During each monthly cycle, healthy couples who aren't using birth control typically have around a 25 to 30 percent chance of getting pregnant, though it can vary widely depending on the circumstances, particularly related to your age.
That's actually a surprisingly high percentage considering that you can only conceive around the time of ovulation — a small window each month when the egg is viable between 12 and 24 hours and open for the business of fertilization. Doesn't sound like much of an opening? Consider, then, that sperm are able to live to fertilize an egg for a lot longer than an egg is willing to hang out, anywhere from three to six days.
Which means that even if you have sex a few days before ovulation, there may be plenty of sperm still around to greet the egg when it emerges before it makes its trip down the fallopian tube. And remember: It only takes one sperm to make a baby. Of course, having sex the day you ovulate would be ideal, since after that the window tends to close until the next cycle. So recognizing the signs of ovulation is key when pregnancy is the goal. Ovulation is the release of a mature egg from one of the ovaries, which happens every month.
A woman is most fertile around the time of ovulation. Ovulation usually occurs halfway through your menstrual cycle, or around day 14 of the average day cycle counting from the first day of one period to the first day of the next.
But as with everything pregnancy-related, there's a wide range of normal here since cycles can last anywhere from 23 to 35 days, and even your own cycle and time of ovulation may vary slightly from month to month. An egg can be fertilitzed for between 12 and 24 hours after ovulation. The specific length of time that it takes for the egg to be released by the ovary and picked up by the fallopian tube is variable but occurs 12 to 24 hours after a surge of the hormone LH as described below.
There are a number of ways to predict when you might start ovulating. Here's how to prepare for ovulation and pinpoint the timing:. Keep a menstrual cycle calendar for a few months so you can get an idea of what's normal for you — or use tools that can help you calculate ovulation.
If your periods are irregular , you'll need to be even more alert for other ovulation symptoms. Can you feel ovulation happening? If you're like 20 percent of women, your body will send you a memo when it's ovulating, in the form of a twinge of pain or a series of cramps in your lower abdominal area usually localized to one side — the side you're ovulating from.
Called mittelschmerz — German for "middle pain" — this monthly reminder of fertility is thought to be the result of the maturation or release of an egg from an ovary. Pay close attention, and you may be more likely to get the message. Your basal body temperature , or BBT, that is. Taken with a special, basal body thermometer, basal body temperature is the baseline reading you get first thing in the morning, after at least three to five hours of sleep and before you get out of bed, talk or even sit up.
Your BBT changes throughout your cycle as fluctuations in hormone levels occur. During the first half of your cycle before ovulation, estrogen dominates. During the second half after ovulation, there's a surge in progesterone, which increases your body temperature as it gets your uterus ready for a fertilized, implantable egg. That means your temperature will be lower in the first half of the month than it is in the second half.
Here's the bottom line: Your basal body temperature will reach its lowest point at ovulation and then rise immediately about a half a degree as soon as ovulation occurs. Keep in mind that charting your BBT for just one month will not enable you to predict the day you ovulate but rather give you evidence of ovulation after it's happened.
Tracking it over a few months, however, will help you see a pattern in your cycles, enabling you to predict when your fertile days are — and when to hop into bed accordingly. This will occur if you are nearing your next menstrual start date. This calculator is not meant for women who are already pregnant. It cannot and should not be used as an aid to preventing pregnancy.
This calculator is provided for educational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional health care. Always consult with a healthcare provider for advice concerning your health.
Given the information you provided, your next ovulation date is estimated to be. You are likely to be most fertile on the day of ovulation and during the 4 or 5 days just before ovulation. Those six days are important because the egg is able to be fertilized for about 12 to 24 hours after it's released.
In addition, sperm can live inside the female reproductive tract as long as five days after sexual intercourse under the right conditions. Your chance of getting pregnant is highest when live sperm are present in the fallopian tubes during ovulation. In an average day menstrual cycle, ovulation typically occurs about 14 days before the start of the next menstrual period.
But in most women, ovulation occurs in the four days before or after the midpoint of the menstrual cycle. If, like many women, you don't have a perfect day menstrual cycle, you can determine the length and midpoint of your cycle by keeping a menstrual calendar. You also might want to try an over-the-counter ovulation kit. These kits test your urine for the surge in hormones that takes place before ovulation, which helps you identify when you're most likely to ovulate.
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