OVULATION

While sperms can survive upto 5 days inside tge woman’s system, the Egg (OVUM) has a much shorter lifespan, staying viable for only a day after its production. This underlines the importance of doing perfect timing when trying for a baby. The body normally gives some signs to inform the woman when she’s ovulating and there are other tips to help you with doing the perfect timing. Here are a few;

HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOU'RE OVULATING

Listen to your body temperature
about a 1/5 of all women’s bodies usually send them a ‘memo’ during this time. As the egg moves from the ovary into the uterus, the movement is assisted by muscle contractions. These contractions can be felt as a series of cramps in the lower abdomen, usually felt more on 1 side either left or right.

Examine your vaginal fluid
 when approaching Ovulation date, the discharge usually undergoes changes in quantity and consistency. Typically, it will increase in quantity, and become thicker, stickier due to increased mucus content.
Buy your kit
these work by measuring the levels of the luteinizing hormone (L.H) that rises higher as you’re about to ovulate. All you need to do is pee on the stick and it will do the rest, much like the pregnancy prediction stick

Track Your Cycle
keep a calendar of your menstrual cycle over a few months; 3-5 months. Normal cycles last 28 days, and the Big-O occurs exactly midway; On the 14th day after the beginning of the previous periods. In order to get pregnant, have unprotected sex from Day 12, through to day 16 to increase your chances of success. For irregular periods, you can also just time midway of the cycle, and combine with the other ways of checking to improve your chances

Eat Right  
some foods have been known to improve fertility both in terms of improving egg quality and creating a condusive uterine environment for the foetus to develop.
••Switch protein sources: Replace some of the animal protein; beef, pork or chicken you eat with vegetable protein sources, such as cooked dried beans and nuts.
••Switch to whole milk instead of the low-fat milk (these are usually clearly indicated on the milk packets).
••Folic acid found in leafy vegetables, fortified cereals and dried beans and peas.

Daddy's Part
most of the above apply for the mummy, but even with a super-egg, the daddy also needs to bring good quality of sperms to make this pregnancy a success.
••avoid briefs, go for boxers. Boxers allow the testicles to hang further from the body, keeping them at optimum temperature for sperm production and storage
•• Tomatoes, Lentils, pomegranates and pumpkin seeds are among the foods known to be good antioxidants that improve blood circulation and also ensure good sperm quality and mobility. And lastly on that note, stay well hydrated by drinking lots of water to increase the ejaculate and help with the sperm count.
•• Keep off Diet drinks and caggeine. These have been linked to low sperm counts.