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Early ovulation on 9th day of cycle. Is it a problem

Question asked by Pregtobe - I have been examining the development of follicle for last three month and I determined that my ovulation happens on the 9th day of the cycle, is it normal? I was told that ovulation should be on the 14th day or in the middle of the cycle I am very worried about my early ovulation. My period lasts 7 days and does it mean that I have only 2 days from my period to ovulation to have intercourse and conceive?

Please tell if anyone has experienced an early ovulation and what problems may I have because of it?

Response 2nd December 2013 from 5Homebirths4Kate

Hello PregToBe,

As a Fertility Consultant, I have worked with a number of women who presented with short follicular phases. The follicular phase is the first half of your cycle (usually days 1-14, in a 28 day cycle) and the luteal phase is the last half of your cycle, occuring after ovulation (usually days 14-28, in a 28 day cycle).

You are ovulating on day 9, which means you have a short follicular phase. I'd like to start by explaining what happens during the follicular phase so that you can see why a short follicular phase can keep you from conceiving.

Day 1 of your cycle is the first day you bleed, and this is the day that the endometrium (lining of the uterus) starts to shed. A couple of days before you get your period, your body will start to produce a hormone called Follicle Stimulating Hormone more commonly known as FSH. FSH starts to stimulate the development of dozens, and sometimes hundreds of follicles in one ovary. FSH should be at it's highest and is the most important during the first week of your menstrual cycle.

By day 7 of the cycle, one (or two) of the follicles have become dominant and they will continue to grow and develop while all the other follicles die off. Falling FSH levels is believed by many endocrinologists to be the thing that causes the non-dominant follicles to die off. Think of it as God choosing only the strongest and best follicle to develop into the strongest and healthiest child, should conception occur.

Around day 7, the dominant follicle will tell the body to start producing more estrogen, and in a typical 28 day cycle, Estrogen is the dominant hormone from days 7 to 14 (or ovulation). It's also the hormone responsible for changing your cervical mucus so that it can protect the sperm and allow it to travel to the egg and it's responsible for creating a new layer of endometrium in the uterus (you must have a good endometrial lining for a fertilized egg to embed in otherwise a very early miscarriage happens - so early you may not know you were pregnant).

Ideally, you'll want about 7 more days for the dominant follicle to continue growing and developing into an "adult" egg that can be fertilized. If the egg is not developed enough before ovulation, it most likely will not be able to be fertilized - and if, per chance, it is fertilized, there's a good chance you won't have enough, good, fertile type mucus to move sperm from the vagina up through the uterus to the fallopian tubes, so that it can reach the egg. On top of that, the endometrial lining would not be developed enough to support the life of a fertilized egg.

I hope that helps you to understand better why ovulating on day 9, instead of closer to day 14, can keep a woman from conceiving.

I would also be curious to know how long your luteal phase is - how many days do you have from the time of ovulation until your period starts (not counting the day you start bleeding again). This will help me determine whether your luteal phase is long enough too.

Thankfully there are many, wonderful, natural, things you can do to help balance your hormones and lengthen your luteal phase.

In order for me to help you further, please let me know if you have any acne on your face or back and if you have any hair on your chin or upper lip.

Warm Regards and Big Hugs, Kate

Response 4th April 2014 from Mum2Kai

Hi Kate

Like preg2be, I also ovulate on day 9. You asked preg2be about hair & acne, I don't have acne usually, but did so in pregnancy and have always had pimply bumps on the backs of my arms. I also have hair on both my upper lip and chin. We are now trying for baby number 2.

Do you have some advice you can share?

Thanks Mum2Kai

Response 25th August 2014 from Ashlynash

Can you ovulate on the 14th day of a 32 day cycle?

Hi, if you don't mind I have a question for you as well. I have been TTC for 7 months now. The first month I had a cyst but doctor prescribed progesterone and it went away completely. The next 6 months I still didn't get pregnant and this month I finally did an HSG just to make sure I'm in the clear. HSG was normal and all my blood work is all normal and I am ovulating but not getting pregnant. I have a 32 day cycle but when I take ovulation kits I ovulate on my 14th day, is this possible and can I get pregnant? Or do I need to take clomid or something else? Also, these past fee months I started to grow more facial hair specifically chin hair which I never had before. Please let me know what you think. Thank you for your help!

Response 20th November 2014 from Cris

Dear Kate

I am in the same situation as Pregtobe, I ovulate on the 9th day now...I am 42, I have one son who is 6, I have had 2 recent miscarriages..one at 6 weeks in Dec 2013 and one at 17 weeks because of a undeveloped Placenta in April 2014, I had a D+E for that because baby stopped breathing. 6 months later, nothing happening. I got pregant right away with my son on day 13 at the time of ovulation. But I do have most recently hair on my upper lip and chin and some back acne...Please let me know the co-relation, I am so in the dark and wanting to have a second child before its too late.

Thank you Cris

Response 12th December 2014 from 5Homebirths4Kate

Hi Cris,

If you are ovulating around day 9, and experiencing some hair on your upper lip and acne, it sounds like you need to balance your hormones. The first thing I would suggest is to remove all sugar and refined white flour from your diet. That includes pasta, biscuits, cookies, pancakes, muffins, etc. That alone can make a significant difference.

If you'd like to give your body an even bigger boost, remove milk products, including cheese, and all gluten including wheat. Gluten, milk, sugar and refined food products are the biggest contributors to inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation in the body is the underlying cause of many fertility challenges, including hormonal imbalance, PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and habitual miscarriage.

Taking a high quality food grade supplement can also help you get pregnant faster. Organic Barley Grass Powder is wonderful to take both before and during pregnancy. Barley Greens contain all the vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes, fibre and special nutrients like chlorophyll which are essential in a fertility diet.

Another thing you can do is to take Systemic Proteolytic Enzymes which helps to reduce inflammation in the reproductive organs and reduces the risk of miscarriage. I recently read of a study done on 144 women who had a history of miscarriage. These women were treated with Systemic Proteolytic Enzymes and 114 of those women were able to conceive and sustain their pregnancies. (Forum Immunologie 2000)

When taking this type of enzyme (which is different than digestive enzymes) you will want to take them on an empty stomach so that they break down the inflammation in your body rather than your food. Garden of Life produces high quality products. You want something with a high bioavailability, so your body can utilize what you take. They have a product called Wobenzym N which helps to reduce inflammation in the body.

Wobenzym N has been shown to be non-toxic in that people have taken large doses, and what the body did not need, it excreted in the stool. Taking it according to the label is a good place to start, but you should talk to your health care provider about taking it in larger, therapeutic doses. Please feel free to post back with any comments or questions.

Warm Regards Kate

Response 11th February 2016 from Shanna

Same over here...

Hi Kate

These questions are right where I am. Your answers are really the most helpful info I've read in the past two years. I've had saliva hormone tests done and they came back ok. Very slightly low progesterone. I have acne on my back, it's horrible!! I have been gluten free for 4+ years, relatively clean diet. How can I get more info from you? Can I email you? Thank you, very much.

Response 11th February 2016 by ljmarsden

Hello Shanna,

Welcome to the Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond forum. If you have any specific questions you would like to ask Kate (she is very knowledgeable on this subject) then you can post them here.

Warm wishes LJ

Response 25th February 2016 from kttman

Hi Kate! 

I live in a small town and fertility help is scarce. I am so excited I found this FORUM! I am trying to conceive my 5th child, God willing. I have gotten pregnant with 4 children using 50 Mg of chlomid (that my family practice doctor prescribed) in order to produce ovulation (I don't ovulate on my own more than 2 times a year). I have hair on my upper lip and chin and probably have PCOS, but haven't had any of my hormone levels checked.

Anyway, I have taken chlomid for 5 cycles now(100 mg this last time) and provera provoked a period on 1/31/16. I took 100 mg chlomid on day 5-9 and then I had (midcycle?) bleeding (not just spotting-I bled heavily for 3 days and spotted the last two) on day 15-19. With my ovulation kit, it is now saying I am ovulating today which is day 25 if i disregard the midcyle bleeding. Or if I consider the midcycle bleeding day 1 of a new cycle, it would be day 10. Im so happy to see that I'm ovulating, but I'm worried that my follicluar phase has been too short...or too long depending on when I would consider DAY 1.... Is it dangerous to conceive at this stage?

Response 25th February 2016 from 5Homebirths4Kate

Hello kttman,

It sounds like you have hormonal imbalance because you don't ovulate every month. This can be very challenging when trying to figure out the best time for baby making sex.

So I have some questions which may help us determine how fertile you are at this moment, being that your ovulation kit is saying that you are ovulating today, but you've had a very odd cycle with very little normalcy.

To answer your question as to whether it's dangerous to conceive this cycle, I'd say that it's not dangerous to conceive, however if you truly are ovulating today, then I'd consider the following:

Ovulation on day 25 is very late in the cycle and the egg would have a very high probability of not being able to be fertilized.

If we consider your "mid cycle bleed" as an actual period, and we consider February 14th as day one of a new cycle, then you would be on day 11 today, and that means the egg would be very young, and not mature enough to be fertilized. So in both of these cases, there's a lower chance of conception actually occurring.

If you have PCOS, then we know that PCOS will give false positive ovulation tests. And if you're getting a false positive ovulation test then the next thing I would do is to look at your vaginal mucus. We're looking for an abundance of mucus that you can swipe from the opening of your vagina or pick up off of your pubic hair or underwear. When you are highly fertile, a large amount of mucus sometimes falls the vagina and clings to the hair.

If you can get some of this mucus, stretch it between your thumb and forefinger. It should be clear (with no color) and you should be able to stretch it between your thumb and forefinger without it breaking. That's about a 5-6" stretch. The mucus will be similar in consistence to an egg white. This description of fertile mucus is wonderful and will protect sperm and give the sperm channels to swim in as it makes its way to the egg.

Remember, the egg only lives for 12-24 hours, so if you think you're ovulating, then you'll want to make love as soon as possible.

Ovulation predictor tests will indicate an LH surge (luteinising hormone) and this surge happens BEFORE ovulation. This is the ideal time for baby making sex because it gives the sperm time to swim into the fallopian tubes before the egg is released. Sperm can live for up to 5 days, and the egg only lives for 12-24 hours, so it's ideal to have sperm waiting around for the egg to be released.

That said, you can make love on the day you ovulate and conception can occur. Your chances are just higher if you make love a day or two before ovulation, ESPECIALLY if you have good signs of fertile mucus, which protects the sperm.

Are you seeing a positive ovulation predictor test indicating the LH surge, or do you have a fertility monitor which shows your level of fertility each day (and will also indicate ovulation)? If you have a monitor, and you're getting an reading of ovulation, did you have any indication of fertility yesterday or the day before?


Response 25th February 2016 from 5Homebirths4Kate

Hi Shanna,

Can you share more about your situation? You mentioned that you've had saliva testing done. I'm guessing that was a saliva hormone panel (which, in my opinion, are more accurate than blood tests). Did you have your testosterone tested? If so, what day in your cycle was it tested, and what was the result? We typically think of testosterone as a male hormone, but women also produce small amounts of it. If a woman has too much testosterone it can be a contributing factor to PCOS. It's odd to me that you have a bad case of acne on your back, but you are gluten free and eat a clean diet. I'm guessing hormonal imbalance is responsible for the acne and your inability to conceive.

If you can provide me with the following information, it would allow me to help you better.

  • How old are you?
  • Are you overweight or underweight? If so, how much?
  • Do you have regular menstrual cycles (26-34 days in length and bleeding with red blood (not brown) for 3-5 days)
  • How long have you been trying to conceive?
  • What was the first day of your last menstrual period?
  • What was the first day you started your period in the past 3 cycles, and what day did you ovulated on?

Warm Regards Kate

Response 25th February 2016 from 5Homebirths4Kate

Ashlynash I apologize for missing your post earlier. I sincerely hope you've been able to conceive, but if not, I'm going to answer your questions in hopes that it will help you and others.

You have a 32 day cycle but when you take ovulation kits it shows that you ovulate on the 14th day, is this possible and can I get pregnant?

If your cycles are 32 days, then ideally you would be ovulating 14 days earlier, which would be on day 18. If you're taking ovulation predictor tests and getting the LH surge on day 14, then I'd guess that you're ovulating around day 16, which would be much more in line with a 30 day cycle. If you're actually ovulating on day 14 (as you say) then the second half of your cycle is too long. Chinese herbs can help regulate the luteal phase (part of your cycle after you ovulate). Working with a midwife or practitioner who specializes in reversing infertility naturally can be a big help.

The fact that you've started growing more facial hair, specifically on your chin, is an indication that you may have PCOS. If you're still having a hard time getting pregnant, I would talk to the doctor or health practitioner about ruling out the possibility of PCOS.

Hope this helps, and please post back with an update of how you're doing.

Warmly Kate

Response 25th February 2016 from 5Homebirths4Kate


You posted back in April, and I'm wondering if you've been able to conceive yet. Hair on upper lip and chin are indications of PCOS. Other indications of PCOS are being overweight (especially around the middle/tummy area) and irregular periods.

Please post an update of your situation.

Kind Regards Kate

Response 25th February 2016 from kttman

Kate - Oh my goodness. You are an angel! I can't thank you enough for all your information and help!!! I'm glad to hear that if, by the small chance, I do conceive, there won't be inevitable dangers associated with the fetus. To answer some of your questions:

  • I am using a digital ovulation predictor test. Not a monitor. It detected nothing yesterday and a surge today.
  • If I have PCOS and have gotten a false positive, I checked my vaginal mucus. (I'm not overweight at 125 lbs and 5'4", and don't have any acne on my back. I just have the male-like hair and anovulation...) My mucus was clear and stretched only about an inch.
  • We did make love two days ago, so that might help and we'll plan on it tonight ASAP

Any other thoughts are always appreciated. THANKS AGAIN!

Response 25th February 2016 from 5Homebirths4Kate

If the digital ovulation predictor test detected a surge today, and you truly are getting ready to ovulate, then I'd make love today and tomorrow. It was good that you made love two days ago.

My biggest concern is that you're mucus is only stretching one inch. I'd love to see it stretching at least 3 inches by now.

It can be really hard to check the mucus when it's mixed with seminal fluid but sometimes you'll see a big clump of mucus you can pick up and stretch. Just keep looking for it and trying to stretch it. You may need to work on increasing the quality of your fertile mucus so that it can protect the sperm well and create channels for the sperm to swim in.

Another thing I'd like to know is how your cervical mucus changes in the next 4 days.

I've written a post where I describe the signs of fertility. That may be helpful for you to review.

Warm Regards, Kate

Early ovulation on 9th day of cycle. Is it a problem? transcript from PBB forum that was active until May 2017

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