The Luteal Phase
If you haven’t read about the first half of your cycle, the follicular phase, start here.
Your luteal phase begins the day after ovulation and continues until the day before your next period.
During your ovulatory window, you had estrogenic mucus. You should notice a clear shift to dryness following ovulation. You will at least notice a shift in your cervical mucus from slippery, clear and/or lubricative to dry or moist/lotiony. This shift is the sign that ovulation may have occurred. (We can not confirm ovulation based off of cervical mucus alone. With the method of Fertility Awareness I teach, we use the Cross check method which means using cervical mucus and basal body temperature to ensure ovulation has passed). If you’re curious about basal body temperature, read about it here).
The last day of estrogenic mucus, or the last day of your follicular phase, is known as Peak day. The shift in your cervical mucus signals that the luteal phase has begun.
For conception purposes or avoiding, after ovulation, you will do a count of three, so Peak day plus 3 days and this will close out your fertile window.
Why do we do a count of 3? We do this because we need to see 3 consecutive high temperatures, temperatures that are higher than the previous 6, to show that ovulation occurred.
Why do our temperatures rise after ovulation? Our metabolism rises due to the increase in the hormone, progesterone.
Once ovulation has been confirmed with your basal body temperatures, pregnancy is no longer achievable for that cycle.
Hormones
Let’s talk about what’s going on from a hormonal stand point. During our follicular phase, the follicles are being stimulated, one becomes dominant and it begins to produce estrogen. Estrogen rises and then has a swift steady rise which causes LH to be released. The release of LH is what triggers ovulation.
Immediately following ovulation, the follicle that housed the egg is now an empty sac. This sac forms the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum begins to produce progesterone which is what causes our cervical mucus to dry up.
The change in hormones causes our mucus to become thick and dense Essentially a mucus plug is formed at the base of the cervix to prevent any sperm from entering our cervix and to protect our reproductive organs from micro organisms.
Progesterone stays high for the remainder of the cycle.
If fertilization of the egg does not occur, progesterone levels fall and our endometrium sheds (menstruation).
If fertilization does occur, the corpus luteum will continue to produce progesterone for the first 10-12 weeks of a pregnancy before the placenta takes over.
The luteal phase is usually a more consistent phase. You want to pay attention to cervical mucus. If you observe any, you’ll want to take note of the appearance and how often you are making the observation. The length of the luteal phase can also be an indicator of hormonal health.
A healthy phase is between 10-18 days but between 12-14 days is the sweet spot.
Have you noticed anything unusual during this phase?