IVF? Fertility drugs? Stressing out over the right time? For couples having troubles conceiving, there are so many medical methods available that they often forget the joys of doing it on their own!
Not everybody can afford the thousands of dollars that go into fertility treatments or other means of assistance for having a child. But there are plenty of natural ways to help the process along without spending a fortune or resorting to invasive methods to get pregnant.
Get Healthy
Sure, anybody with less than healthy habits can get pregnant, but there are certain conditions that must be met to conceive. You need to ensure that your body is ready to create and house a new life. This means making it a habitable place.
This is what you need to do to prepare for your pregnancy:
Cleaning up a toxic diet – A diet high in fat and sugar (which is the normal Western diet) lacks many types of essential vitamins and minerals. This lack and the high fats leads to hormonal imbalances and forces your liver and kidneys to work harder.
What foods should you eat more of? What you’ve known for years – more vegetables and fruits. Cut back on the grease and junk food and eat more lean meats like chicken and turkey. Increase your “good” fats, such as linoleic acid and omega acids found in cold water fish, flaxseed, eggs and dark green vegetables.
Moderate exercise – Exercise around three times a week, and not too intensive. Walking and swimming are great choices. A healthy, active person is most likely to not only have a more healthy sex life, but to have more viable eggs.
Know Your Body and Your Cycle
Once you have created the optimal conditions inside your body and you are feeling healthy and ready to go, it’s time to get specific with what to do and when to do it.
To get pregnant, an egg needs to be available for the sperm to fertilize. Knowing when you ovulate will help you pinpoint the right days to be well rested, to abstain from alcohol, stay hydrated and obviously, have sex. It is not difficult, and most women have an idea of certain times in their cycle.
Learning about the fertility and ovulation cycle is essential. Most women have a 28 day cycle and ovulation takes place on day 14. Eggs usually only stay viable for 24 hours, so the exact time needs to pinpointed once familiar with the general cycle.
This can be done by monitoring body temperature. At the time of ovulation, a woman’s temperature rises by about a fifth of a degree and stays raised until fertilization, or the end of the cycle.
A healthy woman will know the day she ovulates by the increase in temperature. Then she can act accordingly to get that egg fertilized as soon as possible by engaging in intercourse.
Get a Checkup
A regular checkup (for both partners) that includes a full exam and basic tests, including a pap smear, can eliminate any obvious signs of a problem.
Some problems include PCOS, endometriosis, hormonal disorders or low sperm counts. It’s best to just make sure everything is okay before even starting to try and get pregnant.
You shouldn’t need any special tests unless all tests are normal but you still haven’t been able to conceive for at least a year. The next step can be invasive, such as laparoscopy, which is when a surgeon inserts a tiny camera into your uterus and fallopian tubes to check for any blockages or abnormalities causing your infertility.
There are alternatives to more invasive methods, such as acupuncture, a special fertility diet developed at Harvard, and even yoga.
Relax and Have Fun
Sex itself can be a cause. Infertility problems can happen if you both stress out too much over getting the timing just right. Some couples have sex once a week. Others have it every day. Both methods reduce your chances of getting pregnant.
The magic number is to try and have intercourse once every other day closer to ovulation. Once a week is too far apart, and once a day reduces sperm count (not to mention that it will become a chore!)
Even if you don’t have sex on the day of ovulation, you can still get pregnant, as sperm can live for several days in your cervix during your fertile period.
To keep it fun, have a slow, thirty minute session. Sure, you can still get pregnant with a “quickie”, but going slower not only reduces stress and anxiety, it relaxes your body to help those swimmers reach their destination. Not to mention, you will both remember why you’re trying to have a baby in the first place!
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