How to know the fertile days?

The ovarian cycle

A normal ovarian cycle is 28 days, counting from the first day of menstruation to the first day of the next menstrual period.

• Follicular phase: it is the first phase of the cycle that begins on the first day of the period. In this phase the follicles of the ovary grow and one of them will be selected to reach the appropriate size to produce the ovum. The rest of the follicles undergo a process of atrophy and are reduced in size until they are not visualized.
• Ovulatory phase: the follicle selected in the follicular phase grows accumulating nutrients inside and an ovum develops in it. This follicle ends up breaking and expels the ovum to the outside. This occurs on day 14 of the cycle, two weeks after it starts.
• Luteal phase: once the ovum has been expelled, the remains of the follicle become the so-called corpus luteum, which produces the necessary hormones for the implantation of the ovum to take place, if any. In the absence of fertilization at the end of the luteal phase, these hormones decrease and menstruation occurs.

Fertile days

The fertile days are those in which the ovum is ready to be fertilized. Therefore, they are those of the ovulatory phase, on day 14 from the start of the rule, at which time the follicle is mature and opens to let the ovum out. They have a half-life of 48 hours and the ovum of between 12 and 24 hours, therefore there is a margin of days in which the woman can become pregnant despite not having intercourse at the precise moment of ovulation.

The follicle leaves the ovum loose in the abdomen and the fallopian tubes are responsible for collecting it to be able to put it in contact with the sperm that ascend from the vagina, through the uterus and through the fallopian tubes.

Fertile days if cycles are irregular

The standard cycles are 28 days, counting that ovulation occurs approximately on day 14. The follicular phase is the most variable in time, the luteal phase being more constant between 12-16 days. Therefore, patients with cycles that are longer would ovulate later than 14 days from the start of the rule (for example, if they are 35-day cycles, ovulation occurs approximately on day 21). If the cycles are short, ovulation occurs earlier, (for example, in patients with 21-day cycles, ovulation occurs on day 7 from the start of the rule).

There are women who notice a more mucous discharge, such as egg white, a little belly pain coinciding with ovulation, or they may even have a little brownish or somewhat reddish leakage.

FOR WHEN THE TIME COMES ...