You are carefully watching your ovulation chart and conducting pregnancy tests, and have a fair idea of your ovulation. But is it still possible that you can get a positive pregnancy test after a week past ovulation? The answer is in the affirmative though it is rarest of the rare case.

During your ovulation cycle, your ovary releases the ripest egg into the fallopian tube for fertilization. Popping up of most mature egg into fallopian tube is called ovulation. We are familiar with the process of fertilization. When a female gamete called egg meets with a sperm in a women’s fallopian tube, this phenomenon is known as fertilization. The lifespan of female gamete or egg is twenty four hours. So for conception the sperm has to reach that egg within twenty four hours. If the egg is not fertilized it will be shed out of your body through menstrual cycle. Then how come anyone be pregnant a week after ovulation?

We know that ovulation and periods happen at different times in your body. The best time for conceiving is when you ovulate. But there are many exceptions. Sometimes it is possible for the egg to survive for three or more days. So theoretically you have ovulated but egg is not out of your body. If you have an intercourse during these days you can get pregnant because the egg is still surviving past its prime. Though this is extremely uncommon.

You can conceive while having your periods. Suppose you have a very short menstrual cycle. An extremely short menstrual cycle makes it possible that you are ovulating and having periods at the same time. If you indulge in intercourse during this time it is possibility that you can conceive.

If you want to know when you are ovulating listen to your body’s whisperings. If you pay a close attention, you are likely to spot certain changes in your body.

Slight Abdominal Pain
One fifth of women can experience pain in the lower abdominal area during ovulation. The intensity of pain may vary. It could be a mild ache or cramps. A German word “mittelschmer ” (means middle pain) is used to describe this pain. The duration of this pain may also vary from a few minutes to a few hours. Pay attention to this pain every month. This way you will be able to pinpoint this trend correctly.

Changes in Cervical Mucus
When your body experiences a surge in luteinizing hormone (LH), volume and texture of your mucus discharge changes. During ovulation volume of mucus increases and mucus becomes clear, slippery and stretchy. This particular type of texture helps the sperm to sail through its journey easily. It’s the nature’s way to ensure that at least one sperm reaches the egg.

Secretion of pheromones
When you are ovulating your body secretes pheromones. Men find the smell of pheromones quite sexy. During ovulation nature makes you more attractive to the opposite sex to accomplish the purpose of procreation. You might be quite unaware of pheromones but men are clearly not!

Taking care to look attractive
Humans don’t exhibit their courtship as brazenly as the animal world, but when you are ovulating, you take special care to dress and pay more attention to your looks and accessories. Unconsciously you do things that make you look hot and catch the attention of a male.

Socializing
You feel the need to socialize more, flirt more and feel a surge in sexual desire. If you are in a committed relationship, you crave for your partner sexually. You tend to go out, socialize with men, and be a bit more flirtatious while ovulating.

While conceiving is a cakewalk for some women, some find it exceptionally difficult to get pregnant. Among all those women in whom ovulation remains allusive, a majority of them are not suffering from fertility problems.

For many couples it’s just that timing is inaccurate. Today’s fast-paced life is taking its toll on reproductive cycles too. People are so tired and exhausted running various errands that they just collapse in the bed at night, having no energy for sex. In fact sex is almost relegated to a weekend activity.

High stress-level of modern day’s lifestyle is also affecting the reproductive cycles of both men and women. Since productive sex happens so infrequently, the couples are unable to pin down an optimal time for baby-making sex.

When sex life is erratic, the chances of conceiving become slimmer because there is normally a short span of time for women to conceive between two menstrual cycles. If couples can’t have sex during this period then it will be another wait for the next most fertile time frame.

The female reproductive system discharges a mature egg from the follicle to the fallopian tube during each menstrual cycle. This simple process is known as ovulation. We are aware of the fact that union of egg and sperm is essential for conceiving. This egg is simply unavailable for fertilization most of the time. The egg is accessible for fertilization for 12 to 24 hours only. But the life span of sperms in the female genital tracts is around 5 days. These 5-6 days are crucial for fertilization. If no sex happens in this duration then a couple has to wait for next ovulation. It is amply clear that conceiving greatly depends on right timings.

Ovulation plays a decisive role in conceiving. Knowing your ovulation period increases your chances of getting pregnant. The most appropriate time for conceiving is the day before ovulation or on the exact date of ovulation. But the experts advise to have sex for 5 to 6 days leading to ovulation. This ensures that healthy sperm is available for fertilization

Researchers from Canada and Europe have revealed the mystery of a special gene responsible for the regulation of ovulation. Without this gene women can’t ovulate. They have named it Lrh1 gene. Before this discovery, the role of the Lrh1 gene regarding female infertility was unclear. The new study – an association between the Université de Montréal in Canada and the Institut de génetique et biologie moléculaire et cellulaire of the Université de Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France – is published in the latest issue of the journal “Genes & Development”.

To uncover this interesting truth, scientists have developed genetically modified mice whose Lrh1 gene was blocked in the ovary. When these mice were allowed to mate they produced no babies. Researchers have pinned down the fact that absence of this gene Lrh1 interfered with many processes that lead to ovulation. This gene carries out many functions such as hormonal balance, preparation of egg for ovulation, and rupture of the ovarian follicle that releases the egg.

This fact can prove useful in contraceptives. Currently steroid based contraceptives are in use with undesirable side effects. But the new contraceptive using latest findings about ovulation can be safer, more valuable and effective. If somehow this Lrh1 gene can be turned off you will not ovulate. If you will not ovulate then you will not release an egg and without egg there will be no fertilization and pregnancy. If you want to get pregnant, scientists have to find some mechanism or drug to turn on that magical gene again and suddenly your ovulation cycle is restored to normalcy.

This gene can be used in treating infertility and render hope to couples wanting children. Researchers can find a drug that can activate the ovulation gene Lrh1. We are all aware that by ovulating an infertile female will be able to release an egg which can be fertilized by the sperm.

All said and done we still have to wait and find out how it affects our overall body functioning if we start playing with genes.

Why knowing your ovulation time is so important for you? Because this is a period when you are most fertile. Your ovary releases the ripest egg into the fallopian tube for fertilization. If you want a child, ovulation tells you when to go for baby making sex. For detection of your ovulation time try the following:

• Try to find out the length of your menstrual cycle. When you start menstruating, it is the first day of the cycle. Count all the days till the next month when you are having your periods again.
• But watching out for just two consecutive periods will not help you much. To get a better idea, keep the records of your menstrual cycles for few months. This will provide you a better idea of your average menstruation period. Suppose your cycle lasts for 30 days. Subtract 14 days from this cycle. It means you will ovulate on 16th day after the first day of your menstruation. So your partner and you can plan sex (or not to have sex) around these days.
• Counting days will not be of much help to you if your periods are fairly irregular. And subtracting 14 days from the first day of your period is not an accurate yardstick. Sometimes your period dates alter due to stress, emotional upheaval, medicines or hormonal changes. Under these circumstances you can resort to ovulation tests. They can pinpoint the ovulation period for you.
• You can try another method for ovulation. You can note down your BBT (Basal Body Temperature) everyday. After ovulation the hormonal surge in your body increases your temperature between 0.5 to 1.6 degrees. This increased temperature lasts till your next menstruation. But BBT tells you when you have already ovulated. This situation compels you to make a chart of your BBT for several months to develop an accurate pattern for your ovulation period.
• Increase in cervical mucus, slight swelling in breasts and pain in lower abdominal area are some other tell tale signs that you are ovulating.

A woman’s body prepares her every month for a possible pregnancy. We all know that to become pregnant naturally, an egg and a sperm have to meet in the fallopian tube. The lifespan of an egg is between 12 to 24 hours after it has been released from the follicle. This time is very crucial for fertilization (union of egg and sperm). Although a male sperm can survive up to seven days in the female genital tract, lifespan of an egg is short.

So where does ovulation fit in, in all this? Actually ovulation is a part of a woman’s reproductive cycle. A mature ovarian follicle releases the female gamete, popularly known as egg. This female gamete or egg travels down the fallopian tube to reach the uterus where it is ready to unite with the sperm. The release of egg from the follicle is known as “ovulation”. A woman is most fertile during ovulation.

How does ovulation happen?

When the menstrual cycle starts the level of oestrogen hormones is low in a woman’s body. During this period your mind sends a signal to the pituitary gland to secrete follicle stimulating hormones (FSH). This hormone helps 20-40 eggs to mature in the follicle.

Follicles also produce another hormone called oestrogen. Ovulation can occur only when a certain level of oestrogen is released into the body. Each follicle produces oestrogen, which must reach a certain level for ovulation to occur. The build-up of oestrogen stimulates the secretion of one more hormone known as luteinizing hormone (LH). Within 24 hours of LH surge, the most mature egg, which is smaller than a pin’s heard, is released by the follicle. This is ovulation. The released egg is now ready to be fertilized by a sperm.

Now the egg-less follicle is known as corpus luteum. It secretes another hormone called progesterone. Progesterone has to perform a very important function i.e. prevent the release of other eggs into the fallopian tubes. The corpus luteum works around 12-16 days. After that progesterone level drops and the cycle begins again.