Cervical Mucus
Question
I have very wet egg-white cervical fluid, followed by two days of drier, still somewhat egg-white cervical fluid. It still stetches several inches, but seems more tacky. Which is the most fertile? Can you still see egg-white like this after ovulation?
Answer
Last Updated: July 24, 2013
Excellent question! Let’s go back, however, and review what’s going on at this time in your body. As the ovum is maturing inside its follicle on the ovary, that follicle is producing estrogen. Estrogen works on the cervical glands, producing the cervical mucus you describe. You may notice there is a change in what you observe: the mucus may begin as hardly stretchable and cloudy in color and then progresses to mucus which stretches an inch or more, is possibly crystal-clear in color and may have a sensation of lubrication (slick and gliding) when you’re wiping with the tissue. All the mucus you observe is fertile because it will keep sperm alive, and will aid in the penetration and migration of that sperm. When ovulation occurs (actually right before ovulation), estrogen shuts down and there is no more mucus.
So what’s the answer to your question? If you are still observing mucus, especially mucus which still stretches an inch or more, you are still before ovulation and you are fertile. Sometimes a woman may observe mucus after ovulation, but it will not stretch more than an inch and will be cloudy in color again. That’s why we teach a woman to identify her day of ovulation by the last day she observes mucus that stretches an inch or more, or is clear in color, or which has a sensation of lubrication when wiping — any one of those signs can tell us what’s going on in our bodies.
After ovulation, there is a dramatic change in a woman’s observations — she will either see that early type mucus or she will see no mucus. In any event, we teach women to count three more days of continued fertility, to make certain ovulation has passed and to insure the build-up of vaginal fluid so there will be no sperm survival. You are fertile from the beginning signs of mucus until three full days past your last day observing the clear, stretchy (1″ or more) or lubricative mucus. Hope this helps!
Pam Polis
So what’s the answer to your question? If you are still observing mucus, especially mucus which still stretches an inch or more, you are still before ovulation and you are fertile. Sometimes a woman may observe mucus after ovulation, but it will not stretch more than an inch and will be cloudy in color again. That’s why we teach a woman to identify her day of ovulation by the last day she observes mucus that stretches an inch or more, or is clear in color, or which has a sensation of lubrication when wiping — any one of those signs can tell us what’s going on in our bodies.
After ovulation, there is a dramatic change in a woman’s observations — she will either see that early type mucus or she will see no mucus. In any event, we teach women to count three more days of continued fertility, to make certain ovulation has passed and to insure the build-up of vaginal fluid so there will be no sperm survival. You are fertile from the beginning signs of mucus until three full days past your last day observing the clear, stretchy (1″ or more) or lubricative mucus. Hope this helps!
Pam Polis
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