10 Ovulation Symptoms You Should Know to Get Pregnant (or Not)

If you learn how to detect the most important ovulation symptoms and make love accordingly, your chance of conceiving each month increases a lot. Let’s take a look at the most reliable ways to identify your signs of ovulation.

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In addition to ovulation predictor kits, there are several natural ovulation symptoms that your body produces. These can help guide you to more fertile days in which to conceive a child.

The changes in your cervical mucus, basal body temperature, and even your sex drive are some of the important clues if you learn what to look for. But there’s more!

In this article, we’ll go through these different symptoms to help you maximize your chances of getting pregnant.

Ovulation Symptoms In Words And Videos

• Changes In Cervical Mucus Discharge
• Basal Body Temperature
• Ovulation Pain
• Personal Sex Drive
• Position Of Cervix
• Breast Tenderness
• Saliva Ferning Pattern
• Ovulation Spotting
• Bloating
• LH Surge – Ovulation Predictor Kits
• Ovulation Videos

1. Changes In Cervical Mucus Discharge

PinChanges in cervical mucus discharge can be the best indication of impending ovulation for a woman, and it is also one that many women are aware of.

The look and consistency of the mucus can change from dry, sticky, or completely absent to loose, stringy, and slippery, resembling the look of egg whites. The “egg whites” look is quite a certain indication of ovulation approaches.

Several research studies confirm cervical mucus as a relatively certain sign of ovulation. Peak mucus volume appears to occur between 4 and zero days before ovulation.

This is a perfect sign to keep track of since it is both easy to check and a certain sign.

2. Basal Body Temperature

Basal body temperature will increase during ovulation times of a woman’s monthly cycle.

If you take the time each day to take your body temperature, you will notice that it becomes elevated during ovulation and remains that way for a short time afterward.

The hormone progesterone causes your body temperature to increase immediately after ovulation, so charting your temperature can be a great indicator of ovulation.

However, once the temperature has risen, ovulation has often already occurred, so use this method along with other ways to determine ovulation.

You can learn more about charting basal body temperature here.

A very cool thing; if you continue to measure your temperature throughout your cycle, this might also be used as a first sign of pregnancy.

As you might know, your temperature rises during ovulation or right after ovulation. Then your temperature starts falling and will be back at normal levels before menstruation.

However, if your egg is fertilized and implanted into your uterus, i.e. you get pregnant, your temperature may very well start rising again before any pregnancy indicator will be able to trace your pregnancy and even before your period is late. This is because implantation occurs around ten days after ovulation, so just after that, your temperature will start to rise even more.

I found out about all my three pregnancies that way.

Take a look at the image below. You’ll see the normal BBT rise in connection with ovulation. However, there is no additional temperature increase around 10 days after ovulation, but rather a slow decrease towards normal non-pregnant temperatures. (There is a small increase, but not above ovulation BBT.)

If the chart would have shown a pregnant woman, the temperature would have remained high and possibly even increased further after some 10 days.

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3. Ovulation pain

Ovulation pain (sometimes referred to as “Mittelschmerz”) is caused by the release of the mature egg from the ovary. Above 40% of all reproductive women experience ovulation pain at some point. Many will feel it every month.

While this is not a very evident ovulation symptom for many women, others can tell from a sharp shooting pain when the egg is released from either side and may continue to experience dull pain for several days.

Ovulation pain can actually be painful enough to affect lovemaking. Not ideal when trying for a baby!

Is the pain ideal for identifying ovulation? Well, yes although the pain may occur several days before the actual ovulation. It is believed that the pain is due to the growth of the follicle; before it erupts (ovulation). Hence, the pain is not an exact predictor, but certainly an indication that ovulation is on its way.

It should be noted that there is some uncertainty over the reason for the pain. In addition to the above-mentioned follicle growth, other theories include spasms of the fallopian tubes as ovulation is approaching, as well as that it really is the bursting of the egg out of the follicle that causes the pain.

4. Personal Sex Drive

An increase in personal sex drive is a great natural indicator of ovulation for many women. Although this is not a guarantee, a number of research studies have shown many women to experience a stronger sex drive around their ovulation time each month. (Source.)

5. Position Of Cervix

Some women who are in tune with their bodies can figure out when they are ovulating by the position of their cervix. During the time of ovulation, a woman’s cervix will position itself higher, be softer, and more open to enable fertilization.

6. Breast Tenderness

Breast tenderness is another indicator of current ovulation. Although it can happen before ovulation, other women experience breast tenderness during the ovulation period or even for a short time afterward.

Since breasts being tender can also be an early sign of being pregnant, breast tenderness is not the best ovulation symptom to rely on.

7. Saliva Ferning Pattern

If you are into using a microscope at home, you can check your personal saliva ferning pattern to help determine ovulation for some women. The ferning means the saliva will look like frost on a windowpane during the fertile period.

While peak fertile mucus has been proven to be a reliable indicator of ovulation (see above), the connection is weaker for saliva ferning. One study concluded that there certainly is a connection between saliva ferning and peak cervical mucus volume, but that the onset of ferning was, on average, 6 days prior to peak mucus. This means that saliva ferning at best can be used to identify the onset of the fertile phase, but not really as a certain sign of ovulation.

8. Bloating

Can bloating be a sign of ovulation? Yes, it can! Fluid retention is common among reproductive women, and the typical pattern is for fluid retention to peak at the first day of menstruation, then fall until the mid-follicular period, and then start increasing as ovulation approaches. However, since the bloating then appears to continue to increase until the first day of the next period, this is not a certain ovulation symptom but rather an indication that ovulation and then menstruation are on their way.

9. Ovulation Spotting

Spotting can occur during ovulation as well for some women. When the follicle releases the mature egg from the ovary, a small amount of blood can be released, and women may notice slight spotting during that time.

10. LH Surge – Ovulation Predictor Kits

For those who are looking for a precise method to determine ovulation, a kit can be purchased from any drugstore. Home ovulation predictor kits can be used to help determine when your ovulation time is each month.

With a special test strip, you can hold in your urine stream or submerge it in a cup of collected urine. The result can help verify the LH surge in your body during ovulation. Urine LH as assessed by an ovulation predictor kit is a reliable method to track ovulation. One research study (see below) found that the kit indicated ovulation 91 percent of the time during the two days of peak fertility on the monitor and 97 percent during the 2 peak days plus 1.

Ovulation Videos

Here, you’ll find a couple of videos walking you through ovulation symptoms and other information related to ovulation. The first one talks you through how to check if you are ovulating.

The second video actually shows real ovulation. It is tricky to see, so be concentrated!

Research References

• Mittelschmerz
• Physiological Signs of Ovulation and Fertility Readily Observable by Women
• Mittelschmerz mimicking appendicitis

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What are your most evident ovulation symptoms? Please share below! :-)

Paula Dennholt

Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing are based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.

Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians who assist in reviewing and writing articles.