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Question - Determining Ovulation By Calendar Alone:
"I want to know when I'm going to ovulate. My cycle comes about every 24 or 25 days each month, and I was wondering if you could tell me the day that I would ovulate or would I have to go to the doctor?"
Answer
Determining ovulation is crucial to successful conception, especially for anyone who has tried to conceive without success. There are several methods for predicting a woman's ovulatory cycle. The one you are using is referred to as the "calendar method," since it relies only on counting the number of days in a woman's menstrual cycle.
The calendar method alone is not very helpful, to be candid. If there is any reason for you to suspect a problem with conception, it is even less helpful. People who have already tried and been unable to conceive for several cycles (say, for six months to a year) should ditch the calendar method entirely.
The problem with the calendar method is that it does not take into account the fact that (1) very few, if any women, have 'textbook' precise cycles, and (2) all women are thought to experience anovulatory (that is, without ovulation) cycles from time to time. Even if you've always been 'regular,' that is, your period comes at approximately the same intervals each time, that still does not mean you are ovulating each time. Menstrual periods and ovulation are closely related but are not exactly the same thing, and they can sometimes be out of sync with each other which will prevent conception.
So, all that said, the quick answer to your question is "No" -- I cannot tell you when you will ovulate with the information that you've presented. The real problem is that neither can you.
Now, you don't have to see a doctor just to tell if you're ovulating. There are a number of fertility awareness methods (FAM) that can assist you in knowing your body better. For more details on FAM, see:
© Tracy Morris
