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I am in my late 30’s. I am wondering what you think my chances are of falling pregnant. I have one child who is a teenager. I am on a 27 day cycle. I had intercourse on cycle day 11 and cycle day 13 this month because I was off when counting my days. I may have ovulated on day 14 or 15. Today is cycle day 15 and I felt some cramping. However, I felt this one-sided cramping yesterday too. It seemed to be a little stronger today, but I am guessing that I have ovulated whether it was yesterday or today. It is strangely exciting because we weren’t trying, but I would love for it to happen.
What do you think my chances are of becoming pregnant?
What should I look for next?
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This is an exciting time to be trying to conceive!
Women in their mid-30s have about a 20% chance with each cycle to conceive (can you believe it's that low?!), and the older the women is, the more this percentage declines.
Each month you have sex---often---the more your chances increase (cumulative effect), and I'm not sure how long you've been trying, and how often you had unprotected sex. Even if you told us---it's just not something anyone can predict. You are having unprotected sex during a probably fertile time, and any minute symptom will be on your mind now. It is impossible to know without a doubt when you are ovulating with just over-the-counter or tracking methods. Some women experience pain with ovulation, but they are not sure if that is before/during/after the egg is released. Many women use ovulation predictor kits, but at best...these still only "predict" the most likely time of ovulation. It's frustrating---I know!
Experts say the best chances for conception are to have sex every-other day, regardless of "when" in your cycle you are. This is because it is more important to have sex before ovulation, where the sperm is "waiting" for an egg to be released, versus the egg being released and the sperm trying to fertilize it quickly. The reasoning behind this: sperm can live inside your body for 3-5 days, whereas an egg lives for only 24-48 hours once released.
Cramping is not a common sign of pregnancy, but women experience cramping from either ovulation, implantation, upcoming period or it could be some digestive distress or a muscle cramp. Most pregnancy symptoms are just not noticeable until you are 4,5,6 weeks pregnant...and by this time, you have missed a period. So, the next thing to look for is a missed period...that will be your clue to take a home pregnancy test!
One more piece of information for you. You said you believe you ovulated on day 14 or 15, and say this is accurate. You would not have a viable pregnancy until 10-14 days AFTER you ovulate, as it takes that long for the egg to travel from the ovary to the fallopian tube, where it meets the sperm. The sperm fertilizes the egg in the fallopian tube, and the fertilized egg travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus. It finds a cozy spot to implant, and then it begins sending out the "pregnancy hormones" to alert the rest of your body to spring into action (preparing the placenta, stopping menstruation--the shedding of the lining of the uterus, altering the cervical mucus, etc). This is a lengthy process, and the reason women do not have many symptoms until they have missed a period---they are not usually pregnant (implanted fertilized egg) until this time.
let us know if you have any other questions! good luck!
November 12, 2009 - 3:49pmThis Comment