How long does my egg live after ovulation

If you are trying to become pregnant, your chances will be improved if you have sex at a particular time of your cycle. Knowing when you ovulate – when an egg is released from your ovaries – is the key to knowing when that right time is.

When you are most fertile

The 5 days before ovulation, together with the day you ovulate, are the days when you are most likely to conceive. Sperm can live up to 5 days inside your body, so if you have sex up to 5 days before your egg is released, you can get pregnant. After ovulation, though, your egg can only live for 12 to 24 hours. After this time is up, your time for getting pregnant has gone for now till the following month.

Your chances of getting pregnant are at their highest in the 3 days leading up to and including ovulation.

Predicting ovulation

Ovulation usually happens about halfway through your menstrual cycle, about 14 days before the first day of your next period, but the exact time can vary. Although signs that you are about to ovulate can be subtle, there are some things you can pay attention to and track over time to help you predict your fertile window.

Changes in mucus

Noticing how your vaginal secretions change during your menstrual cycle is the basis of the Billings ovulation method. Around the time of ovulation, you may notice your secretion is clear, stretchy and slippery — similar to egg whites. After ovulation, when the chances of becoming pregnant drop, the secretion tends to become cloudy and thick, or disappear entirely.

Changes in body temperature

When you’ve just ovulated, your body temperature may increase very slightly, by about half a degree Celsius. If you’re using temperature as a means of keeping track of when you are most fertile, you need to use a special thermometer to take your temperature every morning before you get out of bed. If you record the readings every day using a graph or a spreadsheet, it’s possible to learn your pattern over time. The time when you are most fertile is 2 to 3 days before the rise in temperature.

Other signs

There may be other signs that you are near the time of ovulation, such as mild abdominal cramps, breast tenderness or increased sex drive. However, using these signs to predict when you’re fertile is not the most reliable method.

Using ovulation calculators and kits

Ovulation calendars and kits can also help you predict ovulation.

Ovulation calendars are available on websites such as www.yourfertility.org.au, and use the date of your last period and the length of your cycle to predict when you are likely to be most fertile.

Home ovulation predictor kits are available from pharmacies. You use the kit a few days before your predicted ovulation day, to test for a rise in the level of a hormone called luteinising hormone (LH) in your urine. A positive result indicates you will ovulate within the next 24 to 36 hours.

A blood test, which your doctor can order, can also detect ovulation by measuring levels of the hormone progesterone.

If you are trying to get pregnant, there are also a number of other things you should consider, such as taking folate, maintaining a healthy diet and making sure your vaccinations are up to date.

For more information and support, call Pregnancy, Birth and Baby on 1800 882 436.

When your’re having sex to conceive (or just for fun), it’s important to understand how long both eggs and sperm are viable after ovulation. This way you can time sex or contraceptives accurately.

Eggs are viable (available to be fertilized by a sperm cell) for about 12-24 hours after ovulation. However, sperm cells are viable in your reproductive tract for up to five days, meaning the fertile window can last six days total. It’s nearly impossible to know you’ve ovulated the moment you do, so it’s important to have regular intercourse in the days leading up to ovulation, not just that day.

During ovulation

During the first half of the menstrual cycle–known as the proliferative, or “follicular” phase–many eggs are developing in follicles in your ovaries, though this does not happen spontaneously. During the beginning of the proliferative phase, your body begins to produce a hormone known as GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone), which signals for FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) to begin stimulating your follicles to help mature your eggs, and prepare for ovulation.

Follicles produce and release estrogen as they grow, and when it becomes clear which egg is maturing best, the remainder will stop producing estrogen and disintegrate. This sole survivor has now solidified its place as the lone egg available for ovulation. At some point (usually about a day or two before you ovulate), the estrogen released by your dominant follicle reaches a certain threshold, which causes your brain to send instructions to release a new hormone, LH (luteinizing hormone). The surge in LH serves as instructions to your ovary saying, “hey ovary, release that egg!”

After ovulation

About a day or two after you notice the LH surge, your ovary will heed the hormone’s instructions, and release an egg into your fallopian tube, where it has plans to get together with your partner’s sperm cell–this is known as ovulation. At this time, your body will start producing the hormone progesterone, to help thicken your uterine lining and prepare it for pregnancy. If you had intercourse in the five days prior to ovulation, there may be a sperm cell waiting for your egg in the fallopian tube, although intercourse in the 12-24 hours after ovulation can also result in conception.

If your egg successfully meets a sperm and is fertilized within the day or so after ovulation, it will then travel towards your uterus, and implant in the uterine lining, where it will begin producing human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), the hormone that pregnancy tests search for, and continue the progesterone production. Implantation tends to happen about 7-10 days after fertilization.

If your egg is not fertilized, estrogen and progesterone production will stop, and the thickened uterine lining will begin to disintegrate. When progesterone drops to a certain level, it triggers a menstrual period, and the start of a new cycle.

How do I know if I’ve ovulated?

Some women notice one-sided abdominal cramping or lower backaches when they ovulate, but it’s not always so clear. However, there are certain methods that you can use to determine whether you ovulated, including monitoring your basal body temperature, and using ovulation test strips.

Your basal body temperature (BBT) may vary throughout the menstrual cycle, but it often does so in a consistent way. Women may sometimes notice a slight dip in basal body temperature immediately before ovulation, but there is a quite strong correlation between ovulation and a spike in BBT in the days following ovulation, due to the elevated level of progesterone. Tracking your BBT across multiple cycles can help you figure out how consistent your ovulations are from cycle-to-cycle.

Ovulation tests are another tool you can use to determine if ovulation occurred. Ovulation tests search your urine for the presence of LH, the hormone that spikes in the day or two before ovulation, so ovulation tests can help you identify up to three of your fertile days, as an egg is viable for up to 24 hours after ovulation.

Tracking your basal body temperature and ovulation tests, as well as your symptoms, moods, and cervical fluid are excellent methods of pinpointing your ovulation so that you’re able to have the intercourse needed to conceive while your egg is still viable.

Sources

•  “Determining Your Fertile Window” American Pregnancy Association. American Pregnancy Association. June 12, 2018. http://americanpregnancy.org/getting-pregnant/fertility-window/

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