FERTILITY
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Understanding Your Fertility
By Nikki Davies
Do I Ovulate?
Understanding your own body and when you are ovulating or fertile is something that every woman should know. This knowledge allows you to enhance your opportunity to fall pregnant, or conversely, control your risk of unwanted pregnancy.
There are only certain times during your cycle when you are fertile and can get pregnant. So if you are trying to fall pregnant knowing these times is extremely important. Your body gives very clear signals when your fertile time is approaching and when it is happening.
A woman is fertile when she is ovulating and for a few days beforehand when fertile cervical mucus is present. Ovulation usually occurs mid cycle. You ovulate 14 days before the start of your period. If all women’s’ bodies were on a 28 day cycle this would mean ovulation occurred on Day 14 of the cycle (Day 1 being the first day of your period). But menstrual cycles range from 21 – 35 days right through to having periods only a couple of times a year and so Day 14 may not work for some women.
Ovulation can be delayed by many factors such as illness, stress and alcohol, as well as some forms of medication, which is why simply counting the days can be inaccurate. Ovulation can also be affected or interrupted over a period of time due to issues such as severe weight loss.
You will find your success in monitoring your fertility will be far greater when you become adept at recognising your own personal fertility signs rather than just counting the days.
Ovulation can also spontaneously occur during your natal lunar phase. Your natal lunar (moon) phase fertile time can occur at any time during your menstrual cycle, including before, during and after your period. Your natal lunar fertile time is individual to you and is tied to which phase the moon was in at your birth.
When Am I Fertile?
The body’s indicator of fertility is cervical mucus. Observing cervical mucus is very simple. You only need to check the mucus that is easily observed from the vagina. Touch the mouth of the vagina (no need to touch inside), or alternatively wipe the vaginal mouth with a tissue and feel mucus from that. If you are dry to the touch there is no mucus present and you are currently not fertile. If you are wet or slippery to the touch you are in your fertile zone.
The changes from dry to wet indicate that your fertile phase is coming. If you are avoiding pregnancy it’s time for either abstinence or a reliable contraceptive. The desire for sex increases with fertility so it is wise to use contraception. Any presence of wet, (or whatever your experience of fertile mucus) fertile mucus is an indication of possible fertility and coming ovulation. And on the other side of the cycle, changes from wet to dry indicate fertility is lessening.
Sperm can live for up to 3 days in fertile mucus. Therefore it is vital there is no unprotected sex, when fertile mucus is present, if you do not want to get pregnant. If you have had intercourse in the lead-up to ovulation when fertile mucus is present, the sperm can stay alive long enough for you to get pregnant. So knowing when your fertile time is coming is vital.
Factors like illness, intercourse (sperm in the vagina) and infection can all affect mucus observation, which is why tracking your body’s changes over many cycles will enable you to correctly identify your personal cycle.
When considering your cycle, or needing contraception, there is the Rhythm Method. This method of gauging fertility is not very reliable, as ovulation does not always happen on Day 14 or 15. If you are only counting days and not observing mucus, you run
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