Archives for October 2020

So, you got caught up in life and didn’t had a baby during the reproductive prime of your 20s?  You aren’t alone.  Today, more and more women are waiting until their mid-30s and 40s to have children for a number of reasons. 

Age is one of the key factors that predict your ability to conceive. Your fertility starts to decline at age 30 and keeps on dropping steadily until you hit menopause.

Does this mean getting pregnant after 35 is impossible or improbable? No.

Thanks to research establishing effective ways for women to conceive naturally in the decade following their reproductive peak, women over 35. Fertility issues affect 15% of couples. The road to parenthood can sometimes be a challenge, but know you’re not alone in those challenges.

Luckily, there are a few natural ways to increase your fertility. Let’s check them out:

1. Eat foods rich in antioxidants: Antioxidants like folate and zinc may improve fertility for both men and women. They deactivate the free radicals in your body, which can damage both sperm and egg cells. Foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains are packed full of beneficial antioxidants like vitamins C and E, folate, beta carotene, and lutein. Eating more of these healthy foods shouldn’t hurt in the effort.

2. Eat a bigger breakfast: Eating a substantial breakfast may help women with fertility problems. Eating a larger breakfast may improve the hormonal effects of PCOS, a major cause of infertility.For moderate weight women with PCOS, eating most of their calories at breakfast reduced insulin level. High levels of either can contribute to infertility. However, it’s important to note that increasing the size of your breakfast without reducing the size of your evening meal is likely to lead to weight gain.

3. Avoid trans fats: Eating healthy fats every day is important for boosting fertility and overall health. However, trans fats are associated with an increased risk of ovulatory infertility, due to their negative effects on insulin sensitivity. Trans fats are commonly found in hydrogenated vegetable oils and are usually present in some margarine, fried foods, processed products, and baked goods.  

4. Swap protein sources: Replacing some animal proteins (such as meat, fish, and eggs) with vegetable protein sources (such as beans, nuts, and seeds) is linked to a reduced risk of infertility.

5. Choose high fat dairy: High intakes of low fat dairy foods may increase the risk of infertility, whereas high fat dairy foods may decrease it. To reap these potential benefits, try replacing one low fat dairy serving per day with one high fat dairy serving, such as a glass of whole milk or full fat yogurt.

6. Add in a multivitamin: If you take multivitamins, you may be less likely to experience ovulatory infertility. For women trying to get pregnant, a multivitamin containing folate may be especially beneficial. Have a chat with your doctor about supplements including any multivitamins that could help get you closer to pregnancy.

7. Get active: Weight is one of the most influential factors when it comes to fertility for men and women. In fact, being either underweight or overweight is associated with increased infertility. Exercise has many benefits for your health, including increased fertility. Increasing moderate physical activity. Also, Excessive exercise may change the energy balance in the body, and negatively affect your reproductive system. If you plan to increase your activity, add it gradually and make sure your healthcare team is aware.

8. Take time to relax: If you’re trying to conceive, stress is probably on the menu, too. As your stress levels increase, your chances of getting pregnant decrease. This is likely due to the hormonal changes that occur when you feel stressed. Receiving support and counseling may reduce anxiety and depression levels, and increase your chances of becoming pregnant. And don’t forget to take time for yourself.

9. Cut the caffeine: The association between caffeine and fertility isn’t very conclusive. Consider limiting your caffeine intake to one or two cups of coffee per day to be on the safe side. Give these non-coffee options a try.

10. Avoid excess alcohol: Alcohol consumption can negatively affect fertility. However, it’s unclear how much alcohol is needed to cause this effect. However, the evidence on moderate alcohol consumption is mixed. Ultimately, avoiding excessive consumption of alcohol is recommended. Talk to you doctor about your own intake to ensure the best outcome for you.

11. Learn about your cycle.

You must be menstruating for over two decades now, but how much do you know about your cycle? If you want to get pregnant, it is important that you understand your cycle. By understanding your cycle, you will know when you’re most fertile, and when would it be the right time to get under the sheets with your partner.

Would you like to improve your chances of getting pregnant fast? Click here to learn how!

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Are you thinking of getting IVF because you have tried everything else and failed.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the joining of a woman’s egg and a man’s sperm in a laboratory dish. In vitro means outside the body. Fertilization means the sperm has attached to and entered the egg. Normally, an egg and sperm are fertilized inside a woman’s body. If the fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the womb and continues to grow, a baby is born about 9 months later. This process is called natural or unassisted conception.

IVF is a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART). This means special medical techniques are used to help a woman become pregnant. It is most often tried when other, less expensive fertility techniques have failed.

How does IVF work?

First, you take medication that makes several of your eggs mature and ready for fertilization. Then the doctor takes the eggs out of your body and mixes them with sperm in a lab, to help the sperm fertilize the eggs. Then they put 1 or more fertilized eggs (embryos) directly into your uterus. Pregnancy happens if any of the embryos implant in the lining of your uterus.

IVF has many steps, and it takes several months to complete the whole process. It sometimes works on the first try, but many people need more than 1 round of IVF to get pregnant.

What’s the IVF process?

1. Taking fertility medications for several months to help your ovaries produce several eggs that are mature and ready for fertilization. This is called ovulation induction. You may get regular ultrasounds or blood tests to measure your hormone levels and keep track of your egg production.
2. Once your ovaries have produced enough mature eggs, your doctor removes the eggs from your body (this is called egg retrieval). Egg retrieval is a minor surgical procedure that’s done at your doctor’s office or at a fertility clinic.
3. You’ll get medicine to help you be relaxed and comfortable during the procedure.
4. Using an ultrasound to see inside your body, the doctor puts a thin, hollow tube through your vagina and into the ovary and follicles that hold your eggs. The needle is connected to a suction device that gently pulls the eggs out of each follicle.
5. In a lab, your eggs are mixed with sperm cells from your partner or a donor. The eggs and sperm are stored together in a special container, and fertilization happens.
6. About 3-5 days after the egg retrieval, 1 or more embryos are put into your uterus the doctor slides a thin tube through your cervix into your uterus, and inserts the embryo directly into your uterus through the tube.

Pregnancy happens if any of the embryos attach to the lining of your uterus.  Embryo transfer is done at your doctor’s office or at a fertility clinic, and it’s usually not painful. The hormones make it easier for the embryo to survive in your uterus.

Infertility and In Vitro Fertilization

Today, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is practically a household word. But not so long ago, it was a mysterious procedure for infertility that produced what were then known as “test-tube babies.”

Unlike the simpler process of artificial insemination – IVF involves combining eggs and sperm outside the body in a laboratory. Once an embryo or embryos form, they are then placed in the uterus. IVF is a complex and expensive procedure; only about 5% of couples with infertility seek it out. However, since its introduction in the U.S. IVF and other similar techniques have resulted in more than 200,000 babies.

IVF is never the first step in the treatment of infertility except in cases of complete tubal blockage. Instead, it’s reserved for cases in which other methods such as fertility drugs, surgery, and artificial insemination haven’t worked.

If you think that IVF might make sense for you, carefully assess any treatment center before undergoing the procedure. 

Is IVF pregnancy different from normal pregnancy?

For most women, the answer is no: after the first few weeks, an IVF pregnancy is the same as a “regular” pregnancy in every respect, at least insofar as any two pregnancies can be compared. Every woman and every pregnancy are unique, no matter how the baby is conceived.

How long does it take to get pregnant with IVF?

One cycle of IVF takes about two months. Women younger than age 30 will get pregnant and have a baby with their first IVF egg retrieval and subsequent embryo transfer(s) about half the time.

What are the side effects of IVF?

Like all medications and medical procedures, IVF has some risks and possible side effects. These include:

• bloating
• cramping
• breast tenderness
• mood swings
• headaches
• bruising from shots
• allergic reaction to medicines
• bleeding
• infection

Your doctor can talk with you about any questions or concerns you have about IVF risks and side effects.

IVF can also be difficult emotionally, both for the person having the procedures and for their partner and/or family. Many people doing IVF treatments struggle with depression and anxiety throughout the process.

What Are the Success Rates for IVF?

Success rates for IVF depend on a number of factors, including the reason for infertility, where you’re having the procedure done, and your age. The CDC compiles national statistics for all assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures performed in the U.S., including IVF, GIFT, and ZIFT, although IVF is by far the most common; it accounts for 99% of the procedures. The most recent report from 2016 found:

• Pregnancy was achieved in an average of 27.3% of all cycles (higher or lower depending on the age of the woman).
• The percentage of cycles that resulted in live births was 22.2% on average (higher or lower depending on the age of the woman).

So, would you like to improve your chances of getting pregnant fast? Click here to learn how using IVF you can increase your success rate.

Each woman’s menstrual cycle is different, so getting to know your body better can improve your chances of conception.

Getting pregnant fast is far from simple, but calculating which days of the month you will be ovulating can take away some of the guesswork. Wondering where to start? Simplify trying to conceive ovulation calculator which tells you which days of the month you’re most likely to get pregnant.

Ovulation Date Calculator

A woman is able to become pregnant (fertile) only during a certain part of her monthly cycle. That is just before and during ovulation. By learning when you ovulate, you can predict when you’re likely to be fertile. This calculator gives approximate ovulation dates and fertile times for women who have regular periods. (Regular periods mean having a period every 21 to 35 days.) Fertility charting, basal temperature tracking, and purchased ovulation test kits can also be used to help predict a woman’s fertile times. These are especially useful if a woman has irregular periods.

For Ovulation Calculator to be the most accurate and useful, you’ll need to keep track of the dates of your recent menstrual periods. 

Your cycle length is the number of days between the first day of bleeding of one period, and the first day of bleeding of the next. This can vary from 23 to 35 days, and 28 days is about average. If you have irregular menstrual cycles, calculating your ovulation date can be more difficult, but we suggest going by your shortest period date to ensure you don’t miss your ovulation date.

Conception and sex

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 for the time that the egg is released. An active sex life is all most people need to conceive.

If you are quite sure 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.

When is the best time to conceive?

To increase your chances of getting pregnant, you need to get your fertile eggs and your partner’s sperm together as often as possible. You can only get pregnant on the few days each cycle around ovulation, when an egg is released.

How does the menstrual cycle work?

• Your cycle starts on the first day of your period and continues up to the first day of your next period.
• At the same time, eggs begin to mature in the ovary.
• The lining of the womb thickens ready for fertilization.
• During ovulation your cervical mucus becomes thinner and clearer to help the sperm reach the released egg.
• About 10 to 16 days before the start of your next period, an egg is released from one of the ovaries (ovulation).
• If sperm is present at the moment of ovulation, or sometime during the next 24 hours, the egg may be fertilized.
• If the egg has not been fertilized, the egg is re-absorbed by the body, the hormone levels drop, and the womb lining is shed. This is the beginning of your next period.

How to spot the signs of ovulation

Ovulation usually happens about 10 to 16 days before the start of your next period, so it helps to know your cycle length before you start trying to conceive.

You may never have considered when you might ovulate within your cycle, and if you have been using a hormone contraceptive such as the Pill, you won’t have had a natural menstrual cycle for a while.

As a first step, mark on your ovulation calendar the dates that you bleed during a period. You can then count how many days from the first day of your period to your next period to work out the length of your cycle.

1.     Cervical mucus changes

The cervix secretes mucus throughout the menstrual cycle, starting off sticky white and gradually becoming thinner and clearer. Before and during ovulation the mucus increases and becomes much thinner, slippery and stretchy. Women often compare it to raw egg white.

This thinner mucus is designed to help the sperm swim easily through it. It indicates that you are in your fertile phase, so this is the time to have sex if you want to get pregnant, but use contraception if you do not!

The last day you notice the wetter secretions is sometimes known as ‘peak day’ and for most women this occurs very close to the time of ovulation.

2.     Temperature

You can also find out about your menstrual cycle by keeping a note of your temperature each morning when you wake up. Your temperature rises by about 0.2°C when ovulation has taken place. As it is only an indicator that you have ovulated, and doesn’t tell you when your fertile time starts, this is not very useful for most women.

Facts about timing:

Ovulation is when a mature egg is released from the ovary. The egg then moves down the fallopian tube where it can be fertilized. If sperm are in the fallopian tube when the egg is released, there is a good chance that the egg will be fertilized, creating an embryo, which can grow into a baby.

Pregnancy is technically only possible if you have sex during the five days before ovulation or on the day of ovulation. But the most fertile days are the three days leading up to and including ovulation. Having sex during this time gives you the best chance of getting pregnant.

By 12-24 hours after ovulation, a woman is no longer able to get pregnant during that menstrual cycle because the egg is no longer in the fallopian tube.

There’s almost no chance of getting pregnant if you have sex before or after the fertile window (but if you’re not trying to get pregnant, don’t rely on this – contraception is your best option!).

MAIN POINTS:

• A woman can only get pregnant during the ‘fertile window’ in the menstrual cycle.
• There are a few ways to work out when you’re ovulating.
• Your chance of getting pregnant is dramatically increased if you have sex on the day of ovulation, or two days before that.

To better your chances of getting pregnant, click here to increase your odds of getting a positive result on your next pregnancy test.