Calculating the fertile days of your menstrual cycle is helpful, whether you want to get pregnant or want to avoid getting pregnant. However, pinpointing them with complete certainty is not that easy. It is always an approximation.
The ovulation calendar, tests to measure hormone levels, equipment to measure the temperature or the composition of the mucus of the cervix are inaccurate to calculate the fertile days of each woman.
To get pregnant you need to know what your fertility days are. To avoid pregnancy, anyway. However, determining that fertile period with 100% accuracy is not possible. Calculating the fertile days is always an approximation.
How to calculate the fertile days?
The menstrual cycle is the interval of time between two periods. The first day of menstruation is the beginning of a new cycle. Each woman has an individual cycle, which can vary from month to month.
Also, the cycle length often changes throughout life. Your cycle could have been 26 days at age 18, and ten years later it can vary and last more days or perhaps less. It will also change after pregnancies.
Having irregular menstrual cycles should not be a cause for concern. They are considered normal. It will only merit that you be more attentive if you want to get pregnant, or that you worry if there is an amenorrhea (absence of menstruation), without a pregnancy having occurred.
When does ovulation occur?
In a 28-day cycle, the regular one, ovulation occurs on day 14 of the cycle, approximately. This means that the fertile days in a regular menstrual cycle will be more or less between the 8th and 15th of the month. Thus, the fertile days are about 6 days, five days before ovulation and the day of ovulation itself.
The egg can survive 12 to 18 hours after being released, then dies, marking the end of the fertile days for women with a regular menstrual cycle. However, not all women have a regular cycle with the same length of days, month to month.
How to calculate the fertile days if you have irregular cycles?
Specifying the fertile period in women with irregular cycles is difficult. Estimates can fail both to get pregnant and to avoid getting pregnant. If your period falls on different days of the cycle, it’s easy to make mistakes keeping track of the days.
However, if you want to calculate the fertile days in an irregular menstrual cycle with your calendar, this is what you should do. First, you should write down the length of each menstrual cycle for 6 months to a year. One month lasts 22, another 27, another 31 and so on. After having those annotations, you have to apply a formula.
The shortest cycle takes 18 days, and the longest menstrual cycle takes 11 days. For example: if the shortest cycle was 22 days and the longest cycle was 31 days, then: 22-18 = 4 and 31-11 = 20, that is, your fertile period will be between days 4 and 20 of the cycle. About 17 days, imprecise and very extended, in which you must schedule your sexual encounters if you want to procreate.
When you have an irregular cycle, the safest thing to do is to use the ovulation tests that are sold in pharmacies and follow the instructions strictly. It is the best way to determine the days of fertility, whether you want to prevent or promote pregnancy.
Is knowing the fertile days useful for something else?
Yes. Knowing what your fertile days are has another use. If in addition to getting pregnant, you already dream that it will be a boy or a girl, knowing your fertile days can help you. If you want a girl, you must have sex between 5 and 3 days before ovulation. The more resistant X sperm will wait for the egg to arrive.
On the other hand, if you prefer to have a child, the sexual encounter has to be 24 hours before or on the day of ovulation. The Y sperm, responsible for giving the baby the male character, are faster on their journey to the egg but weaker. Therefore, your relationships have to be the exact day of your ovulation.
What symptoms indicate that you are in the fertile days?
To pinpoint the days of fertility, you must recognize the signals your body sends. Among the symptoms that indicate that ovulation is approaching are:
- You will notice an increase in fluid in the vagina, much like the white of an egg. The release of the hormone estradiol produces more vaginal fluid than usual. This is the natural lubrication mechanism of the vaginal canal.
- Pimples are the most detestable sign for all, but they effectively indicate that we are ovulating. In this phase, the skin becomes oilier, even after adolescence.
- There is a slight increase in your body temperature, which coincides with the release of the eggs from the follicles. Progesterone is responsible for this increase in body temperature by 0.3 to 0.8 º C.
- Increases sexual libido. This is due to increased hormonal levels. You feel more attractive and with greater sexual desire. Your body becomes your accomplice!
- There is an increased appetite during the ovulation phase. The woman’s body prepares for a possible pregnancy.
- It is possible to feel a slight pain in the lower part of the belly, cramping pains that come and go. It is an indication that you are ovulating.
- The worst and most obvious: the change of mood. Irritability and emotional instability are present.
Final thoughts
Knowing our body is very effective to enjoy sexuality, whether you want to get pregnant or prefer to postpone it for later. Remember to make an annual visit to your gynecologist to verify that everything is in order with your menstrual cycle and with the health of your reproductive system.
Leading a healthy and balanced life is essential to strengthen fertility. Avoid stress, relax and enjoy the encounters with your partner while you decide when it is time to start the most wonderful of searches.
