be able to conceive a baby.

Note: Some lubricants can interfere with conception. If you are trying to get pregnant, you should avoid all douches and lubricants (including saliva), except those specifically designed to not interfere with fertility (such as Pre-seed). Lubricants should never be used as a method of birth control.

EVALUATING YOUR CERVICAL FLUID

Cervical fluid protects the sperm and helps it move toward the uterus and fallopian tubes. Cervical fluid changes occur when the woman's body is getting ready to release an egg. There are clear differences in how it looks and feels during the woman's monthly menstrual cycle.

No cervical fluid is present during the menstrual period.
After the period is over, the vagina is dry and no cervical fluid is present.
Fluid then turns to a sticky/rubbery fluid.
The fluid becomes very wet/creamy/white which indicates FERTILE.
The fluid becomes slippery, stretchy, and clear like an egg white, which means VERY FERTILE.
After ovulation, the vagina becomes dry again (no cervical fluid). The cervical mucus may become more like thick bubble gum.

You can use your fingers to see how your cervical fluid feels.

Find the fluid inside the lower end of the vagina.
Tap your thumb and first finger together -- if the fluid stretches while you spread your thumb and finger apart, this could mean ovulation is near.

TAKING YOUR BASAL BODY TEMPERATURE

After you ovulate, your body temperature will rise and stay at a higher level for the rest of your ovulation cycle. At the end of your cycle, it falls again. The difference between the 2 phases is most often less than 1 degree.

You can use a special thermometer to take your temperature in the morning before you get out of bed.
Use a glass basal thermometer or a digital thermometer that is accurate to the tenth of a degree.
Keep the thermometer in your mouth for 5 minutes or until it signals you that it is done. Try not to move too much, as activity can raise your body temperature slightly.

If your temperature is between 2 marks, record the lower number. Try to take your temperature at the same time every day, if possible.

Create a chart and write down your temperature every day. If you look at a complete cycle, you will probably notice a point at which the temperatures become higher than in the first part of your cycle. The rise is about 0.2 degrees or more above the previous 6 days.

Temperature is a useful indicator of fertility. After checking for several cycles, you may be able to see a pattern and identify your most fertile days.

Basal body temperature; Infertility - fertile days

Uterus

Catherino WH. Reproductive endocrinology and infertility. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 26th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 223.

Ellert W. Fertility awareness-based methods of contraception (natural family planning). In: Fowler GC, ed. Pfenninger and Fowler's Procedures for Primary Care. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 117.

Lobo RA. Infertility: etiology, diagnostic evaluation, management, prognosis. In: Gershenson DM, Lentz GM, Valea FA, Lobo RA, eds. Comprehensive Gynecology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 40.

Rivlin K, Davis AR. Contraception and abortion. In: Gershenson DM, Lentz GM, Valea FA, Lobo RA, eds. Comprehensive Gynecology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 13.

Updated by: John D. Jacobson, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

What is the most fertile time? The calendar can help you

checklist for you What is infertility? Menstrual cycle and ovulation Fertile days Factors affecting fertility

Fertile days are those days during which a woman is most likely to become pregnant. In each menstrual cycle, a woman can conceive within about 6 days: the day of ovulation and 5 days before it.

However, the most difficult thing is to determine exactly when ovulation occurs!

To determine your fertile period, you must monitor your menstrual cycle.

The first day of the cycle is the first day of menstruation. Since cycle length can vary slightly from month to month, it is best to follow your menstrual cycle for several months at a time.

Try to determine the day when you ovulate and remember it by marking it on your menstrual cycle calendar. This is an important day. When the next cycle comes, you will know that the fertile period begins five days before the start of ovulation.

Your fertile period is when you should have unprotected sex every two days if you want to increase your chances of getting pregnant. It ends with the next.

For more confidence in determining ovulation, we advise you to use ProFecund ovulation tests from the ninth day of your cycle until you get a positive test result.

There are various ways to determine the days you are most likely to get pregnant. It is important to remember that the signs of ovulation vary for every woman, and many of them experience no symptoms even though they ovulate normally. Among the most obvious traceable signs are changes in cervical mucus and an increase in basal body temperature.

Changes in cervical mucus

Cervical mucus differs from vaginal discharge. The hormones that control the menstrual cycle cause the cervix to secrete fertile mucus, which protects sperm and helps sperm move to the uterus and fallopian tubes.

The mucus changes as the woman's body prepares to release the egg. There are distinct differences in how mucus looks and feels at different stages of a woman's monthly menstrual cycle:

no cervical mucus during menstruation.
after menstruation, the vagina is dry and there is no cervical mucus.
a few days after the end of menstruation, the cervix begins to secrete the first mucus from the menstrual cycle in small quantities. It is sticky, white or slightly yellowish, matte, does not stretch and has a slightly floury texture.
As the follicles begin to secrete more estrogen, the mucus becomes more watery, dilute and moist and creamy. The color is still white or yellowish, matte. It might stretch a little. All this indicates the beginning of the fertile period.
as ovulation approaches, the mucus becomes more transparent, moist, elastic, light and slippery, reminiscent of raw egg white. This period is very fertile.
after ovulation is completed, the amount of mucus decreases and it begins to dry out. This drying may be gradual or abrupt.

Be aware that some activities, such as breastfeeding or using showers or other hygiene products, may change the appearance of mucus.

At first, for some women, observing the signs of ovulation can be difficult, but over time, many of them easily recognize these common signs.

Increased basal body temperature

During the day, body temperature is constantly changing. During the night (sleep), body temperature gradually drops to its lowest point, in the early hours of the morning. As the usual hour of awakening approaches, metabolic activity increases, causing an increase in temperature. At the same time, during daily activities, the temperature may vary slightly, depending on the level of activity. Basal body temperature is the temperature of the body in a state of relaxation, which is measured (successively) in the morning, immediately after waking up, before getting out of bed, eating or drinking.

A change in basal temperature usually occurs in every woman during her menstrual cycle. Before ovulation, basal temperature is lowered by estrogen, but immediately after ovulation, with the release of progesterone, the temperature rises slightly, sometimes by less than one degree, and remains high throughout pregnancy or until the onset of menstruation, when it decreases again. To unconditionally confirm ovulation, basal temperature must be maintained high for at least three days in a row.

To measure basal temperature, use a more sensitive thermometer that measures two tenths after the decimal point.

Take your temperature at the same time every morning, always before you get out of bed. If you log your temperature daily for several cycles, you will mark a pattern that will help you identify your most fertile days.

Basal temperature is a sign of fertility that confirms whether ovulation has occurred. Sometimes it happens that in the morning the recorded temperature is high, but the fertile period of this menstrual cycle has ended. Therefore, it is important to check other basic fertility signs that indicate impending ovulation.

Reading or procedural errors make measuring basal temperature a rather dubious method of determining ovulation, so it is preferable to use ovulation tests. They more reliably point to the appropriate moment.

There are other signs of ovulation that can occur in women, but they do not necessarily appear in every cycle and in all women: light bleeding, colic or slight pain in the side, breast tenderness, bloating, increased sexual appetite, change in position or hardness of the cervix, increased sensitivity to smell, taste, or vision.

You may not notice all these secondary signs of ovulation. It's normal, it's not a problem. However, if you notice them, then these signs can help you identify fertile days.

The following graph illustrates the evolution of the chances of getting pregnant depending on the day of ovulation. As you can see, the chances start to increase five days before, they are maximum on the day of ovulation and become zero the next day.

This graph demonstrates the importance of knowing this key day in both situations: when you want and when you do not want to become pregnant.

Continue with Factors Affecting Fertility

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How to recognize fertile days and ovulation?

In Brief Determining fertile days allows a woman to consciously plan her pregnancy and increase her chances of becoming pregnant. There are several ways to determine fertile days. They differ in both accuracy and method.

How to recognize fertile or fertile days?

The beginning of a woman's menstrual cycle is considered the first day of menstruation (bleeding) and the day before the next menstruation (until the next bleeding). One menstrual cycle has an average of 5 to 7 fertile days. The number of these days is related to both ovulation and the length of time that sperm cells survive in a woman's body.

Ovulation lasts about 24 hours and occurs 14 days before menstruation, but spermatozoa can survive in a woman's genitals for 5-7 days, waiting for their chance to fertilize an egg. Thus, sexual intercourse a few days before ovulation can lead to pregnancy. Often women wonder which method to choose to determine the day of ovulation? Are basal temperature measurements enough to determine ovulation? How many days is vaginal mucus favorable for sperm activity? How does vaginal mucus change after ovulation? When to start ovulation monitoring? How to make a calendar favorable for conception? Should I use ovulation tests? What body signals can indicate ovulation? We will try to answer these questions below.

Do you have any questions? Contact us!

Ovulation monitoring

The most accurate monitoring of the menstrual cycle is carried out by a gynecologist using ultrasound. This is a painless examination carried out on certain days. Usually, 3-4 ultrasound examinations are performed during one cycle. Its purpose is to determine the course of the menstrual cycle, the growth of follicles, as well as their quantity, quality, rupture, while simultaneously monitoring the state of the endometrium. Ultrasound examinations allow you to accurately determine the day of ovulation and, thus, fertile days.

The first examination is usually carried out by a doctor on the fifth day of the cycle, after which the following are observed:

follicle growth,
endometrial thickness,
cervical mucus quality.

After the day of ovulation, the doctor checks whether ovulation has actually taken place. This is evidenced by “traces” of follicle rupture or the presence of a corpus luteum in the ovary. Ovulation monitoring also makes it possible to identify possible causes, difficulties in pregnancy. An accurate diagnosis of ovulation monitoring is provided by the Fertility Clinic.

Fertile days calendar

In turn, the easiest way to determine the date of ovulation is method based on the calculation of the average length of the menstrual cycle based on the length of the cycle for several months. Based on this, you can roughly determine the date of the next menstruation. To calculate the day of ovulation, subtract 12 from the length of the menstrual cycle, and then 4 days.

For example, in the case of a 28-day cycle, it looks like this: 28-12 = 16, and in the next step 16-4 = 12. This means that ovulation can occur between 12 and 16 days of the cycle. The method is simple, but unfortunately there is a very high error rate.

A woman's menstrual cycle is variable and influenced by many factors, such as:

Diet
Stress
Colds
Climate

This method does not work for irregular cycles.

How many days is mucus favorable for conception?

Expected ovulation can also be determined by monitoring vaginal mucus. Often women ask how many days mucus favorable for conception can be observed. It is worth remembering that this is due to fertile days of about 5-7 days. On fertile days, the mucus is clear, slippery, sticky, and elastic, reminiscent of fresh egg white. Such mucus has a favorable pH for spermatozoa and facilitates their survival and movement. After ovulation, the amount of vaginal mucus decreases, it turns white, thickens and loses viscosity. This is how it stays until menstruation. Immediately after menstruation, the secretion of mucus is reduced until the secretion of mucus favorable for conception begins. The mucus monitoring method does not confirm ovulation, it is only a sign that ovulation is approaching. Also, be aware that some medications can interfere with mucus production, so this will not indicate ovulation is near.

Temperature increase after ovulation

Changes in body temperature can also be used to determine ovulation. After ovulation, the corpus luteum forms in the ovary, which secretes progesterone, and this, in turn, causes an increase in temperature by about 0.2 - 0.6 degrees Celsius. The temperature rises about 24 hours after the egg is released from the ovary, so measuring it can only serve to confirm ovulation, and this information can be used to determine the optimal time for conception in the next cycle. With regular menstruation, if the temperature rises, for example, systematically on the 16th day of the cycle, then ovulation occurs 1-2 days earlier, i.e. fertile days fall on the 13th, 14th and 15th days of the cycle.

However, in order for measurements of ovulation temperature to be reliable, it is necessary:

do it every morning
at a certain time, immediately after waking up
take the temperature in the vagina or in the mouth.

With this method, a very high percentage of error is possible, since many other factors related to general health can influence the temperature increase without hormonal fluctuations.

Ovulation Tests

Available ovulation tests detect increases in luteinizing hormone levels. This hormone ensures the rupture of the walls of the follicle and the release of the egg. For regular cycles, such as 28-30 day cycles, tests should be performed around day 10-11 of the menstrual cycle. They are carried out in a similar way to a pregnancy test with morning urine. A positive test means that you will ovulate in about 24-36 hours.

How to recognize ovulation? - blood tests

When assessing the course of ovulation, a progesterone test is also used, which is carried out on the basis of a blood test. This test allows you to confirm the presence of ovulation in the corresponding cycle. With a 28-day cycle, it is carried out on the 21st day. If menstruation is irregular, the examination should be carried out 7-8 days after a positive ovulation test.