Understanding Menstrual Cycles for Pregnancy
What you should know about Menstrual Cycles
Menstruation cycles often play a major role in controlling your chances of getting pregnant. So, it is very important to monitor your menstruation cycles every month. Menstrual cycles and their patterns differ from one woman to the other and these may also vary from month to month.
Irregularity In the Menstrual Cycles
There are approximately four stages in the entire menstrual circle of a woman each month. These stages are as follows:
- menstrual phase
- follicular phase
- ovulation phase
- luteal phase
On average a period cycle takes 21 to 35 days. If this duration gets delayed to a month time or more, then it is termed as irregularity in the menstrual cycle. Though such irregularity can occur occasionally and does not indicate harmful conditions in general cases. But sometimes this irregularity in menstruation occurs frequently and disrupts the process of intercourse and thus pregnancy. Irregularity in periods can occur due to a number of reasons such as sudden changes in the hormones like estrogen and progesterone, or any other health conditions.
How much do you know about your menstrual cycle?
When you are planning for pregnancy, the most important question that comes to your mind is when to perform intercourse. The answer to this is when you are most likely to get fertilized by the sperm cells contributed by your male partner. When your menstruation cycle just gets completed, your body goes through a process known as ‘Ovulation’, when you will notice changes in the cervical mucus that becomes thin and slippery and keeps your fertility at the pinnacle, which is considered the perfect time to perform intercourse, and this will help you to get pregnant faster.
All about menstrual cycle and pregnancy
Eggs are female reproductive units that are within the ovary and are released once each month for the purpose of fertilization by a sperm from the male body. When an egg is fertilized, it grows and develops into an embryo. When the egg does not get fertilized, then it bleeds out of the female body through an organ known as a vagina, and this process is known as the period of the menstrual blood.
Menstrual cycles differ among individuals and vary according to some factors such as the color of the blood, time of bleeding and time gap, and so on. In the first phase of the menstrual cycle, the bleeding begins with a lighter shade and then gradually the color gets darker red and thicker in texture and finally, the cycle ends with a brownish shade of blood and the quantity of bleeding, therefore, decreases gradually. Once you become pregnant, the primary thing to notice about your menstrual cycle is that you will miss your periods. Though missing periods do not always ensure pregnancy, it is a crucial symptom.
Here is what occurs during Ovulation
Ovulation is the process of releasing eggs from your ovary in the menstrual cycle of 28 to 35 days that take place between the 11th and 21st days of your period cycle. This process is followed by some physiological changes, like an increase in body temperature and a rise in hormone levels. This is a condition when your body is in its most fertile condition, and this is considered the most perfect time to perform intercourse to ensure pregnancy and successful childbirth.
Count the days when you were Most Fertile
When you are thinking of getting pregnant, it is very important to track your ovulation timing. This is because, when your body starts ovulation, you are in the most fertile condition and so, this is the best time to undergo sexual intercourse.
Most importantly, track your menstrual cycle. If it is normal, subtract 18 days from the length of your shortest cycle. This will be calculated as the first day when you are supposed to be the most fertile. Next, subtract 11 days from the length of your longest cycle and this will be the last day you are likely to be fertile. It is suggested that to achieve an easy and smooth pregnancy, try having intercourse within the duration of these two-time intervals.
Body Temperature can predict Ovulation
One important sign of ovulation is a sudden increase in body temperature. This happens because when ovulation takes place in your body by the release of eggs from the uterus, there is a sudden rise in hormones like progesterone which increases your basal body temperature. Though a rise in basal body temperature can occur due to a number of reasons, one such can be the onset of ovulation.
Change in Hormones can track Ovulation
When ovulation is about to begin, almost around 36 hours before the egg releasing procedure, there occurs a sudden increase in the luteinizing hormone or LH that accelerates the process of releasing eggs from the ovaries. Home Ovulation detecting kits check the levels of the LH in your urine which helps to identify the first day of ovulation and to determine the day when you were most fertile.
The Final Phase of your Menstrual Cycle
The second half and thus the final phase of your menstrual cycle plays a crucial role in planning for pregnancy and performing aintercourse because in the second half of your period cycle, one of the most important female reproductive hormones known as progesterone increases in amounts and thus to help in shaping the pregnancy by forming a layer of tissues within the uterus. It is within this lining of uterine tissues where the fertilized egg is placed.
If any chance an egg is not fertilized by a sperm, a male reproductive unit, the egg cell degenerates and sheds in the form of menstrual blood. Along with this, the level of progesterone hormone gradually decreases. Bleeding during menstruation lasts from a maximum of 3 to 7 days and gets repeated after a month or almost after 28 days.
