Fertility Hormones 101: Part One

I know what you’re thinking.

Hormones? Boooring.
What even IS progesterone?
Do I even want to know?

If you’re new to the fertility space… Welcome! I hope you spend a while over here hanging out with the cool kids.

Just three reasons you should learn about how your fertility hormones work:

1. The knowledge can help you avoid or achieve pregnancy, depending on your intentions.

2. You can notice hints that a process isn’t functioning optimally in your body.

3. You can optimize the way you eat, work, socialize and exercise based on what part of your cycle you’re in, making you feel generally more awesome every day. (But we’ll get to this part in a later class!)

For now, let’s keep it super duper basic.

An Introduction To Menstrual Cycle Hormones:

You can remember the order of cyclical hormones with the (admittedly strange) acronym FELOP:

• Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH)

  Part of your brain— the anterior pituitary gland— begins to release FSH as soon as your menstrual period begins. This hormone sends a message to your ovaries to get your ovarian follicles growing. Each follicle contains an egg (ovum).

• Estrogen
  Each follicle produces estrogen. Estrogen is needed to release an egg from an ovary (ovulate). Estrogen thickens the lining of the uterus and changes the consistency of cervical fluid (stay with me here) to make it possible for sperm to travel to meet a potential egg.

• Luteinizing Hormone (LH)

  The rise in estrogen triggers your pituitary gland to release a surge of LH and FSH. The high levels of LH stop the less-developed follicles from growing and cause the most dominant follicle’s egg to be released.

• Ovulation occurs! When the dominant follicle releases the egg, the egg tumbles into the pelvic cavity. Quickly, it is swept into the Fallopian tubes (where sperm may or may not be waiting).

• Progesterone
  You only produce progesterone after ovulation. The follicle that released the chosen egg collapses, changing itself into the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum remains inside the ovary and produces progesterone, which thickens the endometrium (the uterine lining). If no pregnancy occurs, 12-16 days later, the corpus luteum disintegrates. Then, you get your period. (And fun fact: If you conceive a pregnancy, the corpus luteum will turn into the placenta!)

---

If this science-y stuff sounds dry, it’s about to get a lot more interesting. Once you see the ways your own hormonal shifts work, you’ll find that you can eat, move, work and play in a way that keeps you feeling your best no matter what part of your cycle you’re experiencing.

You can go read science literature, or come back to next class. Thanks for taking Fertility 101!

Did you learn about your cycle in school? Why do YOU want to know more about your body’s signals?