The simple fact is that you need to get the timing just right to make sure that sperm meets egg, and fertilisation occurs.

You can buy ovulation predictor kits but these tests can be quite expensive, so it's a good idea to familiarise yourself with your body's own natural signs of ovulation. Although none of them are 100% accurate, they can signal that you're about to ovulate. This should then give you a bit of time to plan a baby-making session! You will also be able to recognise when you've already ovulated once you're familiar with your body's signals.

Changes in Cervical Mucus

As you approach ovulation the amount and consistency of your cervical mucus changes. During the period you're not ovulating, cervical mucus has a thicker consistency or there may not seem to be very much mucas at all. Some fertility drugs and medications like antihistamines, can have the same effect so this is worth bearing in mind.As you approach ovulation, your mucus becomes much more clear, watery and stretchy - something like raw egg white in consistency - and there's lots more of it too. The idea is that it is much easier for sperm to swim through the cervical mucus when it reaches this consistency. It's kind of like swimming lanes for the sperm!

Increase in Libido

Most women feel 'friskier' around about the time they ovulate! A recent study showed that women wanted and had more sex around the time when their levels of luteinizing hormone were highest. These levels peak around the time of ovulation.

Temperature Changes

Tracking and charting your body basal temperature (BBT) is another natural way of predicting when you're about to ovulate. Your BBT is your body's temperature when you are at rest. This temperature tends to rise slightly (by around 0.2 Â°C) just before you ovulate, and stays slightly raised for a little while afterwards. It's the hormone progesterone which causes this rise in temperature - its levels increase just after ovulation. It takes most women a while to get the hang of this method and you'll have to remember to take your temperature every day, first thing in the morning before you get out of bed as moving around can make your temperature rise. It's a good idea then to have your thermometer right next to the bed. Charting when your temperature rises will help you pinpoint when you tend to ovulate. It's a good idea to have plenty of sex in the couple of days leading up to that time, since

that rise in temperature indicate you've already ovulated.

Changed Cervical Position

The position of your cervix (the neck of the uterus) change slightly as ovulation nears, to ensure it's softer and more open when you're fertile - thereby making it easier for sperm to swim up through the cervix to meet the egg. To check its position, slide a clean finger into your vagina at an upwards angle. If ovulation isn't near, you should be able to feel your cervix (it feels like the tip of your nose) but if you are about to ovulate It'll be higher and more difficult to reach.

Tender Breasts

Your body treats every ovulation as a practice run for pregnancy, so pregnancy hormones build up on the offchance. Just as they cause tender breasts when you have hit the jackpot, they can cause tender breasts in the run up to ovulation.

The Countdown to your Next Period

If you have a regular monthly cycle, counting days in your menstrual cycle is the easiest way to track ovulation. If your cycle is say 30 days, the first day of your period will be around days 12-14 of your cycle. If you start using this method, it can help you work out the week when you're most likely to ovulate over the next few months and then you can plan to have sex at least every other day during that week. If your cycle is a bit shorter than 30 days (say 28 or 29) but still regular you can still use this method - just subtract 12 and 14 from the number of days in your cycle to find out the window when you're likely to ovulate. However, if you have irregular cycles or even miss periods from time to time this method probably won't work for you.

Pain and Spotting

About 20% of women experience something doctors call 'mittelschmerz', where the action of the egg bursting from its follicle on the ovary causes cramps on one side of the lower abdomen. You may also experience slight spotting that causes a pinkish tinge to your cervical mucus.

Bloating

Hormones released around ovulation tend to cause water retention which leads to bloating.

Heightened Senses

Many women say that their sense of vision, smell and taste are more heightened around the time they ovulate. Some women also have mood swings and feel a burst of energy prior to ovulation.

Positive Result on an Ovulation Predictor Test

Ovulation predictor kits work in a similar way to home pregnancy tests - you wee on a stick and it registers the presence of luteinizing hormone, which surges just before you're about to ovulate. The tests are expensive and if you ovulate irregularly you may go through more than one monthly kit at a time, but can be useful if you're finding it hard to recognise your body's signs of ovulation yourself.

Check out Our Ovulation Calendar

March 2012

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