What days should i try to get pregnant

Progesterone increases after ovulation, so when your basal body temperature rises and remains high for at least a few days, this means that you probably ovulated just before you observed the rise. When checking your cervical mucus , you're monitoring your vaginal secretions. Your vaginal discharge changes throughout your cycle and takes on distinct characteristics when you are approaching ovulation when it becomes stretchy and more mucus-like. When it resembles raw egg whites, you're probably at your most fertile time of the month.

The saliva ferning test is an at-home test that uses a microscope to examine a sample of saliva. A ferning test can be useful for some women, and hard to interpret for others. A ferning pattern, which appears like frost under a microscope, can also be a sign of ovulation. There are many online and smartphone apps that track ovulation cycles. The more accurate ones require you to input your basal body temperature or cervical mucus changes, but even a simple app can help you pinpoint what are likely to be your most fertile days if your periods are very regular.

You need to input when you get your period so the app will learn your cycle, and tell you when you're most likely to be ovulating. How often you should have sex depends on your own personal preference as a couple, and whether or not there are any male infertility issues , such as sperm count problems.

Experts advise that you don't have sex more than once per day. It may seem that more sex would equal a better chance of pregnancy, but actually, having sex too frequently may decrease the number of healthy sperm. While some women feel empowered by tracking ovulation, others just feel anxious and overwhelmed by it all.

Whatever method of ovulation tracking you choose—checking your temperature every morning, using ovulation detection strips, checking your saliva for ferning, checking your cervical mucus, or all of the above—paying close attention to your cycles and ovulation signs can be emotionally exhausting. If timing sex for ovulation is causing anxiety, you can instead just rely on regularly timed sex. In these cases, experts suggest having sex every week, about every other day.

Following this schedule, you're bound to have sex at least once during your fertile window, even without tracking your cycle. Aim to have sex at least three to four times a week, throughout your cycle. There is a theory that semen may be helpful to the developing embryo. This means that sex after ovulation , and after you've conceived in fact, may help your pregnancy "stick. If you're happy to spend time tracking and detecting ovulation, then you can be sure to have sex during your most fertile time.

If sperm counts are normal or healthy, then it's best to have sex every day that you:. If you chart your basal body temperature, you can know the approximate day you ovulated each month—but only after the fact. In this case, you should have sex for the three days before you expect to ovulate and possibly on the day you expect to ovulate, too.

However, you should still have sex throughout your cycle, just to keep the sperm quality in tip-top shape. You should also aim to provide time to enjoy sex without a baby-making mission attached. If sperm counts are borderline normal or on the lower side, the general recommendation is to have sex every other day during the fertile window.

For example, if on Monday you get your first positive ovulation predictor test result, or you see fertile cervical mucus, you should have sex on Monday, skip Tuesday, and then again on Wednesday, skip Thursday, and once more on Friday. The day in between will help replenish the sperm supply, possibly increasing your chances of pregnancy. Some research on fertility treatment found a slight increase in pregnancy rates when women remained on their backs after artificial insemination.

One thing you should pay attention to is the lubricant you use if you use any. Make sure you choose sperm-friendly lube because many regular lubricants can damage sperm. When you're eager to get pregnant, it's easy to over-complicate things. It's true that you're more likely to conceive quickly if you have sex during your fertile window, but it's also true that if you and your partner are healthy and have sex frequently all month, you're likely to get pregnant eventually.

There is a lot of pressure online within fertility support groups to use as many ovulation tracking methods as possible. It can be helpful, enlightening, and even fun to track your cycles, but it can also become stressful. Do what works best for you and your partner. If you don't get pregnant after trying for one year or after six months, if you're over 35 , see your doctor.

Get diet and wellness tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy. Mazokopakis EE, Samonis G. Is vaginal sexual intercourse permitted during menstruation? A biblical Christian and medical approach. Maedica Buchar. Fertility and aging: Do reproductive-aged Canadian women know what they need to know? Fertil Steril. Achieving pregnancy using primary care interventions to identify the fertile window. Front Med Lausanne.

Cervical mucus monitoring prevalence and associated fecundability in women trying to conceive. Insights into the role of cervical mucus and vaginal pH in unexplained infertility.

Fertility in the cycle predicts women's interest in sexual opportunism. See more conditions. Healthy Lifestyle Getting pregnant. Products and services. How to get pregnant If you're hoping to conceive, don't leave it to luck. By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references Hornstein MD, et al. Optimizing natural fertility in couples planning pregnancy.

Accessed Sept. Welt CK. Evaluation of the menstrual cycle and timing of ovulation. Sackey JA. The preconception office visit. Infertility FAQs. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed May 10, Jennings V. Fertility awareness-based methods of pregnancy prevention. Hatcher RA, et al. Contraceptive Technology. New York, N. Frequently asked questions. Yours may be 21 days, 35 days or somewhere in between — and that's completely fine, fertility-wise.

Now, time for some math. The first half of the cycle the follicular phase varies from woman to woman. But the second half the luteal phase is usually the same for all of us: 14 days, though it can be 12 days. That means if you get your period 28 days after the last one began, for example, then you'll likely ovulate on day 14 or The more regular your periods are, the more helpful this method will be.

But what if you have irregular periods? You'll want to be more alert to additional signs of ovulation, which are described below. When is the last time you checked your underwear? Or, ahem, felt your down-there discharge?

It may sound odd, but your cervical mucus CM can provide a tip-off to when sex will be most fruitful. You're looking for discharge that feels like egg whites, which indicates your body's in ovulation mode.

Once you start monitoring your CM all month, you'll see a pattern: You'll likely be dry for several days to a week after your period. Next, your CM may get sticky for a day or two. Then, on around day eight, it will amp up and turn creamy; it could be white or pale yellow. The next stage is the biggie: ovulation mucus. Your discharge will not only be plentiful but slippery and stretchy so much so that if you pull it between two fingers, it will stretch up to a few inches!

This egg-white stage is a clue that you're ovulating — and you and your partner may want to skip dinner and a movie and get busy being intimate. Incidentally, that CM texture is nature's way of ensuring sperm make their way to the egg. Finally, after ovulation day, you may become drier down there.

You can check your own cervix for signs of fertility no stirrups or speculum necessary. The cervix changes over the course of a monthly cycle, going from firm, closed and low in the vagina to higher up, soft and open thanks to estrogen around ovulation.

These changes make it more welcoming to swimming sperm. And you can actually feel the difference — if you're willing to get hands-on. Here's how you feel yourself up. Sitting on the toilet or squatting, insert a clean finger with a short fingernail into your vagina.

Record what you feel over the month. You can keep track on paper or — easier yet! Throughout the month, also pay attention to your vaginal lips. You may notice they're more swollen or full when you're ovulating. Another clue that you're at your most fertile point is mid-cycle abdominal pain.

Called mittelschmerz it means "middle pain" in German , this cramping may be mild or painful; it often happens on one side, by the ovary that's releasing an egg. But it also can be an allover ache. Don't worry if you never feel a thing, though — only about one in five women have mittelschmerz. Changes in your body temperature can be another heads-up that you're ready to roll.