Expert: Dr. Harriet Johnson - 9/20/2009

Question
If the days in between you menustral cycle are not regular, for example most woman get their period every 28 days. How will you know when you are ovulating if the number of days in between keep changing. i really want to get pregnant and i dont have a regular menustral cycle.

Answer
Hi Keisha,

Sometimes, irregular periods are a sign of anovulation. Anovulatory cycles are menstrual cycles where ovulation doesn't take place. If you're not ovulating, you can't get pregnant. The best thing to do is see your gynecologist. Your doctor can run some simple blood tests to see if you are ovulating or not. If your blood work indicates that you are ovulating, and you're not over 35, you might want to keep trying to get pregnant on your own for a bit longer. If you are ovulating, you'll need to make a special effort at predicting ovulation, so you can time sex better for pregnancy. There are many ways to predict ovulation, and you might need to use more than one to help figure out when is the best time for you to have sex, if you want to catch an egg. Look out for the signs of ovulation:

As ovulation approaches, your cervical mucus changes in amount and consistency. When you're not ovulating, cervical mucus may appear sticky or creamy, or may be entirely absent. As ovulation approaches, cervical mucus become more abundant, takes on a watery to raw egg white like consistency, and stretches up to an inch or more between your fingers.

Body basal temperature charting is perhaps the most popular method of tracking ovulation. Your body basal temperature will rise by a few tenths of a degree, and stay elevated, after ovulation. This rise in temperature is caused by the hormone progesterone, which increases immediate after ovulation. By charting your body basal temperature, you can detect this increase in temperature. However this won't warn you when ovulation is coming, only when it is passed so you will need to recognize the pattern for predicting when you ovulate.

Just as your cervical mucus changes as ovulation approaches, your cervical position also goes through changes. When you're most fertile, your cervix will be higher, softer, and more open.

Another common way of detecting ovulation is with an ovulation predictor test kit. Ovulation predictor kits, require you to either pee on a test stick, or dip a special paper into a cup of collected urine, once a day for a week before you expect to ovulate. There are two lines on the test strip. Whenever the test line is darker than the control line, the test has detected an LH surge. (This is the exact same hormone that causes fertile cervical mucus.)