How to use a fertility calculator
Sep 4th, 2008 • Category: ParentingA very good way to find out when you are going to ovulate is with the use of a fertility calculator. Unlike regular calculators, fertility calculators are wonderfully cheap and natural way to track your ovulation is with a plain calendar and knowledge of your own body. Also, there are many helpful websites available online that will calculate this for you. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.
These devices can be a life-saver if you don’t have months to wait to conceive. It’s a little known fact that you’re only fertile for about one day in the month (sometimes it can be a few hours), so it’s quite easy to miss your chance to conceive.
So, how do you use a fertility calculator to get pregnant? Whether or not you decide to do it yourself with a calendar or use software available online, you will still need to know some very important dates and numbers. Most fertility calculators online ask you 2-3 questions and these questions are straight forward they must be accurate to calculate ovulation correctly.
You’re most likely to be asked when your last period started, the number of days in your menstrual cycle and sometimes these calculators want to know information about your luteal phase.
Now, the way you get these numbers is quite simple. Get a calendar and write down the first day of your last two periods. Okay, start counting days from the first day of your last period until the day before your most recent period; this is the number of days in your cycle. This number can be anywhere from 20-45 days, with 28 days being the average.
What’s a luteal phase? It’s the second half of your menstrual cycle that occurs once you have already ovulated. It can last anywhere from 10 days to 16 days, and it’s not as easy to work out, because you need to have an idea of when you’re ovulating.
The good news is there are not many sites that ask for this information; most fertility calculators only ask for the first day of your last period and the amount of days in your cycle.
The ultra low tech way to get your fertile dates is to use your diary or pda, and enter your cycle start dates as a diary entry. Then, all you need to do is subtract 14 from the predicted date of your next period, and voila - you have an ovulation date. Of course, this is not accurate, so assume you might be fertile + or - a couple of days of that date.
If you want to incorporate the luteal phase in your calculation, then monitor the daily changes in your cervical mucus as well as your BBT. These two basic pieces of information can really help the accuracy of your fertility calculation.
So now you know how to use a fertility calculator to increase your chances of getting pregnant. Keep reading, because in a minute, I’ll share with you a link to a free fertility calculator that won’t require you to enter information on your luteal phase.
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