Ha

vingababyisabe
a ut
if
ul,
l
if
e-c
hangi
ngevent.

Wa
nttoGe
tPr e
gnant
?
Re
adThisFi
rst
.
7S
tepst
oGe
tPr
egna
ntEa
sil
y

Dosanddon'
tsofi
ncr
eas
ingyour
cha
ncesofge
tti
ngpre
gnant
.
ByDe
nis
seMa
nn

Youarere
adytogetpre
g na
nt.Now.Onc
eyou
arere
adytost
artafami
ly,wai
ti
ngist
hel
ast
thi
ngyouwanttodo.
Alt
houg hMot herNaturehasahandi ntheti
ming,
the
rea resomet hingsyoucando--ornotdo- -to
hel
pi ncre
a s
eyourc hancesofget
tingpregnant
ASAP. Readonf orse
ve nexper
t-a
ppr ovedti
psfor
get
tingpregna nt.
1.
Dog
etapr
econc
ept
ionc
hec
kup.
Beforeyouoffici
all
ys t
a r
ttrying,getachec kup.
Askyourdoc toraboutpr enatalvi
taminstha t
havefoli
cacid, whichhe l
pspr ote
cta g
a i
nsts ome
bir
thde f
ects
,s uchasspinabi fi
da.Folicacid
wor ksduri
ngt heearlystagesofpre g
na ncy,so
that'
swhyi t
'simpor t
a nttoma kesureyou' re
gett
ingenoug hfoli
ca c
ide venbe f
oreyoug et
pregnant.

"Dothisthec ycl
ebe f
oreyous t
arttryi
ng,"says
Paul
aHi l
lard,MD,aprofessorofobste
tri
c sand
gynecologya tSt
anfordUniversi
ty."
Ifyouha ve
anyunde rlyingmedicalpr
oblems ,
theyne edtobe
undercont rolbef
oreyouc ansafel
ybe c
ome
preg
na nt."
2.
Dog
ett
oknowyourc
ycl
e.
Howmuc hdoyouknowa boutyourme nst
rual
cyc
le?Real
lyunder
standi
nghe lpsyouknow
whenyou'r
emos tf
erti
le,
s a
ysHi l
lar
d.Ovulat
ion
i
sthebestti
met og
etpregna nt
."Thisi
stheti
me
t
ofocusonha vi
ngsex
,"Hill
ards a
ys.
Ithelpstobecomea wareofthesignsofovul
ati
on,
sucha sachangei
nyourc ervica
lmuc us.I
t
usuallybecomesthinandsli
pperywhe nyoua r
e
mos tfer
til
e.Somewome nma yals
ofeelaone-
side
dt wingeofpain.
Ovulati
onpr e dic ti
onki t
sc analsohelpyou
predic
tt hebe stt imet ogetpre g
na nt,
s a
ysJ ames
Goldfa
r b,MD, di rectoroftheinfertil
it
ys erviceat
theCleve l
andCl inicinClevela
nd. Notonl ycan
theyhelpa ss ur eyout hatyoua reovulating,"i
f
youa r
eha vingi nfrequentintercourse,thistel
ls
youwhe nt oha vei ttoincreaseyourc hanc e
sof
gett
ingpr eg na nt ,
"hes ays.
Here'showitworks:Thefi
rstdayofyour
mens tr
ualper
iodiscons
idereddayone."St
art
tes
tingondaynineandke e
pg oi
nguntilyougeta
posi
tive,
"advi
sesJoa
nnePiscit
ell
i,
MD, an
ass
ociat
eprofessorofgyne col
ogya tDuke
Unive
rsit
yMe dicalCent
e rinDur ham,N.C.
Wome nwi t
ha28- daycyc l
et e
ndt oovulat
eon
day14.Butma nywome nha velongerorshor
ter
cyc
les,s
oc as
tingawidene tc anhelpyoubesure.
Wha tifyou'vebe enus i
ngbi rt
hc ont rol?Doyou
needt owa itawhi lebe foretryingt og etpregnant?
Notre al
ly,saysGol dfarb."Yea rsago, the
conventiona lwisdomwa stowa i
tac ert
ain
amountoft i
mea fterstoppingbi rthc ontroltotry
togetpr egna ntbutt hatisnol onge rtrue.Youc an
star
tt r
yingt oc onceiver i
ghta fte
ryous topbi r
th
control,
"Gol dfarbs ays.Theonl ythi ngtoke epin
mindi sthatyouc ouldg etpreg nantbe foreyou
getyourpe r i
od, sotrackingovul ationma ybe
dif
fi
cult,andi tmi ghtbeha rde rtofig ureoutyour
dueda te.Fort hisrea s
on, "
somepe opl ema yf e
el
bett
erwa i
tingunt iltheyg etonepe riodont heir
own,"hes ays .
3.Don'tworr
yaboutt
hebe
stpos
iti
ons
forge
ttingpr
egna
nt.
Mythsa bounda boutthebe s
tposit
ionsforgett
ing
pregnant,buttheyarejustthat-
-myt hs.Ther
eis
rea
llynos ci
entifi
cevidencesayi
ngt hatthe
missionarypositi
onisbe t
tertha
nt hewoma n
bei
ngont opwhe nitcome stomaximizingyour
chancesofma kingaba by.

"Veryrarel
y,awoma n'
sc e
rvixisi
nanunus
ual
posi
tionwhe r
ec e
rtai
npos i
ti
onscanmakea
dif
ferenc
e,"Goldf
arbtel
lsWe bMD.

Cert
aingravi
ty-
defyi ngposit
ions,s
uchassitt
ing
orsta
ndingduringint er
course,however,
ma y
di
scouragespermf romt ra
velingupst
ream."It'
sa
matterofgra
vit
y[a nd]youdon' twantallt
he
sementorunout- -a ndseme narequic
klitt
le
cri
tt
ers,
"Hill
ardsays .
4.
Dol
ayl
owr
ighta
fte
rint
erc
our
se.

Youha vepr
obabl
yhe ardthisone--l
ieinbed
withyourfee
tinthea i
raft
erha vi
ngsexto
inc
r e
aseyourcha
nc esofget
tingpreg
na nt
.The
verdic
t?Not(t
ota
lly)true
.

"It
'sgooda dvi
c etolayinbedfor10t o15
minutesafterintercour
se,butyoudon' tneed
yourfeetinthea i
r,"Goldf
arbs ays.
"Yourpelvi
s
doesnotmovewhe nyouputyourl e
gsinthea i
r.
"
Don'tgotheba throomdur ingthisti
mee it
her,he
says."
Ifyouwa i
t10t o15mi nutes,t
hes pe
rm
thati
sg oi
ngt og e
tintothec e
rvixwillbeinthe
cervi
x."
5.
Don'
tove
rdoi
t.

Havingsexe veryda yeve nduringovul at

ionwill
notnecessaril
yinc r
easeyourc hancesofg et
ti
ng
pregnant.
"Ing eneral,
eve ryothe rnightaround
theti
meofovul at
ionhe lpsincreaseyourc hance
ofgett
ingpr egnant,
"Gol dfarbsays.Spermc an
li
veupt o72hour saft
eri nterc
our se
.Thebe st
suggest
ionistoha ves exr egul
a r
ly--whe nyou'r
e
ovul
a t
ing,andwhe nyou' renot.
Spe akingofsperm," weari
ngt i
ght-
fit
ti
ngc l
othing
canne g a
tivel
ya f
fectsper
mc ount,
"Pisc
itel
lis
ays.
Sot ooc anspendingtimeinhott uborJacuzzi
.
Yourma n'scel
lphoneha bitsma yals
oa l
sone ed
somewor k.
As t
udyi nthejournalFerti
li
tyand
Ste r
il
ityshowe dthatme nwhous e
daha nds-fr
e e
de vic
ewi thacellphonea ndke ptt
heirphone
closetot hei
rtesti
cl
e shadpoor erspermqua l
it
y.
Hemi ghtwanttopa ssonthee damamea ndot her
soyfoodsforawhile,too.Menwhoe atalotof
soyfoodsma yhaveal owerspe r
mc oncentrati
on
t
ha nme nwhodon' teatsoyfoods,a
c c
ordingt oa
studypubli
shedonlineinHuma nReproduction.
6.
Dode
-st
res
sanywa
yyouc
an.

Trynottogetst
res
sedoutaboutst
arti
ngaf amil
y.
Youma yrol
lyoureye
sifsomeonesays,"
Just
rel
axanditwil
lhappen,
"butstr
esscanactual
ly
i
nterf
erewithovul
ati
on.Sothemorerela
xe dyou
are,
thebett
er!
Wha teverhe lpsyoude -
stressisfine ,aslonga s
it
'shea l
thy."The r
eissomee vide nc ethat
acupunc turec a
nhe l
pr educestres sa ndinc r
ease
yourc hanc e
sofbe comingpr egnant ,"Goldfarb
says.Anda l
thoughdrinkingtoomuc ha l
c ohol
whe ntryingt ogetpregnantisn'tsma rt,
ag lassof
winewon' thurt.
7.
Dol
iveahe
alt
hyl
if
e.

Exerci
si
ngi sahe al
thyhabit-
-especi
all
yifit
helpskeepyoua tyouridealwei
ght.J
ustli
ke
anythi
nge l
se ,
though,youcangettoomuc hofa
goodthing."Toomuc he x
erci
secancauseyounot
toovulat
e,"Goldfar
bs ays.
Wha t'stoomuc h?I tma ybedi ffer
entf ordiff
erent
wome n.Ifyoua reaha rd-c oree xerci
se randa re
sti
llgetti
ngyourpe riodr eg ular
ly,youre x
erci
se
regime nismos tlike lynotapr oblem, hes ays.But,
Goldfarba dds ,yourme nstr ualperiodi snotthe
fir
stthingt og oifyoua r ee xe r
cisi
ngt oohe avil
y.
"Thef i
rstt hi
ngt ha tha ppe nsi sthatyouha vea
shorters econdha lfofyourc ycl
e.Yous hould
haveape riod14da ysa fteryouovul ate,buttoo
muc he xerc i
sec ans hor tent hispha se.
"Thi s
woul dbet hefi
r sthi ntt ha tyoune edtoc urtai
l
yourf i
tnes sreg i
me n. Hes ug gest
str a
c kinghow
longittake syout og e tape r i
oda f
teryouovul at
e
asthebe s twa ytoknowf ors ure.
Gol
dfa
rbsaysthebe
stwaytoi
ncre
aseyour
cha
ncesofge
tti
ngpreg
nantwhi
leget
ti
ngthe
heal
thbenefi
tsofre
gula
re x
e r
cis
eistodo
moderateexer
cise-
-thi
nkbr i
skwa l
king-
-two
andaha l
fhourseac
hwe ek(oratle
ast30
minute
s,5daysawe ek)
.
St
ops mokingtoincreaseyourchancesofgett
ing
pr
e g
na nt
,"Hil
lar
ds ays.Asi
defroma l
ltheother
negati
vehealt
he f
fectsofsmoking
, t
hisnast
y
habi
ta l
sodecrease
sf er
til
it
y."I
taff
ectsest
rogen
l
evelsandovulat
ion."
Anddon'twor r
ytoomuc haboutyourday
pl
anner.
" Ei
ghty-f
iveperc
entofwome nwil
l
becomepr e
gnantwi t
hinoneyearoft
ryi
ng,"
Hil
lar
dsays .

S
our
ce:
www.
webmd.
com