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Because
sperm can live up to five days in the right conditions, having intercourse in
the days before you ovulate can lead to conception. Intercourse on the day of
ovulation may be successful in achieving pregnancy. But once an egg is released,
it has only 12 to 24 hours to live. So intercourse on the day after ovulation
may be fun, but not fruitful. Knowing
when each month you will ovulate is key to getting pregnant. Watch
for the Signs of Ovulation
Fortunately, your body gives you clues throughout
the month to indicate when ovulation will take place. There are two primary signs
you can monitor to help you determine your most fertile days. They are basal body
temperature and cervical fluid. Basal
Body Temperature
Basal body temperature is the temperature of your body
at rest. In order to monitor this, you'll need to purchase a basal body temperature
thermometer, which is much more sensitive to minute fluctuations in temperature
than is a regular thermometer and reads your temperature in one-tenth of a degree
increments. You will need to take your temperature at the same time each morning,
after you've had at least 3 hours of consecutive sleep and before you take on
any activity, including getting out of bed. Your basal body temperature is so
sensitive that even getting out of bed can make your temperature rise.  Generally,
your basal body temperature will be lower during the first two weeks of your menstrual
cycle, thanks to the estrogen present in your body. You'll most likely record
temperatures in the 97.0 to 97.5 degree range. Once you've ovulated, your temperature
will show a significant shift, rising anywhere from 0.2 to 0.6 degrees. Your temperatures
will remain elevated until your next menstrual period, when the buildup of estrogen
will again cause them to drop. If you do become pregnant, your basal body temperature
will stay elevated.
Click
here for more information on Basal Body Temperature or for a printable chart
to help you keep track of this fertility sign. [
TOP OF PAGE ] Cervical
Fluid
You may have noticed while reading about basal body temperature that the temperature
rise occurs after ovulation. Because an egg only lives 12-24 hours once it has
been released into the fallopian tubes, relying on BBT alone is not the most effective
way to conceive. The
estrogen that signals the lutenizing hormone to release an egg from the ovary
also causes changes to the quality of your cervical fluid. In the days immediately
following your menstrual period, you probably will have little to no cervical
secretions that you can detect. However, as you move closer toward ovulation,
the fluid secreted from your cervix will become sticky, then creamy (a bit like
lotion) and finally watery and much like egg white in the day or two prior to
ovulation. It
is this egg white cervical fluid that gives the sperm the best chance of reaching
the egg. For this reason, if you are trying to become pregnant, you will want
to have intercourse on every day you encounter egg white cervical fluid. Sperm
can live up to five days in the right conditions, so having intercourse in the
days before you ovulate can lead to conception. You
may be thinking, "What do you mean "cervical fluid?" I've never
noticed mine before?" Most likely, your cervical fluid has been present all
along. You just haven't taken the time to notice it. Monitoring your cervical
fluid can be done fairly simply, once a day, either by putting your clean middle
finger to your cervix and examining the secretions or by wiping with clean toilet
tissue to examine the cervical fluid. Coupled
with basal body temperature, keeping track of your cervical fluid is a good way
to become in tune with your body and to discover your most fertile days for conceiving
a bouncy bundle of joy!  Ovulation
Date Calculator
If you have regular menstrual cycles, you may be able to rely on an ovulation
date calculator to predict when you will next ovulate. These calculators take
into account the date of your last period and the length of your menstrual cycle.
Because these calculators cannot predict changes in your cycle, such as illness,
you should have intercourse on each of the two to three days around the date the
calculator gives for predicted ovulation. Click
here to use an ovulation date calculator.
Ovulation
Predictor Tests
For a more scientific and accurate predictor of when you
will next ovulate, you may want to try an ovulation predictor tests, such as First
Response Ovulation Predictor Tests. These use-at-home tests are designed to detect
the surge of lutenizing hormone that occurs 24-36 hours prior to ovulation. Click
here for information on how these tests work. But
All I Want to Do is Get Pregnant!
It may seem that all this temperature-taking,
cervical fluid monitoring, and calendar watching takes all the fun out of trying
to conceive a baby. What is not fun is month after month of unwelcome menstrual
cycles and negative pregnancy tests. While monitoring fertility signs and employing
the use of ovulation predictor tools is not a guarantee of getting pregnant, paying
attention to what they are telling you about your body can help you get pregnant
more quickly. And, if for some reason you are unable to get pregnant easily, having
recorded these signs for at least three cycles can give your physician important
clues to what is going on inside your body. [
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