During the average woman's menstrual cycle there are six days when intercourse can result in pregnancy; this “fertile window” comprises the five days before ovulation and the day of ovulation itself. Just as the day of ovulation varies from cycle to cycle so does the timing of the six fertile days.
You're most fertile at the time of ovulation (when an egg is released from your ovaries), which usually occurs 12 to 14 days before your next period starts. This is the time of the month when you're most likely to get pregnant.
There are only a few days per cycle when a woman is fertile and can conceive. Evidence shows that this time of increased fertility usually spans 6 days, starting approximately 5 days prior to ovulation and ending on the day of ovulation itself.
The beginning of high fertility is referred to as the “onset of the fertility window.” [3] This occurs about five days before ovulation. During this stretch, your fertility levels are high. This is because sperm can live in your body for up to five days.
Flashing smiley – High Fertility
If the user has intercourse today she will increase her chance of getting pregnant, but she must also test again the following day.
Occasionally some women have an LH surge that is too low for the test to detect, or they do not ovulate during a cycle and in this case they may see lots of High Fertility days but no Peak Fertility. This is not unusual and may happen in approximately 8% of cycles.
LH surge: A 'smiley face' means you've detected your LH surge. Your 2 most fertile days are today and tomorrow so having sex in the next 48 hours will maximize your chances of getting pregnant. - Once you have read your final result eject the ovulation test stick and throw it away.
Having sex as close as possible to the time of ovulation increases the chance of pregnancy. If a woman has sex six or more days before she ovulates, the chance she will get pregnant is virtually zero. If she has sex five days before she ovulates, her probability of pregnancy is about 10 percent.
You are most likely to conceive during the 5 days before ovulation, along with the day you ovulate. 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, your egg can only live for 12 to 24 hours.
Your fertile window is the five days leading up to ovulation, plus the day of ovulation and the day after ovulation — so about seven days in total. It's important to note that if you have irregular periods and the length of your menstrual cycle varies from month to month, the calendar method won't be accurate for you.
Sperm would have a 5% probability of surviving more than 4.4 days and a 1% probability of surviving more than 6.8 days.
It is hard to know exactly when ovulation will happen. Health care providers recommend that couples who are trying to have a baby have sex between days 7 and 20 of a woman's menstrual cycle. Day 1 is the first day of menstrual bleeding.
Your Chances of Getting Pregnant During Ovulation
Your "fertile window" spans from the five days before ovulation to one day afterwards. That's because sperm can survive for five days in the reproductive tract, while the egg survives for 24 hours, and it's possible for days-old sperm to fertilize a newly released egg.
Then, the probability of pregnancy rises steadily and is 27-33% in the three days leading up to and including ovulation. From that point, the probability of pregnancy declines rapidly. Twelve to 24 hours after ovulation, a woman is no longer able to get pregnant during that cycle.
How do I know if ovulation was successful? To make sure your ovulation has been successful, you first need to test your LH levels so that you can predict when ovulation is going to occur. You then need to make sure your progesterone stays at an optimal level throughout your luteal phase, the second part of your cycle.
Unfortunately, peak fertility only refers to two days—the day you ovulate, and the day before that. You're 30% more likely to get pregnant during peak fertility, so it's worth it to figure out how to identify your peak fertility days. Luckily, there are several ways to do just that.
1 While fertile quality cervical mucus can warn you that ovulation is coming, so you can time sex for pregnancy, it doesn't confirm that ovulation actually took place. You can have fertile quality cervical mucus, but not ovulate. This is more likely the case if you also have irregular menstrual cycles.
Since eggs can survive 12-24 hours, some tests and cycle tracking methods/devices consider the day after the LH surge to be a second day of peak fertility. In general, peak fertility is really only these two days, while high fertility may include several days of estrogen rising leading up to ovulation.
The vast majority of cycles (75%) have one LH surge before ovulation, but some women may observe double peak surges, multiple surges, or elevated LH levels throughout the cycle. We typically see this in those with PCOS who, due to an overall hormonal imbalance, experience elevated LH levels throughout their cycles.
A flashing smiley face is high fertility. This means that the meter is showing a rise in estrogen levels in your urine. Most women will have 2 days of flashing smiley faces before the peak fertility is reached.
That being said, it is possible to miss an LH surge as they can be very short — sometimes they only last 12 hours. To ensure you catch your LH surge, we recommend beginning testing early in your cycle and testing multiple times per day (but more on this later!).