A very good way to find out when you are going to ovulate is with the use of a fertility calculator. Unlike regular calculators, fertility calculators are wonderfully cheap and natural way to track your ovulation is with a plain calendar and knowledge of your own body. Also, there are many helpful websites available online that will calculate this for you. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.

Many women have used fertility calculators when finding it difficult to conceive and have been successful! Believe it or not, a woman can only conceive 12-24 hours out of the month and usually the problem is simply bad timing.

So, how do you use a fertility calculator to get pregnant? Whether or not you decide to do it yourself with a calendar or use software available online, you will still need to know some very important dates and numbers. Most fertility calculators online ask you 2-3 questions and these questions are straight forward they must be accurate to calculate ovulation correctly.

You’re most likely to be asked when your last period started, the number of days in your menstrual cycle and sometimes these calculators want to know information about your luteal phase.

If you regularly note down the dates of your period in your journal, this will be an easy exercise for you. Then, all you need to do is count the days in between the dates your period starts.

Figuring out your luteal phase can be a little tricky. Most women have never heard of a luteal phase, let alone know when it occurs. If you don’t know this at first it is okay, a good rule of thumb is 14 days. The luteal phase is the time between ovulation and the beginning of your next period; usually lasting 10-16 days with 14 being the average.

The good news is there are not many sites that ask for this information; most fertility calculators only ask for the first day of your last period and the amount of days in your cycle.

Some people prefer to use a pen and paper to work out when they’re ovulating. If this is you, and you’re looking at your journal dates, you can count backward 14 days from the time your next period is going to start, and this will be your approximate ovulation date. This is not an exact science, so assume you might be fertile 2 days before and 2 days after that approximate ovulation date.

If you want to incorporate the luteal phase in your calculation, then monitor the daily changes in your cervical mucus as well as your BBT. These two basic pieces of information can really help the accuracy of your fertility calculation.

So now you know how to use a fertility calculator to increase your chances of getting pregnant. Keep reading, because in a minute, I’ll share with you a link to a free fertility calculator that won’t require you to enter information on your luteal phase.