How to use a fertility calculator
A very good way to find out when you are going to ovulate is with the use of a fertility calculator. Unlike regular calculators, fertility calculators are wonderfully cheap and natural way to track your ovulation is with a plain calendar and knowledge of your own body. Also, there are many helpful websites available online that will calculate this for you. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.
These devices can be a life-saver if you don’t have months to wait to conceive. It’s a little known fact that you’re only fertile for about one day in the month (sometimes it can be a few hours), so it’s quite easy to miss your chance to conceive.
You’ll have to provide some information so the calculator can do its job. Don’t worry - they don’t need to know your life history - just a few facts. The important thing is to ensure that the info the calculator requires is correct.
The questions are: first day of your last period, days in your cycle and average luteal phase.
If you regularly note down the dates of your period in your journal, this will be an easy exercise for you. Then, all you need to do is count the days in between the dates your period starts.
Working out the details on your luteal phase isn’t as easy. This is a term used by doctors to describe the days in your cycle after you ovulate but before your period. It should last 14 days if your cycle is the standard 28 days.
Don’t worry if it sounds too difficult! The majority of online calculators require only the most basic of information, so if you find one that wants information you can’t give, just move on to the next calculator.
The ultra low tech way to get your fertile dates is to use your diary or pda, and enter your cycle start dates as a diary entry. Then, all you need to do is subtract 14 from the predicted date of your next period, and voila - you have an ovulation date. Of course, this is not accurate, so assume you might be fertile + or - a couple of days of that date.
If you want to incorporate the luteal phase in your calculation, then monitor the daily changes in your cervical mucus as well as your BBT. These two basic pieces of information can really help the accuracy of your fertility calculation.
There are tips and tricks to realizing when you are ovulating which I explain on my website and books. Once you become more in-tune with your body using a fertility calculator to get pregnant will be as easy as 123!