Ovulation is crucial to getting pregnant, but many don't know much about it. A woman's body must release an egg for a man's sperm to fertilize, known as ovulation.
Various factors affect ovulation, including conditions like PCOS and other hormonal disorders. If you're not ovulating, you won't be able to get pregnant without the help of a fertility specialist.
Dr. Eduardo Valdes and the Collaborative Women's Care team in Miami, Florida, offer prenatal appointments and fertility services for women who are ready to get pregnant or have trouble conceiving.
Dr. Valdes is an OB/GYN specialist who helps women understand ovulation and how it affects the chances of getting pregnant.
Ovulation is the process in a woman's body where the ovary releases a mature egg that travels through the fallopian tubes for a sperm to fertilize.
The egg lives in the fallopian tube for up to 24 hours, waiting for a sperm to find and fertilize it. If this happens, conception occurs, and the fertilized egg travels to the uterus, where it implants, leading to pregnancy.
Ovulation typically occurs on day fourteen of a twenty-eight-day menstrual cycle. However, it varies from woman to woman, and many conditions affect ovulation, including:
Other factors that affect fertility other than ovulation include ovarian insufficiency, endometriosis, and uterine fibroids.
It's crucial to understand that ovulation must occur for pregnancy to happen naturally. If you're not ovulating, you may need fertility help to conceive.
The key to conceiving naturally is understanding when you're ovulating. There are sure signs you can look out for to verify ovulation is about to occur, including:
As ovulation approaches, you'll notice more cervical mucus and vaginal secretions. Right before ovulation, the cervical mucus becomes thin and slippery, with a consistency similar to egg whites.
When ovulation is over, the secretions become thicker, cloudy, and much less noticeable. It's essential to check your cervical mucus daily to find the best time to have sex if you're trying to get pregnant.
The basal body temperature method is an accurate way to track ovulation. Your body temperature rises during ovulation, and you can track this with a specific basal body temperature thermometer.
The only way to get accurate results is to take your temperature before you leave bed each morning and keep a graph of the results. You should notice a slight increase in temperature during ovulation, which shows you the two to three days before you're most fertile.
You can also track ovulation through a pregnancy app or calendar. If you have a regular menstrual cycle, you can usually figure that you'll ovulate about two weeks into your cycle, two weeks before your next period.
There are other signs of impending ovulation, but they aren't as scientific as the other methods. Some women experience breast tenderness, bloating, and cramping right before and during ovulation.
To get pregnant naturally, ovulation must occur during your cycle, and sperm must penetrate and fertilize the egg.
However, many factors affect female ovulation, including lifestyle, medical conditions, and stress. Even when religiously tracking ovulation, it's easy to miss the fertile window because of variations in your body.
It's as simple as if you don't ovulate; you can't get pregnant. Women suffering from PCOS are highly susceptible to anovulation, making it nearly impossible to get pregnant independently.
You don't have to lose hope if you're not ovulating or getting pregnant on your own; Dr. Valdes offers infertility evaluations and treatments to help restore ovulation and improve your odds of conceiving.
Call our office today at 305-200-3878 to discuss pregnancy with Dr. Valdes or schedule a consultation online.
