Pregnancy: Trying to Conceive

When you finally decide that it is time to start your family, everything changes. When once you were always worried about birth control and scary late periods, now there is a hope every time you think you are late. You focus on what you can do to get pregnant fast. If you are not careful, trying to conceive can become frustrating very quickly. I am going to cover some basic tips on how to conceive a child without going crazy.

First, before you become pregnant, you should familiarize yourself with your body and your menstrual cycle. This can be done in many ways. You will need to keep track of the date that you start your period. This is known as your cycle day one. From cycle day one till the date you start your next period will determine how long your cycles are. Though it is commonly heard that 28 days is the average cycle length, this does not hold true to everyone. Your cycle can be anywhere from 25-35 days on average. This becomes very important when you are trying to get pregnant because it determines when you ovulate.

Knowing when you ovulate is one of the most important factors in trying to conceive. You will only be able to conceive during your ovulation time. If you know when you ovulate, you will be able to time intercourse. Tracking your ovulation can be done in different ways. You can simply track your cycle and count fourteen days back from the start of your next period. It has been said that you ovulate fourteen days after you start your period, but you actually ovulate fourteen days before you begin your next cycle. So, if you have a 32 day cycle, you would most likely ovulate around cycle day 20, not 14. You can also track your basal body temperature (BBT) to determine ovulation. Your temperature will spike up once you have ovulated. After tracking this for a few months you can better estimate the day you will ovulate in your next cycle. There are also ovulation predictor kits (OPK's) you can purchase to determine ovulation.

Once you have become familiar with your cycle and ovulation, all you have to do is wait. There are a few things you can do to help out. First, make sure your body is healthy. Being overweight or underweight can lessen your chances of conceiving. Also, avoid taking hot showers before intercourse because that will make the vaginal environment less productive to conceiving. The best thing you can do when trying to conceive is relax and let nature take its course. If you try for over a year without conceiving, you may want to visit a doctor to see what to do next.