Confused on Ovulation

read the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by T. weschler. I got pregnant the second month after charting my cycles.

1 mom found this helpful

Two weeks from the first day of your last period.

OK. You ovulate about 2 weeks before your period starts. If you have a 28 day cycle that is also 2 weeks after the first day of your period. Most of us do not have a 28 day cycle. If your cycle is regular the best way to estimate ovulation is 14 days before the first day of your period. My cycle was 35 days so I ovulated 3 weeks after the first day of my period. So 2 weeks BEFORE the first day of your period is when you ovulate. You can buy ovulation kits and use them during the week you expect to ovulate. They look just like pregnancy tests. Hope that helps.

Everyones cycles are different...but usually 14 days after the 1st day of your period is ovulation...so say you started your period on the 1st...14 days after would be the 15th...I would try the 13th, 15th, 17th, and the 19th. Every other day is good...and after, stay lying in bed for about 15-20 minutes! BEST OF LUCK and have fun!!! :)

Hi S.,

Wow, ask and you shall receive! All the advice you've been offered is great and accurate. I do have a couple things to add:
1. When you ovulate, your vaginal discharge will have a similar appearance to egg whites. This is a great indicator that you are ovulating and a good tracking method to find out when, for you, ovulation is happening.
2. You will naturally feel most like having sex when you are ovulating. Mother nature has more than a few trick up her sleeve and when we're trying to get pregnant this is great!!

I have a 4mo. old daughter that was planned. I had regular periods that I tracked and we were able to get pregnant in 2 months. I also have an Ayurvedic health practice and regularly work with women trying to increase fertility and regain balance in their reproductive health. (www.solacehealth.com)

Best of luck to you and don't forget to have loads of fun in the process!

M.

It's different for everyone the 28 day cycle is just a guideline(for me its acutally >3 weeks after the start of my period). As far as how to count, the first day of your cycle is the START of your period, so in a "typical" 28 day cycle you'd ovulate 14 days after you start your period, no matter how long it lasted.

Try using ovulation test kits available at any drug store to figure out when it is for you. They'll tell you how to calculate (and when to try:)

Another easy and very accurate way to figure out when you ovulate is by taking your Basal Body Temperature. There's plenty of info on the web about how to do this and what it tells you, just google it. There's even a great website fertilityfriend.com that helps you plot and calculate the data.

I used both methods and have had 2 successfully planned pregnancies, both within 2 cycles (or less:) of trying. Good luck!!:)

S.,
I am a nurse and used the information that I know to get pregnant first try with all 3 of mine. It is not 2 weeks after you start your peroid that is only an approximate and what they teach in sex ed. that is based on a 28 day cycle. To figure out exactly when you ovulate you have to keep track of a few periods to see how long your cylce is. You start your period 14 days after you ovulate. so if you have 28 day cycles then you would ovulate 14 days after you start your period but if you have 34 day cylces then you ovulate 20 days after you start your peroid. this is why those with irregular cycles have such a hard time. Using ovulation sticks is very helpful too but can get expensive.
good luck,
C.

After your period started, but not everyone is exactly 14 days. I highly suggest the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" and buying a quick read thermometer (the book will explain why). It explains everything we should have been taught, but weren't, about how our reproductive system works. It will not only help you get pregnant more quickly but, by having you chart key info, will also provide you and your OB with valuable data if you have any difficulty getting pregnant. Have fun?!
K.

I used a charting service on line (it was free) and I also used the ovulation prediction kits you can buy at the store. It's best to use them in conjunction with one another. the chart will tell you after it's happened (you'll see a spike in temp, then a drop, then your chart will show you ovulated.) After a few months of consistent readings you'll be able to predict a little better, and be sure to be doin' the deed around those days. But let me caution you, even with charting and using the OPKs, it took us 10 months to conceive. And when we finally did, it was the month we had stopped trying because we were vacationing with family in Paris. So, sometimes not trying is the best way to actually get pregnant ;-)

try googling creighton model of natural family planning. this is how we have planned our pregnancies. i think it's best if you find a teacher and work with someone instead of just reading a book. best of luck to you!

"Taking Charge of Your Fertility" is the book I would recommend. It sounds like Sheila may have read it. I believe it is written for those who do not want to get pregnant and don't want to take any hormones, etc, but my friend and I just did every thing backwards. Either way, knowing when you are fertile is the most important part.

I have not read all of your responses however I did do fertility for my first son and the Dr. had us count from the first day of your period and then have intercourse on days 10,12,14,16 & 18 saving up on the other days. Also I was recently turned onto this website http://www.fertilityfriend.com/ by another mamasource mom and it is really nice for keeping track and charting, enter this period and if needed after your next period has been entered the recommendations will be more accurate, unfortunately you can not enter past months. Good Luck!

Taking Charge of Your Fertility is a GREAT book. I also used an ovulation kit. It took us 7 months to get pregnant. Another thing to "look" out for is if you have sticky, clear "stuff" down there when you wipe. Its another sign you are ready. Just try to relax and enjoy the moment. Being worried about it will only make it take longer. So... enjoy!! And Good luck!!

Hi S., it is usually 11 - 14 days after. An ovulation predictor is a good investment because you may not be regular in your dates. You can sometimes buy unused second hand predictors and sticks over the internet. C

Hi S.,
How very exciting to be planning for your next baby.

Ovulation occurs at different times in each individual womans cycle and it can occur at different times, not the same time every month.

To accurately determine when you are ovulating I would suggest buying an ovulation test kit from the drug store. You can also monitor your ovulation by taking a daily oral temperature before you get out of bed in the morning. You will have a spike in temperature when you ovulate and about a 24 hour window of prime fertilization. I used to have a calendar book that explained the temperature method and even a place to log my temperatures. You could probably purchase one from a book store or family planning center? Hope that helps. Good luck!

T.

Dear S.,

Typically women ovulate about in the middle of their cycle: so two weeks after or before would be about in the middle.

However, each woman can be a bit different. My OB/GYN suggested that I take my temperature every morning immediately upon waking, before getting out of bed. Write down your temperature each time. When you see a small spike (increase in temperature) that is most likely when you have ovulated and are most fertile.

Worked for me. Good luck.

Best
Mommie Salami

I believe it is 2 weeks after the day you BEGIN your period. However, that is not exact because it depends on the length of your menstrual cycle. You could get one of those ovulation kits from the drugstore. They are good at telling you when you are ovulating so you can get busy. Good luck!

It's two weeks from when your period started, so you have about a week to go. There is a fantastic book called, "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" that I highly recommend. It has helped many women I know get pregnant. Every woman's cycle is different and it gives you lots of other things to look for to help determine when you are most fertile. Check it out and good luck with #2!!

Hi, We planned our second child and I counted 14 days after my period ended. So to be sure to catch that open window, we had intercourse on day 13,14 and 15 and we were pregnant. A friend of mine, who is a nurse, told me this. This is what she did as well and got pregnant herself, only they went to Hawaii to get away from the stress which I guess plays a factor too (nice).

good luck and God bless.

A friend of mine who is an operating room nurse told me to count backwards two weeks from the beginning day of my period. I did it,planned my conception to the day,and it worked.
Good luck!
P..

Hi S.,
I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses for this; it's from when you START. The best resource, and what I call "The Woman's Bible" is "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom" by Christiane Northrup, MD. She has suggestions for a chart and I've been using it for years. She goes into details to recognize your fertile days, which start around day 9 through day 19 and peaking around days 13-15.
Enjoy!
S.

Hello S.,
One of my pregnancies were planned, & the other two were not. We know we ovulate every 28 days. When we get the cramps, I was told that is when we ovulate. It takes 7 days for our egg to travel down, & wait. Of course we know what happens next.
Some bodies are different, I have heard after a period you can get pregnant. Some say two weeks before our cycle we can get pregnant. I do believe when women get stressed out, our cycles get messed up. My planned timing was the 24th of the month, which I did get pregnant. There is a over the counter pregnancy kit that can tell you when you can get pregnant. I never used it, but it might help you determine when you can. Good luck to you.
Some say your body temperature is higher during that time too. G.

Hi S.,
I have had 3 kids & I'm STILL confused about how it figure it out. I will admit though that I was able to figure out the dates I concieved but not how that calculated to my period. Something about 14days after the last day of your last period...Shoot..it's too confusing. They now offer ovulation kits to help you better predict which day. I have no idea how much they cost but they would seem helpful,atleast at first. If you can figure out the first month with the help of the kit I figure you could probably do it on your own the following month IF you aren't pregnant yet? Hopefully thier are plenty of mom's out there to explain it better than I did >>>>LOL
Good Luck....Hope your daughter has a another brother or sister soon....

S.
Its really tricky because everyone has a different cycle. If you had a perfect 28 day cycle then it's easier to predict. It is 14 days before your period starts. Therefore, 1 week after your period if it is a true 28 day cycle. Some people can feel ovulation. They make ovulation kits that you can purchase at a drug store that will detect it. Also, your temperature raises a tad during ovulation, so some people are able to track it with a thermometer. There are also websites for your reference like babycenter.com and babyzone.com that will help you try to calculate ovulation or a due date if you are already pregnant. Just don't get too caught up in the science of it. I have heard of too many couples who have, then they are never relaxed enough to make it happen. Stress can really affect conception.
Good luck though
C. J

Everything is timed from when your cycle (period starts).

You may want to start taking your waking basal temperature to see when you ovulate. Some women are very specifically on day 14 while others ovulate sooner or later in the cycle.

It also helps to have charted your temps for several months in case you don't become pregnant easily. It will save you time to have charts to take to the doctor rather than having them ask you to chart for an additional 3 months.

Also, my OB/Gyn would tell you that there's about a 1 in 6 chance each month that you'll get pregnant.

J.
mom to Max after 5 years of infertility

The little swimmers hang out for a while, too: up to three days; and the slower, longer-lived ones tend to be female. That's how we planed our second child as a girl (and lucky us, it worked) about 14 days after the start of my period. Good luck and enjoy the process ;).

I am pretty sure that it is 2 weeks from when your period started. Try this website.
www.babycenter.com Where it says site search, type in ovulation calculator. You will just need to type in the day your period started and how long your period lasts and it will tell you your fertile days and possible due dates. It's pretty cool.

Hi S.! I have read a lot about natural family planning and the fertility cycle, so perhaps I can give you a few tips ... Unfortunately, ovulation is not as easy to predict as "2 weeks" before or after your cycle. Every woman's cycle is different, and a woman's cycle can differ from month to month. The typical cycle can last 24-35 days in length, and ovulation usually occurs 11-16 days before the next period starts. Instead of counting days, however, it is much more practical to do some observations to determine when you are ovulating. You will notice a few days before ovulation, you will start to feel some cervical mucus (you'll notice a wet, then slippery sensation "down there"). As the mucus increases you will be getting closer to ovulation. (It doesn't matter if you actually see the mucus--although you might--but think to yourself--can I sense it? Just in the way you can sense wetness during your period, you can sense the wet mucus.) This is the peak of your fertility cycle when it feels most "slippery." After ovulation has occurred, there is generally a change in your cervical mucus from "slippery" feeling to either dry or sticky feeling. [Sorry to get so graphic, but hopefully this helps.] This method of observing your cervical mucus is called the Billings Method of Ovulation. You can check out this website for way more information. (Or just google "Billings Method of Ovulation" if the link doesn't work.)
http://www.billings-centre.ab.ca/general/index.html

If you get a book, like "Natural Birth Control Made Simple" (by Barbara Kass-Annese, R.N., & Hal C. Danzer, M.D.) it explains how you can also take your basal body temperature each morning to help you predict ovulation, and explains what I just told you in way more depth.

Hopefully this will help! Good luck making your baby!!!
:)

S.,

You might want to check out the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler. This book helped me get pregnant the first time when I was confused about ovulation. It's different for everyone, so it's hard to say when till you figure out your own cycle, and this book helps you do that. You can also google "ovulation predictor" to find a site that helps you predict when you'll ovulate based on the length of your cycle. Hope that helps.

E.

You actually can go to google and look up ovulating calculator and it will give you a website and you can calculate it for yourself. Very cool!

Hello S.,
I agree with Love, it all comes down to how long your cycle is. I'm a 31 day cycle so trying on the 14th day after my period started didn't do any good for us. You can track your cycles and have tons of info at mymonthlycycles.com, and it's free. I tried the fertilityfriend.com and didn't like it as much. Don't get too frustrated if it takes a few months, most people don't get pregnant right away. I also just started reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility and it's a GREAT book!
Best of luck to you!

It is 14 days after the start of your period. You are most fertile on the 13, 14 and 15th day after you start but can technically get pregnant on the 9th - 19th day after you start.

It can vary greatly for different women. I had a long period, so I began to ovulate less than a week afterward. I highly recommend getting "Taking Charge of your Fertility" by Dr. Toni Weschler. She explains how to use the charting method (the cervical fluid check will be most helpful and probably indicative of when you are most fertile) which is really more simple than it sounds. It will help you figure out what your individual body is doing, which is probably very different from other women. I know exactly what date I conceived because of using this method. Good luck!

It's two weeks on AVERAGE from the first day of your last period...but the statistic is something like less than 25% of women who actually ovulate on that day. It can really fluctuate based on a lot of factors. I'd suggest buying or checking out from your library "Taking Charge of your Fertility." It explains how to track your ovulation and the most fertile part of your cycle by using a basal thermometer (like a regular one, just more sensitive--cheap at Target). Worked for us!

J.

It is approximately 2 weeks after your period starts. It's very easy to use ovulation predictor tests and they work fairly well. I've had three pregnancies using them (just the Longs generic brand!)Just be sure to have sex for at least 4 days after the test comes up positive, just 1-2 days wasn't enough based on my own experience. Remember they tell you when your hormones are high enough to ovulate and that it will happend soon, but not the exact moment that you ovulate, so you need to have sex for several days. Good luck!

I never used one, but have friends that used ovulation tests-looks kinda like a pregnancy test-can just go buy at the pharmacy-so that way you have a better predictor. I think everyone is different on when they ovulate in their cycle-I am one of the lucky ones who can now feel it, every month...not too helpful now that I do NOT want to get pregnant again!

Good luck!

now every women is different, but you usually ovulate around day 14 with the first day of your period being day one of your cycle if you have predictable 28 day cycles, I have 35-40 day cycles so my ovulation day was more like day 20-21 agreat book to read and study for all of your fertility and cycle need is Taking Charge of your Fertility by Toni, somebody- but it is awesome and will change your understanding of your body and fertility
good luck

My dr. recently told me that the best chances of getting pregnant are starting at Day 10 - that's 10 days from the first day of your period. Then having sex other day through Day 20. So, I'm assuming that's when you ovulate...I know there are wonderful books out there, but that plan seemed the easiest to me, not having to chart, take temps, use kits, etc. - I have no idea how effective it is since we just found out we're pregnant & were not even close to being in "trying" mode! Good luck!

Hi S., I believe it is usually the 11-15 days after you start. Good Luck and try not to think about it because stress will cause you to not get pregnant. Start taking folic acid now and know that if you are stopping birth control pills it may take longer.

Your posting brought back memories. Each person is different but you want to count 12-14 days from your 1st day of your period. You can also purchase an ovulation predictor kit. I use one and they work pretty good. I told a friend the same thing and as soon as she tried on the 12, 13, and 14th day she was pregnant.

Good Luck.

My OBGYN who is also a fertility specialist said 10 days after the start of your period to 14 days is prime time.

Hi S.,
I would suggest that you either get the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" or that you go to http://ivospremium.ivillage.com/fertility/calendar.html. That site will explain charting your basal body temperature and you can also enter your information in and it will produce a chart for you. You see, there is so much variability in ovulation dates between women, some have longer cycles, some shorter and there can be a lot of variability in a woman's cycle depending on her circumstances. One thing to look for (this might be a little graphic for you but it is VERY effective) is cervical discharge that resembles raw egg-whites. This is a major fertility sign and an excellent way to predict ovulation, in general. There are some caveats, so I would do some research on it (at least) if you don't want to take the time to chart. I would highly suggest charting though, it provides a wealth of information and is very interesting. Good luck! You could also buy ovulation predictor tests :)

Hi,
I just got pregnant for the second time and both times was in the 1st month of trying. The 1st pregnancy I used the Basal Body temperature, but for this to be effective you should start keeping track a couple of months in advance. When you are ovulating your temperature will have a significant drop and then rise for the next 3 days. The best time to have sex is before the temperature drop and the day of the drop. Once your temperature starts going up you have already ovulated and it's probably too late. My husband and I just started having sex at least every other day starting on day 9 through about day 18 so we would not miss the ovulation window. The day you start your period is day 1, so if your period is about 5 days long then you should start about 4 days later. The average woman ovulated at day 14 (28 day cycle), but some can ovulate early or later. So just have lots of sex in that time frame and you should get pregnant. There is only a 25% chance of getting pregnant every month even if everything is perfect, but I think it goes up to 80% after 3 months of trying. Good Luck

I have been mapping my cycle for many months now and from all the info I have read every person is unique regarding the actual days they ovulate. However, most people ovulate 14 days minus the END of their cycle. So from the first day of the start of your period count until the next first day of your period (total cycle days) and minus 14 days and if you are like the majority of people per the Shettles book, How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby this is the case. You can also buy an inexpensive disposable ovulation tracker at the drugstore and when you start to notice vaginal mucuous on tissue start testing to read your hormone levels, usually 10-14 days into cycle. Good Luck!!!

Hi S.! When my husband and I decided to start trying I had no idea about ovulation, and it still confuses me! I found this website, www.babyhopes.com (click on Ovulation Calendar on the left) and it really helped me. You just type in the date of your last period and the length of it, and it gives you your best dates for the month on when to conceive! Give it a shot; you can also sign up for newsletters during your pregnancy showing what your body and baby are up to and it sure was fun! Good Luck!

Hi S.
I agree with other posters who recommended your reading, take charge of your fertility.. not only will it help take out the mystery of ovulation, but it's a great eye-opener in terms of how our bodies work.
As for the ovulation detector kits, I am ok with those, but only if used in conjuction with charting your temperatures and checking for cervical fluid. WHY? b/c you can have an LH surge and NOT ovulate. the LH surge is what those kits pick up. so if for instance you have a surge and no heightened temperature , then you may not have ovulated.
additionally, some women's LH surge is too low to be detected on those kits. Again, best to really learn how ones cycle wks. Also, your cycle can vary from month to month, you may ovulate on day 14 and then next month on day 20... the 14 day rule is a misnomer..
Well, I wish you the best of luck !

S.,

If you have a normal 28 day period it is 2 weeks from the start of your period. However, not all people have a 28 day cycle and your cycle can vary month to month depending on what is going on in your life. I tracked my ovulation using a basal body temperature chart and the ovulation predictor sticks. I learned about the basal body charting in a book called Taking Charge of your Fertility by Toni Weschler. Charting will not tell you when your ovulation is going to happen (the ovulation sticks help with that), but it does teach you about your cycle. I found the book helpful in learning the other "signs" your body gives you about when you are ovulating and when the best time to have sex is. I am now 5 months pregnant, and I feel like the book/stick combo worked well.