If You Follow My Blog Then You Will Know That My Fertility Journey Has Not Been An Easy One
In a nutshell, we only started trying for babies when I was 38.
I got pregnant straight away. Had a miscarriage.
We tried again, it took over a year, but I got pregnant again.
I had another miscarriage. A nasty one.
In between my two miscarriages I had a lot of tests done and its probably worth you reading my blog post for the details: My Miscarriage Nightmares, Rudeness and Age Discrimination. But in summary, even before key tests results were back
Dont Lose Hope Pcos Pregnancy Success Stories
Motivation is the secret sauce that makes all of these powerful lifestyle changes work. So let me give you a taste of whats possible with another couple of inspiring examples of women that have taken this approach seriously and fallen pregnant as a result:
From the time she was 17, the only way Hanna would ever get her period was to be on birth control. But by the time she was ready to start her family, the problem came to a head for her and she became serious about taking better care of her PCOS.
She started doing short workouts that included a progressive resistance training program designed specifically with PCOS in mind. As I mentioned above, this type of exercise has been shown to be highly effective at restoring hormone balance in women with PCOS. But perhaps more importantly, Hanna also made the dietary changes she learned during my free 30-Day PCOS Diet Challenge. While this sounds almost too good to be true, her periods returned astonishingly quickly and within a few months she was happily pregnant.
Nellsy is now an enthusiastic advocate for the power of dietary change to overcome PCOS and infertility and was happy to let me share this inspiring post she wrote shortly after giving birth.
While the scientific evidence is extremely compelling, its my personal experience and the success of all these other women around me that makes me so optimistic whenever I meet someone facing PCOS and infertility.
xo Kym
Planning To Conceive Start Right
When planning to get pregnant your diet, your ovulation cycle, your life style are all very important. Your ability to get pregnant can be affected by many factors.
If you want to know more about how to get pregnant fast & naturally, I recommend reading this eBook. This eBook clearly teaches all the Do’s and Dont’s of how to get pregnant.
I really like it because it is easy to follow and provides a real plan to help you get pregnant starting from your diet, your fertility signs and all the important things you need to know before conceiving a baby.
This eBook teaches all the things and tips you need to know to dramatically increase your chances of conception and have a healthy baby. Fertility Blessings!
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Eat Fewer Refined Carbs
Speaking of carbs: Its not just the amount of carbs thats important, but also the type.
Refined carbs may be especially problematic. Refined carbs include sugary foods and drinks and processed grains, including white pasta, bread, and rice.
These carbs are absorbed very quickly, causing spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels. Refined carbs also have a high glycemic index . The GI tells you if a carbohydrate-dense food will raise your blood sugar significantly.
Insulin is chemically similar to ovarian hormones. These hormones help our eggs mature. Consistent elevated insulin can cause the body to produce fewer reproductive hormones because it thinks it doesnt need it. This can contribute to a lack of egg maturation and ovulation.
Given that PCOS is associated with high insulin levels, refined carbs can make it even worse.
Be An Informed Fertility Patient If You Need Treatment
Thankfully for the families in need, reproductive technology has advanced a long way beyond telling people to just relax and it will happen. This was always a pet peeve of mine during my four and a half years of trying to conceive.
When I first went to get fertility treatments, I really didnt understand what my options were. I was at the mercy of the doctors I would see, and looking back now, I dont necessarily think they were as well-informed as I wouldve preferred. This is not intended as a slight towards the profession at all, but many general practitioners, and even some OB/Gyns dont get the chance to be as versed in the intricacies of PCOS as theyd like either. The value of good nutrition specifically for the treatment of PCOS is often not part of your standard medical education, which is why it always pays to know as much as you can about this topic yourself. The best weapon that an informed patient can wield is good information obtained through high quality self-education.
Here are the basics of the standard PCOS fertility treatment options:
The first options for most fertility specialists that treat women with PCOS are metformin and clomid.
To learn more on this topic, please see my five reasons not to take metformin for PCOS.
Its worth noting here that many experts now believe that doctors should skip the first step and head straight for letrozole as this drug has been shown to result in better outcomes for women with PCOS .
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Use A Basal Thermometer
A basal thermometer is one way to track your most fertile days. Your basal body temperature is a measure of your regular temperature upon waking, which rises as a result of the hormonal changes during ovulation.
With a basal thermometer such as the Beurer Ovulation Thermometer you can track the smallest basal temperature changes in your body, allowing you to know when youre ovulating and are therefore most fertile. While these sensitive thermometers are inexpensive, easy to use, and a form of natural family planning, theyre not always the best ovulation predictor if you have irregular periods. Many women now find ovulation tests easier and more precise.
Consider Going Off Birth Control Ahead Of Time
Its possible to get pregnant as soon as you stop your birth control method. There is no medical reason that you need to take a break from hormones before trying to conceive.
But if youre using a hormonal method of birth control, it may be worth going off it ahead of time and using an alternate form of protection until youre ready to start trying. The reason is that when you are using hormonal birth control, you dont have a true menstrual cycle. With some forms of hormonal contraception, you still bleed, and with others, you do not. But even if you bleed, its not a real period. The synthetic hormones suppress your natural cycle.
Note that with progestin-only forms of hormonal birth control, such as the Mirena IUD and the mini-pill, you may still ovulate even if youre not getting your period. But if youre taking a combined oral birth control pill, or have a Nuvaring or Nexplanon, then you are likely not ovulating.
Since its so important to learn to track your natural cycle in order to increase your chances of conceiving quickly, going off contraception early can give you some time to reacquaint yourself with your cycle and learn how to track it. Theres a bit of a learning curve with most methods, so you may appreciate some time to practice before you feel the pressure to conceive.
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What About Other Nutrients
There are other nutrients that may improve the health of your pregnancy. Your doctor can help you decide if you need to take supplements that include:Omega-3 fatty acids: These fats, which include DHA and EPA , come only from food sources such as fatty fish and nuts. Studies show omega-3s can lower your risk of preterm birth and of having a baby with low birth weight. If you dont eat much food thats rich in omega-3s, ask your health care provider if a supplement is right for you.
Choline: Although your body can make some choline on its own, you get most of it from food. Rich sources include beef, pork, chicken, fish, and eggs. Many pregnant women dont get enough choline, which the baby needs for healthy brain growth.
Your Periods Aren’t Extremely Heavy
While everyone’s period is different, your chances of getting pregnant may be related â at least tangentially â to your flow.
“Women with very heavy periods may have fibroids, which are benign tumors that can alter the architecture of their uterus and interfere with embryo implantation and a growing pregnancy,” Dr. Sekhonsays. So if you’ve never dealt with fibroids, or particularly heavy periods, you may be more likely to get pregnant easily.
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If You Still Have A Negative Result
Sometimes, life doesnt go according to plan. You might try to get pregnant for a long time and keep getting disappointing results from pregnancy tests. You might wonder whether youre trying the right sex positions for conception, or if it just isnt meant to be.
Many people have to try for several months before getting a positive pregnancy test result.
If you think your partner may have some fertility issues or health concerns, you still have several options for growing your family.
Go For A Preconception Checkup
Before starting to dry out to conceive, you could go for a preconception checkup. When you go for a preconception checkup, you get the help of a professional expert or doctor who might provide you the different prenatal vitamins that are effective in conceiving. These prenatal vitamins consist of folic acid that could have a plethora of benefits including protecting your baby from certain birth defects like spina bifida.
Consuming folic acid while you are trying to get pregnant is important because this acid is most effective during this stage.
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Best Sex Positions To Conceive Twins Naturally
It is widely believed as certain sex positions can increase the chances of conceiving twins. Certain positions ensure that the sperm is placed close to the cervix. Along with these deep penetration positions, if you choose a method that makes you hyper-ovulate then you might have higher chances to get pregnant with twins.
Smart Sexual Intercourse Can Improve Natural Fertility
The most important thing a couple or individual can do to increase chances of natural pregnancy is to monitor ovulation , and time intercourse to that . After doing everything they can in that regard, men and women should primarily focus on the health of their reproductive systems .
Many myths and misconceptions surround conception, particularly how to have sex in order to get pregnant. There is no evidence that the likelihood of pregnancy is increased by certain sexual positions, prolonged rest by the woman after intercourse or by the woman lying in a certain position after sex. Normally, sperm ejaculated into the vagina reach the fallopian tubes where egg fertilization occurs within minutes, no matter what position is taken during intercourse.
However, many commonly used vaginal lubricants can negatively affect sperm survival and motility . When trying to get pregnant, avoid using most commercial lubricants, saliva or olive oil during intercourse.
ASRM recommends canola oil, mineral oil, or hydroxyethylcellulose-based lubricants , as necessary.
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Sovereignty: Soft And Available Meets Grounded And Empowered
Heres a short clip from the webinar
Here are some more details on the content covered:
- The feminine and masculine perspective on how to maintain boundaries while you practice full divine surrender.
- The critical art of staying grounded as you release into the ecstatic merger sexual yoga offers.
- Practical ideas on how you can apply this to your life.
- A guided meditation so you can feel this practice in your body.
In the next teaching in this series, we will look at the third influence, which I believe helped me get pregnant: Prioritizing Intimacy. Lets face it: to get pregnant, you gotta have sex. And it helps if you have a LOT of sex, especially the kind that doesnt have pressure to get pregnant on it. Being a dedicated practitioner of sacred intimacy, my life with Justin revolves around dedicated sexual practice. I will talk about what this looks like and how you can start doing some of this in your life. Absolutely nothing to lose there, right?! Keep an eye out for this. coming soon!
Folic Acid Calcium Iodine And Iron
Folic acid
If getting pregnant is a possibility for you, you should take folic acid. It can prevent birth defects that affect the babys brain and spinal cord. Neural tube defects develop early in pregnancy, before many women know theyre pregnant half of all pregnancies are unplanned. This is why doctors recommend that any woman who could get pregnant take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily, starting before conception and continuing for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
If youve had a baby with a neural tube defect you should talk with your health care provider about folic acid. Studies have shown that taking a larger dose at least one month before and during the first trimester may help if youve had a baby with this defect. But talk to your doctor about whats right for you.
Foods that have folic acid include:
Iron
Iron helps your body make more blood red cells. These blood cells carry oxygen to the baby that it needs to develop.
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Kick The Smoking And Drinking Habits
Smoking can lead to fertility problems in both women and men. Chemicals found in cigarette smoke, such as nicotine and carbon monoxide, speed up the loss rate of a woman’s eggs, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Smoking ages a woman’s ovaries and depletes her supply of eggs prematurely, according to the Mayo Clinic. In a study published in 2020 in the journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, researchers looked at scientific findings around smoking, alcohol, addiction and fertility they found that smoking is linked to decreased fertility.
It’s also a good idea for women to stay away from secondhand smoke, which may affect their chances of becoming pregnant. should also be avoided while trying to conceive.
It’s safest for a woman to avoid alcohol when she is hoping to become pregnant. A woman should also stop consuming alcohol if she stops using birth control because she wants to get pregnant. That said, a 2019 Danish study of 1,708 women over a five-year period did not find a link between regular alcohol consumption and binge drinking, and fertility, according to the study published in the journal Human Reproduction.
However, a 2017 study published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology found that about half of pregnant women in the United States drink alcohol around the time they become pregnant or in early pregnancy, usually before they know they are expecting.
Once a woman becomes pregnant, there’s no safe amount of alcohol, Pavone said.
Record Menstrual Cycle Frequency
A woman who wants to have a baby should monitor whether the first days of her periods tend to occur the same number of days apart every month, which is considered regular. Conversely, her periods may be irregular, meaning her cycle lengths vary from month to month. By tracking this information on a calendar, a woman can better predict when she might be ovulating, which is the time every month when her ovaries will release an egg. There are also some apps that can help with the tracking, such as GlowOvulation period tracker .
A woman’s egg is fertile for only 12 to 24 hours after its release, according to the American Pregnancy Association. However, a man’s sperm can survive in a woman’s body for up to five days.
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Ovulation And Timing Intercourse
Ovulation, or the womans release of an egg during her menstrual cycle, is a crucial component of getting pregnant. After being released from the ovary, an egg only lives approximately 12 to 24 hours. Because of this, it is essential a couple have sex on or prior to the day of ovulation. The most effective way of doing this is to monitor ovulation, as described below.
A woman who has a regular cycle, between 25 and 35 days, is likely ovulating regularly. This typically occurs two weeks before the womans menstrual period. For a normal 28-day cycle, ovulation should be expected on days 13 to 15.
For women with irregular cycles, or absent menstruation, further evaluation should be done to determine if ovulation is occurring. Treatment options may be considered if it is not.
Monitoring ovulation
Monitoring a womans ovulation can be done with ovulation kits, apps, or calendar tracking. Following are some methods of ovulation monitoring.
How To Get Pregnant With A Boy By Eating More Red Meat
Red meat is rich in nutrients that enhance fertility and its considered a manly food, as it increases production of sperm.
Rich in proteins, this food is excellent for boosting the chances of conceiving a baby boy, but shouldnt be consumed in very high amounts as it also enhances the acidity of the womans reproductive tract.
Salty red meat is even better as salt also increases the odds of giving birth to a male baby.
To maximize the chances, add this food to your menu around the ovulation date and increase the overall intake of protein-rich foods.
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