Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

Menstrual cycle calendar

If you want to learn more about your own body and be able to predict when you are most fertile, you can use a menstrual cycle calculator to do so. It will help you to either encourage or avoid pregnancy, whatever your aim is. Besides, knowing when your next period is expected can also be very useful for making many decisions – for example, for scheduling a vacation.

First of all, get some graph paper, which will carry your temperature diagram. Make the vertical axis the temperature reading by writing on it the numbers from 97.5 to 99.5, including each 1/10 of a degree. The horizontal axis, at the very bottom of the graph, will represent the days in your cycle, so you need to write the numbers from 1 to 28 or some more if your cycle continues longer than 28 days. The current day will be the top horizontal axis.

Start charting your menstrual cycle from the 1st day of your period. That first day will represent cycle day 1. In order to indicate that you are menstruating, put a letter “M” under the numbers on the horizontal axis. Keep doing this every day you have your period within the current cycle.

Start taking the oral temperature by day 2 of your cycle. This should be the first thing to do in the morning, after at least 6 hours of sleep, at the same time each day (even weekends!), just after you woke up and before you get out of bed – even before going to the bathroom! You will need to use a basal body temperature thermometer for measuring your basal temperature, because a regular thermometer for reading a fever may be not sensitive enough. You can get a special basal body temperature thermometer at almost any drug store or pharmacy.

After measuring your temperature, draw a dot next to the number on the vertical axis corresponding with your temperature result. Make sure this dot is also in line with the current cycle day number and date written on your horizontal axis. Repeat the procedure every day. As the days go by, connect your dots with a straight line to receive a graph.

Somewhere at the middle of the cycle you will determine your ovulation day. When you see a rise of about 0.4F in your body temperature which sustained itself for at least three days, it will mean that you had probably ovulated right before the 1st temperature rise. Now you need to go back in your chart and mark the day before the first temperature rise by brightly colored crosshairs.

After ovulation, you may expect your period to arrive in somewhere between 10 to 16 days. The phase of your cycle lasting from ovulation day to first menstruation day is called “luteal”. It is normally consistent each cycle for the same woman, which means that after you have drawn your basal temperature graph for a few months, it will show you how long your luteal phase will last each month.

Speaking in medical terms, which is used in most reference books, ovulation it’s a process when ready to fertilize egg leave the follicle an get into the abdominal cavity with subsequent promotion of fallopian tubes to the uterus itself. The first ovulation occurs slightly later than the beginning of puberty, the last – after the extinction of menstrual function during climax. During pregnancy, ovulation does not occur, but after the birth, it is restored.

Ovulation in women of childbearing age occurs periodically (every 21-35 days).
There are several subjective signs that a woman at this particular time is ovulate. These include short-term and slow abdominal pain, increased mucus, allocated by the cervix, lowering the temperature in the mouth or vagina. In addition, some women during ovulation have a very sharp sexual attraction to the partner, which was caused by the action of hormonal substances. However, all these signs can not be completely accurate.

Objectively, there are two methods for determining of ovulatory period. First, it’s ultrasonic monitoring of the follicle and its rupture (ovulation itself) development. Secondly, the definition of the dynamic nature of hormonal substances in the urine. The latter method can be used at home with the help of special tests recommended by your doctor.

Techniques used to establish ovulation, mostly for those women who want to become pregnant because the possibility of pregnancy exists only a few days – before, during and after the fact of ovulation.

However, not all that simple, if you plan to avoid pregnancy by calculating the “dangerous days”. Nature is much smarter than all mathematics. As a result of severe mental strain or stress there can occur not only the shift of the ovulation day, but even one more ovulation, during one menstrual cycle matures not one but two eggs.

For every women, standing ovulatory rhythm is changing within 3 months after the abortion, within one year after childbirth, and after 40 years, when the body is preparing for pre-menopausal.

The ovulation stops during the pregnancy and after the extinction of the menstrual function. Establishing the period of ovulation is important in selecting the most effective time for fertilization, artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization.

It’s not a secret, that age has a direct impact on fertility. Women’s fertility begins to decline after thirty-five years, as a result of various factors which include the reduction in the quantity and condition of eggs, increasing the likelihood of medical problems, such as: diabetes and reduction of sexual relationships.

Realizing what fertility is, you can increase your chances of impregnation.
There are several methods to determine your fertile days (or time of your ovulation). Find the one that best suits you, and then use it regularly.

- The method of the natural cycle and ovulation calculator.

Both these methods help to determine the period of fertility, using the interval between menstrual cycles (usually 28-30 days). In order to detect the time of fertility, you subtract fourteen days from the length of your cycle (for example, if your cycle is thirty days from the start of one menstruation to the next, taking away fourteen of thirty, you get sixteen). This number is the approximate day of ovulation and the time when it is the highest probability for impregnation. Calculate from the first day of your menstrual period.

- Improvement of sexual relations for impregnation.

There are several ways to increase your chances of impregnation, depending on when and what sexual relations you will have:

1. The frequency. Daily or rare (less than every 10-14 days) sexual relations are likely to be detrimental for sperm count.

2. The situation during sexual intercourse. Some experts recommend that a woman remained in the supine position for about twenty minutes after intercourse to reduce the outflow of sperm from the vagina, however, there is no evidence that it improves impregnation.

3. Sexual pleasure. It turns out that woman who experience orgasm during intercourse, is able to get pregnant faster.

4. Cervical mucus. Composition and color of cervical mucus changes throughout the monthly cycle.

5. Kits for ovulation determining. These tests detect an increase in luteinizing hormone (LH) 2-3 days before ovulation. Each test gives you a positive or negative result on any given day.

6. Changes during the menstrual cycle. The menstrual cycle occurs as a result of complex interactions of hormones.

From all this I just make a one conclusion, if you want your baby to be desirable, take a time, think it over with your man and only then start your pleasurable wok.

Ovulation is the process when eggs come out from the ovary. As a rule this process takes place at the 14th day of the cycle, but this is very individual feature that depends on the cycle length, periods’ regularity, etc. If your menstrual cycle is regular and lasts 28 days, most likely you will experience the ovulation on the 14th day.

The symptoms of ovulation can be easily missed. The ovulation is preceded by light and clear secretions from your vagina. They much resemble the raw egg whites. Later, when ovulation finishes, you may see that vaginal secretions became heavier and got whiter mate structure. Also the secretions can disappear at all. After this period the chances to get pregnant become less.

The slight growth of basal temperature is also may be a sign of the ovulation. To define ovulation you should measure the basal body temperature regularly by using special digital thermometer made for this purpose. The best time for measuring basal body temperature is in the morning before getting out from bed. Two – three days before the raise of temperature is the best period of your fertility. Some women experience slight abdominal cramps before the ovulation.

Also there are some ovulation kits that are available on a market. They detect specific hormones in your urine that indicate ovulation.
The doctors advise to have sex once a day during the period before, during and after ovulation. Such sexual activity will increase the chances to get pregnant.