Let us look at the Four Menstrual Cycle Phases. Using the average 28-day menstrual cycle, this is what happens in your body every month:Day 1 to 10: The Follicular Phase:
At the onset of your cycle, your pituitary gland releases FSH into your bloodstream. This hormone causes an egg to mature within a follicle in your ovary.
This part of the menstrual cycle phases last only about 10 days. At this point, LH and estrogens are low, but rising.
Day 11 to 15: The Ovulation:
LH and estrogens peak in the middle of your cycle.
The high concentration of estrogen in your blood inhibits FSH production, preventing the ripening and growth of more follicles.
The surge of LH and estrogens causes ovulation, the release of a mature egg from the dominant follicle. Ovulation takes place at about Day 14, halfway through the menstrual cycle.
You egg then passes through your fallopian tube to your uterus. If it meets a sperm on the way, fertilization takes place and results in pregnancy.
Day 16 to Day 28: The Luteal Phase:
Once ovulation occurs, the follicle that contained the released egg develops into a temporary endocrine gland, called the ‘corpus luteum’ that produces the hormone progesterone for about the next 2 weeks.
Progesterone helps build and maintain the lining of your womb so that a fertilized egg may attach to it.
Once produced, progesterone continues to surge until the end of this phase. It will inhibit both FSH and LH production.
You will know when you are producing progesterone because you will find yourself hot at this stage of the menstrual cycle phases. This is because progesterone can raise your body’s temperature by half to one degree Fahrenheit or one-quarter to one-half degree Celsius.
The Menstrual Phase:
The last part of the menstrual cycle phases is when an egg leaves your ovary, it will take 3 to 5 days for it to reach your uterus. However, it will only stay alive for about 24 hours. Conception usually happens within the first few hours of ovulation.
If fertilization occurs, your fertilized egg will attach itself to your enriched uterine lining and grows into an embryo and then into a baby. Your menstrual cycle will stop until after your baby is born.
A missed period is often the first sign of pregnancy.
As your embryo grows, it secretes a hormone to prevent the ‘corpus luteum’ from degenerating. The ‘corpus luteum’ continues to secrete progesterone and estrogen until the placenta is formed, by which time, the placenta will take over the hormonal production.
However, if fertilization does not occur, the corpus luteum will degenerate and disappear. The lining of your uterus will not receive the hormones it needs to continue the thickening process.
Your unfertilized egg will not be able to attach itself to your uterine wall. It will die and pass out of your body.
As your progesterone levels falls, your uterine lining will be shed and discharged from your body during menstruation, marking the end of one menstrual cycle. A typical menstruation lasts anywhere from three to seven days.
Then the whole process starts all over again, initiated by FSH produced by your pituitary gland.
The beginning of your menstruation or period is Day 1 of your menstrual cycle.
Length
The average menstrual cycle normally lasts from twenty-eight days to thirty-five days.
Menstruation begins fourteen days after ovulation and can last from two days to a week, varying from person to person.
It is worthwhile to note that even if your menstrual cycle is longer or shorter than the average cycle, ovulation still usually occurs fourteen days before a period.
For example, if your cycle lasts thirty-five days, ovulation will probably occur on day twenty-one.
Flow
The normal menstrual flow is about 30 ml to 80 ml.
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