It’s surprisingly not that easy for every woman to conceive. I always had in mind that if you sneeze in an untimely manner you could get pregnant. Probably because my mother and grandmother both had seven children. However, for most women it doesn’t happen right away. In fact, it is possible it doesn’t happen on the first or second or fifth month of intentionally trying to get pregnant. The average woman has only a 33% chance of conceiving if she has intercourse on the day she ovulates. Most women who are under 35 years of age and trying to conceive cannot get any help from their doctor until they have been unable to conceive for at least one year. Most women who have been trying for a few months already track their cycles and fertility, but what else can they do? These are some simple things that may help and maybe you haven’t thought about before.
Act as if you’re already pregnant
This sounds ridiculous, but it’s a good rule of thumb. Start doing the things and avoiding the things you would if you were already pregnant. Stop smoking and drinking alcohol. Avoid fast food and processed foods. Most women know they need folic acid during pregnancy and it’s great to get it while trying to conceive. Make sure it’s a quality source or it’s pretty much a waste of money. You can see all the vitamins I took here. Also, get folic acid from whole food sources. Folic acid is present in green leafy veggies, lentils, and some seeds and nuts.
Your partner’s health matters
Recent studies have shown that a man’s health may contribute to birth defects, autism, and obesity. His health can also influence your conception. You can both be on the same plan for adding lots of veggies to your plates daily, exercise regularly, do things that you enjoy together. If he regularly goes to the sauna or hot tub then reduce that as it may be reducing his sperm count.
Your physical activity
Healthy physical activity is so important. It’s good for you and your baby’s health. It’s equally important to get the right amount of physical activity. If you’re not normally an active person or you spend most of your time being sedentary then don’t go get a gym membership and a trainer to work you to death 5 days a week. Starting with regular or daily walks of 30-60 minutes is a great place to start. Add in something 2-3 times per week that will help you raise your heart rate a little more is great too. On the other side of this, if you are someone who is already very physically active then you may need to reduce your physical activity. While intense workouts are usually great for the muscles and heart and so on, they may tell the body there’s too much physical stress to support a pregnancy. The body needs a little fat to support pregnancy. If you do a lot of weightlifting think about reducing your loads and their frequency. If you do a lot of running, you may want to reduce the time and frequency of your runs. See if you can measure your fat percentage and BMI to see if it’s in a healthy range or if it’s too low.
Get rid of stress
Even if you don’t normally have a lot of stress in your life, it’s easy to get stressed about conceiving when you’ve been trying a few months and haven’t gotten a positive test result. For some women they have to daily cop e with a lot of stress in work and life. If you can’t avoid stress, then think of some ways to cope with it. The great outdoors can do wonders. Maybe you and your spouse can go to your favorites lake and rent a kayak for a few hours. Find a hiking trail with a beautiful view. So something that gives you some fresh air and is a small escape from your day to day tasks. Maybe schedule a massage together. Go out on regular dates so that you are spending quality time together and life doesn’t just become all about getting pregnant. Nourish your relationship outside of the pregnancy.
What did you do to get pregnant? Aside from, you know, the obvious.
