How To Get Pregnant At A Glance
- Many elements need to align for a natural pregnancy to occur, which is not as easy as many people think. A healthy woman around 30 only has a 20% chance of success each cycle a healthy 40 year old has only a 5% chance of conceiving without medical intervention per cycle.
- Having unprotected sex consistently, knowing when ovulation occurs and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are key factors in getting pregnant naturally.
- Couples under 35 have the highest chances of conceiving naturally, but if pregnancy has not occurred within the first year of trying , that is considered having infertility.
- When this is the case, it is time to see one of our reproductive specialists, who can evaluate the cause and create a treatment plan tailored to the individuals needs.
Wait To Take A Pregnancy Test
Taking pregnancy tests wont change how quickly you get pregnant, but it can affect your perception of time. Especially if you take multiple early tests, peeing on a stick frequently can make the days and weeks feel much longer.
Instead, commit to only taking a pregnancy test when your period is at least one day late. In other words, if you expected your period on Tuesday or Wednesday of a particular week, dont take the test until Thursday. Better yet, wait until Friday.
Its not easy to wait to see if youre pregnant, but remind yourself that when you take an early test, you are more likely to get a false negative anyway.
What Happens When You Fall Pregnant
For a woman to get pregnant, a mans sperm must fertilise her egg. A woman releases an egg from her ovary once every month. This usually happens about 14 days before the first day of her next period.
Most women ovulate each month. Occasionally, more than one egg is released, usually within 24 hours of the first egg. At the same time, the lining of the uterus begins to thicken and the mucus in the cervix becomes thinner so that sperm can swim through it more easily. The egg begins to travel slowly down the Fallopian tube, a tube that stretches from the ovary to the uterus.
The level of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone changes in a womans body during pregnancy. As soon as she has conceived, the amount of oestrogen and progesterone in her blood increases. This causes the uterus lining to build up, the blood supply to the uterus and breasts to increase and the muscles of the uterus to relax to make room for the growing baby.
If the egg is not fertilised, it passes out of the body during the woman’s monthly period, along with the lining of the uterus, which is also shed. The egg is so small that it cannot be seen by the naked eye.
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Have Sex During Your Fertile Window
The “fertile window” is the 3 to 5 five days before you ovulate, plus the day you actually release an egg. Once you know your window for ovulation, plan to have sex during this time frame.
If you’re not sure when you’ll be most fertile, aim to have sex every other day during the middle two weeks of your cycle. For example, if your whole menstrual cycle lasts four weeks have sex often during the second and third week. That way, you’re likely to have healthy sperm in your fallopian tubes whenever your body releases an egg.
Take our quiz to test your knowledge about timing sex for conception!
Stop Using Birth Control Before You Start Trying To Conceive
No kidding, you say. While it may seem intuitive, not all birth control methods affect your body in the same way. Some will stay in your system for weeks or even months after you stop taking them. When youre hoping to get pregnant fast, check in with your OB/GYN to learn more about any potentially lasting effects from your method of birth control.
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Know Your Fertility Window
If you want to know how to conceive, one of the most important things is knowing when youre most likely to conceive, which means getting familiar with your ovulation cycle.An egg can only survive for 12 to 24 hours after a woman ovulates, while sperm can survive in the womans body for 48 to 72 hours after sex. Unfortunately, this means that theres a small window of opportunity to conceive, says Melbourne based obstetrician, gynaecologist and fertility specialist, Dr Joseph Sgroi.If keeping track of your period wasnt hard enough, youll now want to look at your entire menstrual cycle, and figure out when youre ovulating. Luckily, theres plenty of calendars and apps out there to help. You could also use an ovulation predictor kit to help you pinpoint when youre most fertile.
Start Tracking Your Menstrual Cycle
Each new menstrual cycle is marked by the first day of your period. And tracking your cycle along with any daily symptoms youre experiencing can be incredibly helpful. Why?
Tracking your cycle helps you get to know your body better, including how long your cycle is. The length of your cycle is what determines your fertile window, which well get to in the next section.
Tracking the symptoms you experience such as changes in sex drive, mood or cervical mucus can help you identify patterns throughout your cycle, including what you typically experience leading up to your most fertile days.
How do you get started? When your next period arrives, start tracking since that is Day 1 of your cycle. You can keep a journal and write things down, or you can use mobile apps such as Fertility Friend and Clue.
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What should a womans weight be before pregnancy?
It may be a bit easier to think in weight rather than BMI. Consider a woman who is 56 and 155 pounds, which puts her BMI just below 25. What this data says is that if she lost 10 pounds before getting pregnant, her risk of stillbirth would decline by about 2 in 10,000.
What should my BMI be to get pregnant?
Usually, a BMI between 19 and 25 may offer the maximum possibilities of getting pregnant. Therefore, the minimum weight to get pregnant should lie within this range. To calculate the BMI of a woman, the height in inches and weight in pounds of a woman is measured. The respective measurements are divided.
How much weight should you gain in the second trimester of pregnancy?
The amount of weight you should gain each week in trimesters two and three differs depending on your BMI: If youre carrying twins , the weight gain recommendations for women of an average weight is 37 to 54 pounds. Overweight women should gain 31 to 50 pounds, and obese women should gain 25 to 42 pounds.
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How Can I Get Fertility Fast
Theres no way to immediately boost your fertility, rather, aim towards leading a healthy lifestyle. A balanced diet with moderate exercise and no smoking is your best bet to improving fertility. Men should also avoid eating too much soy as this is linked to lower sperm count as mentioned in the article.
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How Much Caffeine Can Kids Have
The recommendation for kids ages 11 and younger is zero caffeine and less than 100 milligrams per day for kids ages 12 to 17, Hill says.
Its not just coffee parents should keep an eye out for caffeine in soda, chocolate, over-the-counter medications and even coffee-flavored foods like ice cream and candy.
The biggest worry with children and caffeine is sleep disruption.
Thatâs going to impact their learning abilities the following day, theyâre going to be sleepy, theyâre not going to be as alert,â Hill says. âItâll interfere with regular development.â
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Using Ovulation Predictor Kits
Ovulation predictor kits are available from chemists and are fairly simple to use. They work by detecting a hormone in your urine that increases when ovulation is about to take place.
The simplest urine kit tests for luteinising hormone , which increases 24-36 hours before ovulation. This will help to identify the best two days for conception, although a woman can be fertile for a day or so before and after this time.
It is best to become familiar with your usual menstrual cycle to help figure out when you should start testing. If you have an irregular cycle then an ovulation predictor kit can help you identify the time of ovulation but expect to use more of the test strips.
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Using Ovulation Predictor Tests
Ovulation predictor testswork a lot like pregnancy tests, except they tell you when youâre likely about to ovulate. They come as test sticks or test strips that react with your urine. To use these, you can urinate into a cup and then dip the test strip into the collected urine. You will get your result based on color changes or digital reading.
At-home ovulation tests detect the luteinizing hormone in your urine. LH surges just before you ovulate, so when the test reads positive, this indicates that your body is attempting to trigger the egg release from the ovary and that it is probably your optimal time to become pregnant.
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Consider Your Caffeine Intake
While a daily cup of java is just fine, you may want to consider the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommendation to limit caffeine intake to 200 milligrams per day, which is equivalent to about two cups of coffee. Soda, tea, and energy drinks count, too. “Half the time I see patients totally forgetting about the monster power energy drinks they’re consuming,” Dr. Pagidas says.
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Best Time To Have Sex To Get Pregnant
To boost your chances of conceiving, aim to have regular sex throughout your cycle so you know that there should hopefully be good-quality sperm waiting when the egg is released. An active sex life is all most people need to conceive.
If you know when you ovulate each month you can give yourself the best chance of getting pregnant by having sex in the days leading up to ovulation. Continue having sex during ovulation. After this your fertile time will be over for that cycle.
Keep These Things In Mind During Intercourse
Another essential tip to remember, says Dr Tomar, is to ensure that couples do not immediately go to the washroom to wash and clean after sexual intercourse. Controlled contraceptives, including condoms, can act as barriers to pregnancy, so couples who want to get pregnant must quit these methods. Also, it is advised not to use any oil or cream during intercourse.
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Identify Your Fertile Window And Start Tracking Ovulation
Your fertile window usually occurs mid-cycle and is when you have the highest chance of getting pregnant. During this window, ovulation when an egg is released from an ovary occurs. Once this happens, conception is possible.
Tracking your cycle helps set you up for success by narrowing down your fertile window. But the next step to further improve your chances of getting pregnant is identifying when youre ovulating. Since conception cant happen until an egg is released, knowing your ovulation window helps you better time sex.
From monitoring your cervical mucus and basal body temperature, to ovulation predictor kits, there are several methods to help figure out your most fertile days.
Check Those Iron Levels
Its time to start pumping iron. The supplement kind, that is. Consuming iron supplements and non-heme iron, which comes from plant-based foods, may decrease the risk of ovulatory infertility.
A recent 2019 study concluded that heme iron had no effect on fertility and non-heme only had some benefit for women who already had iron deficiency.
More evidence is needed to confirm whether iron supplements should be recommended to all women, especially if iron levels are already healthy. But making sure your iron levels are solid with your doctor is a good step.
Non-heme iron sources are more difficult for your body to absorb, so try taking them with foods or drinks high in vitamin C to increase absorption.
Alcohol consumption can negatively affect fertility. However, its unclear how much alcohol is needed to cause this effect.
One 2016 study found that having more than
involving 7,393 women found that a high alcohol intake was associated with more infertility examinations.
However, the evidence on moderate alcohol consumption is mixed. One older study found no link between moderate consumption and infertility, while other studies report that moderate intake can affect fertility.
Ultimately, avoiding excessive consumption of alcohol is recommended. Talk to you doctor about your own intake to ensure the best outcome for you.
Examples include:
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Get In Sync With Your Menstrual Cycle
If you want to know how to conceive fast, know when you ovulate. This may seem like a no-brainer but predicting your ovulation can take much of the guesswork out of conceiving. If you plot your cycle, youll be able to plan sex around your most fertile days. And to be certain that youre ovulating, use our ovulation calculator or take an ovulation test.
Learn When Ovulation Happens
Its a good idea to understand the basics of how ovulation works so you can monitor your body for signs and symptoms. Its a common misconception that ovulation always occurs on the 14th day after your period starts, but that only happens if your menstrual cycle is consistent and 28 days long. Every womans cycle is different. The average cycle is anywhere from 24 to 35 days, and it doesnt vary by more than three to four days on any given month, Levens says. Depending on how long your cycle is, ovulation can actually happen between 11 to 21 days after the first day of your last period . But while the timing of ovulation depends on the womans unique cycle, all healthy women will get their periods 12 to 14 days after ovulation.
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Be Proactive When Trying To Conceive
Around 90% of couples will conceive within the first year of trying, while the rest will struggle to conceive naturally and may need medical help. Fertility Booking offers on-demand telemedicine consultation with your favourite doctor from anywhere in the world. Enjoy easy online appointment scheduling, phone calls and virtual doctor visits for free all from the comfort of your house!
Originally published at on October 10, 2019.
Having Difficulties Falling Pregnant Speak To Your Doctor
If youre wondering how to get pregnant or how to get pregnant fast, take comfort in the fact it often takes several months to fall pregnant. So dont panic if it doesnt happen immediately, but dont leave it forever to seek medical advice if nothing is happening.For women younger than 35, the general rule is that if youre not pregnant within a year, you should seek medical advice. For women 35 and over, speak with your healthcare provider when youre planning on conceiving, says Dr Sgroi.Also, if youre experiencing any pelvic pain, irregular or heavy periods, or your male partner has any concerns about his fertility health, then it is recommended to seek the advice of a qualified health professional.
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Overweight And Pregnant Follow These Tips
Even if you begin your pregnancy overweight, you can deliver a healthy baby. Follow these tips from Cahill.
Contain the gain. Donât try to lose weight while youâre pregnant, but do limit your weight gain. If youâre overweight â meaning you have a body mass index of 25 to 29.9 â at the start of your pregnancy, donât gain more than 25 pounds. Women who are obese to start shouldnât put on more than 20 pounds.
Pick it up. The pace, that is. âWe really encourage patients to be active,â Cahill says. A 30-minute walk every day is a great start if youâve been inactive.
Stick to basics. Youâll get balanced nutrition with meals that include moderate portions from all the major food groups.
Find more articles, browse back issues, and read the current issue of âWebMD Magazine.â
Show Sources
Alan Peaceman, MD, chief, division of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago.
Maggard, M. Journal of the American Medical Association, November 2008.
Lesko, J. Obstetrics & Gynecology, March 2012.
Alison G. Cahill, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Washington University, in St. Louis, Missouri.
American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology: âWeight Gain During Pregnancy.â
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Healthy Body Healthy Pregnancy
Before trying to get pregnant, you should try to be as healthy as possible. In fact, most doctors will recommend that you make an appointment with your obstetrician before youre pregnant.
At this preconception visit, youll talk about existing health problems and get screened for genetic diseases. You can also address other health concerns you might have.
Your doctor might recommend that you make lifestyle changes before you get pregnant. These might include:
- getting to a healthy weight
- improving diet/exercise habits
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