How do I know if I’m ovulating?

What is ovulation?

Every woman is born with millions of immature eggs that wait to be released, normally one at a time, every month. Ovulation is the phase in your menstrual cycle when a mature egg is released from an ovary.

A surge in luteinizing hormone (LH) triggers the release of an egg during ovulation which travels down the fallopian tube, where it may meet up with a sperm and become fertilized.

In a 28 day cycle ovulation occurs 11-16 days after the first day of your period.

Am I ovulating?

Before and during ovulation, hormonal shifts can affect the entire body, prompting ovulation symptoms which can give us some clues.

We don’t always ovulate month to month, and some factors can affect our ability to ovulate.

If you’re trying to conceive, it can be really useful to track these signs and symptoms to give us an indication if - and importantly when - you’re ovulating.

Cervical Mucus Changes

Your mucus changes throughout your cycle. Following your period it acts as a barrier to the entry of your cervix but as you approach ovulation it changes to help the sperm on its journey.

As your body produces more estrogen, it causes the cervical mucus to become more wet, slippery, stretchy and often appears clear (like raw egg white).

This slippery, fertile mucus will usually appear 2-4 days prior to ovulation to help sperm released at this time travel to the egg. When you notice this change, this marks the beginning of your fertile phase.

Image via Ellechemy

Other signs might include

— A heightened sense of smell

This may be because, in this fertile phase, your body is primed to be more attracted to the male pheromone androstenone.

— Breast soreness or tenderness

Due to the rush of hormones entering your body right before and after ovulation.

— Mild pelvic or lower abdominal pain

Typically as a mild ache or pain in the lower abdomen, usually on one side or the other, ovulation pain can feel like a sharp or dull cramp on the side of your abdomen where the ovary is releasing the egg.

— Libido changes

Some women notice that their sex drive increases during ovulation, which might be Mother Nature’s way of encouraging procreation.

Basal Body Temperature

Sometimes referred to as BBT, your Basal Body Temperature is the temperature of your body at rest.

At the beginning of your cycle, basal body temperature remains fairly consistent and averages between 35.5 to 36.6 C.

As you get closer to ovulation, you’ll experience a slight dip in basal body temperature followed by a sharp increase, typically resting at about 36.1 to 37.2 C after ovulation.

After tracking your basal body temperature for a few months, you’ll begin to more readily notice the patterns and identify notable changes.

• Why chart your BBT

  A BBT needs to be taken first thing in the morning daily, for a whole month.

  This chart will help show us if you have ovulated after the fact, so it’s useful to chart a few of cycles so we can start to build a picture of your patterns and what your body is doing naturally.

  Once we have this information we can start to make changes (if necessary) and best predict your fertile window.

• How to chart your BBT

  Start charting from day 1 of your cycle, the first day or your period.

  You will need a digital thermometer from the chemist, and an app to chart your basal body temperature.

  My favourite app is the Fertility Friend App because it's free, it's really simple and doesn’t have all the stuff we don’t need.

  It is important to take your temperature each morning before you do anything, (bathroom, drink, sit up etc). To be an accurate recording you need to have had at least three hours sleep.

  1. Take your temperature by placing the thermometer under your tongue at the back of your mouth until the temperature is collected.

  2. Log your temperature on the app. You can also add any other symptoms, and whether you have been drinking alcohol, have a cold or are unwell as this will effect your temperature.

  3. It is important to do this everyday and roughly at the same time. This starts to build a graph that we can interpret at the end of your cycle, the first day or your period.

• Reading your chart

  You can start taking your temperature at any time of the month, but it is usually best to gather 2-3 cycles worth of data in order to get a true sense of what is going on. 
  
  There are some online resources or a TCM practitioner can help you interpret your chats.

  I love to chart with my clients, and together we can break down what the stages of your cycle mean and find information in them that hint at our overall health throughout our cycle.

Hormone tests

Ovulation kits

Ovulation testing kits from the chemist, measure your levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), which can be detected in your urine. The trick to success is knowing when to start using these kits. If your cycle is regular, the charting you’ve been doing can help you identify that optimum window.

If your cycles are irregular, your better bet is to pay attention to ovulation symptoms.

Blood tests

A progesterone blood test (often called a day-21 progesterone test) checks your progesterone levels at a particular time in your cycle. By measuring your progesterone levels when they're expected to peak (7 days before your period), it can tell you if you've ovulated or not.

Now what

Getting to know of whether you’re ovulating — and importantly when — gives us valuable information around our fertility and gives us a good indication of your body’s overall state of health and wellbeing.

Each month is an opportunity to gather data and get a better understanding of yourself.

Together we can work with this information to make informed choices and advocate for the next steps when trying to conceive.