Recognizing the signs of ovulation — the release of a mature egg from one of the ovaries, which happens every month — is key when you're trying to get pregnant. That’s because you can only conceive around the time of ovulation — a small window each month (between 12 and 24 hours) when an egg is viable.
Doesn't sound like much of an opening? Consider, then, that sperm can live for three to five days in the uterus, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Even if you have sex a few days before ovulation, some sperm may still be around to greet the egg when it emerges.
So what ovulation symptoms should you look for to time it just right? Here are the signs of ovulation to look for when you're trying to conceive.
Signs of ovulation
Here are the most common ovulation symptoms to watch for. While some women may experience symptoms of ovulation, others do not. You can ovulate without experiencing any symptoms![1]
1. Slight increase in body temperature
During ovulation, your basal body temperature (BBT) rises slightly. You're most fertile in the two days before your BBT increases. Charting your BBT using a special thermometer for a few months may help you better pinpoint your most fertile days.
That said, BBT is not an ideal method to time when you’re most fertile, says What to Expect Medical Review Board Member Aaron K. Styer, M.D., a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist and a founding partner and co-medical director of Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine (CCRM) Boston, in Newton, Massachusetts. “Once BBT increases, you may have already ovulated one day prior,” he explains.
2. Changes in cervical mucus
Cervical mucus becomes clearer and thinner with a slippery consistency similar to that of egg whites. You might notice the change in consistency in your undies.
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3. Ovulation pain
You may feel a slight twinge of pain or mild cramps in your lower abdomen (this is called mittelschmerz).
4. A libido boost
Your sex drive may increase two to three days prior to ovulation. “This is thought to be due to the ovaries producing increased testosterone, the most notable ‘male hormone,’” explains Dr. Styer.
5. Vulva changes
Your labia, or the outer part of your genitalia, may swell.
6. Breast tenderness
Fluctuating hormones bring on tender breasts and sore nipples for some women.
7. Bloating and fluid retention
You may experience bloating and water retention thanks to surges in certain hormones while you're ovulating, which can lead to gas and slowed digestion.
8. Mood changes
Some women report feeling happier and in a good mood around the time of ovulation, midway through their cycle.
9. Appetite changes
Right before ovulation, your appetite may dip slightly. Just after ovulation occurs, it may increase a bit.
10. Heightened sense of smell
Your sense of smell may become sharper when you're ovulating, which also happens for some women during pregnancy.
When does ovulation occur?
Ovulation usually occurs halfway through your menstrual cycle, or around day 14 of the average 28-day cycle, counting from the first day of one period to the first day of the next.[2]
“As a general rule of thumb, ovulation occurs 13 to 14 days before your next [expected] period,” says Dr. Styer, who is affiliated with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Newton Wellesley Hospital, both in Boston.
As with everything pregnancy-related, there's a wide range of normal here. Cycles can last anywhere from 23 to 35 days, and even your own cycle and time of ovulation may vary slightly from month to month.
The majority of women have regular, predictable periods, and "estimating the time frame for ovulation is usually straightforward,” says Dr. Styer.
However, if your period “is unpredictable, inconsistent or occurs at an interval greater than every 40 days, it can be difficult to track ovulation,” he adds.
To find your predicted fertile window and ovulation date, try out the Ovulation Calculator on the What to Expect app.
How long does ovulation last?
An egg can be fertilized for between 12 and 24 hours after ovulation. The specific length of time that it takes for the egg to be released by the ovary and picked up by the fallopian tube is variable, but generally occurs 12 to 36 hours after a surge of the hormone LH.
You may notice symptoms for several days near and on your ovulation day.
If you’re trying to get pregnant, "it’s best to have intercourse every other day beginning four to five days prior to the day of predicted ovulation through the day of ovulation," suggests Dr. Styer.
There is even some flexibility within this window. "Although the chances may be lower, it is still possible to conceive if you have sex within the 24-hour time frame after predicted ovulation," he adds.
ACOG estimates that healthy couples who aren't using birth control typically have around a 25 to 30 percent chance of getting pregnant during each monthly cycle. That rate starts to decline in a woman’s mid-30s and can vary widely, depending on the circumstances. Of course, aiming to have sex on the day of ovulation improves any couple’s odds of getting pregnant.
And remember: It only takes one sperm to make a baby. That means it’s possible to get pregnant if you have sex up to five days before ovulation and one day following ovulation, the group says.
How to track ovulation
There are a number of ways to track ovulation and predict when you might start ovulating. Here's how to prepare for ovulation and pinpoint the timing:
Chart your menstrual cycle
Keep a menstrual cycle calendar for a few months so you can get an idea of what's normal for you — or use tools that can help you pinpoint which days you're most likely to ovulate, like What to Expect's Ovulation Calculator. If your periods are irregular, you'll need to be even more alert for other ovulation symptoms.
Listen to your body
In the middle of your cycle, it can be helpful to look for signs of ovulation. Ovulation symptoms you may notice include light cramps, changes to your cervical mucus, breast tenderness, a libido boost and mood changes.
So does that mean you can actually feel ovulation happening? For some women, the answer is yes, according to doctors.
“Some women may have mild to moderate pelvic pain, cramping or discomfort in the midline or on one side around the day of or the day after ovulation,” says Dr. Styer. You may notice this as a twinge of pain or a series of cramps.
Called mittelschmerz — German for "middle pain" — this monthly reminder of fertility is thought to be the result of the maturation or release of an egg from an ovary. It affects up to an estimated 40 percent of women, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). [3] Pay close attention, and you may be more likely to get the message.
Track your basal body temperature
Your basal body temperature, or BBT, that is. Taken with a special thermometer, basal body temperature is the baseline reading you get first thing in the morning, after at least three to five hours of sleep and before you get out of bed, talk or even sit up.
Your BBT changes throughout your cycle as fluctuations in hormone levels occur. During the first half of your cycle before ovulation, estrogen dominates.
During the second half after ovulation, there's an increase in progesterone, which increases your body temperature as it gets your uterus ready to hopefully implant a fertilized egg. That means your temperature will be about ½ to 1 degrees Fahrenheit higher in the second half of the month than it was in the first half, according to the NIH.
Confused? Here's the bottom line: Your basal body temperature will reach its lowest point prior to and at the time of ovulation and then rise immediately about a half a degree as soon as ovulation occurs.
Keep in mind that charting your BBT for just one month will not enable you to predict the day you ovulate but rather give you evidence of ovulation after it's happened. “Basal body temperature (BBT) is not the most reliable method to predict ovulation before it occurs,” says Dr. Styer. “The BBT increase is not usually detected until 24 hours after ovulation. At this point, there is a very low chance of pregnancy.”
Tracking BBT over a few months, however, will help you see a pattern in your cycles, enabling you to predict when your fertile days are — and when to hop into bed accordingly.
Many women do find this approach a bit frustrating, and it is important to know that studies have shown that the timing of ovulation does vary among women after the dip in temperature. Ovulation predictor kits are more precise.
Pay attention to discharge
“The most common sign of ovulation is usually an increased amount of thin, ‘watery’ cervical mucus,” says Dr. Styer. This cervical mucus, which you'll notice as discharge, carries the sperm to the egg deep inside you.
After your period ends, you'll have a dry spell, literally: You shouldn't expect much, if any, cervical mucus. As the cycle proceeds, you'll notice an increase in the amount of mucus, with an often white or cloudy appearance — and if you try to stretch it between your fingers, it'll break apart.
Three to four days before ovulation, this mucus becomes even more copious, but now it's thinner, clearer and has a slippery consistency similar to that of an egg white. If you try to stretch it between your fingers, you'll be able to pull it into a string a few inches long before it breaks (how's that for fun in the bathroom?). This egg white cervical mucus is yet another sign of impending ovulation.
About two to three days after ovulation, cervical mucus becomes thick and decreases significantly in volume, says Dr. Styer.
Put together with BBT on a chart, cervical mucus can be an extremely useful (if slightly messy) tool in pinpointing the day you're most likely to ovulate — in plenty of time for you to do something about it.
Some women do not produce much cervical mucus, particularly those who have had surgery on the cervix for abnormal PAP smears (such as a LEEP procedure).
Buy an ovulation predictor kit
Don't want to mess around with mucus? You don't have to. Many women use ovulation predictor kits, which identify the date of ovulation 12 to 24 hours in advance by looking at levels of luteinizing hormone, or LH, the last of the hormones to hit its peak before ovulation.
All you have to do is pee on a stick and wait for the indicator to tell you whether you're about to ovulate. These kits are more accurate than the use of apps which predict when you should be ovulating, but not necessarily when you actually are ovulating.
Ovulation predictor kits are a reliable method if you have consistent and predictable periods, says Dr. Styer. “If the menstrual interval is infrequent or unpredictable, it is difficult to know when to begin tracking. In this circumstance, ovulation predictor kits are unreliable and may not accurately detect ovulation,” he adds.
A less precise and rarely used approach is a saliva test, which measures estrogen levels in your saliva as ovulation nears. When you're ovulating, a look at your saliva under the test's eyepiece will reveal a microscopic pattern that resembles the leaves of a fern plant or frost on a window pane. Not all women get a good "fern," but this test, which is reusable, can be cheaper than the kits.
There are also devices that detect the numerous salts (chloride, sodium, potassium) in a woman's sweat, which change during different times of the month. Called the chloride ion surge, this shift happens even before the estrogen and the LH surge, so these tests give a woman a four-day warning of when she may be ovulating, versus the 12-to-36-hour notice that standard ovulation predictors provide.
The saliva and chloride ion surge tests have not been well studied and tend to be used much less frequently.
What does ovulation feel like? Moms explain
Within What to Expect's Trying to Conceive Community message board, ovulation symptoms are a frequent discussion topic. Here's what moms-to-be say they've noticed about their bodies when they're ovulating:
Some moms experience painful ovulation — and for many of them, the pain is limited to one side
- "I always get ovulation cramps; thats how I usually know when/if I'm ovulating. When I get ovulation pains they usually last three to four days ... The cramping is usually on one side near/in the ovary area and in the uterus area."
- "I get ovulation pain which can last anywhere between one and four days. It feels like a sharp stabbing pain in the ovary. I also have a feeling of pressure in my lower abdomen, like a congestion pain or feeling of distention."
- "When I ovulated last month, I felt it by my left ovary. it was like a sharp cramp and pressure. I was sore for the rest of the day."
Ovulation discharge is very common
- "I have very thick, lotion-like cervical mucus after I ovulate."
- "It's the consistency of egg whites."
Many women experience no ovulation symptoms at all
- "I don't recall ever noticing my ovulation symptoms, and I didn't have any trouble getting pregnant."
Just remember: Patience and persistence are key when you're trying to get pregnant, and there are no guarantees that you'll definitely conceive even if you are ovulating.
But it can't hurt to keep an eye out for these common ovulation symptoms, then plan a candlelit dinner, draw a warm bubble bath or go on a romantic weekend getaway — whatever it takes to put you and your partner in the baby-making mood.
Good luck — and have fun trying!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the signs of ovulation?
Changes in basal body temperature, mild cramping and increased sex drive are just a few signs you may be ovulating.
How do I know I'm ovulating?
There are a number of ways to determine when you're ovulating:
- Chart your menstrual cycle
- Pay attention to any twinges of pain or lower abdominal cramps (called mittelschmerz)
- Track your basal body temperature
- Buy an ovulation predictor kit
- Pay attention to your cervical mucus
How many days during ovulation can you get pregnant?
You can only conceive around the time of ovulation — a small window each month (between 12 and 24 hours) when the egg is viable.
How long do you ovulate?
An egg can be fertilized for between 12 and 36 hours after ovulation. Ovulation usually occurs halfway through your menstrual cycle, which is generally around 13 to 14 days before your next expected period.
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