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So advanced it's easy. 1 800 321 Easy
Maximizing Your Chances of Getting Pregnant
Whether you are just beginning to think about having a baby, or are actively trying, gaining a better understanding about how your body works can be a big help. If you are trying to get pregnant now, one of the easiest things you can do to increase your chances is to find out exactly when your body releases an egg from your ovaries. It is during two days each cycle, the day before and the day of ovulation (when the egg is released and starts traveling down your fallopian tube) that you are at your most fertile and therefore most likely to get pregnant. For the few days before ovulation, you may also be fertile as your partner's sperm can survive in your body for several days. Therefore, having intercourse during the days prior to ovulation may also result in pregnancy.
Ovulation Predictor TestsOne of the most simple and accurate ways to find out when you are ovulating is to use a home ovulation tests such as Clearblue® Easy Ovulation Tests. Ovulation tests are very similar to a home pregnancy test in that you hold the stick in your urine stream and the result is shown in a window on the stick. Ovulation tests detect the surge in Luteinizing Hormone (LH), which rises or 'surges' approximately 24-36 hours before you ovulate. Click on the link to see the LH surge. Detecting this LH surge will help you identify the two days in a cycle when you are most fertile and therefore most likely to get pregnant. These two most fertile days are the day before ovulation and the day of ovulation - which is when your body releases an egg. So, if you have intercourse on the day you detect your LH surge, and the day after, you will be giving yourself the best chance of getting pregnant. The Clearblue® Easy Fertility MonitorThe Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor records your personal cycle to build up a complete and accurate picture of your most fertile days. Most home ovulation tests identify the 2 Peak Fertility days during the cycle, by detecting the surge in LH that triggers ovulation. The Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor not only shows these 2 Peak Fertility days, but also identifies additional fertile days when you can conceive. By detecting a rise in estrogen, it can inform most women of an extra 1-5 days of High Fertility prior to their Peak Fertility. This means that you know all the days on which intercourse is most likely to lead to conception. It also tells you on which days you need to test, so it's very easy to use. The Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor will even warn you when your period is due. If you think your period is late, you'll know immediately that it's time to test for pregnancy. Basal body thermometersThis method of finding out when you are ovulating relies on the fact that after ovulation, your basal body temperature usually rises by 0.2-0.4°C. This is due to the warming effects of the level of the hormone progesterone. To use this method accurately, you must take your basal body temperature (BBT) first thing every morning, when you are at complete rest, to build up a picture of your cycle pattern. The main advantage of this method is that it is inexpensive. However, because it charts temperature rise after ovulation, this method can only be used to predict ovulation in the next cycle. Moreover, you must have a very regular cycle to be able to work out exactly when you will ovulate to make the most of your fertile days. Another complication with this method is that your body temperature can rise for a number of other reasons, including illness, drinking alcohol, hot drinks, movement and restless sleep, which can give you a false reading. And, too, in around 20% of women, ovulation does not trigger a rise in body temperature. Calendar MethodIf you have a regular cycle, you can try to predict ovulation by carefully recording the length of your menstrual cycle. You will need to record the length of your cycle for at least a couple of months to build up a full picture. If you have a very regular cycle, you can then assume that you will ovulate between 12 to 16 days before your next period starts. However, whether you have a regular or irregular cycle, the day you actually ovulate can differ by as much as several days between cycles. Cervical mucus observationDuring your cycle, the type and amount of cervical mucus - a secretion which is made by glands in your cervix - changes according to the amount of the hormone estrogen in your body. By monitoring and recording these changes, you can predict when you will ovulate so you can make love on your most fertile days in that cycle. The cervical mucus can be sticky or stretchy and can be white or cloudy. All of these characteristics should be noted down each day until a pattern emerges. On fertile days mucus is slippery, stretchy and can be cloudy white (some people think it looks like egg-whites), whilst on other days you will probably not have very much cervical mucus at all. Many women use cervical mucus monitoring in conjunction with basal body temperature monitoring to give them more information when they are trying to predict ovulation. Saliva observationIt is thought that during your cycle, your saliva changes according to the amount of the hormone estrogen in your body. There are kits available that can help you to monitor these changes. However, a study published in the medical journal, the Lancet¹ 1998, found no link between saliva changes and estrogen levels, and concluded that this is an unreliable method of ovulation prediction. [ top ] |
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