There are many ways that a woman can keep track of her fertility. She may be trying to conceive, for example, and want to be able to know for certain when she is ovulating, so that she can know the optimal time to try to conceive. On the other side of things, she may choose to follow a natural family planning program, and want to know when she is fertile so as to avoid becoming pregnant. Regardless of the reason, charting changes in your cervical mucus is one way to keep track of your ovulation cycle, and to know when you are going to be most fertile.

When you want to chart the changes in your cervical mucus, you need to know what to watch for. During your cycle, your cervical mucus will change in a variety of areas, including color, consistency, and volume. For example, right after your period you are likely to have very little or no cervical mucus. During this time, there is little chance that you would conceive. Between this time and the time that you ovulate, your cervical mucus will be whitish to cloudy in terms of its color, and will probably be sticky. Here again, there will be a small amount of cervical mucus. Just prior to ovulation, your cervical mucus will become more moist and sticky, and roughly the consistency of hand lotion. During this time, your cervical mucus will range from white to cream colored. During ovulation, you will have the highest volume of cervical mucus. When you are ovulating, your cervical mucus will resemble the white of an egg, both in consistency and in color.

By charting the changes in your cervical mucus from day to day, you can figure out where in your cycle you are. After charting cervical mucus for several months, you should have a good idea about how many days from the start of your period that you will ovulate, and should be able to time your attempts at conception around these changes.