The menstrual cycle and human ovulation
A regular menstrual cycle throughout your reproductive years has great significance, because each month the drama of life is being reenacted: maturation of an egg (and for the male, formation of sperm), ovulation, potential fertilization, and implantation. The whole system is very complex and is still being researched.

However, we do know about the predictable changes of hormone production, and the cycle production of eggs at approximately one-month intervals is the ruke rather than the exception. It is most unusual for a woman to be permanently anovulatory (unable to produce an egg, and unlikely to menstruate).

So, the major significance of regular periods is that the whole cycle is normal; it probably means you are ovulating and that there is normal production of the sex hormones. If you are ovulating, we assure your production of GNRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone,), FSH (follicle secreting hormone), LH ( luteinizing hormone) from the brain, and progesterone and estrogen from the ovary is appropriate.

The ovulatory cycle and the endometrial cycle (changes in the endometrial lining of the uterus cavity) are intimately related, and they are reflected in hormone activity.
One of the great mysteries of the human reproductive cycle is why so few of the many thousands of eggs are ever selected to ripen. And further, why certain eggs are chosen and others are not.

When ovulation takes place, often more than one egg or follicle starts to ripen, but usually only one or two follicles make their way to surface of the ovary, at which point the ovarian wall becomes thinner. The follicle picks a site where the rupture will occur. The mature human ovum is barely visible to the naked eye. The corpus luteum forms in the ovary at the site of the ruptured follicle. Its name literally means “yellow body” because it is a bright gold color. It measures about 1 to 3 centimeters in diameter. Although so small, it can easily be seen by the naked eye.

The time of ovulation in the menstrual cycle is very important because fertilization must take place within hours of ovulation. So get a better idea as to when you should try to conceive, start assessing your own cycle by recording the onset of your next period, which will be exactly 14 days after you last ovulated.

As many s 25 percent of women are aware of their ovulation. They may have some symptoms of the mittelschmerz, which I mentioned earlier. Or, they might be aware of a higher basal temperature, which is measured by a special thermometer. Ovulation, in fact, occurs just before the shift in your temperature, which is caused by the action of progesterone produced after ovulation. To keep a temperature chart you should get a special thermometer and graphic recording page from the chemist. You must take your temperature orally (rectally) for there minutes before getting out of bed in the morning. The widely spaced graphic paper will display the temperature shift that occurs after ovulation.

Now there are do-it- yourself ovulation predictor tests to measure the rise in LH, which triggers ovulation, from the brain. Such commercial tests, together with keeping your temperature chart, are among the best methods of judging when ovulation occurs and thus when conception could take place if you have intercourse.