When I talk to women about their cycles, I ask them “do you know if you’re ovulating?” and a lot of them say “well I’m getting a period, so yeah I would assume I am”. A common misconception is that if you get a bleed, you’re ovulating - which isn’t necessarily true.

Of course, with PCOS, it can be a bit more complicated. In PCOS, bleeding can be intermenstrual bleeding or as a result of an anovulatory cycle. So how do you know? Is my period actually a period or is it just spotting? How do I know if I’m actually ovulating, like what do I need to do to tell?

If you’ve been trying to conceive but have really been struggling to actually get pregnant, then this is an episode I would say you need to listen to - and this is exactly what I’m talking to Lisa Hendrickson-Jack about today. She is the author of The Fifth Vital Sign and she hosts the podcast Fertility Friday. She is a natural fertility educator and helps women understand their cycles.

So, as a trained teacher in natural fertility education myself, I really wanted to get Lisa on so that we could both have an educated conversation about why we think it is so important for all of you to be tracking some of the signs and symptoms of your menstrual cycle, to understand more when you are fertile in your cycle, when you’re ovulating, because you can do so much with that information.

You can use it to help you conceive. You can use it to help you identify if there’s any issues that might need further medical advice or medical treatment when there’s say irregular bleeding or irregular cervical mucus. In an area where so much seems out of your control, this is one thing that YOU can control yourself. 

You can’t exactly go and get an ultrasound and in many cases you might not be able to get blood tests yourself. But this is one thing that you can control to understand what’s going on in your cycle and therefore from a fertility aspect, when you are actually fertile in order to conceive.

This episode is for you if:

• You’re actively trying to conceive
• You’re struggling to get pregnant naturally
• You want a more natural method of contraception
• You want to understand your cycle better

Some things we cover in this episode:

• How to actually understand when you’re ovulating
• Intermenstrual bleeding and how to know if it’s that or an actual period
• Fertility Awareness Method for conception and contraception
• Understanding cervical mucus and temperature tracking

Resources and References:

• Lisa’s Website
• Lisa’s Podcast
• Lisa’s Instagram
• Lisa’s Book
• My Book: Getting Pregnant with PCOS

Links to our programs:

• The PCOS Protocol
• Eggducated