Five Things That You Can Do To Increase Your Fertility & Increase Your Chances of Conceiving
In my practice I love working with women and helping them with health issues like menstrual cycle problems, hormonal issues, emotional stress and menopause. But one issue that I find especially interesting is fertility. I had the honor and privilege of being taught and working with one of Denver’s top fertility experts at The Point Acupuncture Clinic. In my work there I found a love of women’s health and the beauty of our complicated systems. So I decided that I would share five tips that I have learned and that can make a big difference in your fertility and your chances of conceiving.
First step is to learn about your cycle. Get to know your body and the ins and outs of your cycle. Ideally our cycles should be about 29 days in length with day one considered the first day of bleeding with fresh red blood. Bleeding itself should only last about 4-5 days and should be pain free and clot free. One to two days before ovulation your body should discharge clear egg white texture cervical mucus. This is an indication of some of your most fertile days. Ovulation should occur around day 14 and should also be pain free.
Some people like to monitor their cycle by charting the month using basal body temperature. This method does take some dedication because it is important to track your temps at the same time in the morning before you get out of bed. There are also all kinds of apps out there that you can input your data and they will do a lot of the tracking for you. Good information to keep in mind is length of your cycle, number of days of bleeding and how heavy, day of ovulation and cervical mucus amount and consistency. Do you have PMS symptoms? What are they and how severe are they? Knowing this information can give you and your healthcare team insights as to when you are most fertile so you can time sex better or where there may be imbalances in your body and how to correct them to optimize your chances of conceiving and carrying a healthy baby
Second step is comb through your life and ditch the toxins. Take a look at the cosmetics you use, the soaps and lotions you use. What kinds of household cleaners do you use? All of these product we surround ourselves with can pollute our bodies causing problems with hormones, cause inflammation can affect our egg quality. One big thing to ditch from your life are plastics. Plastics contain chemicals, like BPAs, that mimic estrogen and can really be hard on the female system. So go through the kitchen toss the plastic storage containers and opt for glass, ditch the plastic water bottles and choose metal or glass. Finally, and this a big one, look at your diet. Is your diet clean? While you are in the kitchen ditching the plastic take a peek a see if your cupboards are full of preservatives, sugars and foods lacking in nutrients and good fats?
The third step is to watch your blood sugar. Stable blood sugar is a very important part of healthy egg quality. But when considering your blood sugar it is equally important to pay attention to low blood sugar as well as high. Most of us think straight away about high blood sugar and conditions like diabetes, but did you ever stop to consider hypoglycemia. Swinging into low blood sugar can be just as damaging to the body and your egg quality. So stop and think about your day. Do you get breakfast? Do you skip meals? Eat snacks? What kind of foods are you eating through the day and will they spike your blood sugar or hold it steady? When you look at your eating habits try to make sure to eat something about every three hours and that it contains some form of protein and a good fat. This type of snack will help maintain an even blood sugar level through the day, increasing your energy, decreasing inflammation and increasing egg quality.
Fourth step is to tackle your stress. Stress plays a big roll in our fertility because it is a large cause of inflammation, and inflammation is the root cause of many health problems including fertility struggles. Find where your stresses lay and work to eliminate them or find productive ways to reduce them. Find activities that bring you happiness, like Exercise, meditation, walking, flower arraigning or painting and block time out on the calendar for them. Delegate out tasks when you can, if your house is a mess and you can’t stand house cleaning hire someone to do it. Find ways to make things easier on yourself, whatever that means for you.
The Fifth step is to have fun! In our journeys to having a baby, one that can be so engorged with emotion, frustration and stress, it can be easy to lose sight of the fun and excitement of it all. You get to have sex and that should be fun! Do something to make yourself feel sexy, strong and beautiful. Surprise your partner, cook a beautiful meal, leave your partner a love note, or recreate a favorite date. The ideas are endless and as unique as you and your love. Remember that making a baby should be a great time, filled with love, laughter, intimacy, beauty and FUN. Let go and give in to your body, mind and partner and often that is when the journey gets really good.
If you would like to learn in more detail about each of these steps hop over my web page and check out The Becoming Mama Program. You can also reach out, make an appointment and I would LOVE to talk with you about your fertility journey.