TTC Basics

A little background info on some of the basics.

As you probably know, you need to ovulate to be able to conceive.  There are various fairly cheap and free methods that you can "practice" at home to check whether you're ovulating or not, instead of going straight to the doctor first.  (see Monitoring your Fertility for these methods)

There are 3 phases to a menstrual cycle: follicular phase - the first part of your cycle from the day your period begins to before ovulation, in which the egg matures and the uterine lining is thickened to prepare for pregnancy; ovulation phase - a short phase of about 2 days where the egg is released from the ovary and this is your most fertile time; luteal phase - the last part of your cycle from the day after ovulation until the day before your next period begins.

But I want to get rid of a common ovulation myth before we go any further, and that is the saying that every woman ovulates on or around day 14 of her cycle, or 14 days before her period begins.  People....everybody's different!  This myth is based on 2 inaccurate assumptions: 1 - that everyone has a cycle of 28 days; 2 - that everyone ovulates 14 days before their period begins.  Both are false.  "Normal" cycles can range anywhere from less than 28 days, to over 35 days...on average.  Cycles longer than 40 days could even be normal for you.  And it's considered "normal" to ovulate anywhere from 16 to 10 days before your period begins (could be less than 10 also, but then you may be suffering from a luteal phase defect).  So....learn your own cycles so that you can make informed choices.

Once you've determined that you are indeed ovulating, you need to know when your most fertile days are and when to better time your baby-making sessions.

So you've used whatever ovulation predicting thingy you prefer, and you're planning to corner your husband & keep him hostage until his job is done.  Here's what you need to know --- the egg is only viable for about 24 hours....really not long at all!  They say the best days on which to do the baby dance is the day before and day of ovulation.  To be safe though, begin about a week before ovulation is suspected, and continue for another week after you think ovulation has already happened - just to make sure you've covered your bases.  Rather be safe than sorry I say, and who wants to waste another month when you're already impatient about the whole matter??!!  I know I can't be the only one.... :P

And here's the deal with the spermies - they can live for a few days inside you too - they say up to about 5 days under good conditions (but rely on about 2-3 days).  So that means if you do the deed up to about 2-3 days before ovulation, it could be enough to get you pregnant.  For this reason, they recommend that you do it every second day as you approach your fertile days, and then the day before and day of ovulation.

To read about implantation of a fertilized egg, see HERE.