How many days after my period do I ovulate?
How do I figure out what day I ovulate?
Once your period starts, can you tell how many days it will be until you ovulate? Well, not necessarily. Let’s go through the cookie cutter example of how a cycle goes.
Your period starts on day 1, you ovulate on day 14, and your cycle continues until day 28. If you’re not pregnant, a new cycle will begin with a period on day 1 of the next cycle.
It would be easy if we all followed this pattern and could tell what was happening in our cycle based on the day, but it doesn’t usually work that way. We are all unique, and our cycles are too!
What if my cycle isn’t exactly 28 days long – then when do I ovulate?
Your cycle is totally dependent upon hormones. Certain hormones reaching high enough levels will trigger the release of a following hormone, and the pattern continues. If one hormone level is not high enough, it can delay the rest of the cycle.
For example, you need high enough estrogen levels to cause a hormone called LH to be released. Without LH, ovulation will not occur. Many hormones need to reach their peak levels to cause the release of the next hormone and allow the cycle to continue.
Longer cycles – ovulating later than cycle day 14
Ovulation is the main event of a cycle, and is what causes you to have a period the next cycle. The cycle will not restart on day 1 with a period unless ovulation occurred the previous cycle.
If one or more hormones are not reaching their optimal levels to allow ovulation to occur, the body will continue trying to ovulate until it has successfully done so. That process may take longer than 14 days. If the body is not able to successfully ovulate on day 14, it will try again later and may successfully ovulate on day 23, for example.
There are typically an additional 11-16 days of the cycle after ovulation before a new cycle begins. If you ovulate on day 23 and have an additional 14 days of the cycle before your next period begins, then that cycle was 37 days. Any cycle longer than 36 days is considered a long cycle.
There are many scenarios that can cause a long cycle. Illness, injury, or any other stress in the body can delay ovulation. If the body does not feel like it is in optimal health to be able to sustain a pregnancy, ovulation will often be delayed.
If you have ever been sick and noticed that it took longer for your period to come – that’s why! Your body will wait to ovulate until it feels ready and able to support a pregnancy. If cycles are continuously long, there is also the possibility that ovulation is not occurring at all.
Shorter cycles – ovulating earlier than cycle day 14
We’ve talked about hormones needing to reach their peak levels to stimulate the onset of another hormone. In a similar way, certain hormones being present can cause the suppression of other hormones.
The main hormone present after ovulation occurs is progesterone. High progesterone levels are present after ovulation and through the end of the cycle.
Progesterone suppresses another hormone called FSH. FSH is present at the beginning of the cycle and causes the follicle surrounding an egg to grow larger and prepare for ovulation.
After ovulation occurs, the high progesterone levels present will suppress FSH so that the body does not start to mature another egg during that cycle. If pregnancy has not occurred, progesterone levels will start to decrease and the suppression of FSH will be lifted. FSH will then be released and a new egg will start to grow as a new cycle begins.
Now let’s say that someone has low progesterone levels. FSH will not be suppressed fully if the progesterone levels are low, which can cause an egg to start maturing early. If the follicle surrounding the egg grows early, ovulation can also happen prematurely.
As an example, if FSH causes an egg to start maturing on day 3 of the cycle, ovulation could happen on day 8. The post-ovulatory phase is typically 11-16 days. To continue with this scenario, if you ovulate on day 8 and have an additional 11 days of the cycle before your next period begins, that cycle was 19 days.
Anything less than 24 days is considered a short cycle. Having a short cycle may be due to low progesterone levels, which allows FSH to be released prematurely and cause early ovulation.
How can you figure out when you’re ovulating?
Our bodies are amazing and give us clues to indicate what is happening with our hormones throughout the cycle. Estrogen levels are highest around the time of ovulation, and these high estrogen levels will cause the cervix to produce a thin, stretchy, clear type of mucus. This mucus can be observed when you go to the bathroom, giving you an indication that ovulation may be near.
There are many different fertility awareness methods that can teach you how to learn your body’s cues and help you know when you’re ovulating. FEMM, Creighton, Marquette, and Sympto-Thermal are a few fertility awareness methods that use the body’s signs to help a woman distinguish the time of ovulation.
Cycle tracking apps
There are apps that allow you to keep track of cervical mucus cues, daily basal body temperature, and other measures that may indicate ovulation and hormonal activity. The FEMM app is a great example of a tool to keep track of these cues.
While it may be easier if we all just ovulated on day 14, our bodies and our cycles are unique. There are tools and information available to help you determine your individual time of ovulation each cycle, and allow you to better assess your health and family planning goals.
