Becoming pregnant is something many women think will happen quickly once the decision is made to become a mother. For a variety of reasons, sometimes pregnancy does not happen as quickly as desired. There are several things that can be done to increase the chances of becoming pregnant each cycle, none of which require stepping foot in a doctor's office.
Understand Your Cycle
Ovulation occurs when an egg is released by the ovary and occurs only once per month, around the middle of the menstrual cycle. On an average 28 day cycle, ovulation occurs around day 14. For women with cycles longer or shorter than 28 days, the ovulation day may differ slightly. According to the website Taking Charge of Your Fertility, a woman's egg can only survive 24 hours when not fertilized by a sperm. Therefore, a woman's fertile window is very small, only one day per month.
Chart Your Cycle
Determining your ovulation date can be done by charting your basal body temperature each morning. Ideally, charting should begin several months before you would like to conceive. Charting is done by taking your temperature each morning at the same time, using a basal thermometer which reads to the 100th of a degree for greater accuracy. After ovulation occurs, your temperature will increase and remain elevated until pregnancy occurs or the cycle comes to an end. For assistance in understanding your chart, sites such as Fertility Friend offer a free online charting program. Charting for several months will allow you to see patterns in your ovulation date, enabling you to predict it with greater accuracy.
Test for Ovulation
Unlike basal body temperature charting, testing for ovulation allows you to catch ovulation before it occurs. Ovulation predictor kits test for luteinizing hormone, which increases 24 hours prior to release of the egg. Ovulation tests display two parallel lines, similar to pregnancy tests. A positive ovulation test, however, only occurs when the test line is as dark as or darker than the control line. For simplicity, monitors such as the Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor display easy-to-read results without confusing lines.
Plan Sex
An overwhelming reason many couples do not achieve pregnancy when no medical problems exist is mistiming sexual intercourse. According to the Mayo Clinic, having sex each day near the time of ovulation can increase the chance of achieving a pregnancy. In order to catch the egg, it is important to have sex before ovulation occurs, or even on the day of ovulation. Anything after the ovulation date has missed the fertile window.
