TTC

When Do You Ovulate? Ovulation Symptoms, Prediction Tools, and Timeline

Ovulation—it’s like the holy grail of conception. You can’t get pregnant if you can’t figure out if and when it happens to you, sort of. I mean, you can actually take a cheater’s approach and just have sex every other day or so around mid-cycle. That’s when ovulation occurs for most. So, you’d think all you have to do is take your cycle length and cut it in half. Bam—estimated ovulation date. The problem there is, while easier, this approach is sort of shooting in the dark—but with sperm—and while that can be fun it can make conceiving take a while, because not all women ovulate mid-cycle. In fact, some women don’t ovulate at all. So, if getting pregnant quickly is your aim, when do you ovulate should be your first question.when do you ovulate

What is ovulation?

Chances are if the Google Gods led you to this page, you have at least a fuzzy idea what ovulation is, but for clarifications sake, ovulation is the point during your menstrual cycle when your ovary drops a fertile egg. You can only become pregnant in those 24 hours or so after ovulation while that fertile egg is in your fallopian tube. If sperm isn’t present in that time frame, the egg is shed along with your uterine lining during your period.

When do you ovulate?

As mentioned above, most women ovulate around mid-cycle. Dividing your average cycle length by two is a fair way to get a rough estimate of when you ovulate.

Example/ If you have a 26-cycle, you probably ovulate around cycle day (CD) 13 with day one being the first day of active bleeding during your menstrual cycle.

You can narrow this down to an average for you personally (I, for example, run a 26-day cycle, but ovulate around CD 11) by tracking your ovulation symptoms, utilizing basal body temperature (BBT) tracking, and ovulation predictor kits (OPKs). When trying to pinpoint ovulation, I then recommend the following tools for your conception toolkit:

-A good BBT thermometer. A regular thermometer will not give an accurate temperature shift. BBT can be used to confirm ovulation. I’ll talk a bit more about that here in a moment. I also have a full, more in-depth guide on how to track BBT here.

-An easy to use tracking app. I use FertilityFriend, but there are many combination BBT, signs of ovulation, and period trackers out there. You can also keep track on paper, but most find an app more convenient. For beginners apps can also prove easier, because they often will estimate ovulation for you based on the data you enter.

-A supply of inexpensive ovulation predictor kits. OPKs can be used to predict ovulation shortly before it happens. We will also cover that how in just a moment.

Ovulation symptoms: What are the signs of ovulation?

To understand ovulation symptoms and when and why they happen, it’s best to have a rough understanding of the hormones that drive your menstrual cycle. It’s these hormones that are behind most signs of ovulation.

At the start of your cycle (the first day of bleeding) your sex hormones (estrogen and progesterone) are both low. This signals the release of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH). FSH is what prompts a follicle in your ovary to develop an egg. The development of this egg stimulates estrogen production which is the dominate hormone before ovulation in the follicular phase of your cycle. High estrogen then triggers Luteinizing Hormone (LH) to be produced. LH is the hormone that triggers ovulation. Ovulation stimulates the production of Progesterone, which dominates the second half of your cycle, the luteal phase. Progesterone maintains the uterine lining, and will drop if the released egg isn’t fertilized or continue to rise if it is.

Ovulation discharge:

Keeping the above cycle in mind, those hormones cause different cervical discharge changes. At the beginning of your cycle as estrogen is low, your discharge is probably non-existent to light, dry or sticky and acidic. This discharge is not very sperm friendly, but it does deter bacteria growth to protect your vagina from infection.

As estrogen begins to rise discharge becomes wetter, less acidic, and more plentiful (more fertile) finally reaching a stretchy, jelly-like consistency often described as “egg-white.” Egg-white discharge is a sign of ovulation.

when do you ovulate fertile cervical mucusFollowing ovulation as estrogen decreases and progesterone rises discharge often goes back to watery, followed by sticky or dry, and then bleeding if you don’t become pregnant. Some women also see an increase in discharge just before their period, and some women see watery discharge all cycle. It’s the stretchy mucus you’re watching for. On another note, thick yellow discharge at the end of your cycle can also sometimes be an early sign of pregnancy.

Cervical position and state:

Cervical position is a harder sign of ovulation to track. Your cervix actually moves up and down during the day, but if you check it at the same time every day, you may also notice a pattern within your cycle. Like your discharge, your cervix is affected by your hormones. During periods of low estrogen the cervix remains low, long, hard, and closed. You’ll probably be able to easily reach it, and it will feel sort of like the tip of your nose. As estrogen rises, the cervix does too, becoming shorter, softer, and opening slightly (note that those with previous children often always have a slightly open cervix). During ovulation your cervix will be hard to reach and feel more like your lips. Many women remember the signs of ovulation in regards to cervical position and state with the abbreviation SHOW: soft, high, open, wet (mucus).

when do you ovulate cervical position

OPKs:

Ovulation predictor kits are, like a pregnancy test, a stick that you urinate on. They detect LH which surges about 24 to 48 hours before ovulation. It’s important to note that unlike a pregnancy test, an ovulation test is only positive if the test line is darker than the control line. LH is present in your system outside of ovulation, so there will almost always be two lines. If you have trouble reading the cheaper line tests, there are more obvious (and expensive) smiley-face tests available. You don’t have to use these tests all cycle, just during your ovulation window. Until you narrow down your window more, I recommend starting at about CD 8. You can stop after ovulation. We also have a complete guide on using OPKs.

Ovulation pain:

Ovulation pain is not something everyone gets. In fact, only about 1 in 5 women experience pain at ovulation. Many describe ovulation pain as a twitching, pinching, or pressure in their lower pelvis closer to the right or left hip (this is where your ovaries are located). Ovulation usually occurs from just one side, and may not occur on the same side every month. If pain is felt on one side near your ovary near when ovulation should occur, you can consider it a sign that ovulation may be near or occurring caused by the growing follicle or the rupture of the follicle to release an egg.

However, keep in mind that cramping can often be mistaken for ovulation pain. As a general rule if it’s not lining up with other signs of ovulation or occurs on both sides, it probably is not ovulation pain.

Ovulating spotting:

Like ovulation pain, not all women experience ovulation spotting. Sometimes spotting is caused by the rupture of a follicle to release an egg. To put this in perspective, the average follicle is a mere 18 to 24 mm—or between the size of a dime and a nickle. Ovulation spotting of this type is very light.

Alternately, some women also get a slight hormone dip at ovulation, which can also cause light spotting. In those women, a temperature dip would also be visible on a BBT chart. This bleeding would still not be heavy or prolonged.

BBT:

You can read a full in-depth guide on tracking your BBT here, but briefly, your BBT is your temperature taken with a BBT thermometer upon first waking in the morning, before doing anything else. The rise of progesterone after ovulation will cause this temperature to rise slightly allowing you to confirm that ovulation has occurred and so build a more concrete average ovulation pattern. This rise is sometimes very small and a clear shift is hard to see. For other women it’s more pronounced and may even be visible using a regular thermometer.

Other signs of ovulation:

Finally, individual women may notice different signs of ovulation. Some women notice they crave certain foods or are more interested in sex. To pick up on signs like these you need to track ovulation for some time and really pay attention to your body. You’ll likely be more aware of post-ovulation symptoms as progesterone is the culprit behind PMS. Things like feeling hot, bloating, nausea, and back pain are all caused by progesterone which peaks after ovulation. This leads me to an important note. It is very, very, and a few more very’s common to mistake PMS symptoms for pregnancy symptoms. You will not get pregnancy symptoms before implantation. Period. You can explore the pregnancy symptoms timeline in more depth here as that is an entirely different topic.

We hope that our guide on when do you ovulate has proved helpful in your quest for belly fruit, and as always, welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions.

You might also find useful:
Conception Lingo
When to Take a Pregnancy Test for Accurate Results
Am I pregnant? Calculating Your Chances of Pregnancy

How to Chart Basal Body Temperature

It’s funny, thinking back to a time in my teens when I thought any act of unprotected sex equated to a big belly followed by a baby. I had no idea 10 years later I’d find myself struggling to conceive. No idea that even with perfectly timed intercourse, it still takes on average 6 months for a healthy couple to conceive. No idea just how hard pinpointing when the perfect time to conceive—ovulation—was. Luckily though, I learned. The first step to learning how to pinpoint ovulation is to confirm it happens for you and roughly when each month. One of the easiest ways to do that is basal body temperature tracking.

What is basal body temperature?

Your basal body temperature is your temperature when you are fully at rest, meaning you have slept at least 3 hours—not a nap. This is why basal body temperature is taken in the morning, the moment you wake up before any activity.

Why would you want to know your basal body temperature?

Your basal body temperature will rise after ovulation as a result of the release of progesterone, a hormone that maintains the uterine lining. If you track your basal body temperature all cycle, you can use this temperature shift to determine when ovulation occurred. Notice, “occurred,” as in past tense. Basal body temperature tracking (sometimes abbreviated BBT) cannot be used to predict ovulation, at least not exactly. So why do it?

First, it allows you to confirm ovulation is happening at all. Second, it allows you to build an average day of ovulation. The majority of women maintain a fairly consistent cycle length from month to month, and in those that do, ovulation is usually around the same cycle day as well. This is why I said, “not exactly.” By finding your average day of ovulation you can better predict its occurrence when incorporating other methods, such as ovulation predictor kits or monitoring cervical mucus changes.

How do you take your basal body temperature?

As mentioned, you need to take your temperature every morning immediately upon waking without getting up. You can use a regular thermometer, but in most cases your temperature shift will be far less clear that way, if visible at all, as the shift is often as slight as half a degree. As a result, it’s recommend you use what’s called a basal body thermometer. These thermometers are more sensitive and provide more accurate temperatures. For example, a regular thermometer might read 98.6, but a basal body thermometer doesn’t round up, so it could offer a more precise 98.57. Basal body temperature can be taken orally or vaginally, but you do need to stick with one method per cycle. For obvious reasons, most women opt for oral temperatures, although vaginal temperatures can sometimes offer clarity if oral temperatures are giving unclear patterns.

How do you chart basal body temperature?

You can record your temperatures on paper, but in my experience using a tracking program is easier. My favorite is FertilityFreind. They have an app, but you can also use the site from a computer. It is free to use, though there is a premium paid version available. This program, and others like it, will create a basal body temperature chart for you based on your input each morning. Most will also estimate ovulation for you based on your chart with a fair deal of accuracy. So, how do they do that…

How do you track ovulation with a basal body chart? What should a BBT chart look like?

When you look at a BBT chart, it isn’t going to be a straight line followed by a rise and another straight line. You’re looking for a general pattern of low temperatures followed by slightly higher temperatures. Below is an example of a fairly basic chart. You can see daily the temperature sort of fluctuates, but looking at all the data together you can see a clear shift. Ovulation occurs within 24 hours proceeding that shift (where the cross hairs are on this chart).

bbt chart basal body tempature

Now look at this chart. See how there’s a dip just before the rise? That’s called an ovulation dip. Not every women gets a dip at ovulation, and if you do get one you might not get one every cycle. These are caused by temporary hormonal upset as an egg is released.

ovulation dip bbt chart basal body chart

This chart has a dip after ovulation. This is called an implantation dip, and again, it isn’t present in all charts, and is caused by a hormonal shift that can happen when an egg implants.

implantation dip bbt chart

Now this chart is all over. It has dips, rises, and flat lines. A few things could be going on with this chart. The tester might be inconsistent with taking her temperature. She may be getting up before taking her temperature or sleeping erratic hours for example. Her thermometer might also be bad or she may have some hormonal imbalance. Many things can create one-day dips or rises, even things like keeping your room hotter or colder or illness. None the less, there is still a shift, and ovulation occurred.

erratic bbt chart flat lines

Finally, in this chart there was no ovulation. There is no shift. The chart can’t explain why ovulation didn’t happen, but multiple annovulatory cycles warrant a visit to your care provider.

annovulatory bbt chart no ovulation

Can basal body temperature predict pregnancy?

Ah, see that’s a good question. A sustained basal body temperature beyond 16 days is generally considered an early sign of pregnancy. BBT tracking can also help you know when to take a pregnancy test, as in general, a test won’t be accurate until at minimum about 10 days past ovulation with 14+ days being most accurate.

Some women will also see what’s called a triphasic chart when pregnant. This is where about 6 to 12 days after ovulation when implantation occurs there is a second temperature shift. During pregnancy higher levels of progesterone are released to prevent your period. This increase can cause an additional temperature rise. You can be pregnant without a triphasic chart, and you can have a second rise without being pregnant, unfortunately.

triphasic pregnancy bbt chart

Can basal body temperature predict my period?

After you chart for a while, you probably will see a pattern as far as when your BBT temperatures drop. Some women get a drop just before their period. Others have a more gradual decline or a drop after bleeding has begun. If you are one of those that get a drop prior to bleeding, yes, it could be a way of judging whether or not your period is about to start. Remember though, sometimes one-day dips happen.

Your cycle is also divided into phases. The first phase, or follicular phase where an egg develops, is followed by ovulation. The luteal phase, where implantation is possible, follows ovulation. Variation in the follicular phase is far more common than in the luteal phase (unless imbalance is present). This means that you will likely have a steady average number of days between ovulation and your period that will vary less than the average number of days in your cycle as a whole. So, if you ovulate, say three days later than your average, you shouldn’t expect your period until three days later than projected. While not helpful to conception, this can help explain late periods that often cause women trying to conceive so much grief.

I hope this general guide on how to track ovulation with your basal body temperature has been of use. If you have any additional questions or just would like see something added to this page, please feel free to drop us a comment.

You may also enjoy:
Period While Pregnant: Is it Possible?
When Will a Pregnancy Test be Accurate?
When Do Pregnancy Symptoms Start?

Conception Lingo: Common Abbreviations and Acronyms Defined

TTC, DPO, BD, O, CD—as if trying to conceive isn’t hard enough, conception forums and how-to’s can be like Greek if you don’t know the lingo. Luckily, if you’re as lost as I was, you can find easy-to-digest definitions for common conception jargon below.ttc lingo dictionary

Conception abbreviations and acronyms:

TTC: Trying to conceive. There isn’t much to explain here, someone who is TTC is simply trying to get pregnant (probably like you.)

CD: Cycle day. Day one of your period is counted from the first day of bleeding or cycle day one. CD is commonly used before ovulation as well as to describe the day of ovulation. Example: I had bleeding at CD 16. This means that there was some sort of bleed 16 days after the first day of a period.

O: Ovulation. The time in which an egg is released, and pregnancy becomes possible for roughly 24 to 48 hours.

CM: Cervical mucus. Cervical mucus can be used to predict ovulation to some degree, leading to its inclusion as a common conception conversation point. You can read more about cervical mucus here.

EWCM: Egg-white cervical mucus. At ovulation, cervical mucus usually becomes snot-like, stretchy, and sort of resembles egg-white. Cervical mucus may also be described as “sticky” as in not fertile or watery, a stage just before EWCM.

CP: Cervical position. Cervical position can also sometimes be used to predict ovulation varying from high and closed (not fertile) to low and open (fertile). You can read about how to check your cervix here.

DPO: Days past ovulation. DPO is a common abbreviation on TTC forums because, for instance, implantation commonly occurs at 10 to 12 days DPO and pregnancy tests become accurate just after this. You might see something like, “My temp rose at 8 DPO.” This means 8 days after ovulation there was a temperature rise on a BBT chart.

BBT: Basal body temperature. This is your temperature while at rest (sleeping for 3+ hours). BBT is low before ovulation, then rises just after. Tracking and charting your BBT can confirm ovulation. You can read a full guide on BBT tracking here.

2WW: Two week wait. While not always a two-week wait, 2WW is used to describe the period between ovulation and your period or a positive test. Two weeks comes from the average cycle of 28 days, putting ovulation at CD 14, and a period (or not) two weeks later.

AF: Aunt flow. Aunt flow is a cutesy nickname referring to a period.

LMP: Last menstrual period. This date is the first day of bleeding in your last period (CD1). LMP is often used to calculate due dates.

EDD: Estimate due date. An estimate as to when your baby is due. This may be based off your LMP, ovulation, or an ultrasound. All three can also be used to create an average.

BFP/BFN: Big fat positive/negative. These terms are used in reference to pregnancy test results.

HPT: Home pregnancy test. A standard urine home test.

POAS: Pee on a stick. Short hand for take a home pregnancy test.

OPK: Ovulation prediction kit. Similar to a HPT, an OPK is a home test that uses urine to detect a hormone that spikes just before ovulation.

BD: Baby dance. Baby dance, occasionally thought to be bed dance, is an act of intercourse aimed at conception. BD is also sometimes referred to as an “attempt,” as in an attempt to conceive.

DH, DS, DD: Dear husband/son/daughter. You may also see something like DS2, the number indicates child number, so DS2 would mean a second son, DD4 a fourth daughter, and so on.

Sway: Gender swaying. A conception plan that attempts to “sway” the chances of a girl (pink sway/team pink) or boy baby (blue sway/team blue). As a side note, “team green” comes mostly from swayers and refers to someone who doesn’t plan to find the sex of their baby until he/she is born. You can read the facts on swaying here.

MC or M/C: Miscarriage. Sadly, this is common enough to have its own abbreviation. Other terms you might hear in regards to miscarriage include:
-D&C (dilation and curettage) which is where an incomplete or missed miscarriage is medically completed.
-A missed miscarriage is one where the baby has died, but the pregnancy has continued.
-An incomplete miscarriage is one where tissue was retained from the pregnancy.

Rainbow baby (rarely abbreviated): A baby conceived after a loss.

Ectopic: An ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy is where the egg implanted outside of the uterus and is not viable.

FP/LP: Follicular phase, luteal phase. These are two phases of your menstrual cycle. Follicular, where an egg is developed, and luteal where implantation is possible. LP is talked about more than FP, as luteal phase defects (LPD) are a common fertility issue.

FSH/LH: Follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone. These are hormones tied to ovulation. In cases of infertility they are sometimes tested. LH is the hormone that OPKs detect.

This, surprisingly, is actually not an all-inclusive list. Certain realms of the TTC world come with even more acronyms and abbreviations, but the above should provide you with the basic terms you’ll see most commonly. If you find yourself stuck, and unsure what something means, feel free to drop us a comment.