Ovulation timing is different for every woman. This was a concept a lot of women in my practice didn’t even know about when we started working together. They always just assumed they ovulate on day 14, like all the books and magazines have always said.This is only true for 5% of women.
If you’ve been tracking your cycle, and going off of when your app is telling you you’re ovulating you also might be missing that optimal window. Your app does not know when you ovulate.
Crazy right?
The truth is all those period tracker apps just take an average of all the cycles you’ve logged and give you a guess based on your average mid cycle. Which might catch the window, but it also might not.
There are a few things we need to track in fertility apps besides when your period starts and stops in order to really know what’s going on with our body.
If you don’t use a period track or fertility app, the first step is to download one. There are lots of different free options. I like to use Kindara, as it has a lot of free capability and it’s pretty. Whichever app you choose make sure it is capable of tracking basal body temperature.
Now that you have your app, you might feel overwhelmed with all the different things you can track. Here’s what’s actually important to determine ovulation:
First, it’s super easy to just track your period. If you’re someone who’s not looking to get pregnant but just wants to keep track of your periods, this might be the only function you need. Below is a picture of Kindara. It’s as simple as clicking your flow level.
You can then continue throughout your period to track your flow, or if you get spotting before or after.
Second, we need to track your cervical mucus. If you’re not sure what I mean by that I’m basically talking about your vaginal discharge. Discharge is this weird, taboo, unspoken topic.
When it comes to fertility, if you’ve worked with me, you’ll know I always say “mucus is king”. We need to see a very specific texture and colour of discharge in your cycle to know that you are ovulating and/or are fertile.
Right before ovulation your body will start producing egg white cervical mucus (EWCM). This is your main fertility sign. It typically starts 1-3 days prior to ovulation and may continue for a day after. It literally looks and feels like raw egg whites. It’s clear, very stringy and stretchy, and when you wipe will feel very slippery. Some women may see it come out in globs, some might not see it at all but will feel the slippery sensation.
EWCM is the best sign ovulation is coming. Your body prepares for welcoming sperm to fertilize the egg by producing this basic fluid. It allows the sperm to survive in the vaginal canal for up to 5 days and gives them a super slippery roadway to swim up to the egg as quickly as possible.
The last ovulation predictor is BBT. Basal body temperature tracking doesn’t tell you when you’re ovulating but actually tells you IF you ovulated. This makes it not a great tool for planning baby making unless done proactively to help determine optimal timing. You can read more about BBT here.
We recommend starting preconception care 3-6 months prior to when you actually want to get start trying. This way you are ensuring best quality egg and sperm to make a healthy baby. Preconception care also includes tracking and learning about your cycle and ovulation.
Often times fertility issues can be because of poor timing. Don’t let this be you, be proactive with your fertility and start tracking today.
If you’d like to learn more about how HHA fertility can help, click here to book a discovery call with one of our practitioners today.