The Lifechanging Magic of Charting Ovulation

Feb. 4

The fact is, once you know when you’ve ovulated, you can accurately predict when your period will arrive. You’ll also unlock several menstrual superpowers, all with a practice that takes a few minutes each day.

A lot of advice in the Menstrual Cycle Awareness world, centres on making plans to scale things back during your period so that you can rest more and nourish yourself deeply. The benefits of doing so are many-fold but, unless your bleed arrives like clockwork on the same cycle day each month, this can feel like frustrating advice. You can be working on having a freezer full of meals prepped , strip your schedule back to only the essentials for a few days, and ask for a bit more help with childcare… only for your period to arrive a few days earlier than expected and blow these plans out of the water.

The fact is, our cycles aren’t designed to set your watch by. Their ebbs and flows, and unexpected twists and turns are part of their gifts. Our cycles will forever be teaching us how to loosen our controlling grip and lean into surrender. But there is something you can do to have a pretty clear idea when your period will arrive: chart when you ovulate.

If you know when you’ve ovulated, you can accurately predict when you’re going to get your period. That’s because while the first half of your cycle, the follicular phase, can vary a great deal in length, the second half, the luteal phase, is quite a set length. Generally it lasts between 12-14 days but through charting you’ll find out the specific length of yours.

So, why would you want to know when you’ve ovulated?

There are quite a few benefits to charting for ovulation, such as:

Knowing that we’ve ovulated adds an extra layer of awareness to our cycle charting. It helps us know what season we’re in and stops our period taking us by surprise.
Charting ovulation also makes it easier to try and schedule our lives around our periods a little bit, perhaps by meal prepping in advance or doing less on those first few days of our bleed. Or by knowing to heap on the self-compassion and ask for extra support if we’re going to be unavoidably busy while menstruating.
Our menstrual cycles are also a vital sign, just like your respiratory rate and temperature. So being able to confirm ovulation each month is a great indicator of the health of our cycle, and if we notice any significant changes we will know to get things checked out.
If you might choose to have a(nother) baby in the future, getting clear on your body’s ovulatory biomarkers will mean you will have a very clear understanding of your fertile window if that time comes. You’ll also be able to look out for clear indicators that could signal things are out of balance, in case you need any professional support on your fertility journey.

A few words of warning before I continue this article: Please do not use the information I share here as a form of contraception, unless you do so with a Fertility Awareness Method instructor. FAM is an incredibly effective form of contraception (and can also be used to support conception) but it requires very specific charting and accurate interpretation of the data so it’s important to work with a qualified practitioner while you’re learning the signs of your body. You’ll find recommended resources at the end of this article if you want to get started with FAM but please know that the methods outlined here are for your own cycle awareness only.

Also, there is no app that can tell you accurately when you’re ovulating. Those that claim to are based on the rhythm method and are not accurate, so please don’t rely on them …many people have gotten pregnant unexpectedly because of this.

So, how. do we figure out when we’re ovulating?

In order to do this, we’re going to pay attention to specific physiological characteristics (biomarkers) and how they change throughout the course of our cycle.

I like to keep track of these observations in the app Read Your Body, but there are many apps available or you can also learn to chart using pen and paper methods (Taking Charge of Your Fertility contains information on doing this).

The three main biomarkers that are used to chart for ovulation are: cervical mucus, Basal Body Temperature, and cervical position. However, different methods may rely only on one or two of these. There are other indicators of ovulation, such as changes in libido and a ‘twang’ feeling on one side of the pelvis. It can be helpful to keep track of these additional indicators but on their own, they aren’t enough to confirm ovulation.

Charting Cervical Mucus

When charting your cervical mucus you’re simply noticing the relative “wetness” that you experience at your vulva each day and making a note of it. You can do this by noting how it feels when you wipe after going to the bathroom, or just how it feels between your legs when walking throughout the day. You might make an observation like 'wet,' 'sticky,' or 'dry.' And it can be helpful to notice any cervical mucus present on the toilet paper after you wipe.

You’re trying to identify your “peak” cervical mucus days. This is thicky, stretchy mucus. Charting three days of dryness after a peak slippery day, usually means ovulation has occurred. To learn more about cervical mucus and how it presents throughout the cycle, I recommend this free guide.

And look, I get that many of us grew up thinking that these parts of our body are ‘gross’ or ‘icky.’ Please know that they’re anything but. One day I’ll write a treatise on the wonders of cervical mucus but for now, know that it is an incredible, arguably intelligent, part of our body that helps us to get pregnant when we’re fertile and keeps sperm away from our wombs when we’re not. Getting to know yours will tell you so much about your body.

Charting Basal Body Temperature

Our Basal Body Temperature is our lowest body temperature of the day, recorded directly after waking in the morning. We track BBT because we will experience a slight (0.3 - 0.6 °C) rise in BBT alongside ovulation. Prior to ovulation, BBT averages between 36.1°C (97°F) and 36.4°C (97.5°F). After ovulation, it rises to 36.5°C (97.6°F) to 37°C (98.6°F). BBT then remains elevated throughout the luteal phase due to the increased levels of progesterone.

The trick bit here? In order to get an accurate BBT reading, we need to have had three hours of uninterrupted sleep and be waking up at the same time each day. Not extremely doable for most parents, right? This is why I love the wearable TempDrop BBT thermometer. You wear it all night and it takes your temperature all night, using its algorithm to create an average that will give you an accurate BBT reading. It also syncs with an app, making tracking really straightforward. (I’ve shared my referral link which will give you 10% off and earn me a small commission).

Different tracking methods use different calculations for using BBT to determine ovulation. I really recommend the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility for learning about these, or working with a certified FAM practitioner. Essentially we are following a 3/6 rule: If you've charted three consecutive days of an elevated BBT following six lower temperature days, we can assume ovulation has occurred.

It’s also important to note that alcohol consumption, disrupted sleep, travel and shift work may all affect BBT so if these factors apply regularly then this method will work best when used in conjunction with charting cervical mucus. Combining BBT with cervical mucus charting also gives you a prospective and retrospective opportunity to confirm when ovulation is happening for them in their cycle.

Charting Cervical Position

Cervical position is another reliable indicator of ovulation. For some people this is easy to see and feel. For others, it is more difficult. In short, the cervix becomes higher, softer, and more open in the lead-up to ovulation. The resources I’ve listed below will help you get more familiar with cervical position and its relationship to your cycle.

I know there may also be an “ick factor” here but I see again and again with my clients that learning about and observing your cervix can be an incredibly empowering experience.

Remember: ovulation is variable and does not happen on cycle day 14 for most people, despite what many period tracking apps would have you believe! A period tracking app cannot predict ovulation. Learning the signs and practicing these methods daily will help you observe what your ovulatory signs are and will give you the confidence to identify when ovulation is occurring for you in every unique menstrual cycle.

So, you’ve been charting daily and have confirmed that you’ve ovulated… now what?

You can now assume your period is 12-14 days away. This is a great opportunity to start meal prepping so that you have easy meals when you’re bleeding. You might want to look at what you can take off your plate for a few days around your period and note down a few things that will help you feel nourished and rested during your upcoming bleed.

If you want more support with charting ovulation as a Menstrual Cycle Awareness practice and having genuinely restful periods as a busy parent, these are things I help my clients with in our 1:1 cycle coaching sessions. Or if you are curious how this can be used as a form of contraception, be sure to check out the resources below.