Too bad most women don’t just happen to have a microscope sitting on their bathroom counters. If they did, I think it would do wonders for the bad rap that cervical fluid usually gets when women first learn about it. In reality, they’d be amazed by how beautiful this healthy secretion looks in high resolution.

One of the first things most women are struck by when they start charting is the distinct pattern of their cervical fluid throughout their cycle. In fact, I’m always amazed at how many women comment about the fact that before they learned how to chart, they always noticed something at different times, but found it “gross” and confusing, and never realized it served a purpose and had a very predictable pattern.

Cervical fluid is to the woman what seminal fluid is to the man. Since men are always fertile, they produce seminal fluid every day. Women, on the other hand, are fertile only a few days around ovulation, and therefore produce the substance necessary for sperm nourishment and mobility only during that time. It’s fairly intuitive.

Sperm require a medium in which to live, move, and thrive—otherwise they will quickly die. Once the sperm travel from the penis to the vagina, they need an analogous substance to sustain them. But the only time it is critical for the sperm to survive is around the time the egg is released. It’s for this reason that women produce the substance that resembles semen for only a few days per cycle.