It obviously took a long time for us to get pregnant, and I had a lot of time to prepare my body for pregnancy. In fact, as the months passed without getting pregnant, I was doing whatever I could think of to better my body for pregnancy. I was determined to make my body a better vessel that a baby would want to live in!
If I could do it over, I would have started preparing a year before even trying to get pregnant. To be honest, I was naïve, and I didn’t really know what I was doing. I thought getting pregnant would be a piece of cake! One day we just threw the half-empty pack of birth control pills in the trash and started trying! In hindsight, I think my body needed time to normalize, get strong, and get healthy for Baby Schrank!
Learn from my mistakes and start doing these things NOW if you want to get pregnant. You don’t have to “try” yet, but just this will help start the process. If you are already trying (and getting frustrated), try incorporating these into your life.
See A Doctor
This is one thing we (actually) did before we started trying. It’s important to have an exam before you get pregnant to make sure everything is good down there! This includes a pap smear, STD test, pelvic exam, etc. At the exam, I told the PA that we were going to start trying. She was able to answer some questions for us and recommended that I get my vaccinations updated. Even if you are healthy and don’t think you need to see a doctor, it’s still good to get a check-up!
Stop Taking Birth Control
As I mentioned, I threw half a pack of birth control pills in the trash and was like okay let’s do this! First, if you’re on the pill, I would suggest finishing the pack. Your cycles are already going to be messed up, why confuse it even more by not finishing the cycle? Also, knowing what I know now, I would have gotten off hormonal birth control YEARS ago and maybe done a copper IUD or nothing at all. If you are on hormonal birth control now, and want to start trying soon, the sooner the better as far as getting off birth control. Your body needs to get back in a rhythm before it can get pregnant. Because I had been on birth control almost 15 years, I think it struggled to get back on track. If I had given it more time to adjust, maybe conception would have been easier.
Prenatal Vitamins
It’s important to start prenatal vitamins BEFORE you get pregnant. I think you should start them before you even start trying. You need certain vitamins during pregnancy (especially folate) and it’s important to start building those up. I’ve taken lots of different gummy prenatal vitamins throughout the past two years and this kind is my favorite.
Improve Your Diet
You want your body to be it’s best and healthiest before getting pregnant. This means whole foods, nothing processed, and nutrient rich. This is important for pregnancy, but also before you get pregnant. If you are underweight or overweight, you may have a harder time getting pregnant. When I had my exam (pre-trying to get pregnant) the PA told me to lose just a little bit of weight. I wasn’t overweight by any means, but probably needed to lose a few to really be at my best! In addition, once you get pregnant, having a healthier starting weight means a healthier pregnancy.
Exercise
Besides diet, it’s beneficial to exercise while trying to get pregnant. It’s good for circulation, for your organs, and for your mind. I did some yoga, some cardio, and some weights as well. I like to mix things up (because I get bored easily!) I would find something that works for you and stick to it. Even going for a walk or doing something low impact will get your blood pumping!
Cut Down on Caffeine
Caffeine can be a hormone disruptor, which means it can contribute to infertility in women (and even men too!) While trying to get pregnant, I cut my caffeine intake down to 200mg. This is also the recommendation for while you are pregnant. It is honestly easier to ween yourself off before pregnancy than once you’re pregnant. You can basically have 2 8-ounce cups of coffee, which isn’t bad! I also just like the taste and comfort of drinking coffee (is that a thing?!) so I drink decaf too! I’ve been drinking the half-caff Nespresso pods a lot.
Cut Down on Alcohol
Sure, plenty of people get pregnant after drinking A LOT of alcohol. That’s something that a lot of people said to me when I wouldn’t drink that much while we were trying. Yes, lots of people get pregnant when drunk! But if you are already having trouble conceiving, alcohol can make it worse. I had two drinks a day while trying (most of the time). There were times that I would let loose (especially after getting my period sometimes!) but, generally speaking, I was pretty good.
Track Your Cycles
I used the Glow App to track my cycles on my phone. To be honest, I had mixed results with this. I think it’s helpful for tracking your cycles (I had never bothered to keep track before) but didn’t find it that helpful for predicting ovulation. It assumes that everyone will ovulate around Day 14, which wasn’t the case for me. Without the actual ovulation kits, I would not have been able to pinpoint from this app when I was ovulating.
Use Ovulation Kits
I didn’t start using ovulation kits until we had been trying for about 4 months. I would recommend starting these BEFORE trying. Ovulation kits allow you to pinpoint when you are ovulating. You will take the tests starting around day 10 for 5-10 days (or until you get the LH surge). The LH surge means you should ovulate within the next 24 hours. Doing these tests is how I discovered I was ovulating SO LATE. I started taking them on day 10 and wouldn’t get an LH surge even by day 20. I found out then that my cycles were not allowing me to get pregnant because my luteal phase was so short. More on that later!
Ovulation kits are expensive. I was using the drug store brands for a while and was like damn this isn’t cheap. I started buying this brand on Amazon and stopped feeling bad about using so many. I also have a pro-tip for others doing the kits. Pee into one of these cups and dip the test in there (instead of holding it in your urine stream). The reason is that sometimes the kits don’t work or error out, and once the urine is diluted (with the water in the toilet) you won’t be able to test again. For this reason, use a cup so that you can test again if needed. Also, always do these at the same time each day, morning is usually best.
Vitex and B6
After doing the ovulation kits I realized I was ovulating super late in my cycle. I was ovulating on cycle day 20 (or later) in a 27-day cycle. This indicates that there is a hormonal imbalance and means that there are only 7 days for fertilization and implantation to occur before your period comes again. This is not enough time and not going to work for conception! I researched natural remedies for a short luteal phase and Vitex and Vitamin B6 were two things that continuously came up. I ordered this and this from Amazon right away. I took these in conjunction with acupuncture (see below) and my cycles changed A LOT. I cannot say definitively which helped the most, but honestly anything helps!
Acupuncture
I want to write a whole post about acupuncture soon, but for now, just add it to your to-do list! I saw acupuncture repeatedly on the Internet when looking for natural fertility tips. I heard that acupuncture would help regulate my cycles (and it really did!) I was also having a lot of symptoms (especially around the time of ovulation), so those were our focus areas during acupuncture. It’s also just super relaxing (during a stressful time) so it’s kind of like having a spa day. If you want the contact info for my acupuncturist, let me know! I went weekly in the beginning and now that I am pregnant I go once a month.
Cut the Toxins
I worked hard while trying to get pregnant to eliminate as many toxins from my life as possible. I switched out my makeup, hair products, and cleaning products! What you need to pay most attention to is anything with parabens. Parabens are known hormone disruptors and really mess you up. Not to mention toxins are cancer causing and will be passed on to your baby. Yikes! I live by the 80/20 rule when it comes to “clean” products. If 80% of what I’m using is clean, I don’t worry about the other 20%. For example, I still use scented candles and never switched out our mattress, etc. I’ve done quite a few posts on safe (or safer) beauty products if you want to check it out!
