Improving Your Chances of Becoming Pregnant
Tackling infertility with tools, tips, methods and apps
When we first started trying for a baby we were pretty clueless about a lot of things. Over the months we’ve learnt so much that we wanted to create this guide for those just starting out and perhaps not seeing results.
THE BASICS OF YOUR CYCLE
Getting a refresher here is a good idea as this will be your first stop to understanding how to improve your chances of getting pregnant — as well as sometimes your first hint that you might need more help in getting pregnant.
A woman’s cycle is counted as starting from day one of your period through to the final day before the next period. The length of this cycle varies woman to woman — and sometimes, cycle to cycle. The average length is considered to be 28 days, but don’t worry if yours is different to this. If you have a very irregular cycle, a very short cycle (less than 21 days) or a very long cycle (greater than 35 days) you might be best to chat with your doctor sooner.
When trying to get pregnant it’s a good idea to get to know your cycle in more detail. The first step is to start tracking how many days your cycle actually is each time. I thought mine was pretty regular until I started recording it. Rather, it turns out my cycle has varied between 27 and 33 days over the last year.
An even better measure is to track your temperature too. Doing this can confirm if your body is actually releasing an egg (ovulating) and pinpoint which day this happens! To do this, you need to measure your basel body temperature (BBT). You can buy a specialist BBT thermometer from your local pharmacy/chemist (sometimes it’s just called an ovulation thermometer). Measure your temperature each day starting day 1 of your cycle. For best accuracy, measure first thing in the morning before you do anything (eat, drink, pee, walk, wiggle etc) by keeping your thermometer right next to your bed. On the day you ovulate you should see a sharp decrease in temperature, before a sudden large increase.
Now that you know which day you ovulate you can estimate when this will be for future months.
TOOLS TO HELP YOU TRACK
You can download a free chart to record your temperature here, but I found using an app is easier. There are plenty of options out there, but after some trial and error I found Kindara to work the best for me.
You can also get a blood test taken on a specific day of your cycle to confirm you are ovulating (ask your doctor about this).
You might also come across the fern test that claims to help identify when you’re ovulating. This method gives you a small microscope tool that lets you look at patterns in your saliva. Maybe it was just me, but I did not find this tool helpful at all!
WHEN TO CONCEIVE
Now that you know for sure your body is releasing an egg and which day this occurs, you can improve your chances by aiming to have sex on the right days. Of course you can just aim to have lots of sex, but if you happen to have a three day break around the prime days you may just miss out that month. The reason behind this is simply because of how long sperm and your egg survive in your body.
Try to have sex with your partner in the three days before you’re due to ovulate and up until one day after you ovulate. This is because sperm will survive in the uterus for 3-4 days on average, while the egg only lasts 12-24 hours on average. Given the window is so small once the egg is actually released, it’s recommended to get the sperm in early a day or so before so they are waiting at the door when the egg is released!
Don’t think this has to be an unnatural, scheduled act where you’re tied to a precise calendar (unless of course that works for you!). We found just being aware of the best days helped us enough. Knowing this, we would try to avoid scheduling in any high-stress activities on these days and basically just make time for each other. So, whatever it is that makes you both happy and enjoy each other— this is the perfect time to do it ☺
IMPROVING YOUR CHANCES
DIET
You can improve your chances by eating certain foods that will help your body. It’s not a bad idea to do this before you’re pregnant anyway given a lot of the crucial development happens during early pregnancy.
MEN
For the men, you can improve your sperm quality with zinc, selenium and folate. Zinc improves your volume (sperm count), selenium improves the mobility and function of the sperm, and folate reduces the risk of sperm abnormalities.
The foods you should eat to get these lovely nutrients daily are:
- Just three Brazil nuts a day will give you your daily selenium needs
- For zinc heavy foods try a mix of oysters, beef, lamb, spinach, pumpkin seeds and cashew nuts
- For folate heavy foods try a mix of beans, lentils, spinach, asparagus, lettuce, avocado, broccoli and wheat bread
Don’t forget men need to lay off drinking alcohol, as this can affect the quality of your sperm. Recreational drugs and smoking are of course a no-no.
WOMEN
For the women, the above nutrients and rules listed under men are also advised.
Folate is considered the most important. This awesome B-group vitamin is essential for healthy development of your baby and can prevent neural tube defects (e.g. spina bifida). You need to ensure you’re getting this vitamin months in advance before trying for a baby. Outside of the foods you consume, it is also recommended for women to take this as supplement too. This is because it can be somewhat difficult to be sure how much you’re getting from your diet because the vitamin is affected by how foods are cooked and stored. A supplement with 0.5 mg of folic acid is generally recommended (on top of eating folate-rich foods).
Outside of the above, there is a mountain of information out there about what you should and shouldn’t eat and drink when trying for a baby. It is seriously intense and there is a lot of contradictory information around. The general consensus is to aim to be as healthy as you can be. If you push all the noise to the side, basically the answer is everything you’ve learnt about a healthy, balanced diet remains true: grains, vegetables, fruit, meat and dairy. This also means cutting down (or completely out) on junk food.
For those wanting a more specific “what to do” list, here are some of the key nutrients that most agree you should be aiming to include:
- Vitamin D: get your minimum of 10-15 minutes of sunlight each day (without sunscreen, but avoid sunburn with the midday sun)
- Vitamin B12 heavy foods: shellfish, fish (be cautious of mercury here), tofu, cereals, red meat and eggs
- Iron heavy foods: clams, mussels, oysters, pumpkin seeds, nuts, beef, lamb, beans, whole grains, dark leafy greens and tofu
- Protein heavy foods: turkey, fish, pork, beef, veal, beans, eggs, yoghurt, milk, soy milk, nuts and seeds
Health·Alicious·Ness has created some fabulous lists that show the top food sources for various vitamins and minerals.
CAFFEINE
You will improve your chances if you and your partner cut down your caffeine intake given this can impact on fertility. The acceptable limits are argued, but roughly less than 200 micrograms a day is generally agreed upon. Depending on the beans and how it’s made, if you buy your coffee from a cafe you could easily exceed this limit with just one cup!
Consider how much caffeine you get from all sources: coffee, soft drink, tea, chocolate and energy drinks (if you need to look any of this up, don’t forget the caffeine levels for some brands change country to country). We found it easier (well, not at first) to just completely cut out caffeine so we didn’t have to worry about exceeding the limit.
SEX AND SPERM QUALITY
Having sex daily or multiple times a day is probably not going to improve your chances. After ejaculation, sperm needs time to properly replenish. Without this you’re likely to be receiving a load with a low sperm count. Not having sex (well, ejaculating) frequently enough can also diminish the quality of the sperm. Sperm is considered to be at its peak on day 2 after the last ejaculation. Any sooner or later and the quality starts to diminish. So, aim to have sex every second day and when this isn’t possible, your partner can always get rid of his load himself beforehand ☺
I won’t go into the science behind ideal acidity levels for sperm here, but it’s also best to avoid using lubricants during sex as this can interfere with sperm quality.
STRESS
The stress levels of either partner can impact on your ability to get pregnant. If one or both of you have a particularly demanding job (or lifestyle) it’s a good idea to make some changes while you’re trying to get pregnant. You may find that just the process of not getting pregnant is stressful enough. Relax, swim, veg-out, run, nap, sing, play, dance or do whatever it is that helps you unwind and leave your worries behind. Don’t forget to try to go easy on each other as well.
EXERCISE
I groaned when I first read this, but yes, obviously the healthier you both are the less likely you’re going to face issues trying to get pregnant. Here I’ve included just the very basics that you should try to do. If you can do more than this each day that is fantastic!
If you don’t really do any exercise at all, at the very least go for a 30 minute walk every day. You don’t even need to wear gym gear to do this. An easy tip is to get off the bus/train early. Or opting to walk short distances where you would usually drive (e.g. to the shops). If you find 30 minutes easy, then aim to do more!
We found the best way to motivate ourselves was through tracking our steps. This kept us striving (or should I say striding!) towards our daily goal of 10,000 steps, but also hungry to do better than the previous day (and each other). It’s also a good motivator that pushed us back on track if we had a previous lazy day.
A simple pedometer will do, but we loved the free app Moves. This does drain your phone battery however. We recently just purchased a FitBit One and absolutely love the various stats it records on just how mobile we are each day.
WEIGHT
You could be giving yourself a harder time in getting pregnant if you’re overweight or obese. The same goes if you’re underweight. If you’re not sure where you stand you can do a simple check by measuring your body mass index (BMI). Find out below by finding your height and weight on the chart below.
If you find this chart confusing, you can calculate your actual BMI here. If your BMI is within 18.5 and 25, you are generally considered to be of a healthy weight.
This method isn’t 100% true for all body types and the classified healthy ranges vary country to country. If you find yourself to be outside of the healthy range, your doctor will be able to advise you here, as will a dietitian or nutritionist. Please remember that when you’re trying for a baby it really isn’t the time for fad diets nor starving yourself of important nutrients to lose weight.
LAUGHTER
This is my own inclusion, but laughter has many known benefits for your health. Among other things, it is known to improve your immunity, reduce blood pressure levels and most importantly, combat stress. Trying to successfully get pregnant can be a horribly trying time, so I say it can’t hurt to add this to your “to do list”. Tickle fights, funny movies, uplifting conversations, jokes and silly antics are all part of what my husband and I call giggle-therapy ☺
STILL NO LUCK?
If you have tried all of the above and still aren’t able to get pregnant it really is a good idea to go and chat with your doctor now. We held off going in earlier because we were convinced it was one reason or another each month. I guess we figured infertility has a relatively low incidence and that we would be getting ahead of ourselves assuming we had an issue here.
They say you should seek professional help if you haven’t been able to conceive within 12 months. But I say boo to this. Try the above for a few months and see your doctor sooner if it is not working. It’s a good idea for both partners to do this.
Your doctor will run through a check list to see if there is anything obvious you could improve on, as well as do a physical examination for any immediate signs. Here I was weighed, had a pap smear and a few prods for any lumps or abnormalities. My husband got a sperm check as well.
Your doctor can also arrange a variety of blood tests, including a check of your iron levels and to check you’re actually ovulating.
If it seems like you might need some assistance in getting pregnant, they’ll refer you on to a specialist. This sounded scary to us, but we had answers to our problems within 30 minutes of seeing the specialist. They ask very easy to answer questions and they’ll be able to outline your various options. For some people, it may just be the case of needing some minor hormone medication to get you on your way.
Best of luck!
This collection is based on a compilation of all the information I’ve found. I’ve tried to cross-check everything using different reputable sources. I hope you found this information helpful!
— Brenda
