What happens to your body during ovulation?

If you are a couple who has been trying to have a baby for a long time but you are repeatedly failing at it, there can be several reasons behind it. Now, of course, there can be so many reasons like natural infertility, excessive stress, smoking, or extra alcohol consumption. But one of the most common reasons is not having sex at the appropriate time. To enhance your chances of getting pregnant, you need to plan your sexual activity around your fertile period. But how do you understand your fertile period? It is during your ovulation phase. Now, there are several ways of guessing your ovulation phase. In this blog, we have explained everything regarding ovulation and pregnancy. Read on.

When does a woman’s ovulation start?

Ovulation is a monthly phenomenon for every woman in their menstruating age. Usually, around the 14th day of a 28-day menstrual cycle, ovulation in a woman takes place. Between days 6 and 14 of your menstrual cycle, the follicles in women’s ovaries start to mature.

It is known as the follicular phase. Between days 10-14, the egg develops in one of these follicles, and on the 14th day, the egg is finally released. Now, why do you think you should keep track of this 14th day? Because the time of ovulation in a woman’s fertile time and the chances of pregnancy are much higher.

How long does the egg released during ovulation last?

The egg released from ovulation stays in the fallopian tube for about 12 to 48 hours maximum. However, the fertile phase may remain up to 7-10 days even. You should always plan your sex for pregnancy one or two days before you ovulate. So, it is basic common sense that even though your total fertile window might last up to 10 days, you need to have intercourse as close to the ovulation as possible.

How long does the egg wait for the sperm?

After the egg is released from the follicle, the luteal phase starts. The follicles develop into a yellow mass known as corpus luteum on the release of follicle-stimulating hormone. The corpus luteum shoots up your progesterone levels that make your uterus lining thick again, preparing it for the egg. Once the egg is released, it waits for the sperm for about 24-48 hours in the fallopian tube. Your estrogen levels drop during this time. This phenomenon takes place approximately two weeks before your next period.

How long do you ovulate on ovulation day?

If you are trying to get pregnant, knowing when and for how long you ovulate is crucial. As discussed earlier, on average, your ovulation lasts for about 12 to 48 hours after the egg is released. Ovulation happens when the levels of luteinizing hormone surge.

So during each menstrual cycle, your ovulation occurs just one time. But the sperm can survive in your reproductive tract for about five days. Therefore, the chance of pregnancy is highest between 5 days before ovulation and 24 hours after ovulation.

What are the signs of ovulation in a woman?

Monitoring the signs of ovulation is very important when you are trying to get pregnant. Here are a few common ovulation symptoms:

• Fertile cervical mucus:

  One of the most prominent signs is a release of thick cervical mucus pre-ovulation. The consistency of cervical mucus during that period is very high and sticky, almost like a raw white egg. The best time to have sex for pregnancy is when your cervical mucus is white egg-like or watery. This fertile cervical mucus is released from your vagina to help male sperms enter your reproductive system. The mucus also makes the process of sexual intercourse much less painful and full of pleasure.

• Increased basal body temperature: 

  Do you know what is basal body temperature (BBT)? It is your body temperature during your body at rest. Though it is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, it can sometimes vary on certain days of the month or slightly throughout the day. Your activity level, elevated hormones, diet, sleeping patterns, etc., everything affects it. When you are in your fertile period, the temperature slightly rises.

Here’s how you can detect it:

You need to regularly check your basal body temperature using a basal body thermometer every morning. Schedule a fixed time for it before you use the washroom.

If you are suffering from irregular ovulation cycles, your doctor can diagnose it with the help of basal body temperature charting.

There are so many free websites and apps on the internet for easy basal body temperature tracking.

• Change in cervical position: 

  Let us imagine that your vagina is a tunnel. Your cervix is then the end part of that tunnel. Throughout your menstrual cycle, its status will keep changing. Just before ovulation induction, the cervix will go up at a higher position. You will also see that it has opened slightly, and it is much softer to touch. It is something you can track and take notes about to detect your day of ovulation.

• Tenderness in breasts: 

  Your breasts will automatically feel much different when you are ovulating. The hormone surge in your body post-ovulation usually leads to this tenderness. You can be conscious of this change so that you can track your ovulation better. Though it is difficult to predict ovulation this way, breast tenderness is a significant sign of ovulation. Though at times, tender breasts can also be the side-effect of excessive consumption of fertility drugs.

• Ovulation pain:

  If you notice sharp abdominal pain randomly and the time is somewhere in the middle of your menstrual cycle, you are probably ovulating. Most women suffer from ovulation pain every month. It is the time of the month when the woman is most fertile. Sexual intercourse at this time can improve the chances of a woman getting pregnant by several times.

• Increased sexual desire: 

  Just right before ovulation, you might notice that your passion for sexual activity has gone up. It can be a good sign for you to participate in sexual activity to improve the chances of pregnancy. Even if you cannot detect any of these symptoms in your body, you can use ovulation predictor kits to ensure if you are going through ovulation at a particular time. It comes with a stick or a cup in which you need to urinate. Once you place the test strips in it and the test line is darker than the control line, the test is positive.

How does your body feel during ovulation?

During ovulation, several hormonal as well as physiological changes occur in a woman’s body. This can cause a constant feeling of discomfort. Here are some of the symptoms you can look out for:

1. Due to the change in AMH levels and drop in estrogen levels, you can feel sick. Nausea and headache are the two most common symptoms.
2. During the ovulation phase, your sense of smell and taste can get heightened. In the latter half of the normal menstrual cycle, if you notice that your sensitivity for smell and taste has gone up, it indicates that you are going through ovulation.
3. One of the most common symptoms of ovulation is light brown discharge or spotting. This happens due to the rupture of the follicle that surrounds the oocyte. This causes slightly reddish vaginal discharge during ovulation. But if you see the bleeding is not temporary and goes on, you need to consult your doctor. Often, this can be a sign of infection and even ectopic pregnancy.

Why do most women feel awful during ovulation?

Do you feel irritable and annoyed at all times during ovulation? So many hormonal changes go through a woman’s body during ovulation that it is likely to cause mood swings and depression. 12 to 36 hours before ovulation, the levels of luteinizing hormone go up drastically. This sudden spike can mess with your digestive system, which makes you feel nauseated all the time.

The ovulation pain is also at times worse than period cramps which can make you feel sick to the stomach and irritable. You can either experience mild discomfort constantly or sharp, intermittent pain. You might even feel a twinge of a painful sensation in your lower abdomen at the time of ovulation, which is known as Mittelschmerz.

You can apply a heating pad or take anti-inflammatory medication like Naprosyn, Tylenol, Advil, etc. However, if you are trying to conceive, it is better not to use any of these since they can affect your conception and implantation.

Why do most women feel sleepy during ovulation?

Progesterone is one of the hormones that control a woman’s sleep cycle. During the ovulatory or luteal phase, there is a rapid spike in this hormone. It makes women feel more sleepy than usual. Also, during this phase, there is a drop in the melatonin and cortisol levels.

These hormones are cues for your brain to help you fall asleep at night. Both these hormones play massive roles in your sleep-wake cycle. Cortisol helps you remain awake, whereas melatonin promotes sleep. So a disbalance in both these hormones can make your body feel more fatigued.

Thus, you tend to sleep even more. Also, during the period of ovulation, significant physical and emotional changes occur in a woman’s body. It can lead to premenstrual syndrome (PMS). And since our sleep cycle depends a lot on our mood, you can either feel too sleepy or even feel insomniac at times.

Is 40 years too old to have a baby?

We are having a baby after the age of 40 has its complications. It differs from woman to woman. However, there have been several advances in technology that makes delivery safe even after 40.

Few of the problems that can occur in pregnancy after 40:

• Congenital disabilities, such as down syndrome.
• Miscarriage
• Low birth weight
• Ectopic pregnancy

The fertility of eggs also significantly reduces after the age of 40, even in healthy women. So conception becomes much more difficult. There are many risk factors associated with increased age, such as:

• Unhealthy eggs
• Improper release of eggs from ovaries
• Health conditions can lead to zero fertility.
• A fewer number of eggs left to fertilize
• Preeclampsia
• Chromosomal abnormalities

The number of oocytes in women also significantly reduces after the age of 30. If you have been unsuccessful months after months in getting pregnant after 40, you should immediately consult a specialist. You need to get tests done to check if your body is fit and capable for pregnancy with kits like OV-Watch Fertility Predictor. If not, you might take the assistance of the following:

1. Fertility drugs: These drugs help in elevating the hormones that promote healthy ovulation.
2. Assisted reproductive technology (ART): In this process, your eggs will be removed from your body and frozen separately in a lab. After this, they are again inserted back into the uterus. You can even opt for a surrogate mother.

Pregnancy after 40 might also be relatively more painful due to loss in bone density with age and joint ache. Gestational diabetes and high blood pressure are common conditions in late pregnancy due to increased body fat. Vaginal delivery after 40 can be very stressful on the body. So it is better to go for cesarean delivery.