The Big O
Tips for Predicting Ovulation

Checking Cervical Mucus (CM)
As the estrogen level rises in the first half of your cycle, your mucus changes from sticky to creamy to a thin, watery, stretchy consistency. Ovulation occurs when copious amounts of this thin, stretchy discharge is present. To use this method, you simply check your mucus in the morning, or throughout the day, to determine the thickness and texture. Once you detect this watery CM, you should have sex every day, or every other day, until the slippery CM dissipates.
Pros: It's absolutely free, and it's a good indicator of when you're about to ovulate.
Cons: According to Christopher Williams, MD, author of The Fastest Way to Get Pregnant Naturally, the change in your mucus can last up to a week, and "it's a gross overgeneralization to say that all women have the same type of mucus."

Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPKs)
OPKs use special chemicals to recognize a surge of LH in your urine, indicating that ovulation will occur in about 24 to 36 hours. The kits, found in most drugstores, cost between $25 and $30. You simply follow the directions on the package and have intercourse on the day of the surge and the day after.
Pros: They're relatively easy to use and fairly accurate.
Cons: They don't work for everyone. According to a recent study, 10 percent of women will have a false-positive test and 10 to 20 percent of women will get a false negative.

Clearblue Fertility Monitor
At $200 to $250 per monitor, plus about $50 for test sticks, this is the BMW of ovulation predictor methods. It tests two hormones, estrogen metabolite and LH, to determine your peak fertility days. You simply urinate on a stick every morning starting at day six or nine of your cycle, then place the stick in the monitor for a reading of high, low or peak fertility. Reliable- just more expensive.
Pros: It's very reliable and pinpoints your most fertile days.
Cons: It's expensive not accurate for women who have cycles longer than 35 days.

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