Getting Pregnant: How Parenthood All Begins

If you are part of a couple that is considering having a baby in the near future then you are undoubtedly on the verge of making one of the biggest decisions of your live. Having a baby will revolutionize your life and set you on a completely different path. As such, it’s not a decision to be taken lightly but once you have made the decision to try and get pregnant then the hard work starts straight away!

Too many people believe that getting pregnant is easy but some of the couples that have tried in the past have found that all too often this isn’t the case. A lot of teenagers seem to have unprotected sex just once and get pregnant but if you’re actively trying for a baby then it can take months or even years to conceive. It’s definitely worth preparing for this in advance because you may be in for a lot of heartache if you don’t.

Hopefully it won’t take you more than a year to conceive after you begin trying, but if you happen to use the contraceptive pill then it can take up to six months, and in some extreme cases a little longer, for your body to regulate. This six months is the best time to prepare yourself for pregnancy.

In Preparation For Pregnancy

Preparing for pregnancy might not enter your mind but there are certain things you can do to enhance your chances of getting pregnant sooner rather than later.

The first thing that you can do to help you to get pregnant is taking folic acid supplements or eat foods that are rich in folic acid. This includes spinach, asparagus, broccoli and wheat germ, amongst others. Folic acid will not only help your chances of getting pregnant by encouraging implantation of a fertilised egg and enhance your fertility, but it will also help to reduce the chances of any birth defects, such as spina bifida, occurring.

It’s also important to eat a healthy diet that’s rich in vitamins and minerals but low in fat. Gaining weight could affect your chances of conceiving, as could losing too much weight too quickly so you should make sure that you eat enough to maintain a healthy weight. Stress could also encourage you to put on or lose weight so avoid stressful situations like the plague!

Finally, when it comes to trying to get pregnant, you should work out when your most fertile time of the month is. One of the main reasons why it takes some women so long to get pregnant is because many have sex at the wrong time. There is only a period of around 24 to 48 hours every month when you are at your most fertile. It’s important that you try to have sex during this time frame to maximise your chances.

When Is Your Most Fertile Time?

I’m sure that every female that has looked into the possibility of having a baby in the near future has also looked into when the best time to try and get pregnant is, if only briefly. We all know that the most fertile time of the month is also the best time to get pregnant. That goes without saying. However, the information out there on the most fertile time of the month and identifying it is hugely confusing. There is literally so much information that it boggles the mind so here is a quick summary for you in plain English!

Your Most Fertile Time

Every woman has a period of a few days of her menstruation cycle every month that is her most fertile time. If it was a set day every month then it would be easy to identify but unfortunately life just isn’t that simple. The most fertile time of the month for any woman will be different because of the timing of bodily changes, the positioning and release of the egg and any other number of different factors, which can include stress, length of the cycle and regularity of periods in general. However, it does end the day after actual ovulation.

Now all of the above means that your most fertile time of the month is unique to you and this is what makes it more difficult to identify. It isn’t outside of the realms of possibility that you would have a different most fertile time from one month to the next. Again, it all depends on so much.

In years gone by, women would do one of two things. They would either calculate the most fertile day of the month by calculating when the egg begins to descend or just have sex and hope for the best. Technology is so sophisticated now that there are two main methods you could use to find out what your most fertile time of the month actually is.

The Cheat’s Way

There are actually ovulation tests that you can take to determine when your most fertile time is. They look like home pregnancy tests because they come in stick form and will tell you when you could possible get pregnant. This can work out expensive because you could take one of the ovulation tests every day for a week and not be at your most fertile. However, they are usually accurate and will save you time.

The Hard Way

There are several hard ways to try and work out whether you are at your most fertile, including the following:

· Checking your body temperature – Also known as the Basal Body Temperature (BBT), your early morning body temperature will rise by 1C from just after ovulation until the beginning of your next cycle so it is possible to pinpoint ovulation.
· Checking your cervical mucus – The consistency of any mucus produced by the cervix to keep bacteria away will change. This only happens when a woman is at her most fertile so as to allow sperm to get to the egg. If yours changes then you are at your most fertile.
· Charting your cycle – Many women use charts to tell them when their most fertile time is. This isn’t foolproof as so many factors can mess up the chart, but the above two are monitored along with hormone changes to give you a rough idea of how fertile you are at any given time.

An egg will only stay alive in your body for up to 24 hours after ovulation so be aware that your window of opportunity is very small. If you can figure out the right day to have sex on then you are half way there!