NFP question- end the debate

[rayne100]

A friend of mine and I are having a debate and I thought it better to ask some people who might know better so here goes:

We were talking about the amount of time an egg is viable.
I thought that once ovulation occurred you could gett pregnant from anytime up to and including your period.
She seems to think that after ovulation the egg is only viable for 3 days before it becomes “a dead egg”

Please let me know what you know about this. I will also attempt to find this out online.

Rayne

 

[pumpkinbeast]

The egg only lives for a day. Sperm live up to 5 days, I believe, so if a couple made love 5 days before she ovulated, she could get pregnant when she did ovulate, because there could be some sperm still alive in her. 24 hours after ovulation, the egg dies.

I think the body waits until around when implantation would occur if the egg had been fertilized before menstruation begins. I’m extrapolating a bit on what I know here, I packed all my text-books away yesterday, so I can’t check.

 

[rayne100]

Well looks like we were both wrong. Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut!

 

[1ke]

A friend of mine and I are having a debate and I thought it better to ask some people who might know better so here goes:

We were talking about the amount of time an egg is viable.
I thought that once ovulation occurred you could gett pregnant from anytime up to and including your period.
She seems to think that after ovulation the egg is only viable for 3 days before it becomes “a dead egg”

Please let me know what you know about this. I will also attempt to find this out online.

Rayne

Neither of you is correct.

An egg is viable for about 24 hours.

 

[anna1978]

Yup, but because sperm lives upto 5 days you CAN conceive slightly before and upto 24 hours after you ovulate, giving you a 5 day window.

Anna x

 

[ForwardProgress]

Yup, but because sperm lives upto 5 days you CAN conceive slightly before and upto 24 hours after you ovulate, giving you a 5 day window.

Anna x

5 days under perfect conditions…if a woman is mucous-free, then the majority of the sperm die off within hours. If the most fertile mucous is present, then they could live up to 5-6 days. It’s an awesome system in how it is all choreographed…

 

[IlovemyChurch]

medically speaking, it is probably about 8-12hrs

When they do IVF the egg basically can’t be fertilised beyond 12hrs after it is ovulated.

Robert A. Hatcher et al. in “Contraceptive Technology” (1994)
says that the ovum has a life expectancy of only 12 hours if not
fertilized.

Although books mostly say 24hrs, research is showing it to be at most half of that.

(but sperm can survive for 5days in a woman and so a woman can get pregnant even if she had sex 5 days before ovulating, (study: Wilcox et al. (1995) Timing of sexual intercourse in relation to ovulation -effects on the probability of conception, survival of the pregnancy, and sex of the baby. New England Journal of Medicine 333:1517-1521.)

 

[manualman]

3 days is how many days after the woman achieves peak mucus symptoms she is still fertile.

Based on this and the above info about 24 hours max, I surmise that actual ovulation must happen about 2 days after peak mucus.

I have living evidence supporting this theory!! Baby #3 happend on peak day plus 3. And I always thought ovulation happened on peak day.

 

[rayne89]

Ahh…yes we were told in sex ed in school you can pregnant anytime.
Egg is viable 24 hours…sperm up to five days. Like a previous poster said if the conditions aren’t right the spem have a much shorter life span.

 

[leonie]

3 days is how many days after the woman achieves peak mucus symptoms she is still fertile.

Based on this and the above info about 24 hours max, I surmise that actual ovulation must happen about 2 days after peak mucus.

I have living evidence supporting this theory!! Baby #3 happend on peak day plus 3. And I always thought ovulation happened on peak day.

but, were you dry then?

 

[stadre]

3 days is how many days after the woman achieves peak mucus symptoms she is still fertile.

Based on this and the above info about 24 hours max, I surmise that actual ovulation must happen about 2 days after peak mucus.

I have living evidence supporting this theory!! Baby #3 happend on peak day plus 3. And I always thought ovulation happened on peak day.

Studies have shown that ovulation can occur up to 3 days after the Peak day. Since the egg can live up to 24 hours (although it is usually 8-12 hours like the PP stated), you will need to abstain until the end of the 4th day post-peak if your intent is to avoid pregnancy.

In your baby#3’s case, your wife ovulated between the 2nd and 3rd day post peak.