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When am I ovulating?

Trying to get pregnant but not sure when you're ovulating? These signs should give you a good idea of your best time to conceive

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Originally published in Today's Parent April 2010

Whether you’re trying for your first or fourth, or when you decide it’s time for a(nother) baby, you want to get pregnant ASAP (if not sooner). You could increase your chances if you know when you’re ovulating. Here are a few indicators and things to remember that can help you conceive.

Counting days

Though it’s not an exact science, if you have a regular cycle (now’s the time to start recording your cycle if you don’t already — day one is the first day of your period), you can certainly narrow down ovulation with this method. For example, if you have a 30-day cycle, you should ovulate around day 16. (Regardless of the length of your cycle, you ovulate fourteen days before the start of your next period.) So if you start having intercourse every other day from day 10 or 11 (many doctors suggest every other day is best so your partner can produce as much sperm as possible), you’ll cover your most fertile time. If your cycle is irregular it will be difficult to pinpoint ovulation by counting days.

(Our Ovulation Predictor is a handy tool to use if you want to get an idea of when you’ll likely ovulate next. Just put in the first day of your last period and the usual number of days in your cycle, and it will provide you with information on your most fertile day of the month.)

Ovulation pain

Some women can actually feel when they’re ovulating because of lower abdominal cramping on one side, also called “mittleschmerz.” (German for “middle pain.”) The pain ranges from mild aching to sharp pangs and can last up to a few hours and sometimes days. It’s said that this discomfort happens mainly because of the pressure that’s caused when the ovum is released and the membranes stretch.

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