Need Help Getting Pregnant?

Pregnancy can be one of the most exciting times of your life. However, getting pregnant may require more planning and forethought than you expect. Raised to avoid the possibility of getting pregnant, women may be surprised to learn that pregnancy is actually not always as easy to accomplish as they'd anticipated. Not only do factors such as lifestyle influence your ability to conceive, but an unclear understanding of your own body's functions and cycles can also contribute to difficulties in conceiving. If you are interested in getting pregnant, there are things you can do to help your chances.

Before you start thinking about what you can do to increase the odds of getting pregnant, it's necessary to think about how conception actually occurs. Women release an egg (ovulation) that needs to be fertilized by a sperm. Ovulation doesn't always occur two weeks after the start of your period, which many women falsely assume. Rather, it occurs 10-14 days before your period. Think about this as simple cause and effect. You get your period because you ovulate, not the other way around. Expecting ovulation two weeks after the start of your period is a common misconception--for many women, this could cause you to miss your optimum fertile time. The time between your period and your ovulation may vary from month to month, and can be influenced by factors such as stress, anxiety, excessive exercise, or even potentially drinking and smoking. Once you ovulate, the time before your period (your luteal phase) is typically the same every month (10-14 days for most women). A woman's most fertile period is the days leading up to ovulation, and potentially, the day of ovulation. However, the egg dies within 24 hours of non-fertilization, and is then shed during menstruation. There is a very small window for conception to occur (SOURCE).

It's essential to have sex in the days leading up to ovulation. Women and men who are healthy can have sex daily or every other day from end of her period until she gets her next period. However, if this doesn't work or if you want to be more proactive as you are trying to get pregnant, you can attempt to calculate your ovulation and plan accordingly. There are various methods of calculating or predicting your ovulation. The three mentioned below are those which I found to be the most helpful in my own trials of achieving pregnancy.

First of all, many woman keep track of their cervical fluid. Toni Weschler, author of Taking Charge of Your Fertility, goes into great detail explaining the importance of cervical fluid or mucus as a conductor for sperm to travel. Sperm travel best in watery cervical fluid, or cervical fluid with an egg-white consistency. By monitoring your own cervical fluid, which can range from sticky, creamy, watery, to egg-white consistency, you can help maximize the possibility of conception. Egg-white like cervical fluid typically precedes ovulation, so when you have this consistency, it is the optimum time to have sex.

A second way that many women attempt to predict ovulation is by taking their temperature. Body temperatures are typically higher after ovulation due to the hormone progesterone. If you take your temperature on a daily basis and see a temperature climb, it's possible to confirm that you have, in fact, ovulated. It's important to note, however, that this method isn't ideal for predicting when you are going to ovulate, but rather, to confirm that ovulation has in fact taken place. In addition, body temperature may be impacted by a variety of factors, including a bad night's sleep or a night out drinking.

A third method that many women try in order to predict ovulation is ovulation prediction kits (OPKs). These kits are similar to home pregnancy tests, requiring you to place the stick in a cup of your urine, or urinate on the stick. A positive result indicates that you are preparing to ovulate. However, it's important to notice that the window of time from a positive ovulation kit result until your egg is dead may be variable. Therefore, this method may not be as accurate as you would like.

Finally, there are herbal or vitamin options available to women who are interested in helping boost their fertility. Men can take folic acid or zinc supplements, which have been shown to increase the quality of the sperm (SOURCE). Women may also opt to take prenatal vitamins while trying to get pregnant.

For many women, getting pregnant isn't as easy as it may be for others. Understanding your body and options for tracking and predicting your ovulation are essential in achieving a positive pregnancy test.

Resources:
Weschler, Toni; Taking Charge of Your Fertility
NUTRAingredients.com; Zinc and folic acid found to boost sperm count; http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?id=34868-zinc-and-folic
Fertility Friend; http://www.fertilityfriend.com/Faqs/