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Reasons to use ovulation tests

Ovulation tests offer, without a doubt, a faster way to conception. There are plenty of other methods that accomplish the same thing — finding out when you are fertile — but none are both as reliable and easy to use as ovulation tests. Ovulation tests make the process of trying for a baby more effective, so that more couples can get pregnant soon after they decide to go for it.

Ovulation tests are especially wonderful for couples who have been trying to conceive for quite a while, without success. These tests, which react to luteneizing hormone, may alarm a woman that she is not ovulating, or ovulating at a point in her cycle that would make pregnancy impossible. Did you know that ovulation very late in the cycle means there is not enough time for a fertilized egg to implant successfully? In other words, ovulation tests may let people with fertility problems know about it, so they can seek help.

Why wouldn’t you use ovulation tests?

Some couples find that they become a slave to the ovulation tests, and that sexual intercourse becomes a chore. You, too, might prefer the excitement of just letting nature do its thing, and the knowledge that no high-tech tools were used in the conception of your baby. If you think that ovulation tests take the romance out, don’t use them. Normally, just being intimate when you both feel like it will get you pregnant. The fertile window is a little longer than many realize; sperm can survive for up to five days within the uterus and fallopian tubes.

For those who do want to know when they ovulate, but who don’t want to use ovulation tests for whatever reason (including that they are not exactly cheap), there are other options. An ovulation calendar, like the one on our site, doesn’t require you to spend money or much time. And it’s generally quite accurate. Those who want reliable results through a natural routine might like monitoring cervical mucus or watching out for ovulation pain and tender breasts in the middle of the month.

At Trying To Conceive, we have blogged extensively about ovulation, how to recognize it, using an ovulation calendar and ovulation predictor kits. We believe that knowing when you ovulate is the key to getting pregnant more quickly – although just having regular intercourse without knowing when your most fertile days are will probably also lead to pregnancy, just a little less soon. Because of the many earlier articles we have written about ovulation, this is not another post about ovulation tests.

I want to use this opportunity to point out that different women can ovulate at vastly different cycle days. It is true that most women ovulate somewhere between cycle days 10 and 14, roughly halfway through their cycle, but some don’t. Assuming that cycle day 14 is the time to get pregnant and focusing all your efforts on this time may be doing your chances some harm.

There are women who ovulate while their menstruation barely finished, on day five or six of their cycle. There are also women who ovulate just before their cycle comes to an end. The former is no problem for women who are trying to get pregnant, as long as they are aware. The latter can mean their luteal phase is too short to facilitate implantation of a fertilized egg, meaning it might get flushed out with menstruation. This is called a Luteal Phase Defect or LPD, and often needs to be resolved with medication.

Let’s examine what the average woman’s cycle looks like first, to be able to understand why some women may in fact get pregnant during their menstruation. The average menstrual cycle lasts somewhere from 28 to 31 days, from the start of one period to the start of the next. Ovulation, the release of an egg and the woman’s most fertile period, typically occurs somewhere in the middle of the cycle, at day 14 or so.

But it is important to understand that every woman’s cycles are different. Some women have long cycles, others have short cycles, and others again have irregular cycles that are unpredictable. What kind of cycle could cause you to become pregnant while you are still experiencing menstrual flow? One that is unusually short, with ovulation occurring just after the menstruation ends. Keep in mind that sperm can survive for up to five days in a woman’s body, and it becomes clear that it might very well be possible for some women to conceive during their period.

Having said that, we have to add two warnings. First of all, having intercourse during your period is not your best bet at getting pregnant, and if you are trying to conceive it is helpful to get to know your cycle and make sure you know when you ovulate. You can do this with the help of an ovulation calendar, or by charting to conceive. Secondly, if you do not want to get pregnant, use a reliable contraception method, such as the birth control pill or condom to decrease your chances of conceiving. And remember, no birth control method is a 100 percent effective, except for being celibate. That will do the trick every time .

The problem with timing intercourse for conception is that not every woman ovulates at the exact midpoint of her menstrual period, and not every menstrual period is 28 days long. If the period is 28 days long, then conception is mostly likely when intercourse is consummated on days 11 to 16, just before the egg is released, to about two days after. Some women, however, ovulate a day or two later in their periods. And it’s not unheard of for women to have menstrual cycles as short as 20 days or as long as 42 days.

If the male partner has an unusually high sperm count, timing ovulation is not quite as important. But if there is any problem with the sperm count, then intercourse needs to timed for maximum chances of conception. An online ovulation calendar, such as you can find on this site, is useful if you know the length of period, length of the luteal phase, and date of last menstruation–and periods are regular.

Otherwise, it may be better to chart basal body temperature and cervical mucus to estimate the date of ovulation. If you just don’t want to inspect cervical mucus, it’s possible to estimate the date of ovulation by increase in body temperature–but the method won’t work unless the temperature is taken at the same time of day and after rest, preferably first thing in the morning. Even then, the method is only about 85% accurate.

A much more accurate approach to timing conception is a fertility monitor, using test strips to measure increases and peaks in the hormones associated with ovulation. Even these methods, however, have to be used consistently, the same way, every day, starting early enough in the period to observe ovulation and late enough to avoid using too many expensive test strips.

Whichever methods you use  to time intercourse for conception, however, there is one right time for couples over 35 to get pregnant: Now. Never use any method for assisting conception for more than six months without consulting a physician to see if there isn’t a better way to achieve success while trying to conceive.

Conception is always a matter of good timing. Women are only fertile for about five days out of every menstrual cycle, usually from days 11 to 16 for women who have a 28-day period, although ovulation may occur a little earlier or a little later in the menstrual period for some women, and it’s not unusual for a woman to have a period that is longer or shorter than 28 days.

The most effective way to ensure having intercourse when the female partner is at her monthly peak of fertility is to use a home monitoring system, such as the ClearBlue Home Fertility Monitor. Clearblue uses measurements of two hormones, estrogen and luteinizing hormone, to estimate ovulation, the woman’s monthly release of an egg or eggs than can be fertilized by the sperm.

Throughout the first half of the menstrual period, estrogen levels rise to stimulate growth of the uterus so it can receive a fertilized egg. Estrogen levels peak about two days before ovulation.

There is also a steady rise in concentrations of luteinizing hormone, the hormone that tells the ovaries that it is time to detach the egg from its follicle. The Clearblue Fertility Monitor measures levels of both hormones in a urine sample taken when the user first gets up. When estrogen levels have peaked and luteinizing hormone levels have also peaked, it is time to have sexual intercourse so that the ejaculated sperm has an egg to fertilize.

Men increase their chances of becoming fathers by avoiding ejaculation for one to four days before having intercourse intended to accomplish conception. The volume of semen increases, and there is a corresponding increase in sperm count. It is neither helpful nor necessary to abstain from ejaculation at any time during a woman’s menstrual cycle other than for up to four days before she ovulates.

Pregnancy is more likely to result when women abstain from alcohol. Drinking during the first half of the menstrual period does not interfere with ovulation, but it may interfere with implantation of the fertilized egg into the uterine wall. Since women cannot know whether they have become pregnant until it’s time for their next period, it’s also a good idea to abstain from alcohol during the second half of the period, for the health of the embryo.

No two women are the same. We might ovulate at roughly the same time during our cycles, but the exact timing still varies. It is the same with implantation, and the length of the luteal phase of our menstrual cycles. Most women experience implantation at around 10 weeks after their ovulation, but this is no reason to think you can take a pregnancy test after 10 days, and expect an accurate result. Peeing on a stick does no harm, in that there are no medical risks involved, but the odds of getting a false negative if you do a pregnancy test before your menstruation was due are extremely high.

There are very sensitive pregnancy tests on the market today, that claim to be able to provide accurate results within seven days after ovulation. These tests are able to detect even the tiniest amounts of hCG in your urine. If you are very curious, give them a try! But good things also come to those of us who wait, as they say. If you take a pregnancy test on the day after your period was expected, you are almost certainly going to have an accurate result.

One of the most frequent questions about implantation bleedings is what color it normally has. Women universally look for certain ways to differentiate the symptoms of an implantation bleeding to those of a menstrual period, an early miscarriage, or even an ovulation bleeding. The color of the light spotting that occurs when a fertilized egg starts nestling itself into your womb does provide some useful insights.

First of all, let’s discuss what an implantation bleeding should not look like. I will assume that every woman reading this knows what a period is like, though it is not the same for everyone of course. Mostly, menstruation starts with relatively heavy blood flow that increases in volume and then decreased until it stops. Periods can sometimes start with brown or dark red blood, but are mostly clear in color.

Early miscarriages start out with light bleeding, and then increase. Women who start to miscarry usually notice cramping and pain, in a labor-like pattern. The bleeding that signifies a miscarriage also involves passing clots and tissue, something that you will not see with an implantation bleeding.

Implantation bleedings can, sometimes, be accompanied by light cramping, but are mainly symptomless. The blood that is expelled from the uterus tends to be old blood, but it can be clear in color as well. Because the amount of blood that is released is so minimal, it is often mixed with cervical mucus. This can result in a pink color. Dark brown is also a common color for implantation bleedings, and this color means that the blood you see is old, and has dried.

The color alone is not enough to be sure that the spotting you are seeing is an implantation bleeding – all the other factors are equally important. Observing color, timing, amount, and other symptoms or lack thereof should enable you to make the right conclusion about what kind of bleeding applies to you.

Home pregnancy tests have become very reliable, and have improved a great deal in the last decade. If you have ever taken a pregnancy test, you are aware that they work by detecting the level of hCG, human chorionic gonadotropin, in your urine. Taking a pregnancy test involves peeing directly onto the pregnancy test, or alternatively urinating into a cup and then inserting the pregnancy test into the cup. Whatever is easier for you is best – both methods work equally well.

The hormone hCG will start being produced in the female body as soon as implantation has occurred, though hCG levels are very low at first, and will continue rising in the first few weeks of pregnancy. If you are one of those impatient women who just has to know whether they are pregnant or not, taking a pregnancy test right after implantation will give you a shot at getting an accurate answer. I would advise anyone to hold off until twelve days after ovulation to get the best chances that implantation might actually have taken place. Women who have noticed an implantation bleeding could already take a pregnancy test the day after the bleeding was observed.

As any home-pregnancy test manufacturer will tell you though, the best results are still achieved on the day after a missed period. That does not mean that you cannot take a pregnancy test earlier than that, but it does mean that a negative pregnancy test taken during the luteal phase of your cycle may not be accurate. But, if your pregnancy test does turn up positive, you are almost definitely pregnant!

For approximately half of a woman’s menstrual cycle after her period, the uterus is preparing itself for the implantation of a fertilized egg. The ovaries do not release the egg before the uterus is ready to receive it.

During the second half of a woman’s menstrual cycle, there is either the implantation of the fertilized egg, or the lining of the uterus will stop growing so it can be sloughed off at menstruation and the cycle starts again.  Women who have a 28-day menstrual cycle can only impregnated by intercourse on the eleventh to sixteenth days of their cycle. Sexual intercourse at other times during a woman’s menstrual cycle will not result in pregnancy.

Not every woman, of course, has a 28-day cycle. That’s why ovulation test kits can be so useful. The ClearBlue Fertility Monitor, for instance, is a method of testing female fertility at home. ClearBlue monitors use a urine sample to measure changes in two hormones, estrogen and luteinizing hormone. Estrogen builds up during the first half of the menstrual period to enable the growth of the lining of the uterus. A woman’s estrogen levels peak just before the release of the egg in ovulation.

Luteinizing hormone sends signals to the ovaries that enable the release of the egg. Luteinizing hormone levels peak a day or two after the peak of estrogen levels. The ClearBlue Fertility Monitor informs the user when estrogen and luteinizing hormones have peaked so that the couple will know it is time to have intercourse to conceive a child. The advantage of this fertility monitor is that it can be used by women who have menstrual cycles as short as 21 days or as long as 42 days.

Women who have been on the Pill, however, probably will not have hormonal changes picked up by the monitor until they have off the Pill for 2 or 3 months.

There are lower-tech methods such as charting temperatures. Which ever method of fertility monitoring the couple chooses, however, the only way to get pregnant fast is to make sure to have intercourse when the woman is at her maximum fertility. The man can make sure he is at his maximum fertility by avoiding ejaculation for 2 to 4 days prior to his partner’s likely date of ovulation, just before the middle of her menstrual period.

If you have just started out on your baby-dancing journey, then you might like to start with an ovulation calendar. We have an ovulation calendar on this site, so if you are interested you can get going right away. Ovulation calendars are an easy step to take, but one that is extremely useful.

Ovulation calendars work by calculating your most fertile days after you enter data about the date of your last period, the average length of your cycle, and the duration of your luteal phase (if you know). The ovulation calendar we provide not only tells you when to expect your most fertile days, it also sends you emails three days before your ovulation, as well as on your ovulation day, so you know when to get active!

Online charting to conceive, using websites like Fertility Friend, requires a little more work. Using a basal body thermometer, you take your temperature at the same time each day. Most women find that taking their temperature in the morning before getting up gives the best results.

Using your basal body temperature, as well as other information you enter (about cervical mucus, the days you had intercourse, and more), sites such as Fertility Friend automatically create a chart to show you how your cycles progress, and when you ovulate. Because there is a slight increase in your temperature when you ovulate, online charting to conceive is a very accurate way of telling you when you are fertile.

What do you think about using ovulation calendars, and charting to conceive? If you have charted in the past or are currently charting, would you recommend it to others? Many people think online charting to conceive is a lot of work. Do you agree or disagree?