Every woman understands that they have a period each and every month. Some even understand a little bit about their menstrual cycle such as calculating when it will start next month and about how many days it will last. However, besides that most women do not realize their ovulation cycle is different from their menstrual cycle.
The menstrual cycle is when the body is talking about the uterine lining and the cycle that it goes through from building up hormonally for pregnancy and then shedding what it does not need during menstruation. Ovulation is the development of follicles until they are released from the ovary and the development of the corpus luteum.
Both of these cycles are connected and work together like a well-oiled machine to create female fertility.
Before a little girl is born and is still in her mother's womb somewhere between 14 and 20 weeks gestation all the eggs that she will ever have are produced. Normally, this is around seven million. This number drastically reduces before birth and the new baby girl ends up with only around two million. These eggs called oocytes are protected and nourished by follicle cells until the time of menopause. A girl by the time of her first period has already lost several thousand eggs and only has around 300,000 left. Many of these oocytes never mature and ovulate; they will die and be reabsorbed into the ovaries.
The best way to calculate when you will ovulate so you can have intercourse on your most fertile days is to use an ovulation calculator. You can find several online that give you an idea of when you should ovulate.
Without using an ovulation calculator you can still get a pretty good idea. If you are having regular menstrual cycles and know that your cycle is 28 days or 30 days in between then you can get the ovulation days with good accuracy. If you had a period on let's say January 15 th , this is the day your period started then you must know when your next period will start. Check a calendar and count to the amount of days that are normally between your periods either 28 or 30 days. Now, subtract 14 to 16 days from that date. This is when you should ovulate. The best way to ensure that you can get pregnant is to have intercourse just before you ovulate or right after, such as the day before you calculated or the day after the days, you calculated.
