Kits for predicting ovulation have become very popular with women trying to conceive, as they seem to offer some certainty and reassurance that ovulation has occurred. They work by measuring the surge of hormones that triggers ovulation using a simple urine test. In theory, this allows you to time your most fertile moment, just before ovulation, and make sure you always have intercourse when you are at the peak of your fertility.
However, there are a number of problems with this. The surge in hormones is what sets ovulation off, and it is quite possible to have a surge without actually releasing an egg, so the kits can give a false sense of security. We have seen that there is a fairly short window of opportunity for an egg to be fertilized once you have ovulated, which means you will be most likely to conceive if you have intercourse a couple of days before ovulation, and before a test would show positive.
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The other problem is that ovulation prediction kits are most commonly used by women who don't have regular cycles and who want to find out when they are ovulating. The tests usually contain enough test sticks for five days, which may not be sufficient for women who have irregular periods. You may end up needing a number of kits to get it right, and this can become an expensive business. So, the kits are least likely to be a real help to the women most likely to use them.
Temperature charts
Compiling temperature charts used to be one of the main ways to check whether a woman was ovulating, as it was discovered that progesterone, which is produced during the second half of the cycle, causes your body temperature to rise. For many years, keeping a temperature chart was suggested to any woman trying unsuccessfully to have a child. The idea is that you take your temperature as soon as you wake up every morning, and plot it out on a chart.
The chart should show a rise at ovulation, when progesterone makes your temperature increase, and it should then remain slightly higher for the rest of the cycle until your period starts, when it will drop. You can buy special extra-sensitive thermometers and ovulation charts to help you monitor this, but there are many other reasons for your temperature to fluctuate, and current medical opinion does not recommend keeping temperature charts, as it is no longer believed they can predict ovulation reliably.
Cervical mucus
It is probably not something you are used to discussing, but your cervical mucus can be a useful indicator of when you are at your most fertile. This method of checking ovulation is sometimes called the Billings method, named after John and Evelyn Billings, the two doctors who developed it.
If you stop to think about it, you will probably be aware that sometimes you have a fairly thick, white cervical mucus, whereas at other times it is watery and transparent. This is due to changing hormone levels in your body. If you watch out for changes, you should find that there are a few days in the middle of your cycle when the mucus looks almost like egg white and there is much more of it. This is sperm-friendly fertile mucus. It allows the sperm to swim freely, and indicates that you are about to ovulate. Immediately after ovulation the mucus becomes thick and dry again, acting as a barrier.
Some women find it relatively easy to judge their most fertile time by a quick mucus check, indeed they may be aware of it anyway, but not everyone feels comfortable with this. Apparently, the best way to test it is by inserting a finger into your vagina and circling it about to collect some mucus to inspect, but the faint-hearted may prefer to use a piece of loo paper to wipe the entrance to the vagina and then examine that. If you're really interested, you can start a fertility chart and plot your mucus changes. For the technically minded, there is even computer software that allows you to tap in your daily temperature, cycle length and mucus condition to work out a detailed cycle analysis.
You can also feel your cervix itself, assuming you know exactly where to feel. It is at the top of your vagina, and should feel firm, low and closed for most of the month. At ovulation, it should feel open, raised and soft. You may need a bit of practice with this one, though.
The right time
Of course, it is vital that you're having intercourse around the time of ovulation, but if you have a rough idea of when that might be, and make sure you have sex every two or three days around that time, you are going to be hitting your most fertile period. Some couples get very concerned about timing intercourse, but all the evidence suggests that this can just make you stressed and have a negative effect on your sex life. In general, more sex means you are more likely to get pregnant, and making sure you are getting enough around the time you think you are most fertile is better than trying to pinpoint specific days. To find out more, you can check out Sign Of Infertility.
