how to know when you are ovulating

Learn the common ovulation symptoms and signs of ovulation in this article, including how ovulation works and how it relates to your period.

Ovulation symptoms are often subtle. You have to be paying attention to your body’s signs and signals in order to tell that you’ve ovulated. Learning when you have ovulated – or are approaching the most fertile time of the month – is vital for women trying to conceive. You can dramatically increase your chance of pregnancy if you have unprotected sex during the week that you ovulate. Similarly, if you practice natural birth control, you obviously will want to avoid having any sexual intercourse during this week.

Getting pregnant, and having a menstrual period is tied to ovulation. You won’t have a normal period if you didn’t ovulate this month. (Some women do experience anovulatory bleeding, also called dysfunctional uterine bleeding. This bleeding can be mistaken for a period, but it’s not a period. It only occurs when ovulation does not take place.) There’s also no possible way for you to become pregnant unless you ovulate.