The Chances of Becoming Pregnant: What You Need to Know

Are you and your partner trying to conceive? This can be both an exciting and stressful time.

When are the best times to get pregnant? How will I know for sure that I am ovulating? What days of the month are the best times to have sex to ensure conception?

It’s all about a woman’s cycle, friends. There are 4 stages and each one has its own distinct percentage of possible conception.

Chances of Becoming Pregnant

Let’s take a look at your chances of becoming pregnant during every stage.

Phase One: Menstruation

While some people believe that a woman can’t get pregnant when she is menstruating, this isn’t really true.

The chances are very slim (less than 2%) but it IS possible. If you don’t want to conceive at this time, you should still use protection as women have become pregnant while on their period.

The average woman will have her period for 3-7 days. By the third day, the body begins rebuilding the endometrium and both estrogen and progesterone levels are slowly increasing.

Somewhere around the 4^th day (on average) the follicles begin to swell and ripen, preparing to release an egg. The average time for ovulation, as well as the best time to get pregnant, is 15 days from the first day of your period.

The first day of your period would be a good time to start using an ovulation predictor or taking your basal body temperature each morning before you get out of bed.

Use a notebook and keep track of your temperature.

Phase Two: Pre-Ovulation

As soon as your period has stopped, you should start having sex at least three times per week or even more often.

Keep in mind that sperm can live for about 5 days in the thick cervical mucus. So even if you haven’t ovulated yet, if the egg should be released in that 5-day time frame, you greatly increase your chances of becoming pregnant.

Phase Three: Ovulation

This is the prime time for becoming pregnant, hands down. For almost all women, even if their cycles are longer than 28 days, ovulation occurs about 14 days before your next period.

Your body temperature will rise about a half of a degree, which is also an indication that ovulation has occurred.

Having sex in the previous 5 days will greatly increase your chances of becoming pregnant, but to improve your odds, this would be the good time to have sex at least twice in the next 36 hours.

Unlike sperm, eggs live only about 12 hours, which is why you might want to think about doing it sooner rather than later!

Your chances of becoming pregnant during this time are very good!

Phase Four: Post-Ovulation

Sometimes called the luteal phase, this is the last stage of the cycle. It runs a minimum of 12 days and can run a full 16 days, depending on the length of your period.

Progesterone will start to rise, which tells the ovaries that no more eggs are needed. The mucus in the cervix will dry out a bit and create a plug to prevent any more sperm from reaching the uterus.

It will take about 6 days for a fertilized egg to reach the uterus. If it becomes implanted and begins to grow, you will see a rise in a hormone known as hCG, which is what those home pregnancy tests measure.

If you don’t become pregnant on the first or even the second try, don’t stress out. It often takes 6 months to a year for those little swimmers to do their job.

Can Everyone Trying to Conceive Get Pregnant?

From birth, we have a natural, instinctual drive or urge to procreating. That is part of being human, I believe.  It’s in our DNA.  Choice is also our DNA.  There seem to be two grooves of energy for just about everything. First, there is instinct derived from our basic nature as a human being inhabiting a body on planet earth.  Then there is this other groove which always includes instinct but also goes beyond it; a broader version of instinct that has been expanded by our heart and soul, or Spirit. This version allows for choice.

So the difference between the two is something like this:  “raw drive or instinct” and “conscious choice”.  What if each of us has in our DNA our own Divine Design as well?  What if the activation of our unique Divine Design can only be done in that place beyond instinct, through choice?  Our conscious choice.

What if having a child is always a raw drive or instinct?  What if we went beyond that and said that whether we actually have a child or not comes from conscious choice?  How might that change your relationship with fertility?

In generations, decades and centuries past, this was not an option.  It was a given that a woman would bear children and if she were barren, oh dear, in some cultures that was almost a fate worse than death itself.  The same held true for a man and his ability to “produce” a healthy child.

Consider that we grow up with lots of cultural urges that are often not at the conscious level.  We are raised with particular gender norms like dolls for girls and trucks for boys.  A lot of us grow up with an unconscious assumption that we will go to college, get a job, get married, and have children (sometimes not exactly in that order).  A lot of us never stop to consider that even while we may be unconsciously following this outline, this may not actually be our divine design.

What if your dance with infertility is asking you to become really clear about what you are really meant to procreate?  Must your true purpose be to birth a child? Or is it perhaps to birth something else?  What is your true purpose?  Maybe you’ve never asked yourself that question. Or, maybe you have asked, but you have had difficulty discovering your true answer.

Consider the Word, “Procreate”

Let’s look at the word “procreate”.  The definition is to engender or beget (offspring).  The word “create” means to cause coming into existence; originate; to be the cause of.  And “pro” means to be “for”.

You might discover that you are 100% clear in making a conscious choice to cause a child (or children) to come into existence.  This is a profound and perfect choice.  Or, you might discover deep down inside a different authenticy: to create or cause or birth something else.  You have your life to do that with.  This, too, is a profound and perfect choice.

If we take the instinctual drive to procreate a child a step further, we might see other options.  We might reach beyond instinct and notice other possibilities.  When we reach beyond instinct, Spirit is present.  When Spirit is present, our possibilities expand.  When our possibilities expand, we have choice.  When we have choice, we are conscious and empowered.  Confusion, sadness, and depression, which often accompany infertility, aren’t part of expanding into that broader space of Spirit-present possibility.

The Infertility Epidemic

Why are so many women/couples facing fertility problems?  Why do some end up having a child and others not?  I would like to see these men and women get really clear about this choice.  If they choose to have a child, their attitudes, life energy and actions will need to line up with that.

They will need to set their priorities accordingly and commit to being the best parent they can be.  If they discover that they, in fact, are being called to create in a different way to offer their love and energy out of the box of the cultural norm, then it is equally crucial that they be supported in being clear, coming to terms, making peace and then moving forward consciously.

References

What are your odds of getting pregnant each month? https://www.todaysparent.com/getting-pregnant/trying-to-conceive/what-are-your-odds-of-getting-pregnant-each-month/
Your Chances of Getting Pregnant in your 20s, 30s and 40s https://www.avawomen.com/avaworld/chances-getting-pregnant/
Fertility treatment options https://www.myfertilitysuccess.com/articles/fertility-treatment-options-for-both-men-and-women/

LoraM

Lora M. is the director of Fertility Health Services in San Diego, California and is the author of the different books  and audio CD series. Lora’s work is marked by a ready warmth and deep empathy for all those she serves. People from all walks of life have benefited from her keen ability to help them connect with their deepest selves — and experience their fullest potential for health, happiness and wholeness.