Monday Q&A video 5. Your Fertile Window

Tracking your Cycle To Predict Your Fertile Window

The importance of tracking your cycle and how to know your fertility window using different methods

Hi, I’m Sonia and I’m a fertility coach with Fertilligence.

And today is Q&A Mondays!

In these series, I am answering YOUR questions about all things fertility — everything from lifestyle hacks to boost fertility to handling things when pregnancy DOESN’T happen so fast.

If you have questions, be sure to post your questions in the comments below, and I’ll answer as many as I can in future videos.

So, onto today’s question: ​How can I track my cycle to predict my Fertile Window?

So, as a reminder, last week we learned about the Fertile Window and why it’s key to have intercourse during that 6 day window.​​ We also talked about the female cycle and how and when ovulation happens. Feel free to check last week’s video if you have questions on that.

Understanding your cycle, knowing when ovulation is likely to occur, and having intercourse regularly within the fertile window can improve the odds of getting pregnant. In an average 28-day menstrual cycle, ovulation typically occurs about 14 days before the start of the next period. But cycle length and ovulation varies from person to person, and even cycle to cycle. In fact, only 13 % ​o​f women have a 28-day cycle!

So it is important to track your cycle so that you can best understand your patterns and predict your fertile window going forward.

So, today we will talk about how to predict this Fertile Window, and we will look at the top 3 methods:

Here are the most popular methods to know your fertility window:

• The 1​ classic method is LH tests, also known as Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPK). Luteinizing hormone triggers ovulation, so these tests can help you identify when the LH surge happens. Once you see a positive ovulation test, you can predict ovulation will happen soon (between 16 and 48 hours), so it’s “go time”! This is useful as it tells you when you’re about to ovulate. The problem of this method is that you miss st the 1​ days of your fertile window, where you’re getting close to ovulation and you’re already fertile, but still have negative LH tests.
• The 2​ method is tracking your Cervical mucus. Cervical fluid (or cervical mucus) is one major component of vaginal discharge. It is produced by the cells of your cervix, and it changes throughout your cycle from dry to wet, creamy to eggy, stretchy to sticky. Cervical mucus during the first few days after your menstrual cycle will be dry. Your cervical mucus will begin to increase. A few days before ovulation, cervical mucus will chance in consistency and pH to help sperm travel up the vagina. It will become clear and slippery: resembling egg white. Just after ovulation, cervical mucus decreases and becomes thicker, cloudy and less noticeable. By observing changes in your cervical mucus, you can predict your fertile window has started. If you have unusually long or short menstrual cycles of less than 21 days or more than 42 days, monitoring your cervical mucus is your best bet for identifying your fertile window.
• And the 3​ method is tracking your Basal body temperature (BBT). This is your temperature at rest. Your body temperature dips a bit just before ovulation. Then, 24 hours after the egg’s release, increased levels of progesterone cause BBT to rise sharply and remain elevated for several days (either until your next period begins or a few days before, depending on women). Before ovulation, a woman’s BBT averages between 97°F (36.1°C) and 97.5°F (36.4°C). After ovulation, it rises to a range between 97.6°F (36.4°C) and 98.6°F (37°C). ). If you’re pregnant, the temperature will stay high through your pregnancy… and if you’re not, your temperature will drop and your cycle will start again.

  You can track your cycle by taking your BBT every morning. Take your temperature at the same time every day before getting out of bed. Next, record the results on a chart. If you have a somewhat regular cycle, the chart will help you predict when you will ovulate next.
  
  This method allows you to track your cycle and understand your patterns for future cycles: but it has the downside that at the moment you see a surge in temperature, the fertile window might have ended. Since you are only fertile before or up to 24 hours after ovulation, once the BBT method has confirmed ovulation, it’s generally too late to get pregnant that cycle.

So, I would encourage you to start trying these 3 methods and start learning about your body’s patterns. These methods are complementary to each other, as they give you different pieces of information: the Cervical Mucus tells you when the fertile window is starting, the ovulation predictor kits tell you when ovulation is about to happen and the basal body temperature tracking tells you when it has already happened. So you can start tracking and playing with them, in order to time intercourse if you want to.

If you have specific conditions or need help tracking your cycle, feel free to reach out to me via the Fertilligence app. You can ask me questions through Messenger or, even better, book a 1 on 1 session with me where we can take a deep dive into your specific case to ensure you’re clear about how to predict your fertile window.

So this is my answer to today’s question. Now I’d love to hear back from you ladies: how do you track your cycle and predict your fertile window? What methods work best for you? Please share so we can all learn from each other!

I’ll see you next Monday! Remember: write your questions in the comments below and I’ll answer as many as I can.

Have a wonderful week, bye