Getting pregnant is all about timing. You want to make sure the conditions are right for egg and sperm to meet. Your menstrual cycle can give you clues about when your body is ready to start the process. The first step is to learn the days when you're most fertile. Most women have a 28-day menstrual cycle. That means you have about 6 days each month when you can get pregnant. That includes the day that one of your ovaries releases an egg, called
ovulation, and the 5 days before. Having sex within that window is key. You can’t get pregnant without ovulation, and tracking your monthly periods is one way to get familiar with your body’s fertility. To figure it out, you'll need to chart your menstrual cycle and record how long it lasts. Day 1 is the first day of your period. Since the length of your cycle can vary slightly from month to month, it's best to keep track for a few months. Once you have an average, subtract 18 days
from the length of your shortest cycle. This is the first day you're likely to be fertile. Next, subtract 11 days from the length of your longest cycle. This is the last day you're likely to be fertile. Having sex between those two dates will give you the best shot at getting pregnant. It's also a good idea to pay attention to the signs that your body is ready to ovulate. Checking your basal body
temperature (BBT) is one way to do this. The BBT is your temperature first thing in the morning. Just after you ovulate, it rises slightly -- sometimes by less than a degree -- and stays higher until your period starts. If you record your temperature every day, you can spot the subtle changes that mean one of your ovaries has released an egg. To take your BBT, you need to: Use a basal body thermometer. It's more sensitive than a standard one and will show
temperature changes down to a fraction of a degree. You can get them at many pharmacies for less than $20. Take your temperature at the same time each morning. Always do it before you get out of bed. (To make it easier, keep the thermometer on your nightstand.) Even getting up to go to the bathroom can affect your body temperature. So can smoking, drinking, or getting a bad night's sleep. Remember, your BBT won't tell you
exactly when you've ovulated, and it may take a couple of months before you start to see a pattern. You're most likely to get pregnant 2 or 3 days before your ovary releases an egg, and then another 12 to 24 hours after that. When your temperature has spiked for 3 days, your chances of conceiving drop. The same hormones that control your menstrual cycle also affect the mucus that your cervix makes. Just before
and during ovulation, the amount, color, and texture of it change to make it easier for you to get pregnant. As your ovaries prepare to release an egg, your cervix makes more mucus. A few days before ovulation, it may be sticky and cloudy or whitish. Then, right before you ovulate, the mucus gets slippery, like egg whites. It may stretch across your fingers if you spread them apart. This stage usually lasts 3 or 4 days, which is when you're most likely to get pregnant. To check your
cervical mucus: Keep in mind that other things, like breastfeeding, can change your mucus. Using douches or other hygiene products can also
affect it. Gynecologists usually don't recommend these products. Can you get pregnant right before your period? This is a frequently-Googled period question, the answer to which hinges on hope or relief depending on whether or not you’re aiming to conceive. So let’s break it down. But first let’s clarify some words:
It’s very unlikely. (*but there are exceptions, see below.) You can only get pregnant during your fertile window—the six or so days per menstrual cycle that you’re fertile. Your fertile window occurs before and during ovulation—when your ovaries release an egg. It only takes a few minutes to release an egg from your ovary. Once released, your egg has about 24 hours to live. Your fertile window is six days long, rather than just those 24 hours, because sperm can survive in the uterus for up to five days, ready to fertilize an egg should one be ovulated. You only ovulate once per menstrual cycle. (In rare cases, you may release more than one egg per ovulatory episode, and may conceive twins. But then you cannot ovulate again until next your cycle.) It’s typical to ovulate around day 14 of your cycle (about 14 days after the first day of your period). But this is just the norm, not the rule. Ovulation is always followed by a luteal phase lasting about 2 weeks, followed by a period (if you’re not pregnant). Even for people with cycles longer than the typical 28 days, the luteal phase still lasts about 2 weeks, and a longer follicular phase—the phase before ovulation—accounts for the extra days. To estimate your ovulation day, identify the day of your cycle you started bleeding heavily (spotting doesn’t count), then subtract 14 days. The closer your ovulation day to the day you had unprotected sex, the greater your chances of getting pregnant. But if you’re concerned (or hopeful) about getting pregnant a few days before your period, odds are ovulation is long over, your fertile window has closed, and the likelihood of pregnancy is low. Say you had unprotected sex on day 21 of your cycle: about 7 days after your ovulation day, and about 7 days before your period started. By one study’s estimate, there’s a 5% chance you were fertile on that day. (But just because you were fertile doesn’t mean your partner was as well.) The odds continue to drop off each day after that. And a 5% chance of getting pregnant on day 21 of your cycle is a conservative estimate compared what other researchers have found:  Ovulation doesn’t happen in all menstrual cycles. Anovulatory cycles—menstrual cycles in which ovulation did not occur, are relatively common; one study estimates about a third of otherwise “normal” menstrual cycles are anovulatory. You cannot get pregnant during an anovulatory cycle, as it offers no egg to fertilize. No matter your chances of pregnancy, conventional at-home pregnancy tests (the ones you pee on) are a fairly reliable way to know for sure if you’re pregnant or not. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Many home pregnancy tests claim to be accurate as early as the first day of a missed period—or even before. You’re likely to get more accurate results, however, if you wait until after the first day of your missed period.” Waiting a day yields better results because most at-home pregnancy tests are looking for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG)—a hormone your body makes after the fertilized egg attaches to the wall of the uterus. The amount of HCG in your urine rises quickly after implantation, making pregnancy tests more and more accurate with each passing day. Exceptions: When you CAN get pregnant right before your period1. If what you think is a period isn’t actually a period. It’s possible to mistake your period for ovulation bleeding, especially if it comes with period-like symptoms. Should you mistake an ovulation bleed for a period, “right before your period” (or at least, what you thought was a period) overlaps with your fertile window, and the likelihood of getting pregnant is quite high. 2. If you have a long fertile window. Ovulation typically occurs around day 14 of a 28-day menstrual cycle, but everyone’s cycle is different. One study found that “most women reach their fertile window earlier and others much later” than day 14. It’s rare, but you may have a uniquely long, or uniquely late-arriving fertile window. This can occur naturally, or be a result of stress, medications, thyroid disorders, or other conditions. No matter when it occurs, ovulation always presents the possibility of getting pregnant, even if very late in your cycle. Just note that after fertilization, the egg still needs to be implanted into the uterine wall. That can take a week or more. If you fertilize an egg during a fertile window that is very close to your period, the odds of a failed implantation (and thus a non-pregnancy) increase because the uterine lining is shed during your period, potentially shedding the fertilized egg along with it. 3. If you have irregular cycles. If your period doesn’t arrive regularly each month (if you sometimes get two periods per month, or go a month or more without a period, for example), it can be very difficult to determine when you ovulated, and thus when your fertile window was. At-home ovulation tests can help take the guesswork out of when you’re most likely to become pregnant, especially for those with irregular cycles. Courtney Mayszak, RDN, LDN is the co-founder of De Lune, who offer an all-natural line of menstrual relief products. Shop De Lune here! In:Fertility, Mamazine Moment, The Journey, WellnessTags: birth, body care, cycles, de lune, doula, egg, fertility, fertilization, lifestyle, mama glow, maternal health, menses, menstruation, motherhood, period, period health, pregnancy, reproductive health, self care, sperm, wellbeingShop the StoryWhat are the chances of getting pregnant a week before your period?The likelihood of getting pregnant right before your period is extremely low. For women with a typical 28- to 30-day cycle or longer and their cycles are regular, it is fairly safe to say your ovulation occurred between Day 11 and Day 21. The egg is only available for 12 to 24 hours for conception.
Are you fertile 7 days before your period?You ovulate about 12 to 14 days before the start of a new menstrual cycle. Your fertile window is the five days leading up to ovulation, plus the day of ovulation and the day after ovulation — so about seven days in total.
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Could i get pregnant a week before my period
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