An ovulation calendar helps a woman understand when she is most and least likely to get pregnant in any given month. To track your fertility, use an ordinary calendar to mark when your menstrual cycle begins and ends over a six-month period. From the lengths of the longest and shortest cycles during that time, you can estimate your most fertile days in the coming months. The method is based on the fact that most women ovulate 14 days before the next menstrual period begins. An ovulation calendar is especially useful for women who have relatively regular cycles.
Mark an X on the calendar on the first day of your menstrual period. This is considered day 1 of a new fertility cycle.
2
Make your mark on the calendar when your next period begins.
3
Add up the number of days from the first X to the day before the next X. This number is the length of your fertility cycle.
4
Mark the calendar and tally the number of days in each cycle for six months.
5
Pick out the longest and shortest cycles in the group you have observed. Write the length of each of these cycles on a piece of scrap paper.
6
Subtract 14 days from each of the selected cycle lengths. These are the days on which you most likely ovulated during these cycles.
7
Look back at the calendar with the range of likely ovulation dates in mind. Count forward from Day 1 of those cycles to determine how many days into your cycle you typically ovulate.
8
Count forward from the beginning of a new menstrual cycle to mark the days on which you will be most likely to ovulate.
Tips & Warnings
An egg can be fertilized for about 24 hours after it is released. Sperm can survive inside a woman’s body for 3 to 5 days. Therefore, having sex every other day in the days before you expect to ovulate should be enough to achieve pregnancy.
An ovulation calendar may not be reliable for women with irregular or atypical cycles.
sunshine11219
Dec 06, 2008
well written