Infertility Frequently Asked Questions
How can I determine my "fertile" period?
Your fertile period is the time during which having sexual intercourse could lead to a pregnancy. Begin counting on the first day of your menstrual period. Women normally ovulate about 14 days from the first day of their period, although this varies considerably from woman to woman. Your fertile period starts about 4-5 days before ovulation, and ends about 24-48 hours after it. This is because sperm can live in your body for approximately 4 to 7 days, and the egg can live for 24 to 48 hours after being released. You are most fertile on the days before ovulation and the day of ovulation. Knowing your fertile days can help you increase your chances of getting pregnant, as well as avoid an unwanted pregnancy.
It's clearly important to keep track of the start of your menstrual periods. But it is also helpful to know exactly when, and if, you ovulate, rather than simply rely on the 14-day rule. An easy, although somewhat costly method is to use a do-it-yourself ovulation kit, available over the counter, which enables you to predict your ovulation by measuring the LH surge in an early morning urine sample. This method uses a specially designed dipstick that changes color when the levels of LH increase. When your LH surges it is likely that ovulation will occur in the next 24-36 hours, so it is advisable to have intercourse during this time.
Many women chart their basal body temperatures in order to get a better fix on their fertile periods. When you are ovulating, your basal body temperature should rise for a few days. Your peak fertile period occurs on the days just before this rise. If you are a good record-keeper, you may want to consider this method.
Yet another method for checking your fertile period is to check for changes in your cervical mucus, as well as changes in the feel, shape and position of your cervix. About three to five days before ovulation, as estrogen levels rise, the cervical mucus becomes clear and stretchy and the amount increases. This fertile mucus turns the vaginal fluids alkaline, which helps keep sperm alive and nourished and allows healthy sperm to travel forward. The position, feel, and shape of your cervix also changes to allow for the easy passage of sperm.
If you want to learn more about the Basal Body Temperature method and the Cervical Mucus and Position method for tracking your ovulations, websites such as Webwomb.com explain these methods in more detail.
Whichever method you use to determine your most fertile period, you should have intercourse as soon as you know you are entering this period, and continue to have intercourse every other day for the next several days. Taking a break of 48 hours between intercourse allows time to maximize sperm volume between attempts, which is also very important.