“Why do I have a late period?”

It sounds as though you may be ovulating irregularly. It is important to report this to your OBGYN provider so that she/he can perform a hormone evaluation to determine why the cycles are irregular and offer appropriate treatment. Sometimes irregular cycles can be a sign of an underlying hormone imbalance.

Late periods are fairly common. The period has a timing mechanism, so to speak. That timing mechanism is ovulation. The cycle starts with the first day of the period. The cycle is usually 28 days(it varies, but not by much). The first 14 days of the cycle after the first day of the period is controlled by estrogen, which comes from the developing follicle in the ovary. As the follicle matures, it ovulates on day 14 (an egg is extruded from the follicle and picked up by the fallopian tube). After this ovulation, the ovary switches to producing progesterone. Those are the two main hormones of the ovary that control the period (estrogen and progesterone). Progesterone is then made for another 14 days and if there is no pregnancy, both estrogen and progesterone decline, and the first day of the period arrives and the cycle repeats. Again, the timing mechanism is ovulation.