How can I get pregnant?

The way to get pregnant is to have intercourse during your peak fertile period, that small window of opportunity that occurs just before ovulation. For some people this seems to just happen. Some women need a little help to identify the magic moment.

Ovulation prediction basics

Release of the ovum or egg is called ovulation. Once the egg is released from the ovary and matures in the fallopian tube, it will survive and be able to be fertilized for a very short time, at most about 24 hours and perhaps as little as 8 hours. The other half of the conception process is the sperm. Healthy sperm can fertilize an egg for about 48 hours or more after being deposited, but it requires time to reach the egg.

Clearly, in order to get pregnant, sperm must be deposited in advance of ovulation and at the right time.

A breakthrough in hormonal measurement

How do you identify that moment of peak fertility? The researchers at Zetek discovered a convenient and accurate way bymeasuring electrolytes in saliva.

Your body prepares for ovulation with complex changes in the output of hormones. About a week before ovulation, one ovum, the dominant follicle, is selected from among the many available in one of the two ovaries. This one ovum begins to grow and the uterus begins to be prepared to receive a possibly fertilized egg.

At the same time, other hormones are changing the amounts of minerals like sodium and potassium (electrolytes) that are kept or discarded by the body. This is what produces the Cue Peak, a high point in the electrolyte readings in the saliva that corresponds to the release of an egg.

The OvaCue Fertility Monitor stores this information about your body and uses the patterns to accurately predict your time of ovulation up to seven days in advance, telling you exactly which day is best to conceive your baby.