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Advice on
Timing Conception
by Lori Ramsey
Is there truly a best time to
conceive a baby? In a typical woman’s cycle, the window of opportunity for
conception each month is indeed very narrow. There are countless numbers of
women who have conceived without even trying or without knowing exactly when
conception happened. But for those of us who are actively trying, and getting to
know our bodies better as a result, there is a vast amount of education to be
had about the best time to conceive.
An egg is released each cycle when ovulation occurs. This only happens once in a
cycle, though rarely another egg will be released within 24 hours of the first
egg. Given the fact that the egg will only live for 12 to 24 hours, the window
of opportunity is very narrow for pregnancy to occur. It is important to time
intercourse to make sure that there are sperm present when the egg is released
from the ovary. From this standpoint, a woman has 12 to 24 hours to actually get
pregnant each month.
However, sperm can live up to 5 days in good fertile quality cervical fluid.
This gives somewhat of an increase in the window of opportunity. Unless you have
been charting and know for certain that your cervical fluid is excellent fertile
quality, don’t totally count on this. To be absolutely sure of when ovulation
occurs, chart your fertility signs - basal body temperature, cervical fluid and
possibly cervical position. That way you can best pinpoint the most beneficial
days to have intercourse in order to conceive.
With all this in mind - the longevity of the sperm and egg - how often you
should actually have intercourse depends upon a few things. If your man has a
normal sperm count, then having intercourse every day wouldn’t hurt. If he has a
low sperm count, you may want to try the every other day approach. At the very
least, if you know when ovulation should occur, have intercourse starting 3 days
prior to ovulation until 1 to 3 days after. This will insure that there are
sperm present when the egg(s) is released.
The best time to conceive will depend on when you actually ovulate. Whether you
find out when ovulation occurs by charting or by ovulation predictor kits (I
recommend charting or a combination of the two), it’s important to time
intercourse so that the sperm will be there, ready to fertilize the egg. It is
rare that the egg will actually become fertilized from having intercourse the
day after it has been released. Usually by the time the egg is released it’s
beginning to die by the time the sperm reach it. It gives you a better chance to
have intercourse right before and on the day of ovulation.
One last piece of advice - keep the romance alive in your relationship. Relax
and have fun. It seems that when relaxed, the body will function better and do
what it’s meant to do to aid in conception. Enjoy yourselves; this is meant to
be a fun journey. I believe that stress sometimes hinders conception, it’s the
body’s way of protecting itself from further stress. So live in the moment and
keep those positive thoughts in your head and conception will occur at the right
time!
Lori Ramsey
from Stages in
Pregnancy
© by Lori Ramsey
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