How Your Body Tells You When to Conceive

Trying to conceive can be exciting, anxiety inducing or carry a heavy emotional weight, especially if you’ve been trying for some time. Knowing how and when to listen to your body can help with ovulation and fertility. In this article we will break down some of the science of conceiving, and what this means practically. We will also touch upon what this means you have to look out for within your own body, to know when is the best time to try and conceive.

Ovulation is when your ovaries release an egg. Once an egg is released it lives for somewhere between twelve and twenty-four hours. For pregnancy to occur, a sperm must fertilise an egg within this time period. This does not mean that sex has to occur within this very short time period for successful conception, as sperm cells can live for up to seven days within a body. Therefore, for a better chance of success, regular sex every two or three days over the month is recommended by most doctors.

This being said, you are most likely to get pregnant within this ‘fertile window’ leading up to when you ovulate. This means learning when you ovulate can help with the process of conceiving. This is where listening to your body is important, as there are number of indicators that can help you to know when you are ovulating:

• Menstrual cycle: Ovulation occurs somewhere between ten to sixteen days before your period starts. Therefore, if you have a regular menstrual cycle, it can become easier to work out a timeframe when ovulation is occurring.
• Cervical mucus: This will become wetter, clearer and slippery during ovulation. Sometimes to an extent that you can visibly notice this happening.
• Body temperature: This rises during ovulation, it can be so small that it might not be noticeable, but for some this increase can be detected by using an accurate body thermometer
• Ovulation predictor kits: These are kits that detect certain types of hormones in your urine that are released during ovulation.

It is important to take note that none of these methods are a guarantee of ovulation occurring. It is recommended that, if you are trying to conceive, then it is worthwhile employing a combination, if not all, of these methods during the process. This still won’t be a guarantee that you can detect ovulation, but will increase your confidence in your prediction that ovulation is occurring.