It is important to have intercourse before you ovulate so that the sperm is basically “waiting” for the egg before it is released. You should have intercourse either every day or every other day of ovulation.

While most sperm will only survive for 2-3 days, if conditions are ideal, sperm can survive for up to 6 days (in good quality cervical mucus). So it is in your best interest to start having intercourse a couple of days before your expected ovulation date to ensure the maximum number of sperm are waiting for the egg to be released.

However, because sperm can weaken over a period of days, it’s not surprising that the highest chance for pregnancy occurs when intercourse happens two days before, one day before or on the day of ovulation. Statistically, the best chance for conceiving is on any one of those 3 days.

Sperm counts are usually higher in the winter time than in the summer months. This may be because cooler temperatures are associated with enhanced sperm production. Also, sperm counts are higher in the morning hours rather than during the rest of the day.

Don’t wait until the day you are ovulating to have intercourse. That is my recommendation. Starting to “try” a few days early basically ensures that sperm will be waiting in the Fallopian tubes when the egg is released.

It can take several hours for the sperm to get to the Fallopian tube after intercourse, so trying to conceive on the day after ovulation may result in the sperm arriving when the egg has already started disintegrating.

In this case, it is likely that you would not get pregnant, but it is still possible.

But if you were to conceive with an egg that may be past its “prime”, you may have a greater risk of miscarriage.

So I personally would not recommend trying to get pregnant on the day after you have already ovulated to avoid the possibility of an increased miscarriage risk.

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The post The #1 Mistake Couples Make When Trying To Conceive first appeared on Lisa Olson's Fertility Blog.