Signs of Approaching Ovulation
If you’re following me on Instagram, you know that I had a surf accident. With all the ‘bad’ luck I’m having, I’m also having a lot of good luck. I’m so lucky that I have no lasting problems from Covid and only fractured my cheekbone / the bruises are internal from the surf accident.
Anyway, that’s a little about me. I wanted to tell you a little something about ovulation today.
Most of us don’t really know much about ovulation. Ovulation is actually the key event in our menstrual cycle. Without it, you won’t have a true period.
Ovulation is important for when you’re trying to prevent or achieve pregnancy but also for our overall health. When you’re ovulating, it means that your body is releasing an egg from the ovary. When we are trying to achieve pregnancy, we want the sperm there to fertilise the egg.
Fertility Awareness is the practice of observing and charting physical signs of fertility that occur during our cycle and using the data to determine the days you are fertile and the days you are not.
There are different Fertility Awareness Methods and each have their own rules and biomarkers. For today, I will briefly outline different biomarkers that indicate ovulation is approaching or has already happened.
1. Cervical fluid/mucus (CM) – Probably the most important. As you approach ovulation, your CM will become more wet, stretchy and like raw egg-white. Making it an optimal environment for sperm survival. Without it, sperm only survives a few hours.
2. Cervical Position – This one is a little bit more challenging. Your cervical position changes around ovulation. The cervix moves up, becomes open, softer and more moist. You will only notice the difference if you’re observing it daily. You can do this by cleaning your fingers, squat down and feet around for your cervix. I do this daily in the shower, it only takes a few seconds.
3. LH testing strips – They test for the Luteinizing hormones in urine. LH will surge 24-36 hours prior to ovulation. You do need to note that some women (potentially with PCOS) may have an LH surge BUT do not ovulate afterwards so this one cannot be relied on without a second biomarker.
4. Basal Body Temperature (BBT) – measuring your temperature daily upon waking at the same time (after at least 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep) will give you insights into whether you have ovulated. You will notice a clear different between pre-ovulation and post-ovulation temperatures because progesterone rises after ovulation.
Do you know where in your cycle you are? Have you already ovulated?
Keep me posted if you’ve found this informative!!!
Love and Light,
Odette