Hi ladies. I sort of have a dumb question. I feel like I should know this but I don't so that's why I am calling this my dumb question. Anyways my husband and I are trying for baby #2 and I've been reading alot about tracking your mucus and body temperature for ovulation etc. I just wanted to ask if it's possible to get a period and not ovulate? I am not on the pill.
Thanks.
When you are on the pill you do not ovulate, and you still get your period each month when you take your non-active pills, so yes, it is possible.
Hi Mama
Some women do not ovulate every month but you can tell with your mucus etc.
Good luck with getting pregnant.We are trying also so hopefully we will both have good news to post soon
B.
yes. I'm not a doctor so of course I'm not sure exactly how it works but it's kinda like when you take the pill. You still have a light period but you don't ovulate. Basically a normal period is the shedding of the egg and the lining of the uterus. Your body starts to build up tissue around your uterus in preparation for the implantation of a fertilized egg. When there is no egg or the egg is not fertilized the egg and the tissue or lining comes out in the form of your period. But try not to worry about it too much. If you have regular periods you are probably ovulating.
If you are not on the pill, then every period you have is the direct result of an unfertilized ovulation. While women's menstrual cycles can be different--shorter or longer or irregular, depending on the woman--we are all pretty consistent with the timing of ovulation to menstruation. It is right between 14-15 days. The problem with this is that if your cycle varies at all, you can't predict at all when you ovulate next AFTER you menstruate--at least not by the calendar. Many unwanted pregnancies have occurred with women who believed they would not be fertile because their period had just stopped.
Since you are trying to get pregnant, then if you ARE fairly regular with your cycles, you can try noticing when you begin your period, go back two weeks, and then track back to when your previous period started. Do this for a few months and you may have a fairly good idea of when your ovulation is happening after each period (remember to go from the first day, not the last, since the last can really vary).
But yes, it is much better to watch your mucus (it gets clear, long and stringy if you stretch between two fingers when you are ovulating, more cloudy, sticky and tacky--won't string--when you are not), and check basal body temperature. With temp, you need to measure at the exact same point in your day--the least variable is when you just wake up before getting out of bed. Activity will change your basal body temp enough to put the results off.
You may also experience "mittleschmertz", which is a cramplike feeling between periods when you actually release an egg.
It is completely possible to have a period without ovulating - it's called an annovulatory cycle. On occasion, this will happen in a "normal/healthy" woman. If this happens continually you need to let your doctor know - as it is a sign of PCOS. Also, the only way to be positive of ovulation is to track your temperature. Tracking mucus and using ovulation tests tells you that your body is gearing up to ovulate, but only the temperature rise indicates that ovulation actually occurred. I've never had an annovulatory cycle that I was tracking, but I've had a few long cycles that I had fertile mucous and positive ovulation tests without confirmed temperature ovulation only to go through the whole thing again (fertile mucous and positive ovulation tests) 10 days later and actually have a confirmed ovulation.
