We start thinking of babies and cots, nappies and sleep suits. And sometimes, for some of us, we try desperately month after month and get no-where!



It's only when you don't get pregnant in the first few months that you start looking for information on how to get pregnant.

For years when we are younger, society drills into us how easy it is to get pregnant. When the truth of the matter is, that for some of us, it isn't easy at all.

And to top it all off, the older we get, the chance of us achieving pregnancy keeps on getting lower!

Anyhow, we decide we want to be a mother, throw away our contraception, and then wait with baited breath and fingers crossed. Only to be disappointed every month.

So are there things that we should know? Of course there is, but you don't get this information in college! Neither do you get it from anywhere else unless you intend to search for it!

Ovulation is the one big thing that many of us have heard of, but not many of us will know when it happens in our own body!

And it really is a very important step to achieving pregnancy. You can have sex 20 times a month and not get pregnant. Or you could have sex one or twice around ovulation time, and find yourself a 'mom to be'.

There are only two or three days in a month when a woman's body can achieve conception, and this is around the time of ovulation.

So what happens during ovulation?

We (women) are born with nearly half a million eggs stored in our ovaries! Every one of those tiny eggs is safe and sound inside it's own little sac called a follicle. Firstly (and in easy terms) a gland in our brain releases a chemical FSH-RF (Follicle Stimulating Hormone Releasing Factor) this in turn tells our pituitary gland to secrete FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) and LH (Leutenizing Hormone) into our bloodstream. This process starts the maturing of the follicle.

The follicles then release yet another hormone called Oestrogen. The follicle will ripen over the next several days, releasing more oestrogen into our blood, this causes the lining of our uterus to thicken ready for implantation of a fertilised egg (if we get that far!)

When we get to a certain amount of oestrogen in our bloodstream, that very first gland we talked about earlier (hypothalamus) will release LH-RF (leutenizing hormone release factor) This will then stimulate the pituitary gland to release a vast amount of LH, When this happens it will cause one of the ripest follicles to burst open and release an egg!

And guys wonder we act all moody and strange - not surprising with all of the hormones we have racing around in our bodies!

The release of this egg is called ovulation. After the egg has been released it will travel down the fallopian tubes, ready for fertilisation. This egg will only live for around 24 hours. Sperm can live in a woman's body for three to four days (in some cases it has been seen to live as long as seven days!)

So as you can see, you really should learn your body's signs that it is ovulating. There are many ways that this can be monitored. From watching your cervical mucus changes, to buying ovulation test sticks from your pharmacy.

Once you know when you are ovulating, it's helpful to learn more information to increase your chances of pregnancy. Visit me, Julie at:

to learn more great advice on the best ways to get pregnant.