If you want to know exactly when you ovulate, the best way is to use an ovulation predictor test and create a fertility chart. You can find out when you ovulate by simply tracking your fertility signs. But this only helps you know that you are showing signs of high fertility. To know exactly when you ovulate, you need to take a few more steps.

Buy an ovulation predictor kit

The first thing you should do is purchase an ovulation predictor kit (OPK). An OPK is designed to detect one hormone (luteinizing hormone, or LH). A few days before ovulation, your LH levels will spike. The OPK detects this LH surge and gives you a positive result. A positive result means ovulation will occur within 12-36 hours.

Create a Fertility Chart

By recording your basal body temperature every day starting early in the morning, you can determine the day of ovulation. Fertility charts are one of the best tools to determine ovulation. By recording your daily body temperature on a graph, you will find that your body temperature changes by about 0.4 degrees after ovulation. If this change continues for three days, you can assume that you have ovulated. The disadvantage of fertility charts is that they do not tell you when you ovulate until a few days after ovulation. However, it is a good way to confirm ovulation.

Track your pregnancy signs

When it’s ovulation time, your body will give you signals that you’re ovulating and that it’s your fertile time. Symptoms you may notice include an increase in cervical mucus. Thin, stretchy, egg-white-like mucus is the most fertile type. If this mucus is tinged with blood, that could also be a good sign. Other pregnancy signs include breast tenderness, bloating, mild nausea, and pain on one side. If you notice these signs along with a positive ovulation test, you should consider that you’re in your fertile period.

Using an Ovulation Calendar

Although an ovulation calendar is not the most accurate way to predict ovulation, it works for most women. The calendar method works best for women who have a regular cycle. If your cycle varies a lot, the ovulation calendar may not be able to predict your exact day of ovulation. The calendar works by counting backwards 14 days (the average length of a woman’s luteal phase) from the first day of a woman’s expected period. So, women with a 28-day cycle will ovulate around day 15 of their cycle, and women with a 29-day cycle will ovulate around day 16 of their cycle.

Tracking your fertility signs by combining a fertility chart or using an ovulation calendar with your OPK will help you know when ovulation occurs. A fertility chart can help you see the days you conceived and how well you timed intercourse to coincide with ovulation.