The 28 Day Cycle Is More Of A Myth

We're made to believe from day 1 that a woman's menstrual cycle is 28 days long with ovulation occurring on CD14. Some women do fit this but the majority don't. This could be one reason as to why you aren't conceiving. In order to conceive, you have to time intercourse properly. If you think you ovulate (or "O") on CD 14 and time intercourse accordingly and are shocked to end up "late" but not pregnant, it could be that you are wrong about your "O" date. This is why from TTC day 1 it is a good idea to keep track of your cycles (Try Fertility Friend!) Some women "O" before CD14 and some "O" much later. (When I conceived my daughter my ovulation day was CD49). You've got about 12-24 hours to fertilize that egg and if you aren't having sex at the right time, you are missing out on a chance to get pregnant. (Keep in mind a healthy couple only has a 20% chance each cycle) And once you ovulate, your chances are done. You're fertile in the 3-5 days leading up to ovulation, but not after.

So basically the time from your period to ovulation can vary. Whether it's cycle to cycle or once in a while, you may not ovulate on the same day every month. However, the time from ovulation until your period (luteal phase) should not vary much. Varying 1-2 days is not much of a concern but if your LP is jumping between 10 days and 16 days, you should bring it up to your doctor. Also if your LP is short (less than 10 days) your body isn't giving a fertilized egg enough time to implant before shedding the endometrial lining so you should bring that up to your doctor for sure.