How to Know When You’re Fertile – AKA Baby Making Time

If you’re here, I bet it’s because you’re either trying to get pregnant or avoid pregnancy naturally. The good news is that you’re in the right place! 

I’m currently writing through a fertility series. So far I’ve discussed why you’re period is about more than bleeding and babies, the basics of cervical fluid – why you may see wet goopy secretions in your underwear,  and why choosing a Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) is a great option for family planning, pregnancy achievement, and as a diagnostic tool. 

However, this article is about the fertile window and how to identify it. I’ve been practicing fertility awareness for almost 8 years and love reading and discussing it. God designed our bodies to work for us, and a woman's menstrual cycle can be a great tool when you know what you’re looking at.

For many of us, we’re simply unaware of what our body is telling us every month. So we meander through puberty and adulthood asking questions and struggling to find answers. But, that doesn’t have to be the case! No more gatekeeping here. 

In a world where “women’s health care is human health care” or however that silly slogan goes, why aren’t we talking about basic God-given physiology? Once you learn to recognize your fertile window I bet you’ll feel excited and even powerful! God gave it to us, so why not use it?

Fertility Awareness Method Review

The Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) uses your menstrual cycle as a key feature in your overall health. By observing and recording your period, cervical mucus pattern, cervical position, and secondary fertility signs, you’re able to manage your health and have more control over your reproductive health. 

FAM can be used as a method of Natural Family Planning (NFP) and is just as effective if not more effective than hormonal or implanted birth control. FAM is also an essential tool that allows couples to time intercourse to try for pregnancy. By documenting your symptoms throughout your menstrual cycle, you may be able to diagnose underlying health conditions you wouldn’t otherwise know about. 

For a deeper dive into the benefits of FAM, check out my article here. For now, let’s discuss how to identify your fertile window.

Identifying Your Fertile Window

God created women with three distinct ways of recognizing fertility. They are your cervical fluid pattern, waking temperatures or basal body temperature (BBT), and cervical position. There are also secondary fertility signs that are unique to each woman. 

Primary Fertility Signs

Cervical Fluid

I wrote an extensive article here about cervical fluid, so head over there for a deep dive. But essentially, cervical fluid is cyclical with a distinct pattern. 

Following your period, you’ll experience several dry days – dependent on your body – then you’ll move into a few sticky days, a few creamy days, finally culminating in egg white stretchy and lubricative cervical fluid, which is the most fertile cervical mucus. Then back to dry for 12-16 days until your period returns. 

The egg-white cervical fluid is your body’s sign that ovulation is impending. The only way to definitively know when you ovulate is with an ultrasound. But you can confirm ovulation if you chart your temperature shift or track your hormones with a monitor like ClearBlue.

The key to knowing you’re in your fertile window is charting your cervical fluid pattern so you can see the rise and fall of cervical fluid. Once you’ve charted for a few cycles, you can look back and see your cervical fluid pattern and recognize your fertile pattern.

Sticky cervical fluid

Creamy cervical fluid

Egg white cervical fluid

Waking Temperatures (BBT)

Taking one's temperature is generally a very simple way to get started in FAM. It’s objective and there are multiple ways to take your temperature with modern wearable devices like the TempDrop or Oura Ring or with a simple $9 BBT thermometer from Walmart. 

I prefer the wearable monitor by TempDrop since I don’t consistently get the three hours of uninterrupted sleep required to accurately take an oral BBT reading. But if you sleep well and can consistently remember to take your temperature upon waking, that's the easiest and most cost-effective way to get started. 

Either way, when you accurately chart your temperature, you will see a pattern with two distinct phases. Generally, your preovulatory temperature will be between 97.0 Fahrenheit and 97.7 Fahrenheit, and your postovulatory temperature will be between 97.8 and higher. Your temperature will stay elevated until the next period when it returns to your preovulatory range. 

It’s important to remember, that you cannot use temperature to predict ovulation, only to confirm ovulation.

An example of my BBT chart when using FAM for birth control.

An example of my BBT chart when we got pregnant with my 3rd child.

Cervical Position

Though many of us may not realize it, you’ve likely felt your cervix without meaning to. Whether you’re unmarried and used a tampon only to find resistance when pushing it in. Or if you are married and have felt a shocking pressure during intimacy only at certain times of the month. Your cervical position changes depending on where you are in your cycle! 

Just like your cervical fluid, it follows a pattern. Hard, low, and closed following your period and as you approach ovulation it becomes higher, softer, and more open. The changes are so subtle though that you have to be careful when checking the position. But if you check consistently when it works best for you and describe what you feel, you’ll no doubt notice when the change happens. 

Then when you compare your findings of cervical position to your cervical fluid pattern and temperature chart, you can notice a clear pattern. This is called cross-checking. 

Charting your cervical position is not a requirement and depends on which FAM method you follow.

Secondary Fertility Signs

A quick note on secondary fertility signs, these vary from woman to woman. Some women may notice they have a heightened sense of smell around ovulation while others experience ovulation pain while others notice breast tenderness on the day of ovulation. 

The only way to know your secondary signs is to chart them! There are many amazing charting apps and paper charts. Simply start to make observations and record them, and over time, you may see a pattern arise. Where once you thought you were crazy for being nauseous only one day a month every month, it may be because you ovulated on that day.

What a Typical Day May Look When Checking Your Fertility 

Getting started with FAM and identifying your fertile window may seem overwhelming and leave you wondering when there is time to do “all the things”. But, rest assured, these checks only take moments a day and can be tacked on to your regular rhythm of the day. Below is an example of what your day may look like when charting your fertility signs.

7:00 am - Your alarm goes off and you reach for your bbt thermometer sitting on the side table by your alarm clock or phone. Take your temperature and record it in an app or on paper. (~2-3 minutes)

7:15 am - Head to the bathroom, before releasing urine, wipe with a tissue paper front to back and make an observation of how the tissue paper feels going across your labia. Check to see if they’re on any secretions. Throw toilet paper in the toilet, and urinate. 

Take another piece of toilet paper, wipe again, and observe for cervical fluid. *

Wash your hands, and observe exactly what you saw and felt. (~2-3 minutes)

*You could use this time to insert one finger into your vagina and feel your cervical position if you’re choosing to record that fertility sign.

9:30 am - Head to the bathroom, forget to wipe before you urinate, wipe after you urinate, and note how it feels and what you see on the toilet paper. (~2-3 minutes)

This pattern continues all day, every time you go to the bathroom. Additionally, you want to note if you feel anything on your labia when walking, sitting, or standing. Sometimes we’re totally unaware of “down there” but there’s a lot that can be said about what cervical fluid may be doing. 

At the end of the day, you note the most fertile cervical mucus of the day plus any “random” feelings like a headache, breast tenderness, or even constipation. All of these secondary signs can be interpreted in your chart. 

In total, these checks take less than 10 minutes when you go to the bathroom, which all of us already do all day long. Then when you record your observations you will begin to see a pattern develop and before you know it, you’ll see your period – dry – sticky – creamy – egg-white – dry pattern emerge and use your temperature or hormone tests to confirm ovulation.

How Long is a Woman Fertile?

The 5-7 day fertile window is made possible with the lifespan of sperm and the cervical mucus that a woman produces. Sperm can survive for up to 5 days in a woman's vagina if conditions are conducive to sperm health, i.e. creamy or egg-white cervical fluid. 

Then, a woman's egg, once released can survive 24 hours before disintegrating unless fertilized. Therefore, you have 5 days where sperm are waiting for the egg and then another 24 hours once the egg is released. But, this could be shortened if the man's sperm health is not optimal.

So if you’re trying to avoid pregnancy, most methods will have you either abstain or use alternative methods of birth control – condoms, diaphragms, or pull-out method – for 9-12 days to allow for a buffer. If you’re hoping to use FAM as a form of birth control, I highly encourage researching the different methods of FAM and considering taking a course or hiring an instructor for optimal chances of birth control. 

If you’re trying to achieve a pregnancy, you’ll want to be intentional with intercourse on the days you observe creamy and egg-white cervical fluid. You can also use fertility cross-checks like cervical position, hormone tests – Leutinizing Hormones (LH) or Estrogen – and secondary signs to better time your peak fertility day. 

If you’re hoping to use FAM for pregnancy achievement or natural birth control, I highly recommend reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility or researching the many different methods of FAM available. 

Know When You’re Fertile to Unlock More Control in Your Life

God gave us our fertility information to use. Whether we use it for pregnancy achievement or birth control, is up to our prayer and discernment. But you don’t know what you don’t know. So start to make observations and if you’re curious for more information, dive in! More and more women recognize that their menstrual cycle is more than an annoying monthly situation. 

Get to know your menstrual cycle, fertile window, and God-given physiology to gain better control over your life, optimize your chances of conception, and have a full picture of your health.

If you enjoyed this article or learned something new, please leave a comment! And don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter if you want to stay up-to-date with all the happenings at The Sanctified Womb.