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No, not quite. The typical cycle is 28 days long, almost a month. The first day of your period is considered day 1 in your cycle. Ovulation (peak fertility) happens around day 14. So the perfect 28 day cycle looks like this:

Day 1: Period begins
Day 5: Period is ending
Day 12: Ovulation incoming
Day 14: Peak ovulation
Day 16: Ovulation is ending
Day 28: Cycle is ending, period coming tomorrow

Sperm can live in the v****a for a few days. So if you had sex right after your period you'd risk having sperm still alive when ovulation time comes. That means the safest time to have sex is usually right after ovulation and right before or during your period assuming you don't have periods that last longer than a week.

However, it's important to keep in mind that pregnancy is a possibility any time of the month. That's because most of us don't have that perfect 28 day cycle. And that means most of us don't ovulate like clockwork on day 14 either. Most of us have no idea when we actually ovulate; we could ovulate early (closer to day 12 in our cycle for example) or late (closer to day 16). So while there might be "safer" times, there's no such thing as a "safe" time, which means you should assume you're always fertile and use protection every time.

But avoiding sex when you're ovulating is an ok backup method for couples who use another non-hormonal method of birth control (such as condoms, spermicides, diaphragms, etc.). That is called the natural family planning method. I don't recommend it as a main method for most couples because it takes a lot of self control and can be easy to mess up.

If you want to try to learn more about your cycle, visit www.mymonthlycycles.com They have a calendar so you can easily keep track of your periods. Once you put in a couple periods, the site will start trying to predict your future periods and ovulation if you have a fairly regular cycle. You can also watch for signs that you're ovulating. One such sign is having discharge that resembles egg whites, clear and sort of stretchy. You can also keep track of your temperature as it rises slightly during ovulation. You can read more at http://www.irh.org/nfp.htm

Sperm may be able to live for up to five days in the v****a.

I'm not sure I understand your second question. Are you asking why there are so many days between ovulation and your next period? Well, that's when your uterus gets ready to shed its lining during your period. As for why it takes so long, I'm not really sure! xp

Yup, day 14 is considered the peak ovulation day, which is when the egg is waiting to be fertilized. But just to be safe, you should consider yourself especially fertile anywhere from around day 12 to 16.



You can't see anything going on, but your body is still working during that time. Your uterus lining gets ready to shed and your hormones undergo a bit of a change.



No. The egg is only there waiting for be fertilized for a fairly short time. If it's not fertilized by about Day 16 it'll die. So that's when it would be safest to have sex because the one egg just died and the other wouldn't be up for a while yet.

Maybe this is worded better than my explanation:

"In the first half of the cycle, levels of estrogen (the “female hormone”) start to rise and make the lining of the uterus (womb) grow and thicken. At the same time, an egg (ovum) in one of the ovaries starts to mature. At about day 14 of a typical 28-day cycle, the egg leaves the ovary. This is called ovulation.

After the egg has left the ovary it travels through the fallopian tube to the uterus. Hormone levels rise and help prepare the uterine lining for pregnancy. A woman is most likely to get pregnant during the three days before ovulation or on the day of ovulation. Keep in mind, women with cycles that are shorter or longer than average may ovulate earlier or later than day 14.

If the egg is fertilized by a man’s sperm cell and attaches to the uterine wall, the woman becomes pregnant. If the egg is not fertilized, it will break apart. If pregnancy does not occur, hormone levels drop, and the thickened lining of the uterus is shed during the menstrual period."
http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/menstruation.cfm

The egg doesn't collect blood, but the uterus does build up blood and tissue in case of pregnancy. If you don't get pregnant, that's most of what you see coming out of your body during your period.

There's more on that here: http://kidshealth.org/kid/grow/girlstuff/menstruation.html#



Possibly, but I wouldn't necessarily rely on that as a sure way to tell whether you're pregnant or not either. Because let's say you're ovulating. So you're at peak fertility, and you have discharge that looks like egg whites. Then you have sex. Well, that discharge isn't going to stop immediately even if you end up getting pregnant from that sexual encounter.

Also, many women notice an increase in discharge during pregnancy. So some women might even confuse the fertile discharge with the pregnancy discharge.

The whole "check your discharge" thing is more for women who avoid sex during their fertile time or for women who are trying to get pregnant by having sex during their fertile time.



Never be afraid to ask. We'd have a lot less accidental pregnancies, STDs, myths, etc. if people only knew more about their bodies!

I've never been pregnant or examined a pregnant woman's discharge, so I can't compare the two types of discharge from personal experience.

But according to this site it sounds like it might be pretty similar to the discharge we usually see throughout the month:

"It's quite common to have more vaginal discharge during pregnancy.

What you're noticing is probably normal leukorrhea — the odorless or mild-smelling milky discharge that you occasionally noticed in your underwear before you were pregnant. There's just a lot more of it now, partly because of increased estrogen production and greater blood flow to the vaginal area. This discharge is made up of secretions from the cervix and v****a, old cells from the walls of the v****a, and normal bacterial flora from the v****a.

You'll probably notice more vaginal discharge as you approach labor, although it's likely to look somewhat different from the flow you've become accustomed to. In very early pregnancy, cervical secretions filled your cervical canal and created a protective barrier — the so-called mucus plug.

As your cervix begins to efface (thin out) and dilate, it may expel this mucus, and you'll notice discharge that looks like egg white or mucus from a runny nose on a cold day. You may even expel the plug in one gelatinous glob. This discharge might be tinged with a bit of blood."
http://www.babycenter.com/0_vaginal-discharge-during-pregnancy_270.bc



Women all make different amounts of discharge, and we make more when we're in the mood. Some make a real little bit so dryness is an issue, especially during sex. Others make so much that they wear a pantyliner every day just to stay dry. So you're probably normal. 3nodding

No problem!