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.
What Are My Treatment Options If I Cant Conceive
There are many options for infertility treatment. Your doctor may prescribe ovulation stimulation medications such as clomiphene citrate and letrozole. Other treatments include follicle growth monitoring with blood work and ultrasounds, ovulation triggering with hCG , and intrauterine insemination. More involved treatments include IVF, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and preimplantation genetic testing of embryos.
The option that you and your doctor choose depends on the duration and cause of infertility and the objectives of treatment. Your fertility specialist will help you determine which approach is best for you to ensure the best outcome possible.
Drugs To Cause Ovulation
Some women ovulate irregularly or not at all. About 1 in 4 women with infertility have issues with ovulation.
- 2014 study found that 27.5 percent of women with PCOS who took letrozole eventually gave birth, compared to 19.1 percent of those who took clomiphene.
- Gonadotropins: This group of hormones stimulates activity in the ovaries, including ovulation. When other treatments do not work, a doctor may recommend using a follicle-stimulating hormone and a luteinizing hormone in the group. People receive this treatment as an injection or nasal spray.
In about 10 percent of infertility cases, a doctor cannot find a cause. The medical term for this is unexplained infertility.
Drugs that aim to stimulate ovulation may help in cases of unexplained infertility. These drugs can enable a woman to optimize the chances of conceiving by timing intercourse. They can also reduce the effects of unidentified ovulation issues.
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What Should You Expect
You can get private acupuncture treatments in a medical office or group treatment with other people in a clinic. Clinic sessions are often cheaper.
Sessions usually last at least 20 minutes. The number of treatments you need to feel any results can vary.
The first session will last longer than the others because your practitioner will ask you a lot of questions. They’ll typically want to know how long you’ve had your symptoms, how severe they are, and what your general health is like.
Your acupuncturist will also do a quick medical exam, take your pulse, and check for any sore or tender spots.
Most acupuncture treatments use between five and 15 needles. They’re hollow and so slender that you may not even feel them when the practitioner puts them into your skin.
The most common type of acupuncture is called manual acupuncture, when the needles pierce your skin.
Another kind is electroacupuncture, which is when an electric current passes through the needle. Studies show that this type may work better for fibromyalgia than the manual version.
Look For A Fertility Clinic
If basic fertility treatment isn’t successful, or if your test results suggest treatments that go beyond your gynecologist’s purview, they may refer you to a fertility specialist or fertility clinic. Because your fertility treatment likely won’t be covered by insurance, focus your search for a doctor or clinic on finding the best possible care that you can afford.
When you begin researching fertility clinics, make certain you’re clear on how much the initial consultation will cost. Discuss fees ahead of time if you decide to move forward with treatment. Remember to factor in travel and lost work time if you’re considering a clinic that’s not close by. Many treatments require frequent visits.
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Prenatal Vitamin Side Effects
Some prenatal vitamins can cause nausea in an already nauseated pregnant woman. If that happens to you, talk to your health care provider. They may be able to prescribe a different kind of prenatal vitamin that you dont have to swallow whole. Options include:
- Chewables
- Liquids
The iron in prenatal vitamins may also make you constipated. If youre constipated it can help to:
- Eat a high-fiber diet
- Exercise if your doctor says its safe for you
- Take a stool softener with your doctors OK
Have Sex Before An Ovulation Test Turns Positive
Ovulation tests can be helpful in predicting when you will ovulate however, if you want to get pregnant faster, dont wait until you have a positive ovulation test to start having sex. Here is why. An ovulation test detects for the hormone LH. LH, or luteinizing hormone, levels rise dramatically just before ovulation. Most women ovulate 12-48 hours after detecting an LH surge. Keep in mind though, that your egg only survives for about 12 hours after ovulation. If you wait until just before you ovulate to start having sex, you could miss out on almost your entire fertile window.
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Additional Prenatal + Postnatal Nutrition Needs
As weve gathered so far, a womans nutrition needs increase during pregnancybut in terms of diet, its not as much as you might think.
On average, most pregnant women will need to consume an extra 340 extra calories per day.
Additionally, the CDC recommends that breastfeeding mothers consume an additional 450 to 500 calories daily. However, this number can vary depending on your:
- body mass
- activity level
- breastfeeding frequency
During pregnancy, theres also an uptick in certain macronutrient needs. Macronutrients are large food nutrients such as protein, carbs, and fats.
The American Pregnancy Association recommends increasing protein intake to 75 to 100 grams per day while pregnant. In addition, they should strive to consume complex carbohydrates and unsaturated fats whenever possible.
Have A Cervical Screening Test
If you are aged between 25 and 49 you should have a cervical screening test every three years. Its best to get tested before you get pregnant because pregnancy can make the results of your test harder to interpret.
If youre planning a pregnancy contact your GP surgery to find out if your screening is due now or within the next year.
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Nutrients Vitamins And Nutritional Facets
Here is a list of some the key nutrients, vitamins, and nutritional facets you need to make sure you are part of your diet regularly:
Water Drinking water helps support organ function, supports hormonal balance, and helps carry out toxins from the body. Collectively, this helps support your fertility.
Complex Carbohydrates Eating vegetables, whole grains, and fruits help you get nutrients that support your fertility and provides the fiber that works with water to help remove toxins from your body.
Protein Eating protein supports your fertility by providing nutrients that contribute to hormone production. However, red meat should be lean and limited. High red meat diets can lead to problems with endometriosis.
Fatty Acids Eating oily fish like mackerel and salmon, along with nuts and seeds, is a great way to get fatty acids that support your fertility and the development of your baby once you conceive.
Whole Milk Drinking whole milk is related to your fertility. A study by Chavarro and Rosner found that women who drank 3 or more glasses of whole milk a day were 70% less likely to be infertile due to failed ovulation.
Zinc Zinc deficiencies have negative effects on fertility for both men and women. Taking 15 mg of zinc daily help both men and women enhance their fertility. Zinc can be found in vegetables, eggs, whole grains, peas, onions, beans and more.
Pregnant Or Thinking Of Getting Pregnant
Are you pregnant or thinking of getting pregnant? Talk to your healthcare providers before starting or stopping any medicines. Be sure to discuss the following with your healthcare providers:
to encourage conversations about safer medicine use in pregnancy and help prevent birth defects and other health problems.
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Endometriosis Pain And Infertility
Pain can interfere with fertility simply by the fact that sexual intercourse may be too painful to perform. The pain itself does not interfere with your ability to ovulate or achieve fertilization rather, it makes the act of sex difficult and sometimes unbearable.
With that being said, the amount of pain you experience isnt necessarily related to the severity of the endometriosis. While severe endometriosis is associated with increased pain, its also possible for mild endometriosis to cause severe pain. It depends on where the endometrial deposits are located.
More pain doesn’t mean that it will be harder for you to get pregnant compared to a woman without pain. It only impacts fertility in that you may be less able to have sexual intercourse.
Women with endometriosis who are not trying to get pregnant are usually given birth control drugs to lessen pain symptoms. The problem with this, of course, is that you can only get pregnant while the pills are stopped.
In cases of moderate to severe endometriosis, surgery may be required to remove endometrial lesions or cysts. Surgery can reduce pain, but repeated operations can cause the buildup of scar tissues that increases the risk of infertility.
In very severe cases of endometriosis, the uterus, ovaries, or part of the ovaries may be removed. This will impact your future fertility.You must also know that surgical removal of your reproductive organs isn’t a cure for endometriosis. You may still experience pain.
Supplements To Avoid While Pregnant Or Breastfeeding
While the vitamins and supplements above are generally considered safe for pregnant and nursing mothers, others should be avoided.
Certain vitamins, plants, and herbs can potentially be harmful while pregnant or breastfeeding. Thats why you must always let your doctor know about any supplements you take.
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What We Know About Medicine Use In Pregnancy
Almost every pregnant woman will face a decision about taking medicines before and during pregnancy. However, we know little about the effects of taking most medicines in pregnancy because pregnant women are often not included in studies that determine the safety of new medicines. We do know
- 9 in 10 women report taking some type of medicine during pregnancy, and 7 in 10 report taking at least one prescription medicine. Over the last 30 years, womens use of prescription medicines during the first trimester of pregnancy increased by more than 60% 1
- Many women need to take medicines during pregnancy to control their health conditions. In some cases, avoiding or stopping a medicine during pregnancy may be more harmful than taking that medicine
- At the same time, we know that taking certain medicines during pregnancy can increase the risk for birth defects, pregnancy loss, prematurity, infant death, or developmental disabilities and
- The effects of medicine on you and your baby may depend on many factors, such as
- How much medicine you take ,
- When during the pregnancy you take the medicine,
- Other health conditions you have, and
- Other medicines you take.
How To Get Pregnant Faster: Tips And Facts To Increase Fertility
ByCari Nierenberg, Sarah Wild23 March 2021
We’ve spoken to the experts to come up with 10 tips for how to get pregnant quickly and safely.
You may have many questions about how to get pregnant, particularly if you have an underlying condition. Taking care of your body is a good first step to optimize your fertility. But what else can you do to improve their odds of having a baby?
The most important advice for a woman who wants to get pregnant is to get to know her body, specifically her menstrual cycle, said Dr. Mary Ellen Pavone, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist, and medical director of the in-vitro fertilization program at Northwestern Medicine’s Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility division in Chicago.
“It’s important to know how far apart her cycles are so she can more accurately time intercourse to try to get pregnant,” Pavone said.
We’ve highlighted the top 10 tips that may help increase your chances of becoming pregnant. As always with this type of information make sure to speak to a medical professional as this advice is broad and you may require specialist attention. You should still find this article and accompanying video on how to get pregnant useful.
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Will Orgasms Help You Get Pregnant
Some experts believe that uterine contractions during orgasm help propel sperm into the cervix, but one thing is for surethe tingles during orgasm definitely make you relaxed. And that means you’ve already cleared the biggest baby-making blocker: stress. “The better the sex, the better the chances of conception,” says reproductive physiologist Joanna Ellington, Ph.D., in the British documentary The Great Sperm Race. Men who are fully stimulated will ejaculate up to 50 percent more, according to research revealed in the program. “So if you have what I call ‘gourmet sex,’ where you really spend time and you make it fun for both partners, that is going to make the man more stimulated and he is going to ejaculate more and healthier sperm,” Dr. Ellington says. Sure, sex without female orgasm can result in a baby, too, but why not go for the gold?
Get A Preconception Checkup
Before you officially start trying, get a checkup. Ask your doctor aboutprenatal vitaminsthat havefolic acid, which helps protect against some birth defects, such asspina bifida. Folic acid works during the early stages of pregnancy, so that’s why it’s important to make sure you’re getting enough folic acid even before you get pregnant.
“Do this the cycle before you start trying,” says Paula Hillard, MD, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford University. “If you have any underlying medical problems, they need to be under control before you can safely become pregnant.”
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Schedule An Appointment With Your Doctor
Since youre ready to conceive, visiting your doctor is one of the most important things you can do. Your doctor can give you advice on nutrition, lifestyle and overall health that can help you get pregnant more quickly and easily. Plus, beginning pre-natal vitamins before conception can help your body prepare to house a developing baby and help you sustain a healthy pregnancy.
And last, but not least, always remember… you and your partner got this. Here are some other resources to help:
How Safe Is Acupuncture
Acupuncture has fewer side effects than most medications you might take for fibromyalgia, including steroids and pain relievers.
The side effects that do happen are minor. Needles can hurt when they go in your skin, but if this does happen, it won’t last long. You may also bleed a little bit. Rarely, people have nausea and vomiting as well as headaches, but the problems usually don’t last more than a day.
Acupuncture is safe. The FDA regulates the equipment and requires that practitioners use each needle only once. You should be able to see your acupuncturist take each individual needle out of a sterile packet. Clean needles make sure that more serious side effects like infection with HIV or hepatitis B won’t happen.
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Improve Your And Your Partners Habits To Increase Your Chances
When youre trying for a baby, your partners little swimmers are just as important as your ovulation cycle. There are surprising factors that can negatively impact sperm quality and quantity. As you start to be more mindful of the food and drinks you put in your body, ask your partner to stop smoking and reduce alcohol intake as well, because both can affect sperm quality and function. Also, ask your partner to pay attention to where he keeps his mobile phone. Several medical studies have found that men who kept their phone close to their testicles can have poor sperm count and quality.
Don’t Drastically Increase Your Exercise Routine
While maintaining a healthy weight is important for fertility, there is such a thing as having too little body fat when it comes to getting pregnant.
Moderate exercise is good, but intense training could affect your BMI and body fat, says Masterson. If you dont have enough fat, your body thinks youre in a fight-or-flight stage and will prevent you from ovulating and conceiving since thats not a good time to have a baby.
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Make An Appointment With Your Ob/gyn
Your first stop should be at your regular gynecologistno need to go straight to a fertility clinic. In fact, most clinics prefer you have a referral from your primary gynecologist or physician. You may want to bring your partner along, although that’s not necessarily required at this point. To prepare for your appointment, gather the following information:
- The dates of your last six periods, even if you menstruate like clockwork. If you’ve been keeping a fertility calendar or body basal temperature chart, bring the last six months’ information.
- A list of medications youand your partnertake on a regular basis. Some drugs can interfere with fertility, including certain antidepressants and even over-the-counter allergy treatments.
- A list of any infertility symptoms or risk factors you have.
- Any questions you have. If you write them down, you’re more likely to ask them.
When you discuss your symptoms, make sure to mention the embarrassing ones, such as painful sex, unwanted hair growth, or low libido. These can all be symptoms of a fertility problem. Include any symptoms your male partner may be experiencing as well. Up to 40% of infertile couples face male infertility.
