Ovulation Fact and Fiction

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

filed under: Conception Diaries

Understanding the science of pregnancy.

The candles are lit, the mood is set, and there's not a contraceptive in sight. You and your partner are ready to make a baby!

So why did the night produce muzak, not a miracle?

"If you don't know when you're ovulating, it's a lot harder to get pregnant," says Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, an OB/GYN and advisory board member at MomLogic. "A lot of women still believe we all ovulate on day 14 of our cycles and that you can only have intercourse that day -- both are myths."

Here are the most widely held -- and false -- beliefs about ovulation:

- We all ovulate on the same day.
- You can only get pregnant on the exact day of ovulation.
- You should only have sex on the day of ovulation.
- You should be on top when you have sex.
- After sex, you should stay as still as possible for 20 to 30 minutes.
- After sex, you should lie on your back with your knees pulled up to your chest for 20 minutes.

Some of it sounds fairly silly, some not so silly. It's all hooey. Here is the abridged version of the ovulation medical facts:

Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), estrogen, luteinizing hormone (LH), and progesterone are the female reproductive hormones that get together every month to make a baby possible and, if there are no swimmers, inspire your period.

The first hormone to appear in your cycle is FSH, beginning its peak production at the start of your cycle. FSH prompts your ovaries to produce 15 to 20 eggs, each in its own follicle, and each follicle produces estrogen.

As estrogen is being released in your body, the cervical fluid is a mucus that feels like egg whites (ECWM: egg-white cervical mucus). EWCM helps swimmers get to the egg. Being aware of your body means checking and knowing which day you're experiencing this milky discharge.

These high levels of estrogen promote the release of luteinizing hormone LH, which causes the egg to come out of its follicle. Your ovulation period is called the luteal phase (LP). This is when your body starts producing progesterone, the hormone that helps maintain the uterine lining long enough for a fertilized egg to implant.

Now would be a good time to light those candles and get busy without the contraceptive!

And here's a tip: It's not widely known that intercourse right before ovulation works just as well as during ovulation. "By the way, you don't have to lie there for 20 minutes afterward," says Dr. Gilberg-Lenz. "That's another myth. If you're ovulating, the swimmers find what they're looking for."

Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz completed her undergraduate education at Wesleyan University and post-baccalaureate pre-med studies at Mills College. She earned her medical degree from the USC School of Medicine and has been in private practice for 9 years. She is the co-founder of Cedar Sinai Medical Center's Green Committee and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.