Ovulation Help - Chicago,IL

It took mw 2 years to get pg with my first and a year with my 2nd. I charted both times. I have a 28-29 day cycle and ovulated the first time on day 7 and the second time on day 19. cRazy...no wonder it was so hard for me to get pg!

Hi:

You actually ovulate 14 days before your period starts. So, if you have a 28 day cycle, you would ovulate on day 14. But if you have a 30 day cycle, you would ovulate on day 16. Also, you need to have sex at least a day (minimum) to 3 days prior to ovulating. Sperm live for up to 5 days, but once you ovulate, the egg dies within 24 hours. I am well versed in this subject, as my husband and I spent years trying to concieve and then spent years working with fertility doctors to concieve (I now have 2 wonderful boys, 6 and 2 1/2). My friends have accused me of knowing way too much about the female reproductive system and they have banned me from talking about it. LOL :o) But I see that you are getting lots of conflicting advice, so I also recommend calling your doctor and talking to them or at least one of the nurses about this so you are comfortable and correct with the advice you follow. You can also have them explain to you about your vaginal secretions, which helps alot in determining when you are about to ovulate.

Good luck...L.

Around that time if you are very regular. better yet check your vaginal wetness levels, you have more of that feeling and may have some on your undies when you ovulate. Good Luck!

Everyone is different because it depends on your cycle. It is usually 7 days after your period, but you are fertile for 3 days beforehand and 1 day after also. You can use Fertility Awareness to track your cycle and see when youo ovulate. I use the basal body temperature method because I found it easiest:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/preventingpregnancy/fert...
There's a great book called "Taking Charge of your Fertility", which explains everything.
Good luck!

All the advice here is very good and I am learning a thing or two, thanks moms. I have purchased the clear blue easy fertility monitor and used it to help me become pregnant with my first 2 girls. I may or may not use it if we decide for a third. I love it and bought it off of ebay, along with the test strips. You never really know when your ovulation day is, it could change every month.
Good luck!

Hi,

You ovulate about 14 days after the start of your period. That is the time that you can concieve.

HTH

I have a 28 day cycle and when we were trying to conceive I would count the first sign of blood as day 1. On day 10, we started having sex and did it every day or every other day(they say every other day is good) for at least a week. I never charted, used an ovulation predictor (well, I bought one and tried it with my 4th pregnancy just to see what it was like) or anything. I just wore my DH out for about a week (he never complained, lol!)

I've had four pregnancies (two ended in miscarriage) and with the first 3, I was pregnant the first cycle we tried. The 4th one (which gave us our second son), I got pregnant the second cycle of trying.

I guess I'm pretty fertile, but it seemed to work with us.

Good luck.

Agree with the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility, however, I had two friends that had normal 28-30 day cycles and didn't ovulate until day 19, so each body is so different and important to understand how your body works physiologically.
Good Luck!

Unless you are 100% sure of how many days your cycle is, you could miss the 24 hour window of ovulation. I discovered when trying to conceive my second baby that my cycle was only 24 days, so "our efforts" were too late! I would suggest taking your temperature each morning before you get out of bed so you can chart it. This will help you determine when you ovulate. (Lots of books & online resources to help you with this.) You can also get ovulation test strips that detect a hormone surge that occurs just before ovulation. These also helped me figure out my cycle. You also have to just learn your body's signals...not to be gross, but there are changes in vaginal secretions that also signal ovulation. Again, lots of books & info online about that too! Good luck to you!

Okay without going to a fertility doctor, we did go to our OB and told them we wanted to start trying to conceive. We told them how long we had been trying. They did an exam, discussed what steps they would take in helping and went over the days to have sex for optimal attempts and prescribed prenatal vitamins. They also did a blood test to check for infection(something as simple as a small pneumonia or other infection can either prevent ovulation or cause miscarriage), homone levels( to make sure the body is doing okay in production).
This way they know you are ready, you know your body is ready and if something comes up and you either don't get easily pregnant or if you do and there are any problems they are on oboard. Good luck for a happy and healthy pregnancy.

Generally, 2- 2 1/2 weeks before your period is your most fertile time. Everybody doesn't ovulate on cycle day 14 so that is just a good rule of thumb if you have a perfect 28 day cycle.

I was told to have sex every other day the two weeks after your period.

Let me echo "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". 14 days before your period is when you ovulate (so you have to look back at your cycles).

Good luck!

If you have a typical 28 day cycle, you would ovulate on day 14 (day 1 is the first day of your period) - midcycle.

I know mine fluctuates between 25 and 28 days, but I know that 28 days isn't what most women have. If you track your cycles, you can see how long they are and then determine your 1/2 way point in most cycles and that's when most women ovulate.

Things to pay attention to your body would be your cervical mucous - that's usually the biggest indicator for me. It will be like egg whites - that's the best time to conceive.

So, you were close . .. try for 14 days before/after your period.

Best of Luck!
B.