UNDERSTANDING OVULATION AND CONCEPTION – INFO FROM A DENVER FERTILITY CLINIC

Menstruation and Ovulation

Every month a woman menstruates. This is what happens if a woman doesn’t conceive. About two weeks before menstruation, the egg in the woman’s ovaries starts to develop. A woman is born with her eggs for the expanse of her life, and generally, one is only released every month. The time of the month when the egg is released into the follicle is called ovulation.

The hormones rise with the follicle developing into what’s called the corpus luteum. This releases a hormone that thickens the lining of the uterus, so that it’s ready for when the egg descends.

After the egg is released, it descends into the fallopian tube where it will wait 24 hours for sperm to fertilize it. If there is no sperm present, it will continue down and disintegrate. The lining of the uterus is shed in what’s called the woman’s menstrual cycle.

Conception and Pregnancy

If during the menstrual cycle process, the sperm is present and healthy, then the egg will be fertilized and burrow itself into the cell wall of the egg. In this exact instance, the baby’s genes are permanently set. If it has the Y chromosome, it will be a boy. If it has the X chromosome, it will be a girl.

The fertilized egg will stay in the fallopian tubes for 3 to 4 days. This egg isn’t just sitting around though. Rather, it is dividing at a rapid rate. This mass of cells will descend into the uterus and implant into the wall. Some women spot during this process, but it isn’t harmful, and should only last 1 or 2 days. The lining of the uterus will thicken in preparation for the baby. The cervix will form a mucus plug that will stay until the baby is ready to be born.

During the first week after the fertilized egg implants, the hormone HCG can be found in the woman’s bloodstream. The HCG level is still too low for a pregnancy test to detect, but a blood test would be able to detect it. The hormone HCG is a pregnancy hormone present at conception.

It’s a hormone produced by the cells of the placenta. This is the hormone that the pregnancy tests detect. It will be another 3 to 4 weeks for the pregnancy test to be able to detect the pregnancy. Within this time, the baby has already formed its first nerve cells.

Final Thoughts

This is what happens during ovulation all the way to pregnancy. It’s a delicate process of fertility that is required for conception. Sometimes issues occur that can make this process even more difficult, but specialists can usually help make conception possible, or at least easier on the couple.

For some couples, conception will happen without difficulty. For others, it may take some time. Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t happen immediately, as everyone is different. Conception is a difficult process to get right. As stated before, the egg only stays in the fallopian tube for a day. This doesn’t mean that if the woman isn’t ovulating that she can’t get pregnant. This is just the prime time to get pregnant.

When the menses are irregular, this can make it even more difficult to time ovulation right for pregnancy purposes. Going to a fertility clinic may be needed to help regulate the menses so that conception will be easier on the woman. In some cases, irregular or abnormal menses may be a warning sign of infertility, so be sure to get checked out as soon as you notice these signs.