This is day 8 of your menstrual cycle

You're likely to ovulate by the end of this week, so it helps to know the signs that you're at your most fertile.

272 days until your due date

You'll probably ovulate by the end of this week. Your fertile window runs from about 5 days before ovulation to 12–24 hours after, because sperm can survive inside you for up to 5 days. Ovulation is easier to track if your periods are regular, and you can also watch for natural signs or use an ovulation kit. But the best way to conceive is simply to have sex regularly.

Testing kits are useful but expensive, and they can make sex feel clinical and less enjoyable. They detect the surge in LH, the hormone that triggers egg release, in your urine. Follow the instructions and test at roughly the same time each day, any time between 10 am and 8 pm. You should ovulate 12–36 hours after a positive result. Tests are about 99 percent accurate, but false positives happen occasionally, and false negatives can happen if you've drunk a lot of water. If a test is negative, test again the next day; once it's positive, you can stop testing for that month.

Explainer

Changes during the menstrual cycle: Temperature and cervical secretions

Your body temperature stays fairly steady in the first half of the cycle and rises sharply straight after ovulation. Cervical secretions change too: there are usually none during your period and few or none in the dry days after it. In the days before ovulation they become moist, sticky, and cloudy, then wet, slippery, and stretchy at your most fertile time. After ovulation they dry up again.

Good to know

Are you ovulating?

This week, look out for:

Lower abdominal pain at ovulation, called mittelschmerz (German for "pain in the middle").
A slight rise in your basal body temperature (your temperature when you first wake up).
Cervical mucus becoming wetter, clearer, and stretchy, like raw egg white, just before ovulation. This marks the start of your fertile phase.

Explainer

The stretch test

If you can stretch some of your cervical mucus between your fingers, it's a sign that you're about to ovulate.

This is general information based on NHS guidance, not medical advice, and every pregnancy is different. Talk to your midwife or GP about anything that worries you. If your baby's movements slow down or change, or you have bleeding, severe pain or leaking fluid, call your maternity unit straight away. In an emergency, call 999.