Work out Ovulation With Irregular Periods

Your periods may be irregular for a variety of reasons; however, when you have an irregular menstrual cycle, it is hard to prepare for your period and to predict when you are going to ovulate. This knowledge is especially important if you are trying to conceive. The ovulation window--the time during which an egg can be fertilized by sperm--is a relatively short (12-14 hours) and thus, identifying when you ovulate is important in order to plan your conception around the few days before it happens. Keep in mind that an irregular period can be a symptom of other medical problems that should be addressed prior to conceiving (such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, prediabetes, or thyroid dysfunction), so you should see a doctor before attempting to conceive.

Steps

Tracking Your Body’s Signals

1. Check your body temperature. Your basal body temperature (BBT) allows you to track when you are ovulating. You must take your BBT every morning for several months in order to track a reliable trend in your cycle..
   • Take your BBT first thing in the morning and record your temperature in a small calendar on your bedside table. You should take this reading before you get out of bed to prepare for the day for it to be most accurate.
   • Your BBT remains stable throughout the first half of your menstrual cycle, then it drops when there is a surge of progesterone signaling that ovulation is about to start. Your temperature then rises half a degree when you are actively ovulating. The most optimal time to have sex is two days prior to ovulation, right before the temperature rise. It takes time for the sperm to get to the egg. If you have sex the day of ovulation, you have only a 5 percent chance to conceive.
2. Track your vaginal discharge/mucus. Your vaginal discharge, which consists of cervical mucus, provides important clues about where you are in your menstrual cycle. Hormonal fluctuations cause the consistency and color of your cervical mucus to change..
   • Fertile discharge is clear and thin, and it has the consistency of egg whites. You have this kind of discharge when you are ovulating.
   • Discharge during the rest of your menstrual cycle tends to be cloudy and white and may be thick or thin.
   • It is not uncommon to have brownish discharge for a few days after your period. This is the result of your vagina cleaning out old blood. Usually, you have less discharge after your period ends.
3. Check your cervix. Your cervix, the tunnel between your vagina and uterus, changes throughout your menstrual cycle. The texture and position of your cervix lets you know if you are ovulating.
   • Probe your cervix with one or two fingers daily and write down your observations about its position and texture to start tracking trends.
   • During the first part of your menstrual cycle, your cervix is hard and low. As your body prepares to ovulate, your cervix softens, opens slightly, and shortens to allow sperm an easy access to your ovum.
   • You may need to reach your finger several inches into your vagina before you feel your cervix. Once the tip of your finger touches a donut-shaped opening at the end of your vagina, you have reached your cervix.
   • If you are unsure how to feel your cervix, read more here.
4. Test your hormone levels by using an ovulation test kit. Ovulation test kits reveal your level of luteinizing hormone (LH). Your LH level spikes right before your ovary releases an egg, indicating your fertile time..
   • Like a pregnancy test, an over-the-counter ovulation test kit requires a urine sample to determine your levels of LH. The test turns positive the day before ovulation occurs; thus, you may need to do several tests daily around the time of ovulation to identify the correct day.
   • Checking your cervix and tracking trends in your vaginal discharge can help you determine when you should take an ovulation test. Also, ovulation kits provide guidance about when to check urine based on how irregular your menses are.

Using the Ovulation Chart

1. Start a chart on the first day of your period. Ovulation charts are useful for combining results from your vaginal discharge and basal body temperature (BBT) that can be used to identify trends in your cycle. Although you are having irregular periods, start the tracking on the first day of your period.
   • The first day of your period is day one. If your menstrual cycle is irregular, then you may bleed every 21-35 days for 2-7 days, perhaps with some spotting.
   • Number each of the days preceding your period. When you start a new period, then that is your new day one.
   • Figure out the number of days your cycles approximately last for a few months. Then try to see if there is an average number that emerges as time passes.
2. Chart your BBT every day. Create a chart that has temperatures ranging from 97.0 to 98.0 degrees Fahrenheit in increasing increments of 0.1 degrees on the X-axis and the days of your cycle on the Y-axis.
   • Put a dot on the temperature that corresponds your BBT reading under the corresponding day of your cycle. This way you can see if there are fluctuations from day to day in your BBT.
   • Connecting the dots allows you to track trends more easily from a visual perspective.
   • There is a drop and then a dramatic spike in your BBT when you ovulate, indicating the two most fertile days of your cycle.
   • You can find a sample chart at BabyCenter.com.
3. Add descriptions of your vaginal discharge for each day to the chart. Create an easy to understand key describing your vaginal discharge. For example, D can indicate the dryness that occurs after your menstrual cycle, B can stand for a period, R can stand for regular white discharge, and F can stand for stringy, clear fertile discharge.
   • Compare your descriptions of your discharge against observations from previous cycles and see if your discharge changes consistency within an average range of dates. This can give you a better idea of how your irregular cycle lengths may vary.
4. Observe averages in your ovulation charts to get a better idea of when you are fertile. With irregular periods, it can be frustrating and hard to find patterns that indicate when you are most fertile. Your ovulation chart helps you see if there are certain trends that emerge.
   • With irregular menstrual cycles, it can be hard to get a clear cut average, but you can at least better estimate when you evaluate within a range of a few days.
5. Use your ovulation chart to track period lengths. A frustrating aspect of having an irregular menstrual cycle is being unprepared for your period. You can use an ovulation chart to get a better idea about your cycle length based on averages from previous cycles.
   • You can also see an average of bleeding days emerge from your data, helping you to better prepare for your period when it comes.

Tips

• The most effective time to conceive is the six days leading up to the day of ovulation and the day of ovulation.
• After your egg is released, it will typically survive for a day but sperm, once released, can survive for up to a week.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Know if You are Pregnant
• Get Pregnant Quickly
• Know the Earliest Pregnancy Signs
• Have a Girl
• Recognize Implantation Bleeding
• Get Pregnant With PCOS
• Prepare Yourself for a Healthy Pregnancy at 35 Years Old
• Tell Implantation Symptoms from PMS Symptoms
• Raise the Chances of Having a Boy
• Increase Fertility in Men

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What links here

• Choose an Ovulation Predictor Kit
• Have a Clean and Dry Period
• Prevent Spotting Between Periods