Are You Ovulating On Your Period

Factors That Change The Time You Ovulate

The sex hormones estrogen and progesterone largely determine the duration of a menstrual cycle. For example, over the course of a cycle, rising estrogen levels trigger ovulation and thicken the uterine lining so that you can potentially conceive and nurture a fertilized egg.

Slight changes in estrogen and progesterone levels can lead to changes in cycle duration and when you ovulate. These changes can come from factors like age, ethnicity, and body mass index.

Stress, illness, and other medical conditions can also affect when you ovulate, and alter the typical length of your cycle. “Even somebody with a 31-day cycle might have a shorter cycle than their average and have a slip-up,” Childson says.

Determining The Best Time To Have Sex To Conceive

Unfortunately, thereâs no completely accurate method to detect that you are about to ovulate. Itâs possible for an ovulation predictor kit, body temperature charts, and cervical mucus patterns to all indicate a slightly different ovulation day.

In a study of people with regular, 28-day cycles, ovulation occurred most commonly on day 15 after the start of the last menstrual period , followed by day 16 LMP and day 14 LMP . Researchers found a 10-day spread of observed ovulation days even among a group of people with âclockworkâ cycles, and a similar variation for people whose cycles were a little longer or shorter.

Another group of researchers set out to pinpoint the most commonly fertile day in the menstrual cycle across the general populationincluding those with irregular cyclesusing menstrual period surveys and ultrasound measurements rather than ovulation signs. They found a sharp rise in the probability a person will conceive beginning at day 7 LMP, reaching a maximum probability of conception of 13% at day 15 LMP. By day 25 LMP, the statistical probability of conception is zero, according to the data.

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Pregnancy Tests Hcg Levels And Miscarriage

hCG is the hormone that is produced by the embryo after implantation. A raised level of this hormone shows that there is or has been a pregnancy.

The level of hCG in a pregnancy usually doubles every 2-3 days in early pregnancy, then doubles every 3-4 days later on until about week 14 -16 of pregnancy.

If a miscarriage has happened then you can still have positive pregnancy tests and raised hCG levels for up to 2 weeks afterwards as the levels take some time to come back down.

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If Your Cycles Arent Very Regular

Or youd like a more accurate picture of your ovulation, you can try one of the following techniques for pinpointing ovulation:

Track your temperature.

One of the tip-offs that ovulation has occurred is that a womans regular body temperature increases slightly. You can detect this thermal shift by taking your temperature every morning at the same time before you get out of bed. If you chart your temperature each day for a few months, youll probably begin to see a pattern that will help you predict when you are about to ovulate.

Most womens temperature increases about a half a degree 24 to 48 hours after ovulation. .

Note: By the time your BBT rises, ovulation has already occurred, and theres little time left to conceive ideally, sperm are waiting in the fallopian tube when the egg is released.

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Use an ovulation predictor kit.

This method is more expensive than tracking your temperature, but may be more accurate. Available in drugstores, an ovulation predictor kit measures the level of luteinizing hormone in your urine. By testing your urine using the kit , you can find out when LH levels are rising, a sign that one of your ovaries is about to release an egg.

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While Youre On Your Period

As any woman with a calendar and a bunch of best friends will tell you, the amount of days each woman spends menstruating can vary a lot.

Your menstrual flow may start to diminish and lighten in color, or turn brown towards the end of your cycle. It feels and looks like youre still menstruating, but your body is already gearing up for your next fertile time.

If you have sex towards the end of your period, you may actually be getting close to your fertile window, especially if you have a short cycle. Lets take a look at the math.

Say you ovulate early, about six days after your period starts. You have sex on the third day of your period. The sperm have no egg to fertilize, but theyre also in no hurry to die so they hang out, doin what sperm do.

A few days later, while theyre still swimming around, you ovulate and theyre drawn to that egg like a fish to water. One gets through, and there you have it fertilization has occurred as a result of period sex.

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Can You Get Pregnant Right Before Your Period

Its not impossible, but it is unlikely especially in women with regular, 28-day cycles. Ovulation is normally complete by day 19, a solid week-and-a-half before your next menstrual period begins.

That said, ovulation is harder to predict in women with irregular periods, which means it could happen later in the cycle. Plus, even in women with regular cycles, ovulation can vary from month to month, especially if you’re stressed, traveling or changing up your normal routine.

Changes In Body Temperature

Basal body temperature refers to your temperature when you first wake up in the morning, prior to getting up and moving around.

Your BBT rises by about 1°F or less during the 24-hour window after ovulation occurs. This is caused by the secretion of progesterone.

If pregnancy does not happen, your BBT will remain raised until your period starts.

Tracking your BBT may provide clues about your ovulation pattern from month to month, but this method is not foolproof.

An of over 200 women found that late ovulation cannot be predicted by any method and that no signs of ovulation, including BBT, correspond perfectly with the release of an egg.

BBT charting can also be unreliable for people who have even slightly irregular periods.

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Reproduction And Your Period

It is easier to conceive if your periods are regular. If you have irregular periods, contact your OB-Gyn to have the cause discovered and begin appropriate treatments. Even if you dont have normal periods, you will need to use birth control if you dont want to conceive. Over-the-counter prediction kits for ovulation can help you chart your fertile days more readily.

We look forward to talking with you about periods, ovulation and all of your womens healthcare issues. Contact us today to make an appointment with one of our physicians.

What If I Have Irregular Periods

If you have irregular periods, meaning that your periods are outside of the 2135-day window or if your cycle intervals vary by more than seven days each month , you should speak with your Gyn/OB or a fertility specialist. This irregularity may be due to a hormone imbalance and could make it more challenging to get pregnant using natural family planning methods.

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What Is The Best Way To Determine When Youre Most Fertile

Being aware of your menstrual cycle and the changes in your body that happen during this time can help you know when you are most likely to get pregnant.

The average menstrual cycle lasts 28 days. But normal cycles can vary from 21 to 35 days. The amount of time before ovulation occurs is different in every woman and even can be different from month to month in the same woman, varying from 13 to 20 days long. Learning about this part of the cycle is important because it is when ovulation and pregnancy can occur. After ovulation, every woman will have a period within 14 to 16 days.

Knowing when youre most fertile will help you plan or prevent pregnancy. There are three ways you can keep track of your fertile times:

Socan I Get Pregnant While On My Period

It is exceedingly unlikely to get pregnant while on your period. If your vaginal bleeding is a true period, then this is an indicator that you are having regular ovulatory cycles and can be your most valuable insight into your fertility cycle. If you are having really long cycles or irregular bleeding, the chances of becoming pregnant can change because it is less clear where you are in the cycle.

It can be difficult to figure out your fertility cycle, but your provider is there to help you, Harper said. Whether you want to be pregnant or not, you should try to understand your cycle. Once you do, then you can make better-educated decisions about your sexual health.

Media contact: Dee Dee Grays, , 979.436.0611

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Tracking Ovulation To Find Your Fertile Window

There are many methods of tracking and predicting ovulation so you can try to figure out when you are most fertile. An ovulation day calculator may provide an estimate, but isn’t always the most accurate method, especially if you have irregular periods.

Some ways to try to pinpoint your ovulation period at home include over-the-counter ovulation predictor kits, body basal temperature charting, and checking for fertile cervical mucus.

Ovulation predictor kits, when used correctly, increase your chance of getting pregnant by 40%, according to a review of research data. Each kit comes with five or so test strips or sticks, and manufacturers typically recommend you test your urine for several days leading up to your suspected ovulation day. This makes this method can potentially costly, especially if you have somewhat irregular periods and you have to test for many days on end.

Among no-cost home ovulation-tracking methods, checking the texture of your cervical mucus may work best. According to research, people who had sex when they had slippery, egg-white-like cervical mucus were two to three times more likely to conceive than those who had scant or absent mucus secretions .

When To See A Fertility Doctor

If youre having intercourse twice a week for a year and you arent getting pregnant, its unlikely that timing is to blame. Something else could be at play and you should see your doctor to tackle the challenge together. If you are 35 or older, see a fertility specialist after 6 months of trying to get pregnant.

You should also seek care if you know you have polycystic ovary syndrome or irregular periods. For example, if youve been taking birth control for years and dont get your period within three months after you stop taking it, make an appointment. Otherwise, you could waste time collecting data with an ovulation kit and be nowhere closer to conceiving.

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Hyperprolactinemia Or Excess Prolactin

Normally, prolactin levels are higher during pregnancy breast development. Otherwise, high levels can disrupt your menstrual cycle because of reduced estrogen production and may cause infertility. Hyperprolactinemia happens because of different health concerns, like hypothyroidism, and it results in an inconsistent and irregular period. In other cases, however, it delays ovulation, which causes an absence of period.

Do You Ovulate From One Ovary Every Month

No. The ovulation process occurs randomly in the ovaries. It does not follow a specific pattern.

There are many follicles in the ovary and only one of them will reach the final stage of maturation. This follicle is called the dominant follicle and it will generate some substances that block the development of the others. All this happens in the ovarian tissue, regardless of whether it is in the right or left ovary.

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What Are The Chances I Can Get Pregnant On My Period

The chances of getting pregnant if you have sex during your period are very low. However, if youve had unprotected sex, it is still possible to get pregnant during your period.

To understand how this can happen, you need to know how your menstrual cycle works.

• Your cycle starts on the first day of your period and lasts until the first day of your next period.
• About 10 to 16 days before the start of your next period, you will ovulate, which is when one of your ovaries releases an egg.
• Once youve ovulated, you enter the Luteal phase, when the now empty follicle develops the corpus luteum, which produces the hormone progesterone.
• The lining on your uterus thickens in preparation for a fertilized egg to implant.
• If you have not conceived, then the egg passes into the uterus, hormone levels drop, and the womb lining sheds as you begin your next period.

You are at your most fertile around the time you ovulate. Although the egg lives only for 12 to 24 hours after being released, you can get pregnant even if you have sex days before you ovulate as sperm can live up to five days in your body.

So how likely are you to get pregnant during your period? Well, it depends on a few factors like:

• whether you used contraception or not
• the length of your menstrual cycle
• the length of your period
• when you had sex

You can also conceive after having sex during your period if you have short menstrual cycles, as this means you ovulate a few days earlier, and closer to the end of your period.

What About Right Before Your Period

The likelihood of getting pregnant right before your period is extremely low. For women with a typical 28- to 30-day cycle or longer and their cycles are regular, it is fairly safe to say your ovulation occurred between Day 11 and Day 21. The egg is only available for 12 to 24 hours for conception.

This means the days right before your period are the safest to have sex without the expectation of getting pregnant. The number of safe days right before your period go up with longer cycles and lessen with shorter cycles.

If you wait 36 to 48 hours after ovulation, you should be beyond the possibilities of conception. The further you are from ovulation, the less likely your chance for conceiving. This is not the time to have sex if you are trying to conceive. Its still a good time to enjoy intimacy with your partner.

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How Many Days After Period Is Safe

There is no absolutely “safe” time of the month when a woman can have sex without contraception and not risk becoming pregnant. However, there are times in the menstrual cycle when women may be most fertile and are most likely to conceive. The fertile days may last for up to 3-5 days after the end of your period.

Ovulation And The Fertile Window For Beginners

If we were to look at the perfect menstrual cycle, it would be 28 days. The first day would be the day your period starts and the last day would be the day before your next period starts.

Your cycle has two phases: the follicular phase and the luteal phase.

During the follicular phase you have a period and you ovulate around day 14 .

After ovulation, you start the luteal phase, which is essentially when your body preps your cells and hormones for the next round.

Ovulation only lasts a whopping 12 to 24 hours, but sperm can survive for an estimated 5 days, meaning you have about a 6-day window to get pregnant .

This window includes the 12 to 24 hours of ovulation and the days sperm can live in the female reproductive tract. You are most fertile typically around 10 days to 2 weeks before your period, but there can be a lot of guesswork to figure out this window because it is not a one-size-fits-all approach.

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How To Reduce The Chances Of Getting Pregnant

If youre not trying to conceive, there are a lot of ways to reduce your chances. Birth control comes in many forms. Heres a quick breakdown:

• Hormonal options:
• Birth control pills: Either combination pills or progestin only
• Birth control shot: Given every three months
• Hormone patch: Changed once a week
• Implant: Inserted under the skin of the arm, provides protection for up to four years
• Hormone vaginal ring: Changed once a month/every three weeks

• Barrier options:
• Condoms: male or female
• Spermicide: Can be a gel, foam, or other substance made for killing sperm before they can reach an egg

• Intrauterine options:
• Copper IUD: A device inserted into the uterus that can last up to 12 years
• Hormonal IUD: A device inserted into the uterus that can last up to six years

• Permanent options:
• Tubal ligation: This is a medical procedure that blocks the fallopian tubes so that no eggs can be fertilized

Can You Have A Period And Still Be Pregnant

No once pregnancy begins, the uterine lining no longer sheds each month. Once the body starts releasing a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, monthly periods will stop. However, some people experience light bleeding after conception, around the same time their period would have started. This is called implantation bleeding.

If youre pregnant and experience bleeding or spotting, contact your health care provider.

Pregnancy can occur even if youre on your period. To avoid pregnancy, it is important to use contraception.

Birth control methods that can prevent pregnancy on your period include:

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