First of all, the mature egg lives for approximately 12 hours after it is released. The male sperm can survive for approximately 48 hours inside the female body, although some research indicates it may do so for up to a week. But you can see that the odds of a fertile egg coming in contact with viable sperm are really less than you can image. I know what you are thinking…then how can there be so many unplanned pregnancies?

The commonly held 14-days ovulation belief doesn’t hold true for every woman since not every woman has a regular menstrual cycle of 28 days. The best way to know when you are most fertile is to know your body and know what to look for. The most common signals of ovulation are:

Basal body temperature

Your basal body temperature is your temperature right after waking in the morning. After a woman ovulates her temperature tends to rise from anywhere between 0.4 to 1 degree. This is not significant enough for a woman to feel, but using what is called a special basal body thermometer and tracking your temperature over time you will see when this increase begins.

The most fertile period during this temperature rise is a few days before your temperature spikes. Some experts say that this is the best time since once your temperature starts rising it’s an indication that you have already ovulated. Remember that the egg can only survive for 12 hours so intercourse must take place just before or within a few hours of ovulation, that is, just before your temperature starts to rise.

Many basal body thermometers come with charts for recording your body temperature. In addition, there are many sites such as Type-A-Mom that provide online ovulation tracking graphs. It is important to track your temperature for a few months so that you can see the pattern and know when your temperature is likely to start rising.

Using this in addition to the cervical mucus test increases your chances of getting pregnant each cycle.

Cervical mucus

Cervical mucus is a good indicator of ovulation and therefore your most fertile time. Throughout your cycle the texture and volume of cervical mucus changes. When this mucus is somewhat like egg whites, that is, it can be stretched between two fingers, very slippery and clear, then you are generally at your most fertile period. This is the best time to try to get pregnant.

Ovulation pain/discomfort

There are some women, myself included, who know when they are ovulating because of abdominal pain and discomfort. Few persons know that this discomfort actually has a name. It’s called mittelschmerz. This condition varies from a few minutes for some women to a few hours for others.

Ovulation kits

Science can also aid in finding out when your most fertile time is and therefore when the chance of conception is greatest. These kits can be purchased at a pharmacy and are used to test LH (luteinizing hormone) levels in your urine. To increase the chance of conception, couples should have sex every day during the fertile period. I

t is also recommended that they abstain a few days leading up to ovulation ensuring a higher level of sperm. Understanding your cycle and knowing your body is important when trying to conceive. There is an abundant supply of information available on learning how to identify the signs of fertility discussed above.

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