The Menstrual Cycle: Driven by Hormones….

A series of hormonal steps trigger the events of your menstrual cycle. Hormones are biochemical substances that are produced in one area of your body and carried in your bloodstream to send signals that trigger responses in another part of your body. The hormones that control your fertility signals are produced in hypothalamus (in your brain); anterior pituitary gland (also in your brain, located behind and attached to the hypothalamus) ovaries; your adrenal glands (located on top of your kidneys).

The beginning of the cycle, called Day 1, is the day bleeding begins. The flow usually lasts about three-to-five days. Usually by Day 7, certain hormones cause some of the eggs in the ovaries to start ripening. Between Days 7 and 11, the lining of the uterus begins to thicken.

The influence of additional hormones after Day 11 causes the egg that is most ripe to be released on about Day 14. The other ripening eggs stop growing and dry up. The egg travels down the fallopian tube towards the uterus

If a single male sperm unites with the egg while it is in the tube, the fertilized egg may travel on and attach to the spongy lining of the uterus. Pregnancy begins if this "implantation" occurs.

If fertilization doesn't take place, the egg cell will break apart in a day or two. About Day 25,hormone levels drop, causing the lining of the uterus to break down, and in a few days it is shed in a menstrual period. Another cycle has begun!

For some women, cycles recur fairly regularly — every 28 days. But the number of days in each cycle can vary from woman to woman, from every 21 to every 35 days. In fact, a few women have only three or four cycles a year

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