This involves the diligent tacking of your menstrual cycle and other signs of ovulation. The method requires some work – namely, knowing and tracking intimate details of your menstrual cycle.
Tracking your menstrual cycle may give women control over child planning.
How does tracking your cycle work? In general, it works by tracking and looking for signs that suggest your body is in it’s most fertile state: ovulation. “The idea is to have unprotected intercourse during your fertile period, so you can increase your chances of getting pregnant naturally.” says Daniel DiSabatino, an Ob-gyn at Axia Women’s health.
Tracking your menstrual cycle
There are two to three signs people generally watch for, Dr Jill Purdie, medical director of Northside Women’s Specialists, tells us. The most common one is keeping track of your menstrual cycle from the first day of your period. While medical textbooks say 28 days is the average cycle length, research shows that menstrual cycles vary between 21 to 35 days. To increase your chances of concept, Purdie recommends knowing when you ovulate during your menstrual cycle and increasing sexual intercourse during that time.
Ovulation usually starts 14 days before your next period. For example, if your cycle is consistent every 28 days, you would ovulate around day 14, making it your most fertile day. However this is not an exact science. Women, on average, are actually fertile over a six-day window each month (the 5 days before ovulation and the day you ovulate), according to the kaiser family foundation. “You have about a week, which considered the fertile period,” say Purdie.
Monitoring your cycle works best for people with regular menstrual cycles, as it remains fairly consistent and predictable.
Tracking Cervical Mucus
People often track their cervical mucus to predict their fertile and non-fertile days. This gel-like fluid is discharged from the cervix at varying amounts throughout the menstrual cycle. When you have your period, there’s not a lot of mucus. As you approach ovulation, you’ll likely see more discharge at the time of ovulation, showing a thin and clear film. “It’s sticky, egg-white-like discharge that lests people know they’re probably ovulating in the next 24 hours and to have more sex,” explains Purdie.
Basal Body temperature Charting
Another sign is checking for subtle changes in your body temperature. Using an under the tongue thermometer, you would take your temperature at the same time every day. “Before you eat, drink or do anything else before you get out of bed, you should take your temperature,” says Purdie. If done consistently, you’ll see patterns in your temperature that align with where you are in your menstrual cycle.
During the first half of the menstrual cycle, your temperature will stay within the normal range, typically 98.6 degrees fahrenheit. During ovulation, your body temperature rises less than half a degree fahrenheit and stays slightly elevated until your next period.
Is there an easier way to keep track of your cycle?
While it’s possible to track your cycle with a calender, most people these days use a mobile app. Popular apps such as Natural Cycles and Ovia use your personal information to give you a prediction of when you are and are not ovulating. This includes inputting data on your cervical mucus discharge along with when you last had intercourse, cycle length and any other pertinent information.
Since temperature changes are subtle, Purdie says these apps can help graph your basal body temperature.
5 Facts about vaginal discharge every woman should know
Vaginal Dischage plays a key role in keeping the vagina healthy.
Although vaginal discharge can b a source of embarrassment or even concern for some, it plays a key role when it comes to reproductive health. But what exactly is it made of? And what’s normal – and what’s not – when it comes to vaginal discharge? Here’s what you need to know, according to experts.
No. 1 Vaginal discharge is normal
Discharge is typically a clear or whitish fluid that comes from the vagina. Having some vaginal discharge throughout the monthly cycle is not only normal but also common.
‘Every woman has discharge from their vagina,” Dr. Alyssa Dweck, a new york based gynecologist says.
She adds that even though having vaginal discharge can carry a stigma for some, people ‘shouldn’t feel shame about that,” she says.
