How to Track When I Am Ovulating

If you have any interest in getting pregnant or avoiding pregnancy, learning to track your ovulation can significantly raise your chances of conception. Ovulation is the period in which an egg that has been released by the ovary is in a position within the fallopian tube where it can be fertilized. You can figure out your ovulatory cycle by employing several different methods. Using multiple tracking methods can improve your chances of figuring out your personal cycle.

Things You'll Need

• Calendar
• Basal body thermometer
• Basal body chart
• Ovulation predictor kit

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Instructions

• 1

  Circle the day that you start your period on a calendar. Do this for several months to determine the length of your cycle. Most women have a cycle that is between 28 and 32 days long. Once you figure out the date when you should start your next period, count backward 14 days on the calendar to see when you should be ovulating.

• 2

  Insert one clean finger barely into the vagina and withdraw it. If you are ovulating, your vaginal discharge will be stretchy and clear, like the raw white of an egg.

• 3

  Take your temperature each morning at the same time before you get out of bed using a basal body temperature thermometer. Write down the results each day on a basal body temperature chart. Once you have done this for two or three months, look to see when your temperature rose by 0.4 to 1 degree Fahrenheit, according to the American Pregnancy Association. Ovulation may trigger this increase in temperature, and your chances of conceiving are greatest two to three days before this temperature increase.

• 4

  Purchase an ovulation predictor kit from your local pharmacy or online. Once you have estimated when you should be ovulating, use this test around that time of month. The test involves an applicator which you expose to your urine, much like a pregnancy test. The test will indicate whether or not you actually are ovulating.

• 5

  Look for the physical symptom of tenderness on one side or the other. Many women feel a cramping sensation in the area of one of the ovaries when they are ovulation.