How to become pregnant fast

Transcription

1 How to become pregnant fast 1. The Most important step: Find out when you ovulate! This sounds like a no brainer, but it amazes me how many women do not know when they ovulate. Some women may have read that ovulation occurs 14 days before your period, but that is not necessarily accurate - unless your body works according to text books! Even if you have a regular 28 day cycle you may in fact ovulate before or after day 14. Your cycle may be irregular or shorter or longer than 28 days. For all these reasons, you need to find out when you are ovulating. How to test for ovulation Buy an ovulation test kit or Luteinising Hormone (LH) urine strips. LH strips are inexpensive and can be purchased online from Fertility2Family at or in pharmacies. If you buy an ovulation test kit, as each follows a different regime, please follow the instructions of the manufacturer. Depending on the length of your cycle, you may need to start testing on different days, so test according to instructions. LH urine strips You will use the strips to test for ovulation. Start on Day 6 of your cycle (day 1 of your cycle is the 1 st day of bleeding and not spotting) and use them every day until a positive line appears on the strip. When the strip, line, or smiley face shows on the strip this indicates a surge in LH and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels. LH stimulates egg release (ovulation) which usually occurs 16 to 32 hours after the surge begins. The oestrogen level peaks

2 during the surge and the progesterone levels starts to increase shortly afterwards. It takes 2 days of swimming for the sperm to join the egg so sex 2 days before the LH surge is essential. Note: The best time to test for ovulation is after 10 am 8pm. Collect the urine about the same time each day. Do not test using first-morning urine. Check your cervical mucus Over the course of your menstrual cycle, the colour, amount and texture of your cervical mucus changes. Your mucus will change from a thick, dense, sticky cloudy, coloured mucus at the beginning of your cycle to clear, slippery mucus, much like raw egg white just before and during ovulation. The amount of mucus also increases at that time. The combination of raw egg white consistency and the increased amount of mucus make it easier for the sperm to travel to the egg. Mucous is meant to be noticeable, and thick enough to stain your underwear. Sperm get A good time to check your cervical mucus is when you first go to the bathroom in the morning. You may have enough mucus so check the toilet paper after you wipe yourself or you may need to check the mucus with your fingers. Simply insert your clean index or middle finger into your vagina, getting as close to your cervix as you can. Examine the colour and consistency, rolling it between your fingers. Chart your basal body temperature Your temperature usually drops by half of one degree 24 hours before you ovulate, then it goes up as you ovulate. The last page of this report includes a free chart. All you need is to buy an accurate digital thermometer. There are some Basal Body Temperature thermometers available, but the main thing is that the accuracy must be 1/10 th of a degree. Two tenths is not good enough for charting. How to check: 1. Fill in the dates and days of the week that correspond to your menstrual cycle. Your first day of your period is cycle day 1 where they are going by climbing up the strings of healthy stringy and slimy mucus. The mucus at ovulation is meant to resemble the slimy mucus one would normally associate with blowing one s nose whilst experiencing a heavy head cold. If the mucus is not the right consistency it is not possible for sperm to be able to climb up the strings within the mucus. Please check your mucous and note the quality down as well. This will establish a firm base line to refer to. 2. Before you get out of bed, pop the thermometer into your mouth. It is important to take the temperature at about the same time each morning. Put a dot on the chart next to the temperature that matches your temperature. 3. Connect the dots to see a pattern emerge. 4. Towards the end of your cycle, go back and look for the day you ovulated. Just

3 before you ovulate your temperature will drop, then just as you ovulate your temperature will increase. 5. Check if your mucus also changed around ovulation. 6. Once you have determined ovulation, keep recording your temperature during the next few cycles and find a pattern. If you ovulate on the same day each cycle, then you know that you will most likely ovulate on the same day each month. That makes it easy. If you ovulate on different days each cycle, then you will need to keep recording. Lubrication Do not use lubrications for sexual intercourse other than Sylk or Pre-Seed available at most supermarkets & health food stores or online from Fertility2Family Another product is Pre- Seed you can order online from or directly purchase from Target. Both lubricants can be used while trying to conceive because they do not kill sperm. Stress has a big impact on your hormones. If you find it too stressful to test your temperature every day, just use the ovulation test kit and take note of your mucus. Have sex on your most fertile days Your most fertile days are the 5 days leading up to ovulation and the day of ovulation. Sperm can survive for up to five or six days in your body. Sperm concentration may drop slightly if you have sex daily, so every second day is preferred. Don t let ovulation destroy your sex life If sex begins to feel like a chore to accomplish a goal it can have an impact on your relationship. Try and bring some fun back into it or stop tracking ovulation all together. If you consistently have sex two or three times a week, you're almost certain to hit a fertile period at some point. Try and enjoy the process of getting pregnant, instead of a must conceive now attitude. Stress can affect ovulation and may even stop ovulation. Lay in bed for minutes after intercourse This gives the sperm a chance to get to where it needs to get to instead of leaking out. 2. Diet Cut out sugar This can be tough for a lot of people, but it is probably one of the most important dietary changes you can make. Sugar affects your estrogen / progesterone balance. Most women s estrogen is too high in relation to progesterone. A study done at King s College, London, found that by reducing dietary sugar by 63%, it lowers estrogen by 25% in 3 weeks. Yudkin J, Eisa O, Dietary Sucrose and Oestradiol Concentration in Young Men. Ann Nutr Metab 1988;32:53-55 If you suffer from PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), endometriosis, fibroids or any other condition caused by estrogen dominance, this is one of the most important steps you can take to increase your chances of becoming pregnant. Sugar is an addiction, it affects your body like drugs. You will most likely experience some

4 withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, tiredness, or irritability, but after a few days you will feel much better and it will get easier every day to stay off sugar. Additionally, sugar affects your body s ph, which means that it can affect the mucus in your vagina and make it too acidic. Sperm is naturally on the alkaline side, which means it will be destroyed by the acidity in your vagina as soon as it enters and therefore crush all chances of conception. If you have PCOS, then this is crucial. After consumption of sugar, insulin gets released. If your body releases too much insulin, this may get converted into androgens (male hormones). Androgens can be the cause of irregular periods, lack of ovulation, hair growth or acne. Increase your consumption of protein Include good quality protein in every meal such as: Meat (chicken, beef, lamb, pork) Chicken, Fish, Eggs Lentils & beans, Nuts & Seeds Cut out Dairy and Soy products Dairy and soy products contain hormones or can disrupt your hormonal balance. Reduce the amount of processed foods and drinks to a minimum Avoid the aisles of the supermarket to do your shopping and head straight for the fresh produce sections. Most foods in the aisles are processed. If it comes in a package, it is most likely processed. Increase the amount of fresh vegetables and fruit. A home cooked meal made from scratch is the most nutritious choice. 3. Sperm quality It takes two to tango, so obviously, sperm quality is very important. What causes a possible low sperm count? Cortisol Cortisol affects sperm quality (high abnormalities), mobility (capacity to swim), and motility (speed). Excessive work or life stress causes high Cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol levels increase with excessive aeroplane travel. Life style choices Life style choices, recreational use of marijuana, cocaine, excessive alcohol or excessive tobacco use do affect sperm quality, mobility, and motility. Excessive marijuana use is known to cause high sperm abnormalities (sperm have large heads, are slow, swim in circles, reduction in the sperm numbers as well as a shorter life span). Injuries to testes A previous history of sporting injuries to the testes can affect production of sperm as well as long distance bike rides, a history of undescended testes, and Hodgkin s disease.

5 Stress on Male Partner to Perform Is your partner stressed from sexual performance anxiety? Does he have erectile problems when he is expected to perform on cue which affects erectile function and/or performance and/or ejaculation? Understandably, this can be upsetting for you the female partner. Some women become convinced that their partner does not wish to have a baby. It is not (usually) anything to do with the man not wanting a child. Sex when trying to conceive is very stressful for both partners. The stress of infertility can be very destructive to even the best relationships. Take care and nurture your relationship and be gentle, caring and understanding with each other. Most important of all keep talking with each other. Tight Clothing Wearing tight clothing can negatively affect sperm count. Mobile Phones & laptops A study in the Journal Fertility and Sterility showed that men who kept their mobile phone close to their testicles had poorer sperm quality. Researchers also found that the heat generated by laptops can affect sperm mobility and cause DNA damage. Their advice to keep mobile phones in the back pocket and use a fan under your laptop or on the table. Effect of cell phone usage on semen analysis in men attending infertility clinic: an observational study Agarwal, Ashok et al. Fertility and Sterility, Volume 89, Issue 1, Minimize Stress even stop women from ovulating or getting their periods altogether. It also affects male hormones and therefore sperm quality just as much as it affects female hormones. Try to reduce your stress levels and lighten up your sex life by making a date with your partner and going out to dinner, talk, have fun, book into a hotel, buy sexy underwear, or go away for a romantic weekend. Take up Tai Chi, meditate go for a walk. Listen to Guided Relaxations for your Natural Conception which I include in the Natural Fertility Program or you can purchase the MP3 download by visiting my online store. Consider Fertility counselling if stress and anxiety start to impact heavily on your relationship. If you would like to book a Free 15-minute Complimentary Consult to discuss your fertility, please leah@naturalfertilityaustralia.com.au or call Leah at Yours in Health, Leah Zinn