Ovulation 101: Understanding Your Fertile Window

There’s a time every month when your body is trying to hook you up, like an in-built wingman you didn’t ask for. Suddenly, you find yourself wanting to text your sneaky link or that ex you swore you would never go back to.

It feels like a set-up.

Welcome to your fertile window, where your hormones are scheming, your discharge is doing things, and your body is pushing you to make a baby, even if it’s the last thing on your mind.

But what actually happens during ovulation and the fertile window? What’s the science behind the thirst trap your body is setting, and what are the signs to look out for? Let’s break it all down.

What Happens During Ovulation?

Every menstrual cycle, your body prepares for a possible pregnancy, and it does it in phases carefully controlled by hormones.

Ovulation is the main event when your ovary releases a mature egg that is ready to mingle with the fastest-swimming sperm that shows up. But this mature egg is a busy girl and she only sticks around for 12 to 24 hours. If there’s no sperm already waiting for her or if no sperm shows up to fertilise and make a baby within that time, she takes a bow, exits the stage, and your menstrual cycle continues.

But before the mature egg comes, your hormones are seriously setting the stage behind the scenes.

The Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) kicks things off by helping the tiny sacs in the ovaries that house immature eggs, called follicles, grow during the first phase of the menstrual cycle. Eventually, one follicle becomes dominant, the star girl if you will, and matures. Then, the Luteinising Hormone (LH) comes in and triggers the dominant follicle to release the mature egg, which leaves the ovary and goes to the fallopian tube for fertilisation to occur with a sperm. This process is called ovulation.

When Exactly Is The Fertile Window?

This is the real gist. Your fertile window is not just the day of ovulation! Let’s do the quick, simple math.

The egg, as we’ve mentioned, lives for 12 to 24 hours after it is released.
The sperm, on the other hand, is like a determined suitor and can survive for up to 5 days in your body, just waiting patiently for the egg to show up.

So, if you put it together, the fertile window is about 5 days before ovulation and 1 day after.

This means that even if you have sex 5 days before ovulation, your chances of pregnancy are still significant! And no, your body doesn’t exactly text you a reminder the day it starts, but there are useful hints, tips, and tricks you can use.

What are the Signs of Ovulation?

The fertile window varies from woman to woman because our bodies are beautifully different. If you have a 28-day cycle, you might ovulate on day 14. However, if you have a shorter or longer cycle, ovulation can happen earlier or later.

This is why you need to know how to listen to your body because it drops some useful signs that can help you figure out when you’re ovulating. Some of these clues include:

Changes in your vaginal discharge: Around ovulation, your vaginal discharge (cervical mucus) becomes clear, slippery, and stretchy, kind of like raw egg whites. This is your body’s way of making it easier for the sperm to swim.

Ovulation pain: You might feel some slight pain in one side of the lower part of your abdomen when the egg is released. This is also called Mittelschmerz, a German word that means “middle pain”, get it?

Slight temperature rise: After ovulation, your body’s temperature at rest, called the Basal Body Temperature, rises slightly, about 0.3°C. It’s really subtle and usually noticeable if you track it every day with a digital thermometer. It is not a real-time signal as this rise happens after ovulation. It also shouldn’t be solely relied upon, as other factors can cause an increase in your temperature.

Increased sex drive: Let’s be honest, we’ve all been here. Your libido might go from a 2 to 100 out of nowhere, and your partner might look extra edible. Or worse, that one whom you promised you’ve blocked, buried, and forgotten starts looking…inviting. It’s your hormones speaking.

Breast tenderness and bloating: Thanks (or not) to your hormones, you might experience some sore boobs, light bloating, or a little water retention.

You can also use an ovulation predictor kit, a pee-on-a-stick test, which tests for the LH surge that happens right before ovulation.

Sometimes, ovulation doesn’t occur, and this is known as anovulation. It could be due to medical conditions like Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, thyroid disorders, certain medications like hormonal birth control, weight changes, or even stress. If you’re not ovulating regularly, and it is of concern to you, please speak to your doctor.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re trying to conceive or avoid making babies, understanding your fertile window and ovulation is one of the ultimate cheat codes. Learn it, track it, and use it to your advantage.

If you’re trying to conceive and would like to speak to a fertility specialist or a gynaecologist, head over here to have a consultation with our team!