90% of the time, women who come to me for consultation when trying to conceive have no idea when they ovulate. They just assume or wait for an app to tell them when they ovulate, which in most cases is inaccurate because these apps use the calendar method. I mean, if it was correct, you should have been pregnant now right. Not to worry, in my experience working with hundreds of women, I have categorized these mistakes into 6.
You should take your time to read through and see if you have been making any of these mistakes as well.
MISTAKE 1: Ovulation happens on the 14th day
First off, I want you to know that very few women ovulate on the 14th day. In my experience its about 10% of my clients I see ovulate on the 14th day. Many women do not also ovulate on the same day every month. So, even if you ovulate on day 14 this month, you can ovulate on day 12 or 13 or even day 16 the next month.
I know most examples you see online always say that women ovulate on the 14th day of a 28 day cycle. It is not true. I have seen women ovulate as late as cycle day 28, just like my client Eloghosa. She learnt and mastered how to track her cycles using her waking temperatures and got pregnant in the 4th cycle of trying as seen below in the image.
MISTAKE 2: Ovulation happens 14 days before the next period
This point is similar to the previous one. Women who have calculated their cycle length to be 30 days for example will do the maths and say 30-14= 16 therefore, I\'ll be ovulating on the 16th day. This idea is based on a notion that periods come 14 days after ovulation. This is not correct!
This phase of the cycle which is from after ovulation until the start of a new period is called the luteal phase and it can be anywhere from 10 to 16 days. This simply means a woman can ovulate anywhere from 10 to 16 days before periods
Below is a menstrual cycle chart of a client of mine with a 16 days Luteal phase meaning her ovulation happens 16 days before her periods. I have also seen women with a 17 day luteal phase, so you cant be subtracting 14 days
MISTAKE 3: Using and Interpreting ovulation tests wrong
Women will tell me different things; This ovulation test strip doesn\'t work for me I never get a positive, I don\'t even know when this thing says positive\", all sorts but when I explain the process to them, they see that they have been doing it wrong.
With test strips, there is a time in the cycle to test, and when it comes to interpreting, you have to follow set rules if not, you just become frustrated. You don\'t just test at any time. Did you know that a positive ovulation test doesn\'t necessarily mean you are ovulating that day?
Pictures showing my clients who thought they never ovulate getting their first positive ovulation test result after guiding them on how to test and when to test
MISTAKE 4: Having sex only when they see eggwhite
A lot of women will even tell me they don\'t ovulate because they don\'t see eggwhite. Eggwhite is the most fertile kind of cervical mucus, but its is not the only one. I have seen many women I work with get pregnant without seeing eggwhite at all.
Tosin was a client of mine who told me she didn\'t see any significant eggwhite when her period was delayed after I asked her to take a pregnancy test
Tosin reaction when she finally got a positive pregnancy test days later from the cycle where she didn\'t see eggwhite
MISTAKE 5: Waiting to have sex on ovulation day
Most women are so eager to find out the ovulation day that they completely ignore the fertile window. The fertile window consists of 5 days before ovulation and the day of ovulation. Your body would have been giving you signs. Do not ignore them waiting for the day of ovulation to have sex
The sperm can survive in a woman\'s body for up to 5 days, waiting to fertilise the egg. It\'s best to take advantage of this window to have sperm waiting just before the egg drops, so yes, you can get pregnant when you have sex even before ovulation, although chances increase as you get closer to ovulation.
You know I\'ll always give examples lol. Just like my client below, a nurse in the UK who had a very tight schedule and would meet her husband on his way to work when she was returning from shifts. I encouraged to just try to have sex in the fertile window.
She had sex 2 days before she ovulated and got pregnant as seen below
MISTAKE 6: They ignore other fertility signs
In total, there are 3 primary fertility signs: Cervical mucus, Basal body temperature, and Cervical position. All of which can be checked daily from the comfort of your home. The other is the Ovulation test strip.
The basal temperature is the fertility sign I consider the most important because asides confirming ovulation. It is also diagnostic, meaning it can show hormonal imbalances in the cycle. Adding one more sign like the cervical mucus or ovulation strips to the basal body temperature is just prefect is properly confirming ovulation and timing sex correctly
So checking your cervical mucus alone or waiting for an app to predict for you isn\'t the best.
When women learn the symptothermal method of fertility awareness, these are the reactions I get
Caroline just like others realied for the first time her app has been predicting wrong
Joyce for the first time realized she ovulated on cycle day 17 as opposed to day 14 like most women believe
Georgina suprised to find that she ovulated on cycle day 30. She is one of my PCOS clients.
You too can learn to use your fertility signs to track ovulation and time sex correctly.
WATCH MY MASTERCLASS FOR FREE
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
About STEPHANIE NYONG
Stephanie is a seasoned holistic women\'s fertility, cycle and hormones coach who has helped hundreds of women conceive naturally. She is trained in Holistic Medicine and is very passionate about using this wealth of knowledge in helping women navigate their hormones to either regulate their cycles, get pregnant or avoid pregnancy naturally.
She is also a member of the International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine, United Kingdom.
She is a serial author and also the founder of Women\'s Health Platforms Foundation, an NGO clinic in Abuja, Nigeria that has provided over 10,000 women with low-cost preventive healthcare services.
