Planning for Pregnancy Through Fertility Charts: The Calendar Method

Are you looking to determine when you are fertile so that you can get pregnant? If so, there are multiple methods for achieving this. One of these methods is known as the calendar method. With this method, you will record your menstrual cycle on a calendar for anywhere from eight months to a year. The first day of your period is day one, and you will track the length of your cycle, which can vary from one month to the next.

Why Use This Method?

The calendar method is very helpful for many women as it allows them to know when their menstrual period is about to start while also making it very easy to tell when they are going to be fertile. The calendar method is incredibly simple to use and can be much less expensive than spending money on over the counter fertility tests to try to figure out the best time to have sex for the purposes of achieving pregnancy.

How to Use This Method

To use the calendar method, you will circle the day your menstruation first begins and label it as day one. Every month for eight to twelve months, you will want to label day one of menstruation. Maintain how many days are in each overall menstrual cycle. Once you have done this for at least eight months, you can start determining the first day that you are likely to experience ovulation. In order to do this, simply look at your records from all of the previous months and find the shortest cycle. Count the number of days in this cycle and subtract eighteen. If, for example, your shortest cycle was 29 days, you would subtract 18 from 29, leaving you with 11. You should then mark the date eleven days from your next day one, or onset of menses, with an O for ovulation. From this day through the next five days, you will be in your fertile period and should be trying to conceive. While this method doesn’t take into account irregular cycles, it can be used in conjunction with the basal body temperature method or other methods to improve accuracy.

The calendar method is a tried and true method of predicting fertility that has been in use for many years. It is especially effective when combined with other methods. If you are looking to find the best time to try to conceive, it can help to try this strategy.