{"id":2800,"date":"2019-10-30T23:33:07","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T03:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=2800"},"modified":"2022-04-14T11:24:28","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T15:24:28","slug":"how-to-detect-ovulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Trying to conceive around the day of ovulation is critical to increasing your chances of getting pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But how do you know when you&#8217;re ovulating? What are the best ways to detect ovulation? We cover three of the most common and accurate ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ovulation Detection Method #1: Temperature Charting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first method of detecting ovulation is to track your body temperature. You may not feel it, but your body temperature varies slightly but significantly throughout your ovulation cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how your body temperature changes in your cycle:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In the first half of your period cycle, your temperature will be low, usually below 98 degrees F.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>The day after ovulation, it\u2019ll increase by 0.5 degree or more.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li><li>If you don\u2019t get pregnant, body temperature will drop the day your period starts; if you do get pregnant, it\u2019ll remain elevated.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To track temperatures accurately, check your temperature when you wake up, before you get out of bed and move around. Travel, jetlag, and fevers can affect this.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Temperature charting accurately identifies the day of ovulation 30% of the time, and 30% of the time it mistakenly points to the day before ovulation. So the odds are decent with this relatively simple method.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The downside to temperature charting is that it only detects <\/strong><strong><em>after<\/em><\/strong><strong> ovulation has occurred<\/strong> &#8211; so it\u2019s more useful to track your cycle for conceiving in future cycles, not this one.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ovulation Detection Method #2:  Cervical Mucus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The second method of detecting ovulation requires checking your body for changes &#8211; specifically, your cervical mucus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right before you ovulate, your cervical mucus will be stretchy like egg whites (this consistency is better for sperm to swim through). <strong>The day when it transitions to this form is a good day to try conceiving.<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To study your cervical mucus, reach into your vagina and run your finger around the cervix.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>The benefit of tracking cervical mucus is you can detect the day of ovulation in your current cycle, vs temperature charting which detects changes only after. The drawback is that semen can look like mucus, so it\u2019s more accurate a day after sex.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This method has an accuracy rate in about 50%. Some women combine this and temperature charting for a more accurate picture.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ovulation Detection Method #3: Ovulation Detection Sticks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The third, and most accurate, way of detecting ovulation is to use the ovulation detection sticks. Simply put, you buy them, pee on them, and look at the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These pee sticks detect luteinizing hormone, which peaks the day before ovulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The accuracy of ovulation sticks is strong &#8211; <strong>it identifies the day of ovulation 100% of the time. Of women randomly given access to ovulation detection sticks, 23% got pregnant within 2 months, vs 15% who didn\u2019t have them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The downside of ovulation sticks is cost &#8211; they run about $30 per month. But if you&#8217;re struggling to get pregnant, this is a small price to pay!<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trying to conceive around the day of ovulation is critical to increasing your chances of getting pregnant. But how do you know when you&#8217;re ovulating? What are the best ways to detect ovulation? We cover three of the most common and accurate ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-2800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-expecting-better","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Timing your ovulation cycle is important to getting pregnant. How can you detect whether you&#039;re ovulating? Here are three methods.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Timing your ovulation cycle is important to getting pregnant. How can you detect whether you&#039;re ovulating? Here are three methods.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-31T03:33:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-14T15:24:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"809\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"489\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allen Cheng\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allen Cheng\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Allen Cheng\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e9c1cecc340502045489d4c4e6f4a877\"},\"headline\":\"How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-31T03:33:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-14T15:24:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/\"},\"wordCount\":490,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Expecting Better\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Health\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/\",\"name\":\"How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-31T03:33:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-14T15:24:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"Timing your ovulation cycle is important to getting pregnant. How can you detect whether you're ovulating? Here are three methods.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg\",\"width\":809,\"height\":489},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e9c1cecc340502045489d4c4e6f4a877\",\"name\":\"Allen Cheng\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/658f486a7308ee9a8cffe118baa58e29b0ef902cb29203b65e033a7c49f06a2a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/658f486a7308ee9a8cffe118baa58e29b0ef902cb29203b65e033a7c49f06a2a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Allen Cheng\"},\"description\":\"Allen Cheng is the founder of Shortform. He has a passion for non-fiction books (having read 200+ and counting) and is on a mission to make the world's best ideas more accessible to everyone. He reads broadly, covering a wide range of subjects including finance, management, health, and society. Allen graduated from Harvard University summa cum laude and attended medical training at the MD\/PhD program at Harvard and MIT. Before Shortform, he co-founded PrepScholar, an online education company.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/allen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods - Shortform Books","description":"Timing your ovulation cycle is important to getting pregnant. How can you detect whether you're ovulating? Here are three methods.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods","og_description":"Timing your ovulation cycle is important to getting pregnant. How can you detect whether you're ovulating? Here are three methods.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2019-10-31T03:33:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-14T15:24:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":809,"height":489,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Allen Cheng","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allen Cheng","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/"},"author":{"name":"Allen Cheng","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e9c1cecc340502045489d4c4e6f4a877"},"headline":"How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods","datePublished":"2019-10-31T03:33:07+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-14T15:24:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/"},"wordCount":490,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg","keywords":["Expecting Better"],"articleSection":["Health"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/","name":"How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-31T03:33:07+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-14T15:24:28+00:00","description":"Timing your ovulation cycle is important to getting pregnant. How can you detect whether you're ovulating? Here are three methods.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg","width":809,"height":489},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-detect-ovulation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Detect Ovulation: 3 Proven Methods"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e9c1cecc340502045489d4c4e6f4a877","name":"Allen Cheng","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/658f486a7308ee9a8cffe118baa58e29b0ef902cb29203b65e033a7c49f06a2a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/658f486a7308ee9a8cffe118baa58e29b0ef902cb29203b65e033a7c49f06a2a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Allen Cheng"},"description":"Allen Cheng is the founder of Shortform. He has a passion for non-fiction books (having read 200+ and counting) and is on a mission to make the world's best ideas more accessible to everyone. He reads broadly, covering a wide range of subjects including finance, management, health, and society. Allen graduated from Harvard University summa cum laude and attended medical training at the MD\/PhD program at Harvard and MIT. Before Shortform, he co-founded PrepScholar, an online education company.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/allen\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/expecting-better-pregnant-4.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2800"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64577,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800\/revisions\/64577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}