Timing Ovulation: Unlocking the Keys to Conception

In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols revisits the critical topic of ovulation timing with a fresh, in-depth perspective. Understanding when ovulation occurs is essential for maximizing your chances of conception, and this episode is packed with science-backed insights and practical tools to help you track it accurately.

Dr. Amols dives into the nuances of ovulation, explaining how the egg’s 24-hour viability and sperm’s 5-day survival make timing everything. He explores the pros and cons of various ovulation detection methods, including basal body temperature (BBT), cervical mucus monitoring, ovulation predictor kits (OPKs), and advanced tools like ultrasound and progesterone testing.

This episode also sheds light on common misconceptions about ovulation, addresses the challenges faced by individuals with irregular cycles or conditions like PCOS, and provides actionable advice for those struggling to identify their fertile window. Whether you're new to ovulation tracking or looking for a more accurate approach, this episode will empower you with the knowledge to take control of your fertility journey.

Tune in and discover the science, tools, and tips to optimize your chances of conception!

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of 'Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday' with Dr. Mark Amols. If you found this episode insightful, please share it with friends and family who might benefit from our discussion. Remember, your feedback is invaluable to us – leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred listening platform.

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Have a question or a topic you'd like us to cover? We'd love to hear from you! Reach out to us at TBFT@NewDirectionFertility.com.

Join us next Tuesday for more discussions on fertility, where we blend medical expertise with a touch of humor to make complex topics accessible and engaging. Until then, keep the conversation going and remember: understanding your fertility is a journey we're on together.

Transcript

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Today we talk about ovulation because timing is everything. I'm, Dr. Mark Amols, and this is Taco about Fertility Tuesday. Today we're diving into the science and art of timing ovulation. Because when it comes to conception, knowing. When the egg is on the move is half the battle. Now I am revisiting this episode. I did this one back in season four, but I think it's worth coming back to it to go over a little bit more in depth and a little bit of a different angle. Essentially, ovulation is when the body releases an egg from the ovary. And this usually happens about midway through the cycle. And that is then, what allows you to get pregnant. Now, not everyone ovulates on the same day. Some people may ovulate earlier in the cycle, such as before day 14 or even later in the cycle, and that will then affect their length of their menstrual cycle. You've heard me talk about before that just because you get, a menses. Doesn'T mean you're ovulating. And so what is important is that. When you ovulate, you usually get your. Period about two weeks later. And that's because after you ovulate, what happens is the sac that released the egg starts to produce progesterone and does. It for about two weeks. This is actually how a lot of. Those programs that determine when you're ovulating, work. What they do is, is they take your cycle, let's say it's 28 days. They subtract 14 days from it and say, okay, you're offul laying on day 14. If you have a 35 day cycle. Then what it's doing is subtracting 14. From 35 and telling you you're ovulin day 21. But the thing is, it's not perfect because when you get a menses, you. Don'T know if it's due to ovulation. Or if it's just bleeding that's occurring. From the uterine lining, building up and then shedding out. So the question then comes, why does. Ovulation matter in this situation? Well, it's because the egg itself only survives for about 24 hours, but the. Sperm can survive up to five days. And so the timing is actually quite critical. It's not so critical that the intercourse can't happen before the egg is released, but it definitely can't happen after the egg is release because even as little as, let's say 12 to 20 hours, you could miss ovulation. So you can see Determining when you. Ovulate actually matters and can be affecting your chances of getting pregnant. If you're missing it, a way to think of it is think of ovulation as catching a flight. You don't want to be too early. But you also don't want to be too late. But if you get there a little early, you're still fine. But if you get there too late, you're not going to make the flight and you're not going to get pregnant. So timing is everything. So the question is then, how do you determine ovulation? And so there are several ways to do it. There are body signs that you can. Watch for, such as cervical mucus change. You can look for Mitchell Smirges, which. Is kind of a mild pelvic pain. Around the time of ovulation, your libidom may increase or your breast may become more tender. And you can also look at things like basal body temperature, and those changes can help you determine when you're ovulating. When it comes to tracking, you probably want to use something like the basal body temperature method or cervical mucus if you want to do something natural. So let's look at these two methods. Let's start with the basal body temperature. After ovulation, the temperature rises due to. The progesterone, causing a slight increase in. The temperature of about 0.4 to 1 degree Fahrenheit, or 0.2 to point 5 degrees Celsius. Now, as I mentioned, this occurs from the rising progesterone, which means it doesn't. Occur until after you ovulate. So it's not going to be able. To predict when you ovulate. It's just going to be able to tell you you did ovulate. So what you're looking for is a slight rise in the temperature. Now, if you're going to do this. You really want to get a thermometer that's going to measure to the 100 degree. That way you can actually see the difference. So, such as Instead of a 97.5. You want 97.55 to be able to measure 2. The way you do this is you're. Going to take your temperature first thing. In the morning, immediately after you wake up. Now, you don't want to get out of bed, you don't want to drink water, you want to move around, just take it right there in the bed. At the same time, try to do it the same time every day. Now, you can take the temperature either orally, you can use actually rectally, or vaginally but obviously use the method you like most. Then take that temperature, record it you. There, can write down on paper. Or you can use several apps out there. Prior to ovulation, your body temperatures can. Be closer to around 97 to 97.7. Post ovulation it will usually rise by 0.4 the 1 degree Fahrenheit and usually stays elevated for about 3 days. And so you'll see this rise after ovulation has occurred. The great thing about this method is it's free. But the frustrating thing about this method is one, you have to be very precise. So inconsistent timing is going to affector the accuracy of it. Additionally, external factors such as poor sleep. Or being ill or even alcohol drinking can also affect the readings. It's definitely a great method if you. Like to use something natural and don't want to use things like ovulation kits. Now when it comes to cervical mucus. Monitoring, this is actually something that can show you something before you ovulate so you can actually know when to have intercourse. Cervical mucus is a fluid produced by. The glands in the cervix. This fluid changes throughout the menstrual cycle. In response to hormonal fluctuations. Therefore, during ovulation it's going to help. The sperm survive and travel to the egg, whereas at other times it's going to act as a barrier. Now estrogen is going to be the main source of affecting this cervical mucus. Shortly after your period when you have very low fertility, you're going to notice. That there's little to no mucus and it's usually very thick and sticky and dry. This is because the estrogen levels are. Going to be low in your body during this time. Now when it comes to pre ovulation, before you're able to get pregnant, but close too, the mucus starts to become. A little bit creamy, kind of white. Like and lotion like. Now the estgen levels are rising, so. It'S occouraging the mucus production. Now when you get the peak fertility. Which is where your ovulation window is going to occur, now the mucus becomes clear, ended up being slippery and also very stretchy. One of the ways people are able to determine if it's changed is they. Notice when they pinch the mucus between. Their thumb and finger, they can stretch. It several centimeters, whereas before they couldn't do that. After you ovulate at that point the mucus becomes very thick and sticky and sometimes even goes away. And this is because now progesterone dominates after ovulation. That thickens the mucus to block the sperm from getting into the uterus. Now, I think it may be obvious that I've never done this method myself, since I do not have the tools to be able to do this. But I can give you some methods that you can do. One method, which is sometimes the easier. Room one, is called a toilet paper method. This is where you basically take some toilet paper, wipe the vaginal opening after, let's say, using the restroom, and then. You look at the paper to see if there's mucus, and then you can. Kind of touch it and see how it looks. The other method, which is probably the most reliable method, is going to be using your fingers, where you insert one. Or two clean fingers into the vagina. Near your cervix, then collect the mucus by wiping along the vaginal walls, pull. Your fingers out, and then examine the mucus and see if you can stretch it. And if you can stretch it more than a couple centimeter. If you can, then you know you're in the prime time. The other method out there is looking at your underwear, where you can look. At the mucous stains on your underwear throughout the day. It's not very precise, but if you don't want to really do much, you. Can kind of look in and see the changes. And over time you may be able to recognize the differences. Now, I think it's important to know. That people have, like, polycystic ovariiant syndrome or have irregular cycles. You may find this method is not. As easy to predict because the hormones don't have the fluctuations and may be very frustrating. Usually all these different methods, such as. Basal body temperature checking cervical mucus, or even things like ovulation predictor kits, all require regular menstrual cycles. And if you don't have that, it can become very frustrating. I appreciate that this is a very. Strange method, but it's simple, it's free, and it's highly effective because this tells you when to have intercourse. Whereas with basal body temperature, it only tells you you have ovulated, but it's already too late by the time you find that out. The next method is going to be ovulation predictor kits. And when you hear this, it seems like it's looking at ovulation, but they actually don't. What they look at, they detect the. LH surge that occurs 24 to 36 hours prior to ovulation. Now, as I mentioned, you have to have regular cycles for this to be as predictive. But using ovulation predictor kits. This is similar to the cervical mucus. It will give you when you're going to ovulate. So you can get the timing down. A little bit better. Now, because it only detects LH and. Not ovulationl it can have false positives. People who are going to have false. Positives are going to be people who. Either have high LH levels, like people. With polycystic ovarian syndrome or women who are near menopause. We are re going to have elevated LH and FSSH levels that can falsely make it look positive. One of the other ways that you. Can check ovulation is you can check. Ultrasound monitoring to see the actual follicles growing. That can let you know, when you're going to ovulate. And the other method is to look. At things like progesterone levels. If you check progesterone and it's elevated above 4, you know, you ovulate now similar to the basal body temperature, it's only telling you ovulated, but it's already too late. So if we're going to rank each one in the best prediction for ovulation. Probably the number one thing is going. To be an ultrasound because clearly you can see every step of the way. When it's going to occur. So it's going to have the most predictive value. The second one is going to be. The cervical mucus checking. That's going to give you a few days prior to oulation. Tracking apps, if you have regular cycles. Are probably going to give you approximately the right day. And so if you start, let's say. Five days before, you're probably going to be good. Now next is going to be basal body temperature. Again, this is the point where you're just verifying you are ovulating and you use the prior month to go, okay, I got to start a little bit earlier because I ovulated on day 15 this month. And that will help you then predict when to two intercourse. The last thing is going to be. Checking a progestero level on day 21. And that's because this is definitely after the fact you've already ovulated. There's no chance of getting pregnant now, but it's one of the best ways. Because it's very specific to ovulation to. Know did you really ovulate or not. You have ovulation predictoratesits are positive and you didn't ovulate. But progesterone will not go up unless you ovulated. So it's very Precise, but unfortunately it's just too late to be useful when it comes to predicting when you're going to ovulate. So I think there's a couple important. Points to talk about. Number one, ovulation isn't always on day 14. It is normal for people to have fluctuations in there. And so don't think because you didn't. See it positive on day 14, if. Your temperatures didn't, rise around that time, the cervical mucus didn't happen at time that something's wrong. That may be your body, as long. As it's consistent every single month. Now, just like I Talked about earlier, OPKs don't guarantee ovulation because they only look at LH and so you need agesterone level to guarantee that you did ovulate. Now, once you've done, you are ovulating, then the ovulation predictor kits are pretty predictable. The only time they're not very predictable is when you have irregular cycles because then you could have something like polycystical ovarian syndrome. And in those situations it will give inconsistent results and you'll have inconsistent patterns and you really won't know when you're ovulating. One thing I would say is that. If you find that your cycles are. Not very regular, you probably need to see a fertility specialist because trying to use these things is not going to be very useful for you. It doesn't matter if you're using the app basal body temperature, if you have irregular cycles, something is going wrong. In the end, ovulation is the cornerstone of conception and with the right tools and awareness, you can take control of your fertility journey. Stay curious, stay informed and keep listening because I'm here to help you every step in the way. Hopefully this episode was helpful for you. Or maybe you know someone who's trying to get pregnant and may benefit from this. If you listen to the past episode, hopefully this was a little bit of. An update and maybe made you feel a little bit more informative than you did in the past. If you ever want me to update. An episode or want me to do. An episode, always feel free to reach out to me through either my social media or through my email tbftirectionfertility.com I'm more than happy to do that episode. Most of all, if you like the. Episode and you like the show, please give us a five star review on your favorite medium. Tell your friends us, but most of all, keep coming back. I look forward to talking you again next week on Taco Bell Fertility Tuesday.