How to Count Your Menstrual Cycle

Most of the women have gone through the phase, when their menstrual cycle is confusing and unpredictable. This is often frustrating for women, who are trying to conceive or for women who are on birth control method. Knowing the method to count your menstrual cycle does have a number of advantages, the primary one is that it puts the woman in control of her sexual health. This also makes sure, you do not have unwanted pregnancy. To calculate menstrual cycle, all you will have to know is your previous menstrual cycle dates. Once you have them, it is a matter of pure mathematics, unless there are any specific changes, you have gone through. Let's see how to calculate menstrual cycle.

Counting Menstrual Cycle Accurately

Menstrual cycle length is the number of days, the menstrual cycle lasts. It should not be confused with the number of days, the period lasts. The day on which your period starts is said to be the Cycle Day 1, which is the start of the new menstrual cycle. The normal length of a woman's menstrual cycle is 28 days and the length of the period can be 3 to 7 days. Although this is the general statistics, most of the women have their unique cycle. In some cases the long menstrual cycle can be longer than 28 and stretch to 31 days and in other cases, early menstrual cycle can be as small as 21 days.

If you are planning on starting your family, you certainly have a question how to count your menstrual cycle to get pregnant. In order to calculate the menstrual cycle, you will have to count the number of days from day one of your period up to and inclusive of the day before your menstrual cycle starts. Make sure this count is not inclusive of the first day of the next menstrual cycle, as that is going to the day one of the next menstrual cycle. We will understand, this better with the help of an example.

You got your previous menstrual cycle on the 2nd of January and the next on the 28th of January. So now, you will have to count the number of days inclusive of the 2nd of January and exclusive of the 28th of January. Hence, the menstrual cycle length is 26 days. It is important, to note the length of the period has no bearing on the menstrual cycle length. Whether the periods last for 5 days or 7 days, the length will remain 26 days.

To calculate average menstrual cycle length, you will have to carry out the same procedure for the last 2 to 3 cycles. You will calculate by summing up each individual cycle length and then divide by the total number of cycles to derive the average.

If you are trying to get pregnant, you will want to know your ovulation cycle. You will have to calculate 14 days after the first day of your menstrual cycle. Normally, this is the day, when you would ovulate. Although, this is normal, it can be plus or minus 1 day. Therefore, if you are trying for a baby, you know which are the fertile days and in case you are not then, you will want to take the required precautions.

Now you know the method to count your menstrual cycle. In case, you have noticed, that you have not got your menstrual cycle around the stipulated date, then you will have to think about the possible reasons for the delayed period. There are numerous reasons other than pregnancy, for delayed or missed menstrual cycle. In some cases, the menstrual cycle can be delayed for as many as 7 days too. If it is more than that, then you can talk to your health care professional to find out the exact cause of the problem.