Ovulation Question

[cresentmoon]

So I always thought I ovulated earlier than the middle of the cycle. It makes sense because my mom says she always thought she did too.  Like a week after my period ends. This time, my last traces of blood were just a few days ago.  

But I went into the emergency room last year for sharp pain in my side, and we were discussing painful ovulation, which my sister has and I have had once or twice, and he was like, no, you can't ovulate that soon after your period, it's impossible.  I was annoyed but my question is, is it true?

I can always tell without a doubt when I'm ovulating. Cervical mucus.  Usually a tiny bit of cramping.  Maybe a little bit of moodiness or sleepiness. And always an intense, primal, focus in my thoughts on birth and intercourse, babies and breastfeeding... horny.   So distracting. Is THAT normal?

[JMJ]

Some women experience some very intense symptoms around ovulation.  Usually, the CM will dry up around the time you ovulate.  A lot of the other symptoms also come shortly prior to ovulation itself, during the time that you are fertile and end around the time that you actually ovulate.  How long are your cycles?  Most women ovulate about 12-16 days before the end of their cycle, so if your cycles are on the shorter side, it is highly likely that you ovulate shortly after the end of your period, and even if your cycles are average, your fertile window would begin about a week after the start of your period, so yes, it would be normal for you to be experiencing these symptoms shortly after your period.

[Jaimee]

  Welcome to MDC!

Agreed...  plenty of women tend to ovulate prior to the "traditional" day 14 of their cycle and several days prior to O is when you'd be experiencing symptoms like cervical fluid (CF), increased sex drive, etc. which would therefore be about a week after your period ended.  Keep in mind, too, that ovulation timing varies cycle to cycle as it is affected by many things like stress, travel, illness, injury, diet, etc.  It's also well known that some women can feel ovulation- a sharp pain on one side- or experience cramping before, during, or just after ovulation.  As JMJ said the average time from ovulation to AF (luteal phase) is 12-14 days, but some women have a shorter LP (like me- mine is usually 10 days) or a longer one (14-17 days).  If your cycles are of an average length (28-30 days) then you could O early and have a longer LP.  If they are shorter than 28 days you could O early and have an average or shorter LP.  The easiest way to find out is to start charting!  Taking your temperature each day and tracking your cervical fluid while allow you to see your average O day and your average LP length.   Pick up a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility and a basal body thermometer at your local drug store.  You can log your temps and CF on a free site like www.fertilityfriend.com so you can share your  chart on forums like this to get help deciphering what's happening.