Ovulation symptoms and fertility tests for women

If you're wondering whether and when you are ovulating you have a few options. There are over the counter ovulation tests, there are ovulation symptoms you can look for, or - if you have been trying to get pregnant for a while or have some other reason to worry that you might not be ovulating, your doctor can order a blood test called the 21 day progesterone test. Your doctor might also order other tests, including general blood tests to check for things like iron or vitamin deficiencies.

Be aware however that it can often take 6-12 months to get pregnant for women with no fertility problems. For everyone who gets pregnant the first month they try, there are many more women who take much longer. The reasons for this are complex but in most cases there is nothing wrong.

The signs of ovulation are different for different women. Some women swear they can tell the exact moment they ovulate, whereas others never have any symptoms at all.

Common ovulation symptoms include:

• breast tenderness - some woman have tender breasts just before or after ovulation
• lower abdominal pain - some women can feel the moment of ovulation or have some general lower abdominal cramping around the time of ovulation. "Mittelschmerz" as it is known can be a twinge sharp pain or a few hours of mild aching.
• basal body temperature (your at rest temperature on first waking) rises after ovulation (see below)
• cervical mucus changes with ovulation (see below)
• there are also changes in your saliva that can be detected with a small microscope called a 'maybe baby' (in Australia), 'maybe mom' or 'fertile focus'.

A basal body temperature thermometer measures your temperature in smaller increments than a normal thermometer. After ovulation your basal body temperature rises, and typically stays elevated until just before menstruation.

To track your ovulation this way you need to record your temperature every morning before getting out of bed, ideally for a few months.This way you can learn to recognise your normal ovulation pattern. However, this method only tells you when you have ovulated, not when you are going to.

Changes in the Cervical Mucus

The texture of both your cervix and your cervical mucus changes as ovulation approaches. The mucus called 'spin' which resembles raw egg white is considered to be most indicative of the fertile phase of your cycle. However, as with watching your temperature, this method is best done by tracking mucus changes - both in texture and quantity - over the course of your full cycle, or preferably several cycles.

Francesca Naish's book Natural Fertility: Conscious Conception and Contraception gives  detailed instructions for using both these and other methods of tracking your fertility. This excellent book is currently out of print, but often available second hand.