The infamous fertile window—a.k.a. the best time to baby dance. Suddenly, that time of the month doesn’t refer to your period anymore but to the time where you religiously do the baby dance with your hubby.
To make a teeny-tiny human being, we still need an egg and a sperm cell. Since women only produce one (and sometimes two) fertile eggs per month, it’s quite handy indeed to know when that is. This formula breaks it down for you in three easy steps. The formula helps you to calculate your fertile window and determine your ovulation day.
Bear in mind: This method works best when your cycle is “regular”.
- What is the average length of your cycle?
Usually, my cycle is about 31 days long. Fun fact: A cycle length between 21 and 35 days is considered totally normal and healthy. - Take the average length of your cycle and subtract 14. The number you’ll get is the estimated day of your ovulation.
In my case, I subtract 14 from 31. This gives me 17. So, my ovulation takes place on Cycle Day 17, give-or-take. - Count back 5 days from your estimated ovulation day. These 5 days, including your ovulation day, is considered your fertile window.
In my example, Cycle Day 12 to 17 is the fertile window. During the fertile window, you can baby dance with your hubby to your heart’s content.
Let’s look at my example in any given month. Suppose that my period started on July 15. So, July 15 is Cycle Day 1. As we just saw, I will probably ovulate on CD 17. Fast forward 17 days, we have July 31 as my ovulation day. Going back from July 31, my fertile window will be from July 26 until July 31.
See, it’s as simple as that!
It’s great for couples who are just starting out on their Trying To Conceive journey. As you get to know more about the vast expanse of the TTC universe, you can utilize more tools to determine your ovulation. However, this simple formula is a great start.
