How to Track Ovulation
Ovulation is key to women’s health. Ovulation is the main event of your menstrual cycle that occurs each month when an egg leaves your ovary. People often think it’s the menstrual phase (your period) that is most important, but we get so much more information from ovulation. The timing, quality and symptoms involved with your ovulation will give you an indicator of what menstrual symptoms may occur two weeks later during your period.
Ovulation can inform you:
The length of your cycle
When to avoid sex for contraception
When to have sex if trying for a baby
When your period will be due
When to expect PMS or period symptoms
Optimising nutrition for lesser period pain
Syncing workouts around your cycle
Ovulation happens without most women even realising it. It is such an energy-intensive process, with a cascade of different hormones involved to mature and develop an egg then push it out of the ovary ready to make a new human! Here’s an illustrative example:
Menstrual Cycle, Image from helloclue
How do I know when I have ovulated?
There are a number of ways women can track ovulation:
Day of the cycle
Typically, day 14 but can be anywhere from Day 12 to Day 25.
Cervical mucus
Will be thin, slippery, and transparent, like egg whites.
Basal Body Temperature
Lowest at ovulation and then it will rise immediately about a half a degree as soon as ovulation occurs and progesterone is high.
Cervix Position
Your cervix will be higher, softer, and open slightly. Sex may feel different and some women experience cervical orgasms or prefer deep penetrative sex around this stage of their cycle.
Sex Drive
Many women notice any increase in their sex drive at ovulation. For some women, this is the only time in their cycle they feel aroused.
You can track anyone of these individually with varying results, however putting the information all together builds more evidence and a complete picture of when you have ovulated.
The most accurate measure is Base Body Temperature (BBT) thanks to progesterone, which gives you a higher resting body temperature. This should be the starting place and priority for data tracking. Research shows it accurately predicts the day of ovulation in 86% of women (1).
How to start tracking
1. Compile your data
Apps and devices are available to be able to help you track your cycle using the SymptoThermal Method. You can chart for cervical mucus, basal body temperature. My favourites are Clue & Flo.
You can also use handwritten charts to track your data. This could be as simple as noting down in a diary or using some of the beautiful graphic charts now available for women or you can draw your own for those who like to put pen to paper and get creative. Download my free cycle charting template to get started. I also recommend some links at the end of the article, if you want to use a journal or calendar.
2. Utilise Health Tech to measure your BBT.
Ovulation Thermometers - Measuring your BBT with an accurate device is very important. You can buy ovulation thermometers from most pharmacies starting from $20 here in Australia. There are cheaper options available online. This is a simple and affordable start option for tracking your BBT and ovulation date.
Thermo Tech - Temp Drop, Oura ring and Thermo Smart Watches save you the hassle of taking your temperature every morning as these devices can track your BBT on a wearable. This can be a lot easier if you forget a day or have busy mornings and struggle to find the time. Often these devices track straight into an app for ease of use.
3. Ovulation sticks
For the non-tech orientated ladies, ovulation sticks are another great way to demonstrate when you have ovulated. Ovulation sticks measure LH levels in your urine, they are a strong indicator that you have ovulated. However, you can use this data in the same way and these are affordable and available from most pharmacies.
Best Practice Guidelines
The more data you have the better - You need a minimum of 3 months of data for a confident average. Tracking for one month won't give you enough data for contraception or conception but may be enough to start cycle syncing.
You need to take your BBT after a good night sleep, minimum 3 hours of rest for the most accurate reading.
Have fun with it! This activity is to find out more about your body and not become a stressful activity. Your body is not a machine and different factors may affect ovulation each month. The more you track, the easier it becomes to identify.
Resources
Download our free cycle tracking chart
Oura ring - https://ouraring.com/
Temp Drop - https://www.tempdrop.com/
The Magic of I - https://au.magicofi.com/
Ferility Charting, https://fertilitycharting.com.au/product/free-fertility-awareness-circular-chart/
References:
Shilaih, M., Goodale, B. M., Falco, L., Kübler, F., De Clerck, V., & Leeners, B. (2018). Modern fertility awareness methods: wrist wearables capture the changes in temperature associated with the menstrual cycle. Bioscience reports, 38(6), BSR20171279. https://doi.org/10.1042/BSR20171279
Steward, K., & Raja, A. (2021). Physiology, Ovulation And Basal Body Temperature. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.