Fertile period – what are the symptoms and how to calculate!

The fertile period is the time of ovulation of the woman, it happens from 10 to 14 days after the beginning of menstruation and lasts 6 days. The time varies depending on how many days your cycle lasts. At this point, the chances of getting pregnant during sexual intercourse are high. During fertile period , if you do not protect yourself during intercourse, it is possible that there will be conception. The main symptoms to know that you are in the fertile period are vaginal secretion and increased libido .

Symptoms of the Fertile Period:

The main symptoms of the fertile period are the changes that occur in the vaginal mucus, which becomes more abundant and transparent at ovulation, similar to an egg white. Other common signs and symptoms during the fertile period include:

• Pelvic or abdominal pain;
• Small increase in body temperature;
• distention of the abdomen;
• Acne;
• bleeding.

The fertile period is also perceived in some women through more subjective symptoms, such as:

• Feeling of heaviness in the breasts;
• Swollen or painful breasts;
• Mood variations;
• Increased libido and appetite;
• Weight gain;
• migraine ;
• Nausea.

However, as stated at the beginning, the most evident symptom of the fertile period is the change in the cervical mucus that comes out of the vagina. In addition, the greater the stimulation of the hormone estrogen, the more abundant, watery and transparent the mucus becomes.

How to Calculate the Fertile Period:

Before calculating the fertile period it is important to know how long your menstrual cycle lasts. Also, normally, the first day of the cycle is the day that menstruation starts. Therefore, the time interval between the start of each period is your menstrual cycle.

Knowing this, the process of calculating the fertile period  is quite simple:

• 1. Find out how long your menstrual cycle lasts. Also, if this number varies each month, monitor the intervals for three months and try to calculate an average time.
• 2. Given the cycle length, subtract 14 from this number. This will make you find out the day of your ovulation.
• 3. As the fertile period is the six-day interval that ends on the day of ovulation, take the date obtained in step 2, count back five days and you will know your fertile period .

Women who have shorter cycles ovulate earlier. This is because the menstrual cycle is divided into two phases:

• Follicular Phase: in which the ovarian follicles develop
• Luteal Phase: When the body prepares for a possible pregnancy.

These two periods are divided precisely by ovulation and while the follicular phase can vary from woman to woman, the luteal phase always lasts 14 days (which is why we subtracted 14 from this account).

If the menstrual cycle is irregular, how to calculate the fertile period?

The menstrual cycle considered regular lasts between 25 and 30 days. Also, a woman who has cycles of different durations but varies between those time intervals is still considered regular.

To calculate the period in this case, it is enough to arrive at an average of the duration of these cycles. For example, if the woman oscillates between cycles of 27, 28 and 29 days, the average is 28 days long.

Women with very long or very short cycles should be carefully evaluated. Also, as they often may not be ovulating or ovulate too early or too late when the body is not prepared for it. In these cases it is important to see a gynecologist.