It is understandable, when you want to start trying for a baby, to ask, When am I fertile? and there are lots of ways you can now gauge this through charting and understanding your menstrual cycle, but is it essential to buy an ovulation testing kit or to start getting out a pencil and paper?
If you have only just started trying for a baby or are about to, you may not want to go the whole hog and gauge fertile days so self-consciously for now. (Though if you have been trying for five or six months, now might be a good time to investigate these options to maximise your monthly efforts.) If for now you want to more casually gauge when the time is right each month, read on...

Check out that mucous Each month your body's discharges change as your cycle progresses. You will notice these when you go to the toilet. Many days during the month you might not notice this at all, but when you see a clear mucous that has looks a little springy, then you are are your most fertile.

The pain of ovulation Some women never notice this (although, if you are thinking of getting pregnant, you may have become more aware of your body), but when you ovulate there may be a twinging pain on one side of your lower body or the other. This is caused by the release of your egg during ovulation, and the pain may seem like a stitch for a few minutes, or a longer aching pain lasting half the day.

Don't just count the days Although it's true that you will tend to ovulate around the middle of your cycle, this isn't neccessarily 14 days in every person's case. Your cycle may not be the text book 28 days long, or external factors like stress might have shifted your timings. However, if you do look for the signs above, and you notice a regular pattern in these, then bear in mind that starting to try for a baby one or two days before your usual ovulation date can be a good idea to give those little swimming sperm time to reach their destination!