If you are trying to get pregnant then you need to know when you are most fertile. That is the time in your menstrual cycle when you are most fertile called The fertile window.

We’re talking about the days in a woman’s menstrual cycle when pregnancy is possible. Pregnancy is technically possible during the 2 days leading up to ovulation and the day of ovulation.

So from the start of one period to the start of the next period, the ‘fertile window’ is these three days… The important intimate days for baby making

What is ovulation?

Ovulation is when a mature egg is released from the ovary, picked up by the fallopian tube, and is available to be fertilized. For PCOS women though, ovulation can be irregular making it more difficult to predict that fertile window.

How does a woman know when she’s ovulating?

If you are not sure about when you are ovulating then read below are some signs that you may see or feel …these may indicate ovulation is occurring, or about to occur:

• Mucus changes – around the time of ovulation a woman may notice her vagina’s mucus is slick and slippery.
• Abdominal pain – some women experience pain during ovulation. The pain may be general or on one side of the abdomen.
• Premenstrual symptoms – premenstrual symptoms such as breast tenderness, abdominal bloating and moodiness may accompany ovulation.
• You can use Basal body temperature readings . With ovulation you will notice a small rise in your basal temperature (the body’s lowest temperature, usually measured upon waking) after ovulation has occurred. The temperature rise is about half a degree Celsius. This temperature rise does not predict ovulation – it suggests that ovulation has already taken place.

An Easy Method To Estimate your ovulation period:

1. Work out the length of your average menstrual cycle. Day One is the first day of the menstrual period and the last day is the day before the next period begins.
2. Ovulation happens about 14 days before the start of a period so if you have a 28 day cycle, ovulation happens on day 14 and the ‘fertile window’ starts about day 11. If you have longer cycles, say 35 days between periods, ovulation happens on day 21 and the ‘fertile window’ starts on day 19. If you have very short cycles, say 21 days, ovulation happens on day 7 and your ‘fertile window’ would start on day 5.
3. An easy way to estimate when you are most likely to get pregnant is to subtract 16 days from the average length of your menstrual cycle.

If you have very irregular/infrequent menstrual cycles then it will be difficult to know when you may be about to ovulate., unless you can feel the above signs I mentioned.

In this case, more frequent sex ….say at least 3 times a week may help pick the appropriate fertile day. Otherwise I would recommend getting advice from your doctor.