Girl Math on Ovulation
If you have ever searched “when do I ovulate?!?” you understand what I mean by girl math. Some website tells you to add 14 but then add 2 more if ____ and subtract 3 if ____. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but you get my point. Ovulation is a word tossed around a lot that people just smile and nod at but really have no clue what is actually going on.
Girl math but make it sweet
Ovulation is all based around your cycle length, AKA how many days separate the first day of one period to the first day of the next period. The standard (whatever that means) cycle length is 28 days. But we are not robots and our cycles are thrown out of rhythm from random things all of the time. Charts are fun, let’s take a look….
Cycle Length | Approximate Ovulation Date |
26 Days | Day 12 |
28 Days | Day 14 |
30 Days | Day 16 |
32 Days | Day 18 |
POP QUIZ:
My girl Sara has a 34 day cycle; on what day of her cycle does she ovulate?
Yep, go get some chocolate girl… she ovulates on day 20.
Feeling confident
Now that you know approximately what day you ovulate based on your cycle, let’s talk a little bit about what it means to ovulate. On the day of your ovulation your ovary releases an egg that travels down your fallopian tubes waiting to meet up with some cute sperm. This egg can only last 12 to 24 hours after ovulation before your body will absorb it. This seems like a short window to get pregnant but sperm can actually hang out waiting on the egg for three to five days. Girl math says that means you can get pregnant from having sex around five days before ovulation and one day after (actually science says that).
My brain hurts
The hard part about ovulation and our cycles is that they fluctuate so much so it is really hard to know for certain when you are in your fertile window. There are a lot of great apps available that will help you track your ovulation. We recommend them because the more you know about your body the more you are able to take ownership of your sexual health. Plus, it takes the heat off of you always doing the math to find out if this is the baby making window or not. We hope this helps you understand a bit more about your cycle and what is going on. If you have any questions or find yourself pregnant (you hit that window girl) then give us a call to schedule an appointment at (770) 464-6069 or make one online.
References:
The Cleveland Clinic. (2022). Ovulation: Calculating, timeline, pain & other symptoms. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/23439-ovulation
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