Here’s a blog I stumbled upon today and think you should check out too. It’s called My IVF Life and this is from the author’s about page.

“We are a couple, madly in love, who struggled to have a baby on our own. Our journey led us to IVF and finally to a sweet baby girl. The path wasn’t always easy, but the reward has been so sweet. This is our story and our modern day love letter to our girl.”

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I’ve created a special short report on what I think are the top 7 tips that will help you get pregnant. I hope you enjoy and find the information useful. Let me know what you think of the tips or if you have any tips of your own.

You can get to the download page via the button bellow. It is a PDF file so you will need Adobe Acrobat (also free) in order to view the report.

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If you haven’t already done so, make sure you read the first three parts of this series before you read this final post on ways to predict and confirm ovulation.

Part 1 – Basal Body Temperature
Part 2 – Cervical Fluids
Part 3 – Cervix Position and Texture

Ovulation Prediction Kits

If you are unable to predict and confirm ovulation by charting your temperatures, cervical fluid and/or cervix texture and position, then you may want to use ovulation prediction kits (OPKs).  These kits test your urine for a surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) that occurs prior to ovulation.  The OPKs do not confirm ovulation.  If there is a surge in the luteinizing hormone, the test line will show up as dark as or darker than the control line.  The best time to test is generally in the afternoon.  You must also test at the same time each day.  These kits are helpful in predicting ovulation if you test right around your fertile period.

The downsides to these kits are that it is expensive and may be used or interpreted inaccurately.  For example, a kit of 20 tests at Target costs $34.99.  You may be able to purchase these kits online for $0.50 to $1.00 per test.  Most of these kits look like a pregnancy test where there is a test line and a control line.  For a “positive,” the test line has to be as dark as or darker in color than the test line.  Sometimes it is difficult to interpret the color of the test.  If you do not test everyday due to the limited number of tests available, then you may miss the LH surge and time intercourse incorrectly.

A commonly ovulation predictor device is the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor.  This is an electronic system that interprets your urine test to let you know if you are in a low, high or peak phase in your cycle.  It analyzes your estrogen and LH level in your urine.  If the monitor is used correctly, it can predict ovulation 1-2 days before ovulation occurs.  However, like the OPKs, this monitor is expensive and costs about $200, and requires you to purchase 30 sticks for $50 for each cycle.

That’s all for this series on Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation. I hope you found the information helpful and please feel free to let me know what you think.

Related posts:

1. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 2 – Cervical Fluids
2. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 3 – Cervix Position and Texture
3. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 1 – Basal Body Temperature

The last two posts covered charting and recording of your basal body temperature and understanding your cervical fluids. In part three of this four part series we will discuss the cervix position and texture.

Cervix Position and Texture

The cervix is the lower part of your uterus that joins at the end of your vagina.  During your cycle, your cervix will change from a firm texture and low position to a soft texture and high position and back to a firm texture and low position.  At the start of your cycle, your cervix will be firm in texture, closed and low in the vagina.  The texture of your cervix at the beginning and end of your cycle will feel like the tip of your nose.  As you near ovulation, your cervix will get softer in texture and move higher up in your vagina.  During this fertile period, your cervix will feel soft like your lips.  Your cervix will also be open to enable the sperm to travel to the uterus and to the fallopian tubes.  After ovulation, your cervix will go back to a close, firm texture and low position in the vagina.

The best position to check your cervix is the squatting position.  This will push the cervix closer to the vaginal opening.  Other positions can be while you’re sitting on the toilet or by putting one leg up on the bathtub.  You must be consistent in the position that you select to check your cervix.  Insert your middle finger in your vagina and check for the texture (soft, medium or firm), position (low, midway or high) and opening (closed, partly open or open).  You must also be consistent in the time of day you check your cervix.

You should check your cervix at the beginning of your cycle when you have stopped bleeding.  Your cervix should be low and firm at this time.  When you begin to have cervical fluid, you should check your cervix to confirm whether or not you are in your fertile period.  If you have watery or egg-white fluid, your cervix should be high and soft in texture.  Charting your cervix texture and position will help you to confirm whether or not you have ovulated.

Related posts:

1. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 4 – Ovulation Prediction Kits
2. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 2 – Cervical Fluids
3. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 1 – Basal Body Temperature

This is part two of a four part series on ways to predict and confirm ovulation. Part one covered charting and recording of your basal body temperature.

Cervical Fluids

Understanding your cervical fluid is important to determine your most fertile period.  The purpose of the cervical fluid is to protect and aid the sperm in its journey to the egg.  Different types of cervical fluids are released at different times during the cycle.  As you get closer to ovulation, your cervical fluid will get more wet.  After ovulation, your cervical fluid will dry up due to the production of progesterone.  Near the end of the luteal phase, some women may experience a second patch of watery cervical fluid as a result of the decrease of progesterone.

Generally, when you start your menstrual cycle, you will not have any cervical fluid.  After a few days of being “dry” and having no cervical fluid, you can develop “sticky” cervical fluid.  This type of cervical fluid has a pasty, sticky or crumbly texture and may be white or yellow in color.  This sticky cervical fluid is generally not conducive to the sperm’s survival.  The next type of cervical fluid is commonly referred to as “creamy” fluid which has a lotiony and milky texture and may be white or yellow in color.  Creamy fluid could be considered fertile if present before ovulation.  The creamy fluid is generally followed by the most fertile type of fluid, the “watery” or “egg-white” fluid.  If you have watery or egg-white fluid, it is common to experience a wet or slippery feeling in your vagina.  Generally it is hard to see the watery fluid, but it will leave a symmetrical round pattern of fluid on your underwear.  Egg-white fluid is the most fertile cervical fluid and looks and feels exactly like raw egg-whites.  Egg-white fluid can be stretched for inches between your fingers and is clear in color.  Egg-white fluid differs from seminal fluid in that seminal fluid will generally be more white in color and less stretchy.

Sometimes it may appear that you do not have any cervical fluid because you do not see anything near your vagina opening or on your underwear.  For this reason, it is crucial for you to pay attention to the sensations in your vagina (i.e., feel dry or wet).  Sometimes it is necessary for you to reach inside your vagina and do a sweep near your cervix to determine if you have any cervical fluid.  You can check internally by inserting your index and middle fingers into your vagina and then pinch and draw out the fluid from the cervix.  You should also record your cervical fluid on your temperature chart.  This will help identify and confirm your ovulation date.  At times, you may get several patches of fertile cervical period.  This is important to document because your body may have geared up for ovulation but due to external factors such as stress or illness, ovulation was delayed.  Charting both your temperature and your cervical fluid can help confirm ovulation if there was fertile cervical fluid accompanied by a shift in your waking body temperature.

Related posts:

1. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 3 – Cervix Position and Texture
2. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 4 – Ovulation Prediction Kits
3. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 1 – Basal Body Temperature

Predicting then confirming ovulation are two of the most important things you need to do in order to get pregnant. In this four part series, I will outline the steps and methods you need to take to accomplish this.

Basal Body Temperature

Charting and recording your waking body temperature can help you to confirm ovulation.  Your temperatures can also help you to see the length of your luteal phase from your chart.  Unlike the other methods discussed below, you cannot predict exactly when you will ovulate.  This is because there are many factors, such as stress, weight gain or weight loss, and illness, which may affect and delay ovulation.  Under these same circumstances or due to other illnesses, such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or Thyroid disorders, you may not even ovulate.  If you have ovulated, your chart should show a pattern of low temperatures at the beginning of your cycle, followed by a clear shift of higher temperatures until the end of your cycle.

Your menstrual cycle consists of two phases divided by the date of ovulation: (1) the preovulatory (follicular) phase (day 1 of your period to the day before ovulation), and (2) the postovulatory (luteal) phase (day of ovulation to the day before your new period begins).  During the preovulatory phase, your temperatures are kept low due to the estrogen produced by the follicles for the purpose of ovulation.  Temperatures during this phase typically range from 97.0 to 97.7 degrees.  When your estrogen levels reach a certain threshold, it causes a surge in the luteinizing hormone, which in turn causes the release of the egg into the fallopian tube.  During the postovulatory phase, progesterone is releases for two main purposes: (1) prevention of the release of any other egg during that cycle, and (2) thickens the uterine lining for the purpose of implantation.  Because progesterone is a heat-inducing hormone, you should see a pattern of higher temperatures in your postovulatory phase.  Temperatures during the postovulatory phase may rise to 97.8 and higher.  If you have ovulated, there should be a clear shift in your temperatures.  If your charts do not indicate that you have ovulated, then you may be having anovulatory cycles at which time a visit to your doctor’s office may be necessary.

To accurately record your temperatures, you must take your temperature when you first wake up in the morning.  If you take your temperature while you are getting out of bed, or after you have used the restroom, you will have inaccurate data.  You must also take your temperature at the same time each day.  Consistency is the key.  You should also use a digital basal body thermometer that takes your temperature to the tenth degree (e.g., 97.5).  You can buy these thermometers at any drug store.  The best place to take your temperature is at the center underneath your tongue.  If you cannot get consistent or accurate temperature readings orally, you can also take your temperature vaginally.  However, you must use either method for the entire cycle.

After charting your temperatures for a couple cycles, you should be able to determine the length of your luteal phase.  Unlike the preovulatory phase, your postovulatory (luteal) phase is generally the same for each cycle. To sustain a pregnancy, you need a luteal phase of at least 10 days.  A luteal phase of less than 10 days can indicate a dysfunctional ovulatory problem which can be diagnosed and treated by your doctor.  By knowing your luteal phase, you can determine when to take a pregnancy test.  Also, if you continue to have high temperatures or have not gotten your period after the end of your luteal phase, it is highly likely that you are pregnant.

Related posts:

1. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 4 – Ovulation Prediction Kits
2. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 2 – Cervical Fluids
3. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 3 – Cervix Position and Texture

What is the Luteal Phase?

The Luteal Phase, also known as the “days past ovulation (DPO)”, is the time in a woman’s cycle that runs between the first day of ovulation and last day before her menstrual period starts. The length of this phase varies amongst all women, but usually lasts 12-16 days. For each woman, this should be standard each month. If perhaps the luteal phase changes for a woman in from one month to another, the change is not more than a day. (Women who have trouble finding the length of their luteal phase can assume it lasts 14 days).

The name of this period is derived from the corpus luteum, Latin for “yellow body”. The corpus luteum is a structure that grows on the surface of the ovary (with the production of progesterone) where an egg is matured and released at ovulation. The time it takes for this to occur is, therefore, known as the Luteal Phase.

Why is the Luteal Phase Important?

Knowing the when the luteal phase occurs helps women better schedule their fertility for better success in getting pregnant. To properly track ovulation, one can use simple math for assistance. Keeping in mind a woman’s length of luteal phase (for example, 12 days) and length of full menstrual cycle (for example, 28 days) she should expect to ovulate on the day 16, (the difference when the length of the luteal phase is subtracted from length of the full menstrual cycle).

Problems with the luteal phase, also known as Luteal Phase Defects, may also shine light on some difficulties getting pregnant.

Luteal phase defects occur when:

1. The luteal phase lasts less than 10 days.
2. There is a lack of a proper amount of progesterone. This insufficient amount of progesterone will not build a stable uterine lining therefore is not strong enough to be able to house fertilized egg.
3. The length of the luteal phase is delayed (due to such factors as stress, over-activity or use of certain medications).

Related posts:

1. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 1 – Basal Body Temperature
2. How To Get Pregnant With An Irregular Menstrual Cycle
3. Ways to Predict and Confirm Ovulation – Part 2 – Cervical Fluids

We were taught at a young age that a woman’s menstrual cycle is normally 28 days, with the assumption that ovulation occurs on day 14. However, this is not true for everybody. I would sometimes get regular periods but would often go two to three months between cycles. If your menstrual cycle varies by more than a few days between each other then you have an irregular period.

Many factors influence when you ovulate and how long your cycles last. The key to getting pregnant is to understand your body so that you can time intercourse to maximize the chance of conception. Having an irregular period can make this difficult but if you know the signs of ovulation by paying attention to your cervical fluid and recording your basal body temperature it will be much easier to determine when you are ovulating.

In the next series of posts, I will go over how you can do this so check back often for more updates.

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