Women who are trying to conceive can use a variety of techniques to help determine when the best time for conception is. One of the ways that many women use is to chart changes in their cervical mucus.
It is important before you start charting your cervical mucus to know what exactly it is that you are looking for. During your monthly cycle, your cervical mucus can change greatly in its color, its consistency, and in its volume.
If you do not have any cervical mucus, you have most likely just finished your menstrual period. For the first three to five days following your period, your body will produce little or no cervical mucus. If you have little or no cervical mucus, there is little or no chance for conception.
Cervical mucus is generally sticky and ranges from white to cloudy in color during the time between your period and ovulation. This is also a time where you will not have much cervical mucus. While conception is possible, it is not likely during this time.
Cervical mucus will become moist but sticky, about the consistency of a hand lotion product, just days before you ovulate. At this stage, the color will range from white to cream-colored. If your cervical mucus appears this way, there is some chance for conception.
When you are ovulating, you will have the most cervical mucus. The cervical mucus should be about the same texture and have a similar appearance to an egg white; at this stage, it is often referred to as "egg-white cervical mucus." This is the time, during ovulation, when you are most likely to become pregnant.
If your cervical mucus is similar to an egg white, but is less slippery, you may have just finished ovulating. This is generally the case between the end of ovulation and the beginning of your next period. While here again there is some chance for conception, it is a relatively small chance.
By checking your cervical mucus each day, you can help to figure out exactly where in your cycle you are. By charting changes in your cervical mucus for several months, you can get a pretty good idea of exactly how many days from the end of your period that you will ovulate, and thereby determine when is the best time for conception.
Many women combine charting changes in their cervical mucus with charting basal body temperature. Basal body temperature refers to the temperature of your body the first thing in the morning. Using a Basal thermometer, you can check your temp in the morning before you get out of bed. A Basal thermometer will monitor small changes in temperature that a regular thermometer will not measure. When you are ovulating, you will notice a temperature spike that will probably last until your next period. By combining a BBT chart with your cervical mucus chart, you can increase your chances for conception.
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