Your last menstrual period

You've just gotten your last period, at least for a while: The lining of your uterus is shedding, taking with it last month's unfertilized egg. But that's not all that's happening. A new cycle is beginning, one that is the starting point for your pregnancy.

Your menstrual cycle is orchestrated by a symphony of hormones working in concert with one another. The first to kick in is FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) which — you guessed it — stimulates the follicles to mature, some faster than others.

A second hormone, lutenizing hormone (LH), increases around day 5 and also works with FSH to stimulate the follicles. Each follicle contains an egg, and each month only one follicle becomes the dominant one, destined for ovulation.

As the follicles mature, they produce another hormone, estrogen, which does two things. First, it encourages the lining of the uterus to begin thickening again. Second, once a high enough level of estrogen is reached, it will trigger a spike in the production of LH.

That surge of LH causes the egg from the most mature follicle to burst through the ovarian wall (a process you probably know best as ovulation, which generally occurs about 24 to 36 hours after the LH surge) to meet Mr. Right — the lucky sperm that will turn that eager egg into a baby-in-the-making and make your body's prep work worth all the effort.

Believe it or not, the countdown to delivery day begins now, during the period before fertilization — even though your egg and his sperm haven't even been in the same room (or womb!).

And if you don't get pregnant this time around, don't stress: The average, healthy couple in their 20s and early 30s have about a 25 to 30 percent chance of getting pregnant with each cycle.

In the meantime, while your uterus is preparing for its new tenant, be a good landlord. Think of these two weeks of waiting as a final walk-through before baby takes over the keys. You may not technically be pregnant yet, but it isn't too early to act like you are. Start taking your prenatal vitamin, give up alcohol and smoking and embark on a healthy prenatal diet and exercise routine.

Turn down the heat to boost fertility

Trying to make a baby? Turn off that electric blanket and keep each other warm the good, old-fashioned way. Studies show that prolonged, excessive heat — like the kind produced by electric blankets, heating pads, heated seats and even laptops that are placed on a man's lap — can adversely affect those temperamental testes by slowing down sperm production (and you want sperm aplenty right now!). Plus, all that snuggling you'll have to do to stay warm will generate the kind of heat that can actually make babies.

More ways to increase your odds of scoring a fertilized egg: Try refraining from oral sex before the main event, since saliva can have a negative impact on sperm activity and motility … and you want them alive and kicking. Ditto for most lubricants, so lay off the Astroglide while you're trying to conceive.