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make sure that you are ovulating and that the latter phase of your cycle is long enough to sustain a pregnancy.
* Most women donât need to be this scientific in order to get pregnantâwith ejaculation or insemination into the vagina every day or two midcycle, most women conceive within six months.
You can also determine whether you are ovulating by using ovulation predictor kits, which test urine for luteinizing hormone (LH). Between twenty-four and forty-eight hours prior to ovulation, women experience a short surge of LH. Ovulation predictor kits measure LH and let you know that ovulation is about to happen.
2. Have intercourse or inseminate on all days of wet, slippery cervical fluid. The most fertile day of your cycle will be the last day that you have this slippery cervical fluid. So, for example, if you have wet cervical fluid on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, you should ideally have intercourse or inseminate on each of those days. That Wednesday, though, will be your most fertile day, since it is the closest day to ovulation. (If your partnerâs sperm count is marginal or low, you should have intercourse or inseminate every other day that you have wet cervical fluid. If the sperm has morphology [shape] problems, every day is better.)
If you conceive, your temperatures following ovulation should remain high, and you wonât have a period.
Women are traditionally told to wait a full year before seeking a medical evaluation if they havenât conceived naturally. But you and your partner should both consider doing so after six cycles, if you are timing intercourse or insemination perfectly each cycle according to the steps above and still have not gotten pregnant. If you are over forty, fertility evaluation is recommended after three cycles.
----
⢠Eating or drinking before taking an oral temperature
⢠Taking temperature at a substantially different time than usual
⢠Heating your body, as with an electric blanket
⢠Thyroid conditions
CERVICAL FLUID (CF)
Cervical fluid is the secretion produced around ovulation that allows sperm to reach the egg. In essence, fertile cervical fluid functions like seminal fluid: It provides an alkaline medium to protect the sperm in an otherwise acidic vagina. In addition, it provides nourishment for the sperm, acts as a filtering mechanism, and functions as a medium in which to move. Cervical fluid also capacitates the sperm; this process removes the tip of the head, preparing it to fertilize the egg.
After your period and directly under the influence of rising estrogen, your cervical fluid typically starts to become wetter as you approach ovulation. After your period ends, you may have several days of nothing, followed by cervical fluid that evolves from sticky to creamy and finally to clear, slippery, and stretchy (also known as spinnbarkeit), similar to raw egg white. The most noticeable feature of this fertile cervical fluid is its lubricating quality.
After estrogen has peaked and dropped, the cervical fluid abruptly dries, often within a few hours. This is due to the surge of progesterone following ovulation. The absence of wet cervical fluid usually lasts the duration of the cycle.
A trick to help you identify the quality of the cervical fluid at your vaginal opening is to notice what it feels like to run a tissue (or your finger) across your vaginal lips. Does it feel dry? Is it smooth? Does it glide across? When you are dry, the tissue wonât pass smoothly across your vaginal lips. But as you approach ovulation, your cervical fluid gets progressively wetter, and the tissue or your finger should glide easily.
As with temperature, certain factors may mask or interfere with cervical fluid:
⢠Vaginal infection
⢠Semen (from recent sexual intercourse)
⢠Arousal fluid
⢠Spermicides and lubricants
⢠Antihistamines (which can dry out or decrease fluid)
⢠Guaifenesin cough medicine (which can
* Most women donât need to be this scientific in order to get pregnantâwith ejaculation or insemination into the vagina every day or two midcycle, most women conceive within six months.
You can also determine whether you are ovulating by using ovulation predictor kits, which test urine for luteinizing hormone (LH). Between twenty-four and forty-eight hours prior to ovulation, women experience a short surge of LH. Ovulation predictor kits measure LH and let you know that ovulation is about to happen.
2. Have intercourse or inseminate on all days of wet, slippery cervical fluid. The most fertile day of your cycle will be the last day that you have this slippery cervical fluid. So, for example, if you have wet cervical fluid on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, you should ideally have intercourse or inseminate on each of those days. That Wednesday, though, will be your most fertile day, since it is the closest day to ovulation. (If your partnerâs sperm count is marginal or low, you should have intercourse or inseminate every other day that you have wet cervical fluid. If the sperm has morphology [shape] problems, every day is better.)
If you conceive, your temperatures following ovulation should remain high, and you wonât have a period.
Women are traditionally told to wait a full year before seeking a medical evaluation if they havenât conceived naturally. But you and your partner should both consider doing so after six cycles, if you are timing intercourse or insemination perfectly each cycle according to the steps above and still have not gotten pregnant. If you are over forty, fertility evaluation is recommended after three cycles.
----
⢠Eating or drinking before taking an oral temperature
⢠Taking temperature at a substantially different time than usual
⢠Heating your body, as with an electric blanket
⢠Thyroid conditions
CERVICAL FLUID (CF)
Cervical fluid is the secretion produced around ovulation that allows sperm to reach the egg. In essence, fertile cervical fluid functions like seminal fluid: It provides an alkaline medium to protect the sperm in an otherwise acidic vagina. In addition, it provides nourishment for the sperm, acts as a filtering mechanism, and functions as a medium in which to move. Cervical fluid also capacitates the sperm; this process removes the tip of the head, preparing it to fertilize the egg.
After your period and directly under the influence of rising estrogen, your cervical fluid typically starts to become wetter as you approach ovulation. After your period ends, you may have several days of nothing, followed by cervical fluid that evolves from sticky to creamy and finally to clear, slippery, and stretchy (also known as spinnbarkeit), similar to raw egg white. The most noticeable feature of this fertile cervical fluid is its lubricating quality.
After estrogen has peaked and dropped, the cervical fluid abruptly dries, often within a few hours. This is due to the surge of progesterone following ovulation. The absence of wet cervical fluid usually lasts the duration of the cycle.
A trick to help you identify the quality of the cervical fluid at your vaginal opening is to notice what it feels like to run a tissue (or your finger) across your vaginal lips. Does it feel dry? Is it smooth? Does it glide across? When you are dry, the tissue wonât pass smoothly across your vaginal lips. But as you approach ovulation, your cervical fluid gets progressively wetter, and the tissue or your finger should glide easily.
As with temperature, certain factors may mask or interfere with cervical fluid:
⢠Vaginal infection
⢠Semen (from recent sexual intercourse)
⢠Arousal fluid
⢠Spermicides and lubricants
⢠Antihistamines (which can dry out or decrease fluid)
⢠Guaifenesin cough medicine (which can
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