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[sometime-soon.livejournal.com]

I understand when I am most likely to begin ovulating, but for how long can I ovulate? Is it a certain amount of days? Is there a rough estimate? Like 5 days? Thanks!

Is this accurate?
A woman's fertile period during her menstrual cycle, on average, lasts about nine days: seven days before ovulation (the release of the egg), the day of ovulation, and the day after ovulation. After this, chances of conception decrease quickly, as the egg has a short life-span of about 24 hours

http://www.ovulation-calculator.com/menstrual-cycle.htm

Comments

[briarwood.livejournal.com]

Ovulation and fertile period are not quite the same thing. Technically, you can only ovulate once, it's not something that happens over a period of days. More like a couple of hours for the fertile ova to be released.

The info you quoted about a women's fertile period is roughly accurate, but it's based on the life of sperm as well as the ova. If you have unprotected sex a day or two before you ovulate, you can get pregnant. The seven day window is recommended if you're using the rhythm method (not a good idea unless you're trying to catch!) because even if your cycle is absolutely regular, it's hard to be certain when you ovulate each month.

There are ovulation-prediction kits available now, which can help you get a good idea exactly when you ovulate, if you're regular. But again, as a method of contraception this is a very bad idea. If you're trying to get pregnant, or just want to get to know your body, it's useful.