How to pinpoint when you’re fertile, and why your doctor probably didn’t mention it

Did you know that you’re actually only fertile for a few days each cycle? If you’re anything like me, I thought a woman could get pregnant every day of her cycle. I mean…why wouldn’t we think that?! Health class scares us, people are taking the birth control pill every day (so surely that means you could get pregnant any day?), and men are fertile every day….sooooooo.

But, women are actually only fertile about 5-6 days per cycle. We call this period of time (+a few additional days to be conservative, for those trying to avoid pregnancy) the fertile window. 

How do you know if you’re in your fertile window today or not? Let’s get into it.

Your body tells you if you’re fertile or not each and every day, through two primary indicators.

1. Your basal body temperature 
2. Your cervical fluid

In a healthy cycle where a woman has ovulated, her cycle may typically follow a pattern similar to the below. In a super oversimplified, over-generalized, not explaining everything type of way….  

• The first half* of her cycle is where: 
• Estrogen is the star of the show
• Cervical fluid starts to appear, and then it becomes wet and wetter and eventually resembles raw eggwhite (clear, super stretchy, lubricative), indicating ovulation is near
• Basal body temperatures are chillin’ in a low range
• The second half* of her cycle is where:
• Progesterone is the star of the show
• Cervical fluid tends to dry up 
• Basal body temperatures rise and stay risen, indicating ovulation occurred 

Just to be super clear here - this is explaining a healthy cycle where a woman ovulated. And, there are soooo many nuances to each cycle, and your cycle is unique to YOU, so don’t take this and run with it! Learn the method so that you can learn the nuances. This isn’t describing all that you need to know.

*When I say half, I don’t literally mean half. It might be! But, that’s up to your unique cycle. Like I said, super oversimplified here.

That means, that you can learn what your cervical fluid and basal body temperature are telling you, and determine on any given day, if you are in your fertile window or not.

What’s the steps?

1. Check (&sync) your basal body temperature: We use the Tempdrop device, so we wear it overnight and then sync it in the morning. 
2. Check ya panties: Cervical fluid is the best indicator to know if you are approaching ovulation or not. If you are seeing cervical fluid and it’s wet, stretchy, clear, chances are ovulation is approaching.
3. Take notes: In your app (we’ve used the Tempdrop or Read Your Body app before), mark down what you are experiencing. In a proper charting app, like one of the two we just mentioned, you’ll have space to put your basal body temperature, as well as your cervical fluid, and you can journal any other symptoms that you’re experiencing.
4. Know the rules: Based on the range that your basal body temperatures are in, and the type of cervical fluid you are experiencing, you can determine if you are in your fertile window or not based on the rules of the sympto-thermal method. Not sure what the rules are? Take our on-demand course to learn how to tell what your body is telling you!

Is this hard to do? 

It’s definitely a learning curve at first, but when you think about the fact that you are hopefully cycling for decades to come, it sure is worth the time and effort now to learn it! AND, the best part? We hear it time and time again from our students - it becomes so, so much easier and eventually feels like second nature. For us, it takes no more than a few minutes to check our temps & cervical fluid every day, and determine where we’re at in our fertile window. 

Wait, so why didn’t my OBGYN tell me any of this?

Ugh…. this is a tough one. There’s a couple reasons. 

1. Unfortunately, our medical system isn’t set up in a way that’s conducive for this information. Often times, our model covers ~15 minute appointments with our provider. They simply don’t have the time to teach you how to learn this, or how to go through the nuances of your individual cycle. 
2. It’s not profitable. Learning about your cycle and body isn’t profitable at all, and birth control is a billion (yes, with a B!!!) dollar business. It’s not necessarily that your OB is seeking out what’s profitable, but moreso that the data and clinical research is focused on those initiatives, since much of the clinical research in reproductive health is funded by the companies making these birth control mechanisms.
3. Sometimes they just don’t know this information! Because of the way our medical system is set up, and because it’s not profitable, sometimes doctors aren’t aware of / trained in this information.

Two more reasons you might not know about this, but more-so a commentary on our western culture:

• Tracking can feel a bit taboo, because you’re talking about cervical fluid… No expert marketing team can make that look sexy! Although we’re now obsessed with tracking, it’s not something people find themselves talking about regularly. The media often reflect and shape cultural norms, frequently presenting an idealized and unrealistic portrayal of the female body that can be disconnected from reality. They literally call pads and tampons sanitary products which subconsciously implies that a women’s period is “Dirty” which it is not true at all. Thankfully, some companies and brands are shifting to change the unrealistic ideals that are set for women. How many of you have seen the razor commercials where they are actually shaving a woman’s hairy leg normalizing the fact that women have HAIR. 
• In our western culture, there tends to be a bias towards trusting things outside of our own body. We immediately rely and resort to medicine to heal when in some cases it might not be the necessary first step, we over-rely on sleep trackers or exercise trackers instead of using them in partnership with tuning into our body's natural signals.

So now what?

If you are interested in learning how to identify your unique fertile window, check out The Natural Blueprint On-Demand. We talk allllllll about how to track your unique fertile window to help you avoid or achieve pregnancy, but also so much more! And, if I do say so myself, I think we do it in a fun and easy to understand way :) 

Get ready to have your life changed!