Knowing when you are ovulating is important when trying to conceive. It allows you to make sure that you are focusing your attention and your, ahem, energy on the right days. The fertile window for women each month is actually quite narrow, and knowing when you ovulate is the best way to make sure that you optimize your chances to conceive each month.
Most women have a fertile window of approximately six days each cycle, since sperm can often survive up to five days in a woman's cervical fluid. But since your egg can only survive up to 24 hours, it's important to know what these five days are before you ovulate. Therefore, a woman's most fertile days are the three days before and including ovulation day.
Ovulation signals the moment that your ovary releases your egg. So, what are the symptoms that can clue you in on the day that you ovulate?
Waking Temperatures
Many people chart their monthly cycles by recording their Basal Body Temperatures (BBT). When you first waking in the morning, after a night of rest, your temperature is at its lowest. Therefore, when women record their morning temperatures, and chart it, it can show you if and when you ovulated (as well as potentially some other fertility concerns to raise with a doctor).
The reason that you are able to track ovulation by your BBT is because there is often a drop in temperature before ovulation due to estrogen, and then your body is flooded with progesterone, which causes temperatures to rise and maintain that temperature until the end of the cycle. Temperature differences are rather slight, which is why a digital thermometer that measures 1/10th of a degree is best.
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