Charting Your Cervical Mucus
One tried and true method for predicting ovulation is to chart the changes in your cervical mucus during your menstrual cycle. Learning how your vaginal secretions look when you are at your most fertile is a good way to know when to engage in conception sex. This method is better than charting your basal body temperature (BBT) since BBT will only tell you that ovulation has occurred after the fact, while cervical mucus will help you know where you are during the whole of your cycle. That means you'll know when you're about to ovulate, when you are actually ovulating, and when ovulation is a thing of the past.
Kinda Squeamish
It may feel a bit strange to check your own bodily secretions and you may start out feeling squeamish about the process. However, as time goes on, most women find that they are struck by how amazing it is that their bodies have so much power. Your body communicates with you and tells you when you are ready to conceive. That is kind of miraculous.
How to Test Your Cervical Mucus:
1) Begin by cleaning your hands. Dry them well.
Comfort Zone
2) Find your comfort zone—it's like putting in a tampon: some women like to sit on the toilet, others prefer to squat, while still others like to stand and raise one leg up, placing the raised foot on a toilet seat.
3) Ease one finger (index or middle) into your vagina being careful not to nick or scratch. You want a sample from as close to the cervix as possible, but don't go farther than comfort allows.
4) Take your finger out of your vagina and look at the mucus. Roll the mucus between your thumb and index finger to test its consistency. Press your two fingers together and then inch them apart, slowly.
Not Yet
*If you retrieved only a scant, sticky bit of mucus, you're not yet ovulating.
*If the mucus is creamy, ovulation is on its way, but not quite yet.
*If the mucus is becoming wetter and a bit stretchy, ovulation is soon. This is a good time to start having conception sex.
Egg Whites
*If there is a nice amount of very wet mucus that will stretch between two fingers to at least an inch, and if the mucus looks a lot like raw egg whites, your cervical mucus is just right for baby-making. Ovulation is just about to happen. Make love in earnest!
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