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Become an Ovulation Detective
10 Ways to Know You're Fertile
By Teri Brown
Women not trying to conceive rarely give ovulation a second thought. For women trying to have a baby, ovulation becomes a mysterious occurrence on which the future hangs. Even understanding ovulation doesn't make it any easier to predict. So how can a woman trying to conceive pinpoint that all-important moment in her cycle when her body is releasing an egg for fertilization?
Dr. Eve Fienberg, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist from The Fertility Centers of Illinois, says a regular cycle and a little math is your best bet. "The biggest clue is regular, predictable menstrual cycles that are between 27 and 35 days apart," she says. "Ovulation occurs almost exactly 14 days prior to the first day of the next menstrual cycle. In other words, if cycles are 30 days apart (from the first day of bleeding of Cycle No. 1 to the first day of bleeding of Cycle No. 2) then ovulation occurs on day 16."
Dr. Andrew Levi, reproductive endocrinologist with Park Avenue Fertility & Reproductive Medicine in Trumbull, Conn., offers further clues. "It is not always easy for a woman to recognize when she is ovulating," he says. "However, there are some signs that might clue a woman into her own reproductive physiology. First, many women experience mittleschmertz, which is the mid-cycle pain associated with ovulation. Thus, many women experience discomfort as the cyst encapsulating the egg ruptures, releasing the unfertilized egg."
Lana Figgs of Westover, Md., knows exactly what ovulation pain feels like. "I had painful ovulation, when off contraception, so I was well aware of when I ovulated," she says. "It's worse than cramps ... The pain would be around the ovary producing the egg. The pain is like a pinching/stabbing cramp that at times would cause me to double over in pain. I only experienced the pain during ovulation, and it usually only lasted a few hours. Off contraception, my ovulation was also almost like clockwork, so I could schedule ahead of time when we were trying to conceive."
