Understand your Periods and Ovulation day
Updated: Nov 20, 2021
Every woman or a girl in the menstrual age goes through a phase where she bleeds from her vagina for 2-7 days every month. This bloody spell is usually called Periods (because it occurs periodically) or Menstruation, in technical term. Why does this happen? and how long will it keep happening? Is it a thing to worry about ? This article will help clear most of your doubts. Read on.
But before we move further, Let's define and understand two important terms: Period cycle length and Ovulation. A Period cycle length is, basically, the difference of days between the starting date of two subsequent periods for any woman. The average period cycle length is 28 days. Some may have 21 days and other may even have 40 days as their period cycle length. There is not right or wrong here. Every body is different and so there can be different cycle length too. Secondly, Ovulation is the process of release of an egg from the follicles. Now, the first day of your periods (the bleeding spell) is also the first day of your period cycle. And importantly, read it carefully, an ovulation happens almost around 14 days before from your next periods date. So, if you have a period cycle length of 32 days, for example, and you got your last periods on 5th August, then your ovulation will happen 32-14 (= 18) days after the 5th of August, which is 23rd of August. And subsequently, you will be told to do intercourse in your fertile window of 19th Aug up until 25th Aug +/- 2 days, if you are trying to conceive.
From the first day of your periods the ovaries release a hormone called Estradiol, which helps building up of your uterus internal lining. The amount of this hormone peak right before the ovulation day. When it is at its highest, it gives signal to your brain to release two other hormones called FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing hormone). When these are released, the role of estradiol stops and it starts declining. FSH encourages the egg to be released from the ovaries, the process called Ovulation. This marks the end of first phase called follicular phase. In the next phase called luteal phase, when the egg has been released, there is a production of another hormones called Progesterone which releases from the walls of the follicle. Now if there has been an intercourse between a man and a woman in this fertile window, then by the time egg released from the ovaries tries to reach the uterus through the fallopian tubes, the sperms should already be there. If the fertilization happens and the fertilized eggs gets stuck (or implanted to the walls of the uterus), then its a pregnancy. But if the egg is not fertilized or even if fertilized but not able to implant to the uterus walls, then the level of progesterone falls giving a signal to the uterine walls to shed. This causes what we know as Period.
Periods are nothing to worry about, if they are happening every month and are at regular intervals. They will keep happening until you are 50 years of age and stops only after that or when you are pregnant or breastfeeding in some cases. Worry about them only when your periods are skipping between months or highly irregular in terms of dates when they are supposed to happen.
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