15 Feb 2019 | 5 min Read
Revati Narayanswamy
Author | 52 Articles
Planning for a baby is not at all an easy task. There are a thousand factors which need to be taken into consideration, especially, for a woman. Right from the infertile days to the ovulation days, everything needs to be monitored closely.
Nowadays, the times have changed and women have an array of options to pick and choose from to determine their ovulation days to help in planning effectively. I have listed down a few methods.
A woman’s cervical Mucus changes consistency throughout the month in response to the changing hormone levels. On the fertile days, the mucus changes from thick and opaque to clear and slippery. In some women, these changes are easier to observe making it easy to determine the ovulation days. But, for some an external examination may be required.
One of the most widely used methods. Ovulation sticks test the levels of the Luteinizing Hormone (LH) hormone In the urine. Luteinising hormone is produced by the pituitary gland and is one of the main hormones that control the reproductive system.
A day or two before ovulation, the LH surges. If you get a positive result, it’s show time. But, if your cycle isn’t regular then you may not know when to take the test and in the process you end up using alot of test kits which may turn out to be an expensive affair.
With the smartphones to our rescue for almost everything, there are apps to track ovulation days as well. You just need to enter your start dates of your cycle and within a span of few months, these apps can identify the average length of your cycles. If your cycles are very regular, apps are the most inexpensive option to estimate your fertile days.
A fairly new method to make this process less cumbersome. There is a tool called as a basal / clinical thermometer.
A basal body thermometer is as the name suggests, a thermometer which is sensitive to measure even the slightest changes in the body temperature. A clinical thermometer measures your body temperature and keeps you updated on your ovulation days. Not a very common concept in India till now, I honestly dint know that something like this existed. This thermometer works by measuring your Basal Body Temperature in a 24 hour window. Your basal body temperature (BBT) is the temperature at which your body rests and is generally a bit lower than your normal temperature, which is usually 97 point something degrees Fahrenheit. By taking your BBT each morning throughout your cycle you will be able to detect the natural rise in your basal body temperature that occurs just after ovulation. This increase in yo
ur BBT is due to the hormone progesterone, sometimes referred to as the “warming hormone”. Once ovulation has occurred, your body begins to produce increasing amounts of progesterone, thereby causing your body to warm up, which is reflected in an increase in your BBT. You need to monitor it for a few months to understand the predictable pattern in your cycle that will allow estimating when you will ovulate.
There are a few things to be kept in mind while monitoring your Basal Body Temperature which I have listed below with the help of which you can get a very close to accurate reading.
There are a number of options of basal thermometers available in the market. Out of them, TDK’s clinical thermometer is a very good option. I have personally tried it and found it to be very useful. The best feature is that it has an associated mobile app wherein all the data gets transferred easily to your smartphone at the click of one button. It makes it a totally hassle-free tracking device.
The basal body method is one of the most reliable and accurate ways to measure your ovulation days as it works solely on your body temperature. All in all, a safe and natural method to plan for a baby.
Also read: Contraception: Know Your Choices
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