Tracking your menstrual cycle is important. Rather than having to face the mishap, it’s always better to keep sanitary napkins or tampons at hand. Not just this, tracking your cycle is crucial if you’re trying to get pregnant, or to avoid it.

It all comes down to ovulation, which is the most fertile window of the menstrual cycle. It’s a process in which the ovary releases the egg, which is pushed down the fallopian tube and is ready to be fertilised.

The menstrual cycle is an approximately 28 to 30 days period. Most women ovulate between day 11 and 21 of their cycle in which day 1 is when you get your period. The actual process of ovulation lasts for just 48 hours.

Symptoms that you’re ovulating:

Tracking cycle, or not, there are symptoms that indicate that you’re ovulating.

–  Mood swings

–  Change in discharge

–  Abdominal cramps

–  Rise in body temperature

–  Bloating

–  Breast tenderness

–  Increased sexual drive

Even though your body shows ovulation symptoms, it better to keep track.

Here are some ways you can do it:

*     Keep a calendar

You can track your ovulation the traditional way, by maintaining a calendar. It’s the easiest way, but is beneficial for only those with regular periods.

But do note, by keeping a calendar, you’ll not track the ovulation period, but your cycle. But you can easily do the math to determine when you’ll ovulate.

*     Basal body temperature

It’s defined as your body’s temperature when it’s at rest. So typically, it’s the temperature right after you wake up and before you get out of bed. It increases when you ovulate.

So, to track that you’ll need to keep a thermometer nearby before you go to bed. Keep a track of your basal temperature. And if it rises, you know you’re ovulating.

*     Ovulation kit

Just like pregnancy kits, ovulation kits test luteinising hormone (LH) in urine. A high level of LH indicates ovulation and vice versa. 

You can also use a fertility monitor to find out if you’re ovulating.