have always been confused about this. . .

[jenb]

how do you know the exact day you start ovulating? there is that whole subtracting 14 days to something. . . or something along those lines and i never really understood that. if someone could explain it to me as simple as possible that would be great! and how long does it last?

 

and also, is it 2weeks AFTER or BEFORE your period that you are most fertal?

 

thank you!

[Heretic]

Recent studies have shown women ovulate more then once during a cycle.

 

Keeping this in mind there is no SAFE day to have unprotected sex, except maybe during your period. Typically it's 14 days after the start of your period.

 

You have to remember that the model you learned in high-school was a VERY dumbed down version, and the actual process is never that predictable. If you're having unprotected sex you should be using a contraceptive. Unless you're trying to get pregnant.

 

In that case you typically want to start trying for a baby 3 days after your period ends until about 14 days. That seems like a huge window, but the actual window is 2 days before the egg drops and 2 days after. So a total of five days approx. This is because sperm can survive up to 3 days and eggs about the same.

 

Keep in mind these are all GROSS generalizations. There is no answer, unless you track your cycles for a couple years. Then you can begin to figure it out. It's still a lot of guess work. Every woman is different.

 

I hope this helps.

 

P.S. edit

 

Since you're most fertile around the middle of your cycle it's both 2 weeks before and after.

[Jimbo10]

umm, Heretec are you a Librarian? how did you know that off the top of your head? or did ya go out of your way to provide information?

[jenb]

thank you to Heretic for explaining!

[Heretic]

I'm studying biology, and I'm going into medicine *figners crossed* next year.

 

It's not all that much I just elaborate a lot, so it seems lie there's more information there then there really is.

 

I can put it in point form for yah:

 

What you learned in high school really wasn't the best model.

Average cycle 28 days, 7 days menstruation, 5 days fertile.

Sperm and Eggs live about 3 days.

The peak period is around day 10 and can go as late as day 21.

Most women are capable of ovulating more then once per cycle.

Every woman has a different cycle that can be tracked for better estimation you the actual ovulation.

There is no safe time to have unprotected sex.

 

See not much there at all. It's pretty basic and if you've had it force fed to you a few dozen times you'll remember.

[SweetGemini]

I did research on this subject and ovulation occurs after 14 days for a woman who has a regular cycle of 28 days. If you do not have a regular cycle of 28 days then ovulation will occur 14 days before you menstruate... give or take 2 days after and before this day.. hence 5 days of the month when you are the most fertile.. have in mind that sperm can actually live up to 7 days inside you... so even if you have unprotected sex on one of your "safe" days then you still have the chance conceiving..

 

always use some form of EFFECTIVE contraception....

 

These sites may also help...

 

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[fittsdawg]

jenb,

There IS a better way to know when you ovulate.

 

First, some facts:

+heretic is correct that a woman can ovulate twice in a cycle, but when this happens it is always within 24 hours of the first ovulation.

+an egg survives 24 hours after ovulation if it hasn't been fertilized

+there is no way to tell when you will ovulate that second time, so it is safe to assume that there will always be a viable egg for 2 days (as Heretic suggested.)

+sperm can survive up to 5 days in a fertile woman's body

+pregnancy is a natural result of sex and there is NO 100% effective method of birth control (although the pill, norplant, and Natural Family Planning all have a proven 99% effective rate when practiced CORRECTLY)

 

There are three signs that you can chart in your body in order to determine when you ovulate:

+basal waking temperature (oral)

+quality and quantity of interior and exterior mucus

+height, softness, and diameter of cervix

 

As your body prepares for ovulation, you will have more and stretchier vaginal mucus, both internally and externally; your cervix will lift up, soften, and increase in diameter (to prepare an environment healthy for sperm.) When your basal waking temperature rises by 4/10 of a degree in a few days time after being low for almost a week, you know that ovulation has occurred (due to the extended release of progesterone that should accompany ovulation.)

 

It takes about 6 months of charting before you can reliably predict your fertile time.

 

Isn't your body beautiful?