From Sex To Conception
There are close to equal numbers of sperm that contain either a male chromosome or a female chromosome. This determines the gender of the baby at the very point of egg fertilization. It will also play a role in the race to reach the egg. While male sperm aren’t as hardy, they have a speed advantage. Though slower than their male counterparts, the advantage in longevity goes to female sperm.
But if they survive long enough to reach the fallopian tube, sperm cells can relax and enjoy a safe environment that’s conducive to their continued survival. Some actually bind to the fallopian tube itself, as a means of receiving direct nourishment .
When an egg enters the fallopian tube from the other end, it produces a scent that drives the sperm cells crazy. They become very excited and begin a process called capacitation, during which they shed certain proteins and become very excited. Both the shedding of proteins and the boost in mobility aid the sperm cell in its quest to penetrate the egg.
When a sperm cell finally makes contact with the egg, the head of the sperm releases enzymes that help it penetrate the egg’s exterior. Once a sperm cell does, the two cells the sperm and the egg form a single-celled unit called a zygote, and the change prevents any other sperm cells from getting through .
Its Easy To Check His Sperm Count
According to the Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences, up to 40-50% of infertility in couples is linked to the male. One of the most common problems contributing to male infertility is low sperm count. You can check if your sperm count meets the threshold for fertility quickly, easily, and privately at home with SpermCheck Fertility. This FDA-cleared kit is available online or at your local retailer and is a product of DNA Diagnostics Center , a corporate sponsor of the American Pregnancy Association. SpermCheck is simplelike a home pregnancy test and results are ready in minutes. Keep in mind that other fertility factors like sperm mobility and morphology are also important and should be checked by a healthcare professional.
If youre younger than 35 and havent gotten pregnant after trying for a year, or youre older than 35 and youve been trying for six months, it may be time to see a fertility specialist.
If you still have further questions regarding ovulation, we encourage you to talk with your health care provider or contact the American Pregnancy Association for more information. Being informed about how your body works can help you feel more in charge of your health.
Test Positive On An Ovulation Predictor Test
These are ovulation test kits you can buy in any pharmacy or online. They work a lot like a pregnancy test, in that you use your urine to test your hormones. While pregnancy tests look for hCG, an ovulation predictor test looks for the hormone luteinizing hormone . LH spikes just before you ovulate.
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When Can You Get A Positive Pregnancy Test Result
Home pregnancy tests look for human chorionic gonadotrophin in your urine. This is produced after the egg implants, but not at detectable levels until 6 to 14 days after fertilization. Your most reliable results will be starting on the day of your missed period, since all cycles are unique.
You can purchase a test at supermarkets, drugstores, or online. Follow all instructions and follow up with your doctor if you have a positive result or if you have a negative result but your period does not start.
In some cases, you may want to go in and have a blood draw, which can detect lower levels of the pregnancy hormone hCG.
To recap, the following things need to happen to achieve pregnancy:
Above all else, you can increase your chances of pregnancy each month by gaining a better understanding of the menstrual cycle and pinpointing your fertile window. You can have sex a million times, but if youre not in the right part of your cycle, it wont result in pregnancy.
Sex as early as 5 days before ovulation can lead to conception, but the chances are highest with sex the day immediately before the egg is released.
Why Cant I Get Pregnant
When youre ready to start a family and youre not getting pregnant, it can be frustrating and overwhelming. Especially if youve tried the conventional methods to maximize your chances: having frequent intercourse during your fertile window, tracking your temperature every morning and using tools like ovulation tracker apps and predictor kits.
You may start to wonder is this a medical problem or do I simply need to be more patient? Youre not alone. One in 8 couples struggles to conceive. Chantel Cross, M.D., a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist with the Johns Hopkins Fertility Center at the Johns Hopkins Health Care & Surgery Center Green Spring Station in Lutherville, Maryland, explains what factors might be affecting your ability to get pregnant and when you might consider infertility treatment.
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Ovulation Detected Using A Bbt Chart
Your basal body temperature is your body’s temperature at complete rest. This temperature changes depending on where you are in your cycle. If you’re ovulating, your BBT will jump up and remain higher until you get your period. Then, it will drop back down and stay there until ovulation occurs again.
You can track your BBT at home. This is a way to know if ovulation has returned after Depo-Provera, and it can help your doctor help you if you find that ovulation has not returned as expected.
How Soon After Conception Do Symptoms Start
When you are trying to get pregnant, every day seems like a brand-new opportunity: will this be the day you get the positive test or start to show pregnancy symptoms? You might scour the internet for hints on how soon after conception you will start to feel breast tenderness, irritability or any number of other symptoms that might signal pregnancy.
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Can A Woman Drink Sperm And Get Pregnant
Swallowed semen does not come into contact with the vagina, and by the time women urinate or have a bowel movement containing the remnants of the semen, it is impossible for it to get them pregnant. Women can only get pregnant from penile-vaginal contact when semen enters the vagina or another reproductive organ.
How Can You Track Ovulation
Many women follow the textbook rule that ovulation occurs 14 days after the first day of their periodbut the reality is that cycle lengths vary, and ovulation doesn’t always occur at the same time each month, says Machelle Seibel, M.D., Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Some women think they can detect ovulation symptoms. “If you’re in tune with your body, you may notice that you have an increased clear egg-white-like vaginal discharge a few days before ovulation,” says Yvonne Bohn, M.D., OB-GYN and co-author of The Mommy Docs Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy and Birth. But many women miss this, and some mistakenly think their normal discharge is a sign of ovulation.
Instead of guessing, Dr. Seibel says that using an ovulation predictor kit can give a more accurate answer. Charting your basal body temperature or tracking your menstrual cycle can also help identify ovulation for the best days to get pregnant.
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How Long Does Implantation Take
The entire process of the egg implanting itself in the uterine wall takes about 48 hours.
Some women might experience light bleeding often called implantation bleeding, although its absence does not mean that implantation has not occurred. Generally, pregnancy can be confirmed on the first day of a missed period, but it is sometimes possible to get a positive reading after the 8th day since fertilization.
How Soon After Conception Do You Test Positive
The time it takes a test to show positive depends upon the levels of pregnancy hormone in your urine. For some women, this hormone begins to show up on pregnancy tests about eight days after conception, though for most women it takes a bit longer usually up to two weeks.
Technically, you should take pregnancy test after you have missed your period however, many women are eager to take the test as soon as possible. The result depends upon how much pregnancy hormone your body has created since fertilization.
However, if you do get a negative test, dont assume you arent pregnant. You cant be certain that you arent pregnant until you have started your period.
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Is It Possible To Feel Something During Conception
In the days following conception sex, every flutter, gas pain, twinge, or cramp seems like a sign that youâre pregnant. But you canât actually feel anything during conception.
âConception cannot be felt since sperm and egg are microscopic and do not have any measurable impact on their surroundings,â Jain says. â Other random sensations can sometimes be mistaken for such feelings. Implantation on the other hand, can sometimes be felt by women and some may even experience some mild ‘implantation bleeding‘.â
Conception and implantation are not the same implantation is when the fertilized egg implants into the lining of the uterus wall, which typically happens seven to 14 days post-conception.
How Else Can You Increase The Chances Of Getting Pregnant
Often, when couples are trying to conceive, they focus so intensely on their reproductive health, they neglect their overall health. Life becomes all about cervical mucus, sperm count, and doing the deed. But it’s important to pay attention to your health in general because issues like weight, smoking, stress, and medications can affect fertility too, Dr. Chen says. Before trying to conceive, it’s a good idea for both you and your guy to have a medical checkup to discuss any issues that may affect fertility or pregnancy.
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How Often Should You Have Sex To Get Pregnant
You may think that cutting down on sex to “save” your guy’s spermor only having sex during ovulationwill make getting pregnant easier. But abstaining too much can throw off conception. Indeed, while holding off on sex can increase sperm count, it can also decrease sperm motility. What’s more, “it’s easy to miss the fertile period if sex is limited only to when you think you’re ovulating, because many women believe they’re ovulating when they actually aren’t,” says Samuel Wood, M.D., medical director at The Reproductive Sciences Center in La Jolla, CA.
What Is The Average Time To Get Pregnant By Age
The older a couple gets, the fewer viable eggs a woman has and the lower the quality of a mans sperm, Omurtag says. This means it could take longer to get pregnant.
In a 2017 cohort study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, researchers followed 2,962 couples that were all trying to get pregnant. After six months, 62 percent of women between 28 and 30 years old were pregnant, but only 55.9 percent of women between 34 and 36 years old were. The same pattern held true for male partners, but the differences between age groups were less pronounced.
Although fertility begins to decline in our early 30s, its our late 30s when that decline really becomes pronounced, Omurtag says. Thirty-eight is actually the magic number here, he said. In the same study, only 46 percent of couples between 37 and 39 years old were pregnant after six months.
Experiencing frustration while trying to get pregnant is common, especially when considering that one in four couples struggle to do it, Omurtag says. Its important to be mindful of that and how prevalent it really is. But just because youre not pregnant after a month, or six, or even a year, doesnt mean it wont ever happen.
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When To See Your Doctor
If your cycles are not coming back or youre not ovulating, and its within two years of your last shot, there is unfortunately very little your doctor can do to help. You just need to wait. Which can be extremely frustrating.
You should see your doctor if:
- It has been 24 months since your last injection and you are still not ovulating
- Your cycles are irregular two years after your last injection
- You dont conceive within 12 months of ovulation returning
- You have other risk factors or signs of a possible fertility problem
When Does Implantation Happen
After fertilization, the new zygote travels down the fallopian tube and goes through tremendous changes. It develops into a morula and then a blastocyst. Once it reaches the blastocyst stage, its ready to implant in the uterine lining and continue growing into an embryo.
Implantation is essential to achieve pregnancy. Without it, the blastocyst will break down and be expelled with the rest of the uterine lining during your period.
As for timing, implantation usually happens between days 6 and 10 days after fertilization. Symptoms you may experience are mild and include things like cramping and light spotting. Some women may notice no symptoms at all, however.
Once the implanted embryo starts producing hormones , pregnancy symptoms may begin.
The earliest symptoms include:
If you experience these symptoms or otherwise think you might be pregnant, its a good idea to take a home pregnancy test.
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What Time Of Day Should You Have Ttc Sex
If you’re wondering when to have sex to conceive, the morning may be your best bet. Or, specifically, after your man gets a good night’s rest, says Melissa M. Goist, M.D., Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Ohio State University Medical Center. When he’s sleeping, his body regenerates the sperm lost during the day. Although the average sperm cell has a pretty short shelf life, even stalwart swimmers can hit their expiration date early if they get too warm from hot tubs or exercises like bike riding, Dr. Goist says.
Prescription Medications And Conception
It’s also possible to have a medical condition that doesn’t affect ovulation or fertility, but to be on medications for that condition that do affect ovulation or fertility. For example, there’s no reason to think that people with mild musculoskeletal pain would have issues with ovulation. But a recent study showed that the medication used to treat pain in a group of these women nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs decreased progesterone levels and impaired ovulation, both of which negatively impact chances of conception. There’s also evidence that medication for mental health conditions, like antidepressants, can have an effect on fertility.
If you have a diagnosed medical condition or are taking prescription meds, talk to your doctor before TTC. They will be able to give you crucial insight into how your diagnoses and meds may impact your chances of conception , and suggest steps to help you maximize those chances.
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How Long Does It Take To Get Pregnant After Going Off Birth Control
Wondering if your body needs time to adjust to being off the pill before youll be able to conceive? The answer isnt exactly clear-cut, but in most cases, hormonal birth control shouldnt throw too much of a wrench in your pregnancy plans.
Hormonal birth control methods like the pill, patch, ring or hormonal IUD all work by turning off hormone signals mainly by stopping ovulation . Once you stop using this form of contraception, those hormones turn back on and you go back to ovulating.
Most women start getting regular periods again a sign that youre likely ovulating regularly within a few weeks after stopping birth control. But for others it can take up to three months and thats completely normal.
Just like theres some variation in when your period will come back after stopping birth control, some women take a little longer than others to conceive. Some research shows that having taken oral contraceptives doesnt affect a womans ability to get pregnant in the short- or longer-term. But other research found that going off the pill is tied to a slight delay when compared with barrier methods.
How Long On Average Does It Take To Conceive
This is such an important question that many different studies have attempted to answer. Leading medical experts and organizations cite 85% as the percentage of couples who conceive within 12 months of trying. But that statistic is based on a review of studies published in a book from 1956 meaning what was accurate back then doesn’t necessarily reflect the average time to pregnancy today. What we know from the more recent peer-reviewed articles on this topic is that the average time to conceive varies from study to study, and really depends on who is included and how the study was designed.
In a study of almost 3,000 US couples trying to conceive:
- Pregnant within six months: ranged from 62% for women between 28 and 30 to 28% for women between 40 and 45.
- Pregnancy rates within 12 months: ranged from 79% in women between 25 and 27 to 56% in women between 40 and 45.
Because participants in this study weren’t explicitly instructed what to do when trying to conceive, the data from this study is likely more representative of what we’d expect to see in the real world.
However, if you’ve been cycle tracking and timing intercourse, this next study might be more relevant. In this study, women between the ages of 20 and 44 were taught how to use natural family planning when they started trying to conceive. You can think of this study as the most optimistic estimates.
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