Best Time to Get Pregnant: Increasing Your Chances of Conception

You are most fertile two to three days before ovulation and for 12 to 24 hours after ovulation, according to http://www.womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/tryingtogetpregnant/tryingtoconceive.cfm. The key to iming your sex life to coincide with ovulation is knowing when you are ovulating.

Women do conceive without planning or thought as to when ovulation occurs, but not everyone has the good fortune to conceive effortlessly. Some women's cycles are out of the normal range of ovulation time, don't ovulate every month or could have other fertility issues that prevents conception.

I personally tried to conceive for six months before finally seeking out a method to make conception more likely. It was at that time that I learned how to determine when ovulation was occurring.

One method for determining ovulation time is by using the calendar method. This basically involves keeping a written record of every menstrual cycle. You must keep an 8 to 12 month record, find the average number of days your periods last and determine approximately when you are ovulating based on these records. For someone anxious to conceive, this can be a long, tedious wait to find out when you ovulate. Most women actively trying to get pregnant will want to get pregnant sooner than later.

You can also determine your most fertile times by examining your cervical mucus. Just before ovulation, you see the most mucus. On these days the mucus is clear and slippery, like raw egg whites; as opposed to being white or yellow and cloudy and sticky. This method is not as reliable for some women and under certain conditions they should not use the mucus method. These conditions include women who are breastfeeding, the use of hormonal contraceptives or feminine hygiene products, those who have vaginitis or an STD (sexually transmitted diseases). You should also not use this method if you have had surgery on your cervix.