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It is simply not right to say that all women ovulate on day 14
of their cycles. I've been researching about fertility for over
10 years now and I'm still amazed that the prevailing thought is
if you want to get pregnant you have sex around day 14. If
that's true, then why are so many women not conceiving? And
likewise, why do so many conceive when they avoid having sex
around day 14?
I will tell you why. Ovulation can occur as early as day six or
much later than day 14. One woman may ovulate like clockwork on
day 21 of her cycle every single month - while another may
ovulate on day 10. It's all according to the reproductive
hormones, the level of stress and your health. Any of these
things can be out of whack and can hinder ovulation.
Let's take a look at the cycle and the hormones involved.
The hormones that rule the female reproductive cycle are FSH or
follicle stimulating hormone, estrogen, LH or luteinizing
hormone and progesterone.
The first one to appear is FSH. FSH begins to peak in production
at the beginning of the menstrual cycle, during the menstrual
bleeding. It's FSH that prompts the ovaries to produce about 15
to 20 eggs to mature. As the eggs mature they are encased in a
follicle and it's this follicle that produces estrogen.
As the estrogen picks up in production several days before
ovulation the cervical fluid becomes clear (fertile quality).
This type of fluid is also known as "egg-white" like in
consistency. This is the best fluid to carry the sperm to the
egg. Presence of this fluid indicates that ovulation can happen
in about one to four days.
LH is released when the levels of estrogen reaches the peak. The
surge of LH prompts the egg to break out of the follicle. This
is when ovulation occurs. The follicle then turns into a corpus
luteum cyst and begins the production of progesterone. The time
after ovulation is called the luteal phase (LP).
Normally the luteal phase is the same length each month. You can
always pinpoint the day your cycle will show if you are charting
your fertility signs by counting the days in the luteal phase.
You will know also when to take a pregnancy test if you are
trying to get pregnant.
The average length of the luteal phase is from 12 to 16 days. An
LP shorter than 10 days is known as deficient and can hinder a
pregnancy from taking hold. This deficiency is often caused from
low progesterone.
After the corpus luteum starts to produce progesterone, the body
warms up. This is indicated by a rise in the basal body
temperatures. This keeps the uterine lining from shedding long
enough for a fertilized egg to implant. If you chart your
fertility signs you can tell if you have a progesterone
deficiency by noting the temperatures if they don't rise enough
or they stay too low the 2nd half of the cycle. A drop in
temperatures means that the progesterone level has dropped and
signals the uterus to begin shedding the lining - thus a new
menstrual cycle starts.
Obviously it's important to time intercourse around ovulation in
order to conceive a baby. If you chart your fertility signs you
can see that the body will prepare for ovulation for several
days - and if something like stress or illness happens - the
ovulation process will stop. In cases like this ovulation will
normally resume later. The reproductive hormones are very
sensitive to your state of health.
The truth about ovulation is that it can occur at anytime within
the cycle with many factors determining the exact day. Day 14 is
not the only day ovulation occurs. Take into account the
different things that can hinder it. Chart your fertility signs
and see just when you do ovulate - and you may find it's on a
different day from day 14.
About the author:
Lori Ramsey writes about fertility and pregnancy on her website
http://www.stages-in-pregnancy.com. She is a mother to five
children.