[michelle2004]

Me and my boyfriend had sex on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th and I ovulate on the sixth... is it a high chance that I could get pregnant? How long does the sperm live inside the cervix? What is the process of fertilization? I'm lost.

[Fr_Chuck]

If you indeed ovulated on the 6th. Then the timing is perfect for pregnancy. Good luck, sounds like you were trying. It takes about 2 or 3 days for the sperm to reach the egg.

So now you wait to see if you miss your next period, if you do, you wait 14 days after and do a pregnancy test with the first urine of the day, when you wake up.

The issue is of course if you actually ovulated that day, the only way to know for sure, is to be doing medical testing or using basal temp. Online charts are estimates that are good for most people, most of the time, but not correct or exact for everyone.

[ScottGem]

What is the process of fertilization? I'm lost.

ANY time there is penile insertion there is a risk of pregnancy! If you are lost about the process of fertilization, then you need to educate yourself BEFORE you start engaging in sex.

There is plenty of info on the WEB that will detail the process. Here's just one: HowStuffWorks "The Fertilization Process"

It's not clear whether you are trying to get pregnant or not. On the one hand, woman generally don't know for sure when they ovulate, even if they are trying to track. Also generally they don't track unless they are trying to conceive. Trying to track ovulation as a method of birth control is basically futile. But they way you asked about risk is indicative that you don't want to be pregnant.

[DoulaLC]

As Fr_Chuck said, your timing is good for pregnancy to occur. When a couple is trying to become pregnant, having sex in the days just before ovulation offer the best odds.

How have you determined when you might be ovulating? Most women will ovulate about 12-16 days before the next period is due, regardless of the length of their cycle, but ovulation can be off now and then, and not everyone follows the norm. Even a couple of days can make a difference. Going by the calendar is only a start and would not be enough to either plan a pregnancy or avoid one.

When you have sex, and you are close to ovulation, most sperm will survive for a few days; some may survive several days. At other times of your cycle, they will not survive very long at all. Once an egg is released (ovulation), it will be able to be fertilized for about 24 hours... usually sooner is better than later in that 24 hours.

All of that is the timing factor... other factors play a role as well. The health and number of sperm, whether or not the woman ovulates regularly, or even at all (while a regular cycle is most often associated with regular ovulation, that may not always be the case), among others. Due to all of these factors, the rough guide is about a 25% chance of becoming pregnant in a cycle.

Plenty of women become pregnant on their first encounter... while others will try for many months.

As ScottGem suggested, do become educated in how your body works and the process of conception.