When a couple is trying to conceive, ovulation tracking is key along the journey. Tracking your ovulation ensures you’re targeting the most fertile window in your cycle. Ovulation tracking is a natural family planning method or a fertility awareness method. Various options are available to track your ovulation: the calendar method, cervical mucus, and an ovulation predictor kit. Once you successfully track your ovulation, it’s ideal to have intercourse during the five days before through the day after your expected ovulation. Our ZIVA Fertility experts recommend couples to have intercourse every day or every other day during this most fertile time.
Ovulation tracking is chosen in cases such as:
- If you are starting to attempt to conceive
- You have been trying for a while without success
- You have recently suffered a miscarriage
- You may turn to tracking ovulation to help improve your odds of conception.
Signs of Ovulation on which ovulation tracking is based
- The basal body temperature rises by 1/2 to 1 degree, measured by a thermometer
- A rise in luteinizing hormone (LH), measured on a home ovulation kit
- Change in consistency of the Cervical mucus, or vaginal discharge, as it may appear more transparent, thinner, and stretchy, like raw egg whites.
- The feeling of breast tenderness
- Bloating of the abdomen
- Side cramps or a slight pain
How do you track your ovulation?
The Calendar Method
If your menstrual cycle is regular, i.e., the same number of days from month to month, it’s a good bet that you ovulate around two weeks, or 14 days before your period begins. This is an empirical method and can vary based on your cycle. For example, if you have a 35-day cycle, you will likely ovulate around the 21st day. However, this method is unsuitable if you have irregular periods varying from one month to the next.
Another way of using the calendar method is that if you have very regular cycles, meaning no shorter than 26 days and no longer than 32 days, you can utilize the Standard Days Method, in which you focus on having intercourse during days 8 to 19 of your cycle.
Charting Your Basal Body Temperature
Basal body temperature charting means taking your temperature first thing in the morning before rising from bed. During ovulation, there is a sustained temperature increase. One can detect the temperature changes by maintaining a chart throughout your cycle. In some cases, BBT charting can indicate if you have conceived or not, known as the “implantation dip.”
Ovulation Predictor Kits
Ovulation predictor kits make use of urine, just like home pregnancy tests. During ovulation, there is a rise in the luteinizing hormone (LH). You will start ovulating within 12 to 36 hours of an LH surge. After ovulation is successfully predicted, it is recommended that you have sex daily for the next several days.
The best practice is to take the tests over consecutive days to detect the surge accurately. A straight five-day test will give you an 80% chance of predicting ovulation; over ten days, that figure rises to around 95%.
There are digital fertility monitors which work similarly to ovulation predictor kits but deliver precise results and can detect early.
Saliva Ferning Tests
Compared to ovulation predictor kits, saliva testing is cost-effective. During ovulation, crystal formations develop in saliva. During the most fertile period, there will be chemical changes in the saliva. After drying up, the residue exhibits fern-like crystals that are absent at other cycle stages.
Take the saliva testing kit and place a drop of saliva on it. Wait for five minutes, then view the sample under the viewing scope to see if the characteristic crystals were formed. Within 24 to 72 hours of the first formations, ovulation is likely to occur
Tracking Cervical Mucus Changes
Charting cervical mucus is used with basal body temperature charting for a relatively high level of accuracy. Around ovulation, the cervical mucus begins to get thin and clear, just like raw egg whites. The mucus thinning allows sperm to pass through the cervix and provides a more alkaline environment for the sperm to survive.
Having Regular Intercourse
Simply, if the couple have intercourse two to three times per week (or roughly every two to three days), there is no need to track ovulation. Though ovulation monitoring is undoubtedly helpful for couples with fertility problems, just having intercourse regularly will give them the same chance of conception.
To improve your chances of conceiving, practice conception intercourse, using timing, sexual positions, and lubricants to create the ideal environment. Getting pregnant like this is relatively easy, assuming you don’t have any underlying reproductive issues.
We at ZIVA Fertility Clinics give counseling to our couples. In most cases, we advise them to have regular intercourse, to realize their dream. When the female is younger than 35, then the couple can try for one year, and if the woman is above 35 years, then try for six months before considering any other invasive methods.
Consult our ZIVA experts to know more about how to track your ovulation and get pregnant naturally. For more information, please visit our website, https://zivafertility.com/, or call +91-9100002737 or +91-9392834024.
