Are you planning to have a baby? Congratulations! However, do you know how to increase your chance of conceiving?
The truth is many women experience certain signs of high fertility in their bodies; It shows that if she is ovulating and is at peak fertility. This is helpful as it hints to the woman that she is ready to conceive.
What Does Fertility Even Mean?
Most people understand the concept of fertility, but what does it mean for women physically?
For women, the idea of fertility depends on the menstrual cycle. These monthly cycles last 21-35 days and control the release and shedding of ovarian eggs. Throughout the cycle, fertility swings from high to low depending on the phase you are in:
- Menstruation – Day 1 – 6 – low fertility
- Follicular – Day 7 – 11 – low to medium fertility
- Ovulation – Day 12 -16 – high fertility
- Luteal – Day 17 – 30 – low fertility
Please note that the chart above is accurate for those with regular 28-30 day cycles.
How to Track and Increase Fertility?
Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FABMs) are methods to track and help increase fertility in a woman or check signs of high fertility to ensure you get pregnant. The different FABM methods to use for pregnancy are:
1. Calendar or Standard Days Method
The calendar or standard method uses the total length of your menstrual bleeding patterns and the last period date to predict the best ovulation time.
2. Basal Body Temperature Method
When you wake up, your basal body temperature (BBT) is your internal temperature. Your BBT changes through your menstrual cycle and is low just before ovulation (between 96-98F) and higher post-ovulation (between 97-99F).
3. Cervical Mucus Method
The cervical mucus is secreted by glands to prevent things from entering the uterus and to help transport the sperm through the cervix. This method tracks the mucus’s color, texture, and amount through the menstrual cycle to determine your ovulation period.
4. The Symptothermal Method
Symptothermal Method combines BBT, calendar, and cervical methods with a 99.6% success rate. The Symptothermal method is the most accurate as it relies on all three methods to predict your fertility window.
Fertility Tests for Women and Men
In that case, I’m just curious what kind of tests both you and your partner can take to determine fertility.
Sperm Analysis is a clinical-grade, at-home test that measures five factors to determine how healthy the sperm is.
Sonogram: Ultrasound to determine anatomical problems related to fertility, such as the shape of the uterus, health of the ovaries, etc.
Tests to measure hormone levels: Blood tests measure the levels of your hormones to ensure that they are balanced.
Test on ovarian reserve: Usually, ovarian reserve tests are three or more, including FSH, AMH, or count of the antral follicles. It is mainly to find out the amount of eggs in the ovary and the quality of the eggs. Just bear in mind that it’s the quality, not the quantity, of eggs that’s important.
High fertility vs. Peak fertility
High and peak fertility are periods where conception post-unprotected intercourse is at the highest level. The most significant difference is that peak fertility occurs during the time of ovulation, the day before, or the day of ovulation.
Whereas high fertility was a few days before ovulation when sperm left during intercourse could remain in your body until you begin ovulating.
12 Signs of High Fertility in a Woman
Here are some signs of high fertility to look out for in a woman:
Sign 1: Positive Result from Your Ovulation Predictor
Ovulation predictor kits are test strips you can urinate on to detect when your body experiences a surge of luteinizing hormones (LH) that triggers the release of your egg.
Sign 2: Change in Your Cervical Mucus
When you get closer to ovulation for getting pregnant, your body will produce more estrogen as your egg starts maturing in the ovary. Your cervical mucus becomes stretchy and clear at this stage, similar to egg whites.
Sign 3: Increased Sex Drive
Mother nature wants her children to procreate, so when you enter the fertility window, your sexual desire will increase due to a jump in estrogen and testosterone.
Sign 4: Increased Sense of Smell
Does your partner’s body odor smell oddly sexy at certain times of the month? Then this could be a sign of peak fertility.
Sign 5: Periods Aren’t Extremely Heavy
Everyone’s period is different, so your chances of becoming pregnant are related to your flow. Women with very heavy periods can have fibroids and benign tumours that alter the architecture of their uterus and interfere with embryo implants and growing pregnancies.
Sign 6: Breast Tenderness
You may notice that you get sore breasts that feel tender and heavy at certain periods of the month. This is due to the rise in progesterone right after ovulation.
Sign 7: Mid-Cycle Spotting
Do you have mid-cycle spotting? This is a sign of recent ovulation. Once the egg is released, there is a significant drop in estrogen levels before rising in the luteal phase. This short drop can trigger mid-cycle spotting that stops in a day or two.
Sign 8: You Have a Very Regular Cycle
A regular cycle, especially after taking off birth control to avoid pregnancy, is a great sign that you are highly fertile. Women on regular 28-day cycles are likely to conceive faster than others.
Sign 9: Lower Abdominal Pain
Ever had lower pelvic pain during the middle of your cycle? This is a sign of fertility known as Mittelschmerz’s pain. Some women describe it as a sharp cramping sensation in the lower pelvic region that can last from a few minutes to numerous hours.
Sign 10: Activeness
If you are highly active and have overall good health, it indicates that you are super fertile. But this also includes mental health.
Sign 11: PMS Symptoms
Your period is an essential part of regularly menstruating women. It happens as your womb lining sheds at the end of a menstrual cycle when the egg is not fertilized. Your hormones control the different stages of your menstrual cycle. After you ovulate, there is a drop in estrogen and progesterone.
Sign 12: You Have Lots of Clear Discharge
As you start getting closer to ovulation, your body starts producing more estrogen as the egg going to ovulate matures in the ovary. This causes the cervical mucus to become stretchy and clear.
When to consult a fertility specialist or fertility expert?
If you have trouble getting pregnant, it might be time to explore your options for fertility treatment. Some reasons you may want to see a doctor or fertility specialist are:
- Having sex without birth control for 12 months but not being able to conceive
- You are over 35+ years
- Have had three or more miscarriages
- Your partner has trouble maintaining or achieving an erection
- Having no periods, heavy bleeding, irregular periods, or ovarian cysts
- You and your partner have a history of STIs or sexually transmitted infections
- You have chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, genetic disorders, nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin D deficiency, thyroid condition, etc.
FAQs on Signs of High Fertility
Are you fertile after your period?
Yes, but pregnancy is not very likely. If you undergo sex without contraception, you can conceive anytime during your menstrual cycle, even during or after your period.
What are signs of potential lower fertility?
The main symptom of lower fertility is not getting pregnant. Sometimes women with lower fertility can have irregular or absent menstrual periods.
How do you know if you are highly fertile?
You know you are highly fertile when:
- You have a regular cycle
- Health-wise you are fit
- You have never had a pelvic infection
- You have normal ovulation signs of fertility
- You do not smoke
- Your periods are not substantial or highly painful
What makes your fertility high?
Eating more proteins from vegetable and animal sources can help support fertility in a woman. Replace low-fat dairy products with high-fat versions to help increase fertility.
What age am I most fertile?
A woman’s peak reproductive health is between the late teens and late 20s stage. By the age of 30 years, fertility starts to decrease. This decline increases rapidly in the mid-30s.
How long do high fertility signs last?
A woman’s signs of high fertility last from the last 5 days before ovulation until the beginning of peak fertility.
Are 6 days of high fertility ordinary?
Evidence proves that the time of fertility spans 6 days and starts approximately 5 days prior to ovulation, and ends on the very day of ovulation itself.
What happens when you hit peak fertility?
Peak fertility happens the day before ovulation and the day after ovulation. But this is for women who have perfectly regular cycles.
Can you be highly fertile and not ovulate?
You can show signs of high fertility but not ovulate. This may happen if you have irregular menstrual cycles.
How do I know if I am adequately fertile to get pregnant?
If your overall menstrual cycle remains to 28 days, and your period comes like clockwork, then there is a high chance you can get pregnant.
Conclusion
- Super Fecundability was defined as a monthly fecundability – the probability of conception within any one menstrual cycle – rate of 60% or greater.
- Regular menstrual cycles and a high number of follicles in the ovaries are indicative of high fertility.
- Perimenopause, fibroids, and endometriosis would all complicate conception and carrying a pregnancy.
- Using ovulation tests with monitoring the cervical mucus will help to narrow down the fertile window.
- Some supplements that could be recommended for general reproductive health and possibly fertility are CoQ10, vitamin D, and DHA.
