Ovulation calendar and knowing your fertile days

If you are seriously trying to get pregnant, you cannot leave it to fate. Your body operates on cycles with predetermined fertile periods. You owe it to yourself to do the best you can to help improve your chances of conceiving. Figuring out your fertile period is a good way to go.

How can I tell when I am most fertile?

The easiest way to calculate when you are most fertile is to keep a note of the length of your menstrual cycle. Also pay attention to any signs of physical and hormonal changes in your body, which usually start about 5 or 6 days before you ovulate. Ovulation is when the ripest egg is expelled from the ovary and passes into a fallopian tube. When the egg is fertilised, you are pregnant!

The only time you can conceive is on the actual day of ovulation, and during the 5 or 7 days leading up to ovulation. Sperm can survive for up to 7 days, while the female egg only has a lifespan of 24 hours. That is why it is so important for you to know your body, and to take note of your feelings, so you are aware when ovulation is approaching.

This will be your most fertile time with the best chance of falling pregnant.

How will I know if I am ovulating?

The first thing to do is to determine the length of your normal cycle, which could be anything from 25 to 35 days. If it varies from month to month, just take the average number of days over the past 3 months. There are some innovative Ovulation Calculators available to help you count!

Using the calculator is very simple. All you need to do is enter the first day of your last period, and when you have the average length of your menstrual cycle, just enter the number, and the time period when you are most fertile will be calculated.

Some calculators can even give a fairly accurate idea of your due date.

Another way to work out your fertile period.

There is another way to estimate when you will ovulate. This is known as the calendar method, but is only effective if your cycle is not very irregular. What you have to do is establish more or less when your next period will start. From that day, count back 12 days, and then another 4. And somewhere in that 5 or 6 day range, you are most likely to ovulate.

This might seem like something of a hit or miss affair, but if your cycle is regular, studies have shown that it actually works very well. It is certainly worth a try.

Take advantage of your calculations.

Working out your fertile period is not always precise, but provided that it falls within your 5 or 7 day window, it will be good enough.

Try and have sex every couple of days, if not every day in this time, and you will have an excellent chance of reaping the fruit of your labours!