While ovulation can be difficult to pinpoint, ovulation tests like Oova can help. Here’s everything you need to know about when to test ovulation.
Trying to get pregnant, especially timing ovulation, isn’t always easy. Ovulation is not only challenging to pinpoint, but happens quickly and only leaves you a short window for conception. During ovulation, once your ovary releases an egg, the egg only lives for 12 to 24 hours.
However, from recording your menstrual cycle to using ovulation tests, there are methods to track and identify ovulation if you're trying to get pregnant. So, when is the best time to test ovulation? Here's everything you need to know: why and when to test, plus signs and symptoms to look out for.
Understanding ovulation To understand the best time to test for ovulation, it’s first important to learn what’s involved in the ovulation process.
This process typically occurs halfway through your menstrual cycle. An average menstrual cycle lasts 28 days, and ovulation usually occurs around the 14th day.
Ovulation occurs when follicles develop a fully mature egg and the ovary releases the egg. It travels down the fallopian tube, where it waits to be fertilized by the sperm.
If it's fertilized by sperm, the egg continues to your uterus and attaches to the lining of the uterus (endometrium), an event known as implantation. Estrogen and progesterone hormone levels rise to prepare the body for pregnancy by thickening the uterine lining. Cells divide to form the fetus and placenta, and hormones signal to keep your uterine lining, preventing a menstrual period. A sign that may indicate you are pregnant is a missed period.
Sperm can live in your body for three to five days and can fertilize the egg as soon as it's released. This means your window to conceive can be about five days before you ovulate and one day after.
The timing of ovulation can vary depending on the length of your cycle, whether it’s long, short, or irregular . Various factors can also influence the timing of ovulation, such as aging and menopause, underlying health conditions like PCOS, stress , dramatic weight changes, excessive exercise, and medications that interfere with ovulation like birth control. Maintaining a balanced lifestyle with a healthy diet and exercise can help regulate your menstrual cycle and ovulation.
Symptoms of ovulation While people have different experiences during their menstrual cycle, there are common signs that can help you identify if you are about to ovulate or are ovulating. Some symptoms include:
Breast tenderness Bloating Increase in basal body temperature Changes in position and softness to your cervix (your cervix will move higher up inside your vaginal canal) Some pelvic or abdominal pain Light bleeding or spotting Increased sex drive Mood changes Appetite changes Changes to cervical mucus (turning from thick, white, and dry to clear and slippery) When is the best time to test ovulation? An ovulation test can help pinpoint when you ovulate and predict when you are most fertile in your menstrual cycle—however, you can’t test randomly. It's helpful to test a few days before you anticipate ovulation.
So, how do you anticipate ovulation? It's important to track your menstrual cycle to identify the window leading up to ovulation.
Your fertile window is the most fertile part of the menstrual cycle and when you are most likely to get pregnant. It typically includes the five days before and 24 hours after you ovulate.
Therefore, for the average 28-day menstrual cycle, where you'll likely ovulate around day 14, you'll want to test around day 10. If you have a shorter cycle, test within four to six days before halfway through your cycle.
While you can test anytime during the day, many test at the beginning of the day as it's important to limit your intake of fluids and avoid urinating up one to two hours before testing. Liquid intake can dilute luteinizing hormone (LH) and mix up results. LH levels increase so that the ovary releases its egg. High levels of LH are a good indicator that you're ovulating.
How to test for ovulation Traditional ovulation tests work by measuring the LH hormone in your urine. If there is a surge in LH, it means that you are about to ovulate, usually within the next 36 hours. If you receive a positive result, this is when you want to have sex since it means this is the highest chance in your cycle to get pregnant. If you get a negative result, continue to take ovulation tests once or twice a day as you might ovulate later than expected.
These ovulation tests can be accurate, but can also result in false positives. In fact, LH can surge with no egg released—which means you might get a positive result, but you aren’t ovulating. Traditional tests also measure LH based on “standard” hormone ranges, so if you have LH levels outside of that range—which can happen due to fertility medications or reproductive health conditions like PCOS —you may get inaccurate results. For example, if you have low LH levels, you may still experience an LH surge, but your levels may not reach the “standard” range to indicate a positive result.
Multi-hormone ovulation tests, like Oova, measure multiple hormones to track your fertility. Oova measures LH, estrogen, and progesterone , and analyzes levels according to your baseline to provide more accurate results. This means Oova can pinpoint when you’re ovulating even if you have irregular cycles or hormone levels outside of the typical range.
When is the best time to test ovulation? The bottom line While an average menstrual cycle lasts 28 days, menstrual cycles can vary and look different for everyone (and that's common!). That's why it's important to track your menstrual cycle and symptoms to know when to test ovulation. While the best time to test ovulation is usually around day 10 of your cycle, if you have a shorter or longer menstrual cycle, the best time to test is a few days before the midpoint of your cycle.
To understand the length of your cycle, you may choose to record your menstrual cycle in a calendar or monitor symptoms of ovulation over time. If you choose to use an ovulation test, Oova’s fertility kit measures a combination of hormones to establish your personal hormone baseline—to ensure the most accuracy in pinpointing ovulation, and confirming that you have ovulated.
Consult with your healthcare provider on what method works best for you. Whatever approach you choose, gathering knowledge of your cycle is crucial to understanding your fertility.
