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If we have a little UPSI (unprotected sexual intercourse, you can read all about it here), we frantically calculate when HE was or will be. If we want to have a child, we plan particularly romantic evenings around HIM during our fertile days. And a lot of stress can even prevent HIM entirely. Everything revolves around ovulation, the mostly unnoticed yet most influential moment of our female cycle.
What is ovulation?
The female menstrual cycle is determined by a delicate interplay and interaction of hormones. You can read about the exact phases here. There you will also learn about Heavy Bleeding and whether severe menstrual cramps are normal.
Here in short: A cycle begins with a total drop in estrogen levels and the onset of menstruation. After the bleeding, the estrogen level steadily rises again. This signals the pituitary gland (your brain gland) to release luteinizing hormone (LH).
LH causes a mature egg to be released from one ovary into the fallopian tube - “the egg has jumped”! This egg is now ready to be fertilized by a sperm for about 24 hours. So the mature egg must leave the ovary in order to become pregnant.
When does ovulation occur?
For a long time, it was assumed that the “jumping” of the egg takes place in the middle of the cycle. Today, however, we know that the duration of egg maturation is highly variable and can be influenced by many factors.
In a very short cycle, the egg can already be mature by the 8th day after menstruation begins. If egg maturation is delayed, the cycle will be correspondingly longer. After ovulation, it takes approximately 10-16 days until menstruation begins.
The time it takes for an egg to fully mature therefore actively influences your cycle length, which can vary from month to month and also differ from woman to woman. Calendar methods for determining fertile days, which are based on menstruation and average cycle lengths, are therefore rather unreliable. It is better to know your body's signals.
What symptoms does ovulation have?
Calculating ovulation is rather imprecise due to the cycle's susceptibility to influence, and the timing varies from woman to woman. However, if you observe your body well and especially regularly, you can recognize when ovulation is imminent based on a few characteristics.
The symptoms around ovulation:
- Cervical mucus: The cervix contains glands that secrete mucus. This mucus is thick and milky for most of the cycle. It is intended to prevent pathogens from ascending into the cervix. A kind of protective wall for the uterus. However, after ovulation, our organism welcomes a certain type of invader very much: sperm. And to make their long journey to the fallopian tubes as comfortable as possible, the consistency of the mucus changes due to the hormonal changes in the cycle. As ovulation approaches, the thick, cloudy mucus becomes increasingly thin and clear. The amount of mucus also increases. Around ovulation, the secretion is stretchy: if you pull the mucus between your fingers, threads form. Through this mucus, sperm can move particularly quickly, and fertilization becomes more likely. As soon as the egg has left the ovary, the mucus becomes thick and cloudy again. Nowadays, there are even apps that can assess your cervical mucus for you.
- Basal body temperature: If you measure your basal body temperature every morning, you can determine when ovulation occurred, as it causes your body temperature to rise. During the follicular phase, the body temperature averages 36.5°C. After ovulation, the temperature rises by at least 0.2°C. For this method to be reliable, you must make sure that you measure the temperature for at least 3 minutes at always the same place (mouth, vagina, or anus), at as much as possible always the same time of day, and immediately after waking up. A cycle calculator can help you with this. However, if you have a very irregular daily rhythm, for example because you work in shifts, this method may not be well suited for you.
- Cervix: In addition to temperature and the consistency of your cervical mucus, you can examine the condition of your cervix. At the beginning of the cycle, the cervix is closed. The cervix, which is so low at this time that it can be easily reached with the fingers, feels firm. During the fertile days, the cervix becomes soft and opens slightly. It is harder to reach with the fingers because the cervix has moved higher into the vagina.
- LH concentration: With an ovulation test, you can measure the LH concentration in your urine. It rises 24-36 h before ovulation.
- Mittelschmerz: Some women feel pain during ovulation, e.g., a strong pulling sensation in the abdomen. This pain in the lower abdomen can occur when the follicle bursts and releases the egg. However, for some menstruating women, the pain also occurs before ovulation. So the so-called Mittelschmerz can therefore be used to estimate the fertile period. Fun fact: Some women* can tell from the painful spot on which side of the ovaries the egg matured. Whether it happens on the left or right is purely random.
What influence does the pill have?
If you take a combined pill, the hormones in it prevent you from ovulating at all. So the pill takes away your body's normal hormonal cycle.
If you have taken the pill for a long time and stop taking it because you want to have a child, it can take up to 14 cycles for your hormonal balance to function normally again. A very major intervention in the physiological cycle of sex hormones, which can be accompanied by all kinds of other unwanted side effects.
I don't ovulate, what does that mean?
If ovulation does not occur once, this is no cause for concern. Ovulation is based on a hormonal rise, and as you may have already learned in previous articles, this hormone system is very sensitive and easily disrupted by factors such as stress, illness, taking medication, or excessive alcohol consumption.
Apart from that, the symptoms of ovulation may not be clearly noticeable to you. If you are unsure whether you have ovulated and you want to have a child, feel free to discuss it with your gynecologist.
If you have cycle fluctuations for a long time, you can confidently turn to your gynecologist. We will dedicate another article to so-called anovulation and how you can help the egg jump.
When are my fertile days?
Very important: the time in which you can become pregnant does not start only with the time of ovulation. Sperm have a lifespan of 5 days. So if you had unprotected sexual intercourse in the late follicular phase, it is possible that sperm can linger in the uterus and wait for the mature egg. The mature egg is ready for fertilization for about 24 hours. So it is 6 fertile days during which you can become pregnant.
One egg every day and sometimes two on Sundays?
Normally, only a single egg matures per cycle to the point where it can be released from the follicle into the fallopian tube. But numerous fraternal twins are living proof of the exception to the rule. Here, several ovulations occur within a few hours.
However, another ovulation later than one day is very unlikely, as the concentration of the hormone progesterone rises rapidly after ovulation and prevents further ovulations. If fertilization occurs, the fertilized egg ensures with the formation of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) that the progesterone level remains high and no further ovulations can take place.
So it is definitely recommended to familiarize yourself thoroughly with your own cycle. Because the knowledge of when your ovulation and fertile days are supports you on the one hand in determining the “hot” days when everything is allowed to revolve around just that one thing.
On the other hand, by carefully observing your body signals and the symptoms of ovulation, you can also use it as a reliable, hormone-free, and natural contraceptive method.
And last but not least, getting to know your body and your femininity gives you self-confidence and security. And what wonderful effects this can have on your sexuality again, we have shed some light on in our article on libido.
