I only learned the term late ovulation during my second pregnancy. I decided to have another child and expected everything to go as it did the first time. My period was always irregular but even so, everything went well. I had my period on July 31, and on September 11, after being 9 days late, I got my positive.
But with Dudu’s pregnancy, everything was completely different. I wasn’t really paying attention to fertile windows, ovulation, or late implantation and the like. I only kept track of my period dates. I remember my period came on December 15, and on January 16, I took a test because I needed to start a medication and the test was negative that day.
Doctor’s Calculation and Ultrasound Don’t Match
Okay, I let it go and really forgot about it. Then I realized it was already February 17 and still no period. Even though I was irregular, my cycles were always 32 or 35 days long. I took a test and it was positive. According to the doctor, I should have been 8 to 9 weeks pregnant, approximately, but on the ultrasound I was 5 weeks! So, how do you explain this “phenomenon”?
How to Determine Late Ovulation?
Late ovulation! Yes, my friends, it exists and happens much more often than we think. But after all, what is late ovulation? It’s simple: late ovulation is when ovulation happens after the expected time in your menstrual cycle. In fact, late ovulation has become increasingly common in women with regular cycles and even more so in those with irregular cycles1.
It’s simple and easy to determine late ovulation. If you have a 28-day cycle, you know that ovulation would usually happen around day 14 of your cycle (about the 14th day before your next period). But with a 30-day cycle, you would ovulate near day 16, with a fertile window of about 7 days. So, from roughly the 13th to the 19th day.
However, with late ovulation, you don’t ovulate on the expected day; sometimes it’s way beyond the expected date. It can be weeks or even an entire month later, like it was in my case. I recommend the ovulation calculator to help determine your fertile days, but especially the ovulation test2 to check if your fertile window is actually happening as expected.
The ovulation test that you can do at home is a urine test, much like the pharmacy pregnancy tests. But instead of detecting the hCG hormone, the ovulation test detects levels of the luteinizing hormone (LH). LH is produced by the pituitary gland and is responsible for triggering ovulation. With these tests, you can find out if there’s an LH surge or not.
What Causes Late Ovulation?
Sometimes the body has a hormonal imbalance which affects the maturation and growth of the follicle, particularly LH. Without LH and estrogen, the follicle does not develop at the right time. Without the proper stimulus, it can take much longer for the follicle to mature, and then late ovulation happens—outside the expected day. Recently, an American study found that most of the time, ovulation does not happen exactly on the predicted day. It can occur at any point in the fertile window, or even the cycle.
Symptoms of Late Ovulation
The symptoms of late ovulation are the same as for normal ovulation. The only difference is that late ovulation can happen much later than originally expected. Sometimes, it even happens when your period was already expected!
The symptoms of late ovulation may be:
- Pain or twinges on the side of the ovary with a mature follicle: it can vary between the left or right side.
- Presence of stretchy cervical mucus: it helps the sperm swim more easily and supports them on their journey.
- Low basal body temperature: if you are tracking your basal temperature, it’s much easier to identify late ovulation. The temperature rises after ovulation3.
- Positive ovulation test: a sign that LH is high and the egg will soon be released.
But everything should be looked at together, and you should take into account the symptoms of late ovulation and your personal history. If you are regular and notice late ovulation, it may be a good idea to talk to a doctor and run some tests. There are many possible causes, especially since our bodies can be influenced by external and psychological factors too.
Anyone trying to conceive investigates every possible symptom! If your cycles are irregular, the best thing is to observe the signs and, if possible, keep track with your doctor.
Writing down your cycle dates is a great idea! That way you’ll be able to estimate your ovulation date, which makes it much easier to plan a pregnancy, even if you have late ovulation.
