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The deal with "how long do I ovulate" and the rhythm method is this -- you have to refrain from sex early enough before ovulation to not have any sperm in your system when you do. And you have to refrain from sex long enough after you ovulate until the egg is no longer able to be fertilized.

Take note, because this is why many people who use the rhythm method in older days had such large families! Our bodies just don't adhere themselves to charts or calendars all the time. It has a failure rate of 13% to 20% a year, which means that out of every 100 women using the rhythm method, 13 to 20 will become pregnant each year.

It helps if you have a VERY regular cycle. Do you?

The rhythm method, as quoted from Contraceptive Information, assumes the following:

1.That ovulation occurs fourteen days before the beginning of menstruation, plus or minus two days

2.That sperm remain alive for three days, and

3.That the ovum (egg) survives for twenty-four hours.

So while ovulation just takes one day, you need to avoid having sex for at LEAST three days before ovulation and at LEAST two days after. And that's if you can pinpoint ovulation; if not, the site recommends adding two days on each side. Are you charting your ovulation with a basal thermometer to be more exact?

June 18, 2009 - 8:58am

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