When Do You Ovulate?

Learning when do you ovulate is a key part of your success in getting pregnant. Ovulation is when you are most fertile and most likely to conceive. Knowing your ovulation cycle is an important part of getting pregnant.

Of course, if ovulation was straightforward and simple, getting pregnant wouldn’t be the sometimes confusing and complicated process that it is. Your menstrual cycle isn’t always regular and can be affected by a number of factors like stress, anxiety or a change in your normal routine. Sometimes, you can even have two periods in one month or skip month after month without being pregnant. Every woman has a unique menstrual cycle and even a single woman’s menstrual cycle changes each month, so predicting the ovulation cycle can be a tricky thing.

So how can you determine “when do you ovulate?” After all, you only have roughly 24 hours before the egg begins to disintegrate. The common wisdom states that the 14th day of your period is your most fertile time, but that is only the case if you have a perfect 28 day cycle (which most women don’t). You can ovulate from day 8 - 20, so if you wait until your 14th day, you may have missed your window.

Don’t panic or stress that you will continuously miss your ovulation cycle. If you put too much pressure on trying to conceive, you will miss out on the fun and beauty of conceiving a child. In general, a better rule is not to predict that you will be fertile on Day 14, but instead focus on the middle two weeks of your cycle. You should start counting your cycle on the first day of your period.

How else can you know when you are about to ovulate? After all, if everyone has a unique menstrual cycle and your own menstrual cycle cannot even be accurately predicted, it’s tough to figure out when your best time could be. Leaning on the other factors can be a good way to decipher when you are most fertile.

Some of the common ways to decipher when you are most fertile are tender breasts before and during ovulation due to the hormone changes. In addition, your basal body temperature will rise slightly right after ovulation and you might feel “mittelschmerz,” which is when you have abdominal pain in the lower abdomen during ovulation. With these additional factors and armed with the knowledge that you are most likely to conceive on days 8 – 20 of your cycle, you can start to figure out when your personal ovulation time is for the highest rate of success with your conception and future pregnancy.

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