Life as we all know it is a very beautiful experience. In the human race, the woman’s body is amazing as it plays a very important role. It has the duty of bringing life to another human being. She carries and nurtures this life inside her for nine months until such time that that life becomes ready to come out. The process is well known as pregnancy and it is part of a woman’s reproductive system.
When a woman experiences her first menstrual period, it is called menarche. The average age in which menarche starts is 13, but can happen between 8 and 18 years old. When a woman begins getting her menstrual periods, she becomes a possible candidate for pregnancy. A woman wanting to get pregnant or avoiding pregnancy should understand her ovulation period since it is a very important factor. A lot of women make mistakes because they do not understand their own ovulation phase and its functions; resulting to unexpected pregnancies in most women and some with unfortunate miscarriages.
Ovulation is the discharging of a mature egg from the ovary down to the fallopian tube where it awaits to be fertilized. In this stage, the uterus lining begins to thicken to make room for a fertilized egg. In the event that there is no conception, the uterine wall together with blood is pushed out of the woman’s body through menstruation.
Things needed to know about Ovulation:
* Stress and illness can affect ovulation
* Light blood spotting may be felt by other women during ovulation
* An egg has a life of 12 to 24 hours after leaving the ovary
* Ovulation can still happen even if menstruation has not happened
* Menstrual period can still come about even when ovulation has not happened
* Unfertilized egg goes out of a woman’s body through her menstrual period
* Mittelschmerz, meaning middle pain in German, is a pain experienced by some women near the ovaries during ovulation.
* During ovulation, only one egg is dispersed
* When an egg is not fertilized, it breaks down and is soaked up into the uterine wall
The ovulation cycle has two parts: The follicular phase and the luteal phase. The follicular phase begins on the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP) and goes on until ovulation. This stage can last around 7 up to 40 days. The second part is the luteal phase, also called the secretory phase, and it starts on the day of ovulation until the start of the next period. This aspect is normally only 12 to 16 days from the day of ovulation.
As the bearer of another life, it is very important for a woman to understand and be aware of the things that go on in her own body. She should learn how to listen to it. She has been blessed with a vital task of giving life and should therefore be knowledgeable and responsible enough to know how to take care of herself and the life within her.