How to get pregnant

To know how to get pregnant you should know something about how the menstrual cycle works.

Theoretically, the sure way to get pregnant is to have sex on the fertile day of your cycle when ovulation occurs, so that a sperm can fertilize an egg.

When are fertile days?

The fertile days should generally be at the middle of your cycle, so if the average cycle length, according to the books, is 28 days, ovulation should happen on day 14. However, most women have cycles of a variable length, if not very irregular. I've always been what is considered "regular", yet my cycles were usually between 28 and 32 days long, which gives us an average of 30. In reality, one month it was 29 days, another 30, another 31, another 28. Many women have very irregular cycles, from 20 or fewer days, to over 40 days, skipping months etc.

Even if you had a perfect 28 day cycle every month (which is quite rare), ovulation may not always occur on day 14, instead one month it could be on day 12, another one on  day 15, 16 etc. So, how to get pregnant easily? How can you guess your ovulation day?

Spot your fertile days

The first thing you can do is to know more about your cycle. So, if you've never done this, start recording for a few months your cycle's length, so you know when you next period is going to start and can work out when your mid-cycle days are and when the ovulation is likely to happen.

An egg's life is short...

Once eventually there has been an ovulation, an egg lives only about 24 hours and it's during this short time that it can be fertilized. So it seems rather difficult to hit it just at the perfect time.

... but luckily sperms' life is longer

Sperms can survive inside a woman's body for a few days, I read from 2 to even 7 days. It depends on circumstances: during most cycle days the environment inside the vagina is acidic and kills sperms. Instead, at ovulation and during the days preceding it, the environment is less acidic and helps sperm live longer and travel further inside the woman's reproductive system.

When to have sex? Better try before expected ovulation

So if you have a quite regular cycle, by now you should know when to expect your next period and when the middle of your cycle is.

Since sperms can survive inside a woman's body for a few days, it is better to have sex a few days before the expected middle of the cycle, so by the time of ovulation there will already be some little sperms there ready to fertilize the egg. Those are the best days to get pregnant.

Read here about many ovulation calculators that you can find online. However, in my opinion they cannot tell you much more than you already know about when your fertile days are.

Instead, for a more accurate prediction, use a fertility monitor or fertility predictor, read about how they work, how to get pregnant even if you have irregular periods.

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