|
Charting
& Predicting Ovulation
When
a woman comes to my office for help with fertility,
I ask her when does she ovulate and how does she know
she has ovulated? While some women are able to tell
me when they ovulate and what methods they use to predict
ovulation, most of the women I see are guessing at when
they ovulate and planning babymaking around that guess.
Think
back to your junior high or high school Health Education
class. You probably learned "how" babies are
made, who puts what where and how the sperm meets the
egg, etc. But what was that class really designed to
do? It was designed to keep you from getting pregnant!
In fact, it's likely that most of the information
you've encountered about reproduction up until now has
been aimed at blocking conception rather than promoting
it. Now that you've decided it's time to have a baby,
given up your birth control and are actively trying
to get pregnant, it's time to get in touch with your
body and give it a helping hand.
The
truth is, there is only a small window of time during
your menstrual cycle in which it is possible for you
to become pregnant (about 2 to 4 days, the length of
time most women secrete fertile cervical fluid). Even
when your timing is perfect you still only have about
a 20% chance of conceiving in any given cycle. When
you consider all that has to occur and all that has
to go perfectly during one cycle, from a new lining
being built in your uterus to your partner's sperm meeting
your egg in your fallopian tube, it's really a miracle
that anyone gets pregnant at all.
So
what can you do to assist in the miracle? First, I recommend
readiing Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni
Weschler, which comes with software to help you chart
your cycle and figure out when you ovulate and are most
fertile. Second, I recommend charting for 2 to 3 complete
cycles so that you can connect with your body and become
familiar with your own fertility signs (you can continue
to try to get pregnant, and you may well be successful!).
Before you begin you will need: a digital BBT (Basal
Body Temperature) thermometer, an ovulation
predictor kit or a fertility
monitor (click on the links for examples of each),
a pen and a pad of paper to leave by your bed, and a
chart on which to record your findings (paper, software
or online).
Once
you've done some reading and gathered your materials
you will start gathering data....as soon as you start
your next period. If you are weeks away from your next
period and want to practice taking your temperature,
go ahead but be sure to record the data in the correct
place on your chart (ie if you start on cycle day 10,
don't call it day 1). On the first day of your period
(not the first day of spotting, but the first honest-to-goodness
day of menstrual flow), take your temperature in the
morning after you've woken up and before you've gotten
out of bed. Important: For this method to be accurate,
you need to take your tempurature at the same time every
day and you cannot get out of bed before taking it.
Record your temperature, add it to your chart
and go on with your day.
If
you have an ovulation predictor kit (OPK) or fertility
monitor, you can start testing for a surge in LH (leutenizing
hormone) as early as cycle day 8. LH surges about 36
hours before ovulation, so it can be a good indicator
of your most fertile day (ideally, the sperm should
be present 36 to 24 hours before ovulation
occurs, so plan accordingly). Important: An LH
surge does not necessarily mean you have ovulated. Some
women, like those diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian
Syndrome (PCOS), have LH surges throughout the month,
so this method will not be accurate. When you
see an LH surge, you should record this on your chart
and plan to have sex that day and every day until you
have ovulated. The software bundled with Toni Wecshler's
book will automatically calculate your most fertile
days based partly on this information.
Another
important fertility sign to add to your chart is cervical
fluid. In a perfect world, your cervical fluid will
become more abundant and slippery (often described as
being the consistency of an egg-white) when you are
most fertile. You may notice some discharge on your
underwear or when you wipe yourself after using the
bathroom. You can also insert two fingers into your
vagina and try to touch the tip of your cervix and see
if you come away with fluid that sticks to your fingers,
has a slippery quality and is stringy when you bring
your two fingers together and pull them apart again.
For some women, this fluid is easy to see and for others
it isn't. If you notice it, put it in your chart and,
again, start having sex daily until ovulation occurs.
Important: If you never notice a change in cervical
fluid, you could miss your most fertile day, so plan
to have sex every day or every other day from cycle
day 8 until your temperatures indicate that you have
ovulated.
Charting
also allows you to keep track of things that might disrupt
your cycle and change your ovulation date like lack
of sleep, increased stress or illness, and gives you
a chance to note other fertility signs like dull abdominal
or back ache, cramping or a sharp pain. For more details
about charting and fertility signs, consult a book like
TCOYF (noted above) or talk with your gynecologist.
My
hope in writing this article is to help you understand
how your reproductive systems functions, help you gain
a clearer understanding of when you are most fertile
and help you better time babymaking activities. If you
have simply been missing ovulation, or if you are just
getting started trying to conceive, charting and predicting
ovulation may help you get pregnant more quickly.
If
you think your chart looks strange, or if charting and
predicting ovulation doesn't help you get pregnant within
6-12 months, get some help. See your gynecologist for
a thorough exam, have your male partner get a semen
analysis, explore the various alternatives that can
help prepare your body for conception and pregnancy
(acupuncture, herbal medicine, mayan abdominal massage,
massage therapy, chiropractic, etc.). I use my patients
charts to help form a diagnosis (ie Kidney yin deficiency,
Liver Qi stagnation, etc.), so be sure to bring your
charts to whichever practitioner you decide to work
with.
*This
article does not guarantee that you will become pregnant,
it only presents information about some of the methods
used to predict and pinpoint ovulation. It is also not
designed to diagnose or promote self-diagnosis of ovulatory
problems--if you suspect that you do not ovulate or
ovulate very irregularly you should consult with your
gynecologist.
} |
