Ovulation Cycle

Monitoring your ovulation cycle in order to determine your most fertile days is the easiest way to remain pregnant. But even if you don't manage to get fertilized exactly when you estimate you will, trying to conceive is surely worth it.

The ovulation cycle is the process during which the ovule is eliminated from the ovary and passes through the fallopian tube in order to reach the uterus. This process starts, in most women, about 14 days after the beginning of the menstrual cycle. In other words, two weeks after your first menstrual discharge occurs you're entering your most fertile period.

Typically, the ovulation process is divided into two main phases. The first one starts in the first day of the LMP (last menstrual period) and continues right until ovulation occurs. This first stage is called the follicular phase and may have a different length from one women to another, varying between 7 and 40 days.

The second stage of the ovulation cycle is called the luteal phase and unlike the first one, the second one is more regular and has a normal length of 12 to 16 days. However, some medical conditions, as well as stress and intense physical activity may change the lengths of both these phases, delaying the beginning of the next menstrual discharge.

As you already know, during the ovulation period your chances to conceive are highest but what you may not know is that the released egg only lives between 12 and 48 hours, so you really need to synchronize with your partner if you want to have a baby. But being given that the fertile period starts about 4-5 days before the actual ovulation, you have plenty of time to get fertilized.

In some women, ovulation is accompanied by light blood spots and mild pain in the right or left side of the lower abdomen. Also, a rise in the body temperature is normal during ovulation, as well as some changes in the color and consistency of the cervical mucus. At the same time, you may experience an increased sexual desire and breast tenderness during your most fertile days.

Now that you're more familiar with what the ovulation cycle is and what are the signs that accompany this period, let's see what other changes take place inside your body before and after the ovule is released. The ovulation is triggered by the production and release of a hormone called Luteinizing Hormone (LH), whose levels increase 1-2 days before ovulation and who is involved in the formation of corpus luteum in pregnant women.

Once the egg is released, it starts traveling down through the fallopian tube, heading towards the uterus. 48 hours later, unless fertilization takes place, the egg starts disintegrating and it will be eliminated together with the uterus lining during your next menstrual cycle. When this happens, another ovulation cycle starts and the process repeats each and every month, preparing the woman's body for conceiving.

If fertilization takes place, the ovule is implanted into the uterus walls and will develop continuously for nine months. During this period, the pregnant woman won't experience another menstrual discharge as the ovaries stop producing ovules until the baby is born.