Ovulation Calendar Choices – Find The Best For You   by Michelle Peters

If you are woman trying to find your online ovulation calendar, you could start with a google search and get lots of results. This summary of ovulation calendars will help you cut to the chase and make an informed decision quickly.

First let’s review three techniques for determining when ovulation occurs:

1) Calendar method:
This method uses the starting date of the woman’s period and the cycle length. Assuming a regular cycle, ovulation occurs 14 days before the next period date. It’s the simplest of methods that works reasonably well for a majority of women. It does not work too well for women with irregular cycles.

2) Basal temperature:
During the days prior to ovulation, a rise in the level of luteinizing hormone LH causes a slight drop in body temperature. When ovulation occurs, the body temperature goes up. A basal thermometer is accurate enough to detect the changes in body temperature and can be used to determine when ovulation occurs. It’s more accurate than the calendar method but of course it comes with the price of having to remember to measure the temperature every morning. The biggest change in temperature is noticeable when ovulation has occurred, meaning a woman may not know about her most fertile days until after the fact.

3) Cervical Mucus (CM)
During the days prior to ovulation, the cervical mucus thins as its pH level rises. The thinner mucus allows the sperms to pass through the cervix and reach the fallopian tubes, where they wait for an ovum to be released. Shortly after ovulation the mucus reverts to being thicker again. So by performing daily checks of the cervical mucus, a woman can detect how fertile she is.

Now let’s take a look at the tools you are most likely to find when searching for it on the internet. Most of the sites offer the calendar method which requires the minimum effort for the user. I grouped the sites into two main categories. Category one is sites that use the calendar method only. Category two is sites that use a mix of methods, category, basal temperature and cervical mucus. Finally, a third category lists a few offerings for download to a desktop or PDA.

CALENDAR METHOD: WEB

The following are all free and don’t require to signup:

  • pregnancy.about.com
  • americanpregnancy.org
  • marchofdimes.com
  • ibabydust.com
  • babyhopes.com
  • babycenter.com
  • yourdays is free but requires signup.

CALENDAR METHOD: WIRELESS

Ladytimer is the only ovulation calendar choice for women who to use their cell phone to keep track of their cycle.

MULTIPLE METHODS (Calendar, Temperature, CM):

  • Cyclepage.com used to be a pay site, but now it is free with signup required.
  • Webmd offers the calendar based ovulation calendar free. They charge $20 per month for the extended service version:
  • MyMonthlyCycles is free with a somewhat lengthy signup requirement.
    In return the member gets to see cute little rabbit pictures on the calendar showing fertile days.
  • FertilityFriend and FertileDays are the same. Basic charts are free with signup required, and they promote a paid VIP services. I couldn’t find any contact info on their site, but found some user reviews on Epinions.com
  • Ivillage offers the fertility planner at 8$ per month with initial free trial.

There are also many downloadable ovulation calendars for your desktop or PDA, way too many to attempt to produce a complete list.
Here is a short list:

  • Idreamofbaby.com is free fertility software
  • iKonceive costs around $30
  • ovulation-calendar.com costs around $30

I hope this summary of available ovulation calendars will help you find your best option.

About the Author

Michelle Peters writes on women’s topics