Even after your fertile window has closed for the current cycle, tracking your data can still help you predict your next ovulation, and help clue you in on whether or not you might have conceived. Symptoms and moods are important to enter as always, as these will be the most telling of whether or not you conceived, but tracking your pregnancy tests and any spotting will likewise help predict your cycle, improve your fertility, and clue you in on whether or not you conceived.
How to track your luteal phase with Ovia Health
The luteal phase describes the span of time after ovulation but before your expected period, and although women in the luteal phase are no longer able to conceive this cycle as the egg formerly available for fertilization is now either dissolved, or fertilized(!), tracking your data can still help pinpoint your next cycle’s ovulation, and clue you in on whether or not you conceived.
Pregnancy tests
Pregnancy tests generally can’t detect pregnancy until at least 10 days after ovulation (and a test’s accuracy improves with each passing day) because the level of hCG, the hormone that your womb produces once the egg implants, and pregnancy tests search for to confirm, is not significant enough yet. Tracking your pregnancy tests will help let you know when to take another, and will let Ovia know when to give you that big ‘congratulations!’
Spotting
A fertilized egg takes about 7-10 days to journey down the fallopian tube, and towards your womb where it will implant, and set up shop for the next nine months. Some women notice “implantation bleeding” that is often mistaken for spotting or a light period during this time, as some blood may be released when your tiny little blastocyst (that’s gynecologist-talk for microscopic baby) implants into your womb. Depending on the date of your ovulation, tracking any spotting can really help clue you in on whether or not you conceived.
Symptoms
Once again, symptoms are incredibly important to track throughout the cycle, since they can help you establish a roadmap towards your ovulation and fertile window, and towards pregnancy. Many women start to notice early signs of pregnancy about a week after conception, so tracking potential symptoms can help clue you in to whether you conceived, or whether the symptoms are just indicative of an upcoming period – either way, tracking your symptoms will help let you know sooner.
