So whats the exact time of the cylce to conceive?

So whats the exact time of the cycle to conceive?

Hello Midwives

As we know that Ovulation time is the 14 days before our next start date of the period and sperm can stay alive for 3-5 days. Then we have only 3-5 days to conceive in a month? And it has to be between 13th day to 18th day from the period date? There is another isssue and that is if a man ejaculates every day, he suffers from shortage of Zinc that helps to have good sperms. So actually how many days we are getting in a month to get conceive? Can anybody clear the matter please!

Sima here.

Hi Sima,

I'll clarify in as simple of terms as I can.

Quote:

Ovulation time is the 14 days before our next start date of the period

This is the ideal, and is true for the majority of women. However, women who are experiencing infertility and hormonal imbalance often times find that the second half of their cycle (from ovulation to the first day of bleed) is too short. The second half of the cycle is called the luteal phase.

If the luteal phase is too short (less than 14 days) there may not be enough time for an embryo to implant and start producing enough progesterone in order for the shedding of the uterine lining (bleeding) not to occur.

Quote:

sperm can stay alive for 3-5 days

During the fertile window, and in good quality fertile mucus, sperm can stay alive for an average of 3 to 5 days. When you are not fertile sperm will only be able to live for less than a day, sometimes only a few minutes. The days when you are not fertile are right after you stop bleeding when your vaginal area is very dry, until your cervical mucus changes, and the time starting 2 days after ovulation until the start of your next period. During the time when you are not producing fertile type mucus, the mucus you will be producing is called barrier type mucus and it acts much like a fishing net acts to fish. The fish (sperm) swim into the net (barrier type mucus) and keeps the fish (sperm) from swimming any further (reaching the egg). What determines how long sperm live in a woman's body is the consistency of her vaginal fluid.

I had a friend who had live sperm swimming in her 11 days after the last day she had made love. She had very fertile fluid, but this is not "the norm".

So now to your main concern...

Quote:

How many days are there in a month when sex can result in pregnancy?

The answer to this is unique to every woman. There are many different variables that can determine a woman's fertility or lack thereof.

For most women in their teens and 20's, who do not have any infertility challenges, there are about 5 days per month when sex will result in conception. In the case of my friend who had live sperm in her for 11 days, then sex could have resulted in conception for 11 or more days during the month, being that those little swimmers were STILL swimming around 11 days later.

Some women, especially those who are older (think late 30's or 40's) will only have one or two days of fertile fluid, so, for them, sex during the day of ovulation and 1 or 2 days prior to ovulation would result in pregnancy.

Then there's the woman who has a long follicular phase (this is the first half of the cycle, from the first day of bleeding until ovulation) and if the follicular phase is too long, the egg will be too "old" when it is finally released and will not be able to be fertilized.

If the follicular phase is too short, the egg won't have enough time to mature before being released, and sometimes, the body can gear up for ovulation, but the egg is never released and the follicle just turns into a cyst on the ovary.

The best thing to do is to learn how to read your body's personal signs of fertility so that you can determine how long or short each of the phases of your cycle is and so you'll know if and/or when you are fertile.
If you want to share what your cervical mucus looks like each day during this coming cycle, feel free to do so and I'll do my best to help you read your fertility signs and give you guidance on when the best time is for making love in order to increase your chances of conception.

Warm Regards,

Kate

Thanks Kate

Your explanations and answers are really helpful. I will keep sharing my confusions.

Regards

Sima