Improve Your Fertility with Fish Oil

Fish oil is a great supplement for improving your fertility, especially if you suffer from inflammatory conditions such as PCOS. And as an added benefit you’ll improve your cervical mucus which is necessary for the sperm to reach the egg when you ovulate.

But fish oil isn’t just good for women, it’s also good for men too as it can improve sperm motility. Many male infertility issues that relate to sperm can be corrected by taking an omega 3 supplement.

So why is fish oil so good?

Our bodies need essential fatty acids (EFA’s) for optimum health. EFA’s are made up of Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids. These help many conditions including inflammatory conditions, they lower cholesterol and improve mood disorders. If you have a hormone imbalance, they can correct this too – which is why they are considered a super food.

In fact fish oil can help with many different fertility issues. Women who take a fish oil supplement have reported things like clearer charts (for those who are charting), decreased menstrual cramps, improved egg white cervical mucus and less PMS symptoms.

By improving their menstrual cycles, some women who had previously had trouble conceiving , were able to get pregnant within a few months of taking a fish oil supplement.

Helping women with PCOS get pregnant with fish oil

One of the main causes of infertility in women is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Fish oil has been shown to help regulate PCOS conditions by decreasing inflammation in the ovaries and also balancing the hormones associated with ovulation. By doing this, as well as helping to make their menstrual cycles more regular, it can help enough to be able to conceive.

If you choose to try fish oil to improve your fertility, then make sure you take a high dose supplement (around the same dosage that arthritis sufferers take) for the best results.

Can Iron Help Increase Your Fertility?

Does Iron Help with Fertility?

In a nutshell, yes.
In a recent study, a group of women who had no history of infertility were given iron supplements to determine the effect on their fertility.

The results were that those women who took around 41 milligrams of iron, significantly lowered their risk of ovulatory infertility (the condition where women cannot product healthy eggs or ovulate infrequently).

Most good multivitamins do contain iron so check with your doctor to make sure you are getting the correct dosage.
Symptoms of low iron include tiredness, headaches, shortness of breath and weak brittle nails.

You might have already heard that iron can help improve your fertility, and it’s true that it can. Studies have shown that women who take an iron supplement have 40% less chance of having ovulatory infertility compared to women who didn’t take a supplement. And by increasing the dosage to over 40 mg they have lowered their risk even further by 62%.

That’s good news for women trying to conceive! Most good prenatal vitamins usually have around 40 mg included anyway, but you can increase your iron levels through food as well.

Foods that are high in iron include fortified breakfast cereals, beans and pulses, and of course meat (particularly red meat) and eggs.

It’s also a good idea to take a Vitamin C supplement or take your iron vitamin with a glass of orange juice because vitamin C helps the iron to be absorbed more readily into your body.
As an added benefit, iron will help improve your energy levels but don’t take too much, because too much iron can make you constipated.

What the study found:
The study found that a low iron intake in women led to ovulatory infertility which is where the body can’t product healthy eggs. If your eggs are unhealthy they are unlikely to result in a pregnancy no matter how good your timing is.

The women in the study had no previous history of infertility and ranged in age, weight and other lifestyle factors. Each woman was prescribed either a different dosage of iron supplement or asked to increase their iron levels through food in order to test how it affected their fertility.

The women in the study that took 41 mg or more iron per day showed the best results as it decreased their risk of ovulatory infertility by 62%. Those getting their iron from food (non-heme iron) had the best results.

Good sources of non-heme iron are:
• bread (both white and whole wheat)
• broccoli
• prune juice
• spinach
• beans
• lentils
• apricots

Can Caffeine Affect Fertility?

So can caffeine affect your fertility? Yes it can. Studies have shown that a high caffeine consumption (that’s around 5 cups per day of coffee) can contribute to decreased fertility in women. While the findings are not exactly clear on why this is the case, it’s worthwhile to lower your intake of coffee, tea, cola drinks and even chocolate while trying to conceive.

One particular study found that women who had more than 300 mg of caffeine per day had lowered their chances of getting pregnant by 27% compared to women who didn’t have any at all. However some other studies have shown no correlation at all between caffeine and fertility so it can be confusing to know who to believe.

You are going to have to decrease your caffeine levels anyway when you do get pregnant as it can affect the baby (and in some cases has been linked to miscarriage), so starting now is worthwhile for your health anyway.

So how much is too much when it comes to how much caffeine you can have when trying to conceive?

You should aim to consume no more than 200 mg per day. That’s the level that is linked to raising the chances of miscarriage.

To put that into perspective, a regular cup of coffee contains 100 mg, a soda drink has 50 mg and energy drinks usually have around 80 mg per can. That means that even if you can’t live without your morning coffee, as long as you limit yourself to no more than two cups per day then you’ll be fine.

If you do currently have more than that, don’t go cold turkey as this can lead to withdrawal symptoms such as headaches. Instead wean yourself off gradually by lowering your intake by a small amount every few days. You can alternate with decaffeinated drinks or add more milk to your coffee.
Below are some tables of the caffeine levels of certain regular drinks and foods:

Caffeine Charts

Coffee
coffee, generic brewed 8 oz 102-200 mg
coffee, Starbucks brewed 16 oz (grande) 330 mg
coffee, Dunkin’ Donuts brewed 16 oz 206 mg
caffÉ latte or cappuccino, Starbucks 16 oz (grande) 150 mg
caffÉ latte or cappuccino, Starbucks 12 oz (tall) 75 mg
espresso, Starbucks 1 oz (1 shot ) 75 mg
espresso, generic 1 oz (1 shot) 30-90 mg
coffee, generic instant 8 oz 27-173 mg
coffee, generic decaffeinated 8 oz 3-26 mg

Tea
black tea, brewed 8 oz 40-120 mg
green tea, brewed 8 oz 30-50 mg
decaffeinated black tea 8 oz 2 mg
Starbucks Tazo Chai Tea latte 16 oz (grande) 100 mg
Nestea 12 oz 26 mg
Snapple 16 oz 42 mg
Lipton Brisk iced tea 12 oz 10 mg

Soft drinks
Coke 12 oz 35 mg
Pepsi 12 oz 38 mg
Jolt Cola 12 oz 72 mg
Mountain Dew 12 oz 54 mg
7-Up 12 oz 0 mg
Sierra Mist 12 oz 0 mg
Sprite 12 oz 0 mg

Energy drinks
Red Bull 8.3 oz 80 mg
SoBe Essential Energy, berry or orange 8 oz 48 mg
SoBe No Fear 8 oz 83 mg

Desserts
dark chocolate 1.45-oz bar 31 mg
milk chocolate 1.45-oz bar 11 mg
coffee ice cream or frozen yogurt 8 oz 50-60 mg
hot cocoa 8 oz 3-13 mg

What are the Best Prenatal Vitamins to Take Before You Get Pregnant?

If you are thinking about having a baby, then one of the first things that you can do, before you even conceive is start taking a good prenatal vitamin.


Not only will it help give you and your baby the best start in life, but it can also improve your fertility! So what should you look for when choosing a prenatal vitamin supplement?

What to look for in a good prenatal vitamin supplement

Folic Acid (Folate)
While including folic acid is usually standard in prenatal vitamins (and even some regular multi vitamins) you need to make sure that they include the correct dosage so that you are getting enough of this important nutrient. Make sure that your supplement includes at least 400 mcg of folic acid. This will help protect your baby against neural tube defects like spina bifida. For the best way to lower your risk of your baby getting it, then you should be taking folate BEFORE you get pregnant.

Calcium
You’ll need extra calcium to help you grow a healthy baby when you are pregnant, so look for a supplement that has 1,000 mg per day. You can also get your daily calcium needs by eating foods that are high in it such as milk, yoghurt and cheese.

Iron
Iron is especially important when you are pregnant because it will help to combat fatigue and prevent anaemia. A good prenatal vitamin will have around 30 to 40 mg per day.

Vitamins that help improve fertility
If you are taking a prenatal vitamin to help improve your fertility you should also make sure it contains vitamin B6, manganese and zinc.

Other factors to consider when choosing a prenatal vitamin

You also need to take into account other factors such as the size of the supplement (smaller vitamins are easier to swallow than large ones – especially if you do get pregnant and are suffering from morning sickness).

If you can’t stomach swallowing your supplement you might even prefer one that you can chew or dissolve in water as an alternative.

Price might also be a contributing factor to which brand you purchase. Don’t always assume that the most expensive brand is going to be the best – most supplements are quite similar in composition, so read the labels carefully to decide.

There are many great prenatal vitamins that are available at your health food or grocery store that will not only help improve your fertility but also put you in your best shape when you do conceive.

Eating for Fertility – How Diet & Food Can Help Get You Pregnant

Yes, it’s true – food can help improve your fertility so much so, that previously infertile couples are making babies just by changing their diets.


The reason being that food and diet play an important role in the balance of hormones for both men and women and works as a sort of internal medicine for improving your health. Using food for health is nothing new, we have been told for years that eating right will improve certain conditions, help us lose weight and even cure diseases, so it makes sense that fertility diets can also help us get pregnant.

The food pH levels itself will not affect you getting pregnant or not, but it can influence the gender of your child.

So what sort of foods should you be eating to make sure that you conceive a healthy baby?
First let’s cover what you shouldn’t be eating – and that’s junk food (refined sugars and saturated fats), caffeine and artificial substances (preservatives, colours & flavours).

These foods not only make you unhealthy, they are widely known for their effect on the hormones of your body, particularly ones like oestrogen which are needed for a healthy menstrual cycle. Have too much oestrogen and not enough progesterone and it will be difficult for you to conceive (you’ll likely have a short luteal phase if this is your problem).

People with PCOS are particularly sensitive to foods that cause hormonal imbalances.
Instead you should be eating a variety of healthy foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
Good sources of whole grain’s include brown rice, oatmeal and whole wheat breads. The best vegetables are the green leafy vegies and also fruits and vegetables that have lots of colour such as carrots, mango, berries, peppers and more. The more colour it has, the higher in nutrients it is.

You’ll probably also hear that you should or shouldn’t eat dairy or meat. The reason being that these foods can affect your hormone levels either for the positive or negative depending on your condition.
If you suffer from any sort of ovulatory infertility such as PCOS, then full fat dairy is your friend, and can actually help you get pregnant. If that isn’t your problem then you should decrease the amount of dairy you eat and stick to low fat.

Meat can affect some people’s fertility but not all. That’s why some fertility diet books recommend going vegan or vegetarian when trying to get pregnant. It’s definitely worth a try if you’ve ruled out everything else – you can always start eating meat again once you know there is a baby on the way.

It usually takes around two to three months to see any real changes in your body and menstrual cycle when starting a diet aimed at improving your fertility so stick with it because you just never know if that apple is going to help you finally get that baby you want.

How Long Does it Take to Get Pregnant?

One of the questions that most people ask when they first start trying for a baby is how long does it take to get pregnant? If I believed my biology teacher, it would have happened the very first time that I had unprotected sex. Alas he has a lot to answer for because for me it took quite a lot longer than that.


Even for perfectly healthy couples, unprotected intercourse does not always result in a positive pregnancy test the first month that they try. For the average couple, the statistics seem to indicate that:

50% will get pregnant within 4 months
75% will take up to 8 months
90% will conceive with 1 year

That means the odds are in your favour that you will fall pregnant within twelve months of trying. Of course that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore fertility options before that time. In fact many doctors recommend that the older you are when you are trying to conceive the earlier you should seek to rule out any other possibilities that could be causing your infertility.

Which Factors Influence How Long Should it Take to Get Pregnant?

There are certain factors that can determine whether it will be faster or slower for you to get pregnant. These include:

Age: It’s much easier to get pregnant under the age of 35 than over. It takes the average older mom around double the time to conceive than it does a women in her 20′s.

Medications: Certain medications that you are taking will affect your fertility and chances of getting pregnant. If you are uncertain whether yours might be one of them, discuss your options with your doctor about a safe alternative.

General Health: The healthier and fitter that you are, the easier it is to get pregnant. Many studies have shown that couples with a more active lifestyle increase their chances of conception over couples that don’t. That includes giving up harmful substances such as cigarettes, alcohol and drugs.

Stress: I know it’s annoying when people tell you to ‘just relax’ when you are trying to conceive, but there is some basis of truth to it. By treating your stress in a positive manner such as taking a yoga class or indulging in a warm bubble bath each night, you can boost your odds of getting pregnant.

Enjoy Sex: It’s true that couples that have a healthy and enjoyable sex life usually have an easier time of getting pregnant. Once sex becomes a chore then it can decrease your fertility, so try and spice things up again and enjoy sex.

How Long Will it Take to Get Pregnant After Stopping Birth Control

If you’ve been taking birth control pills or other hormone control methods including Depo Provera then it might take you a little longer to get pregnant than someone who was using barrier methods such as condoms to avoid pregnancy.

The reason for this is that it might take at least three to four months for your body to return to normal and your fertility to be restored. Usually a good indicator that you are back to peak fertility is when your menstrual cycles return to a regular schedule again.

But of course every woman is different and some women are able to get pregnant almost immediately after stopping birth control.

How Long Did it Take You to Get Pregnant?

For me it was a struggle to conceive and for my first child it took 18 months and my second just over 2 years. Of course I had issues with a short luteal phase and unbalanced hormones and both times I needed a little boost to help things along.

For my first pregnancy what worked for me was taking a Chinese herbal medicine that included herbs such as Dong Quai and False Unicorn Root. It tasted disgusting, but I took it everyday and in the second month of taking it found out I was finally pregnant.

My second pregnancy wasn’t quite as easy (and yes I did try the Chinese herbs) and in the end it was the fertility drug Clomid that helped me conceive. I was only my third cycle of Clomid when I found out that it had worked and I was finally pregnant again. Funny thing was, because it had taken so long to get pregnant, I didn’t believe the pregnancy test at first and thought the Clomid had caused a false positive! LOL.

Trying to Get Pregnant Tips – What You Need To Do Right Now to Increase Your Odds of Conceiving

If you have been trying to get pregnant for some time (or even if you only just started) then you probably want to know what you can do to sway the odds in your favour. It’s not just a matter of making love and nine months later a baby will appear (ahh I wish it were that simple).


Instead the road to having a baby can be a long one, but never fear because you can increase the chances with some of these top three trying to get pregnant tips.

Tip #1: Have More Sex
Most often, if everything else is working fine, the biggest factor is that couples don’t have sex around the right time that the women ovulates. Most people assume that every women ovulates on day 14, but that actually isn’t the case at all (that’s just the average day). You might ovulate before or after that day and if you are timing intercourse for day 14 you could be missing out on your peak fertility day.

Therefore by having more sex, around every second day from day 10 through day 20 (or even every day if you like) then you’ll increase the likelihood of the sperm reaching the egg and conceiving.

Tip #2: Know When you Ovulate
If all of that sex seems too much and you want to know exactly when you are most fertile then you need to know when you ovulate. The best way to determine this is either by charting your temperature, using ovulation predictor kits or other prediction methods including the new Ov-Watch which tells you precisely when you are about to ovulate and therefore when you should be trying for that baby.

Tip #3: Use Gravity to your Advantage
Why not give the sperm a little helping hand in getting to the egg by using gravity to your advantage! Place a cushion or pillow under your bottom to allow the angle of your vagina to hold the sperm in better. And after sex you can use the bicycle method by ‘cycling’ your legs in the air for at least 5 minutes afterwards to help things along.

Bonus Tip: Yes you Should Orgasm!
And while you are there, it also helps if you can orgasm after your partner has as the uterine contractions will help draw the sperm up into the uterus so they don’t have to travel as far.

Trying to Get Pregnant After the Pill

If you’ve been on birth control pills and are now trying to get pregnant you might wonder how long it will take. The truth is that it can vary from woman to woman. Some women seem to get pregnant the first month after stopping while other’s can take up to twelve months to conceive.

It will depend on a number of factors including how long you have been taking the pill for, your age, which strength or hormone combination of pill you took and your general health.

You can usually help things along by trying to lead a more health lifestyle, avoiding alcohol and cigarettes and exercising.

Generally though it usually takes most women around 3 to 4 months for your hormone balance to restore to its original fertility so that you are able to have a healthy pregnancy.

Trying to Get Pregnant After a Miscarriage

If you’ve recently suffered a miscarriage then you are probably quite nervous to try and get pregnant again in case you have another miscarriage.

Whether you want to try straight away or wait awhile is up to you and how you felt about the miscarriage in the first place. Obviously the further along being pregnant that you were when you lost the baby, usually the harder it is to cope with and the longer you will probably want to wait.

When you are ready to start trying again you should take things slow. If you do find out that you are pregnant then try some things to help lower your stress about whether this baby will be ok or not. Don’t hesitate to call your doctor at any time if you are feeling anxious.

The good news however is that the majority of women who have miscarried go on to have perfectly healthy babies the next time.

Tips on Trying to Get Pregnant

Of course I could keep writing and provide you some more tips on trying to get pregnant, but then this post would be very long indeed. Instead I invite you to have a look at some of the other posts on this blog that go into more depth on getting pregnant.

Getting Pregnant After the Pill – How Long Does It Take?

If you have been taking birth control pills and now want to have a baby then you are probably wondering how long after taking the pill will you get pregnant? While the pill itself will not affect your fertility, you might expect that getting pregnant will take a little longer after stopping it.


Usually nearly 90% of all women will become pregnant within a year of stopping the pill. That’s about on par with most other couples looking to conceive who have used other forms of birth control.

Of course, it might happen at any time. You could get pregnant the first month after quitting your birth control or find that it takes closer to six months. It really depends on your body and your how soon your monthly cycle returns to normal.

Usually though it takes a few months for your cycle to return to normal and you start ovulating regularly. You can start tracking or charting your cycle so that you know when exactly in your cycle that you ovulate so you can pinpoint the best times to have intercourse.

The Pill stops ovulation so that’s why you need to be sure that you are ovulating again to be able to fall pregnant.

What if your period doesn’t return to normal after stopping the pill?
Like I’ve mentioned, for a few women it does take a while for their cycles to return to normal, but what happens if your period hasn’t come back after two or three months? While it’s actually quite common for this to happen, you should rule out if you are already pregnant by taking a pregnancy test. If that’s not the case then it’s worth seeing your doctor to see if they can restore your hormonal balance so that you become fertile again.

If you are considering having a baby then you should immediately start taking a good folic acid supplement, quit smoking and eat as healthily as you can to ensure you are in tip top shape to ensure that you have a healthy baby.

What are the Chances of Getting Pregnant on Birth Control?

Women have been taking the pill as birth control since the 60′s to help prevent unplanned pregnancies, and while birth control pills are effective at preventing pregnancy in 99% of all cases, there have been rare occurrences where some women have gotten pregnant.


Forget a day or two?

Usually it’s because the she has forgotten to take the pills on one or more days, or even taken it much later in the day that usual.  This can be easy to do especially with today’s busy lifestyles.  To be effective birth control needs to be taken at the same time every day.  Miss a day and you are at a higher risk of conceiving if you are sexually active.

Don’t mix brands

You also shouldn’t mix different birth controls as many of them have different formulations.  That means if you are away you can’t take one of your friends unless she has the exact same brand and prescription as you.

Be aware of other medications you are taking

Another factor that could cause the pill to be less effective is if you are on certain medications like antibiotics, anti-fungal and anti-seizure medications.  Even some herbs and vitamins can interfere with its contraceptive strength.

Check your health

If you are sick, especially if you have severe diarrhea you also might want to use other forms of birth control for a week or two to lower your chances of getting pregnant.

If you suspect that you might be pregnant while taking birth control pills it’s important to see your doctor straight away to find out.  They can take a blood test to find out if you have conceived, or  you can even take an at home pregnancy test yourself if you prefer.

It’s still unlikely that you are pregnant, especially if you have been taking your contraception regularly and on time, but it’s still worth finding out for sure.

However if you want to get pregnant and are wondering when to stop taking the pill then you find more answers at that link.

Getting Pregnant on your Period – Is It Really Possible?

If you have been wondering (or worrying) over your chances of getting pregnant on your period then you’ll probably be relieved to know that it’s probably unlikely to happen.  The reason is that ovulation usually occurs around fourteen days after the start of your period (give or take a few days) and it’s only at that time where it’s possible to get pregnant.


Ovulation is when your body releases an egg ready to be fertilized by the sperm.  If there is no egg, there is no chance of conceiving a baby.  Your period, or menstruation, is when the body shed’s the uterine lining that has been built up in case you do conceive.  If you have your period it means that you are not pregnant.

Of course having said that, there  have been rare cases when a women has actually gotten pregnant while on her period – but remember these cases are very rare and the probability of it happening to you is quite low.
The only way it would be a possibility is if you either ovulate extremely early in your cycle, or that you have a period that lasts close to fourteen days instead of the usually 5 or 6.

Let’s have a look at these possibilities in further detail.

Short Menstrual Cycle
If you have irregular or very short cycles (21 days or less) then it’s possible that you may ovulate as early as day 7.  That means that if you have sex either on, or just as your period finishes then theoretically you might get pregnant.

Super Sperm
Most sperm can live for up to 3 or 4 days inside the female body after intercourse.  However some women are highly fertile and produce conditions inside their body that allows the sperm to live for a few extra days.

You can tell if you are fertile as you will produce lots of egg white cervical mucus (ewcm) during those days.  Therefore having sex right after your period, it might be possible for the sperm to live long enough to be ready to fertilize the egg when it is released.

Getting Pregnant with PCOS – Yes You Can!

If you have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) then you’ll know that getting pregnant can prove more challenging than for women without it. It can affect your fertility by a number of ways including over mature eggs (due to extended cycles), miscarriages, hormone imbalances and sometimes blockages.


But don’t dispair because the good news is that most women with PCOS can and will get pregnant and go on to have happy healthy babies. This article will go over some of the treatment methods that you can try to improve your fertility and chances of having a baby.

The main criteria as to whether you’ll be able to get pregnant or not is whether you ovulate. It doesn’t matter if you ovulate irregularly, late or even skip months. As long as your body is releasing an egg it’s possible to conceive.

Your first step is to start living as healthy a lifestyle as possible. I know that you were probably expecting me to recommend a pill of some kind, but getting yourself in shape will help improve your hormone balance significantly and shouldn’t be overlooked as a starting point. That includes a good diet, exercise and stress relief regime.

If you are overweight then losing weight into a health weight range can improve your hormone balance as well. Many women with PCOS are usually over the recommended weight and by losing a few pounds this can sometimes correct your fertility.

Vitex (Angus Castus) is a great herb to help improve your chances of falling pregnant because it works by balancing the oestrogen and progesterone in the body. It does take a while for the herbs to do their magic but many women with PCOS (and other fertility issues) claim great success by taking Vitex.

Charting your cycles for a few months will let you know if you are deficient in either oestrogen (you will ovulate early with short cycles) or progesterone (short luteal phase and/or frequent miscarriages). If the latter is the case (which is more common) then taking a progesterone suppository or cream (available from your doctor) can be enough to conceive and deliver a healthy child.

And of course there are always fertility drugs like Clomid to help you get pregnant. In fact Clomid is said to work within 6 months of taking it for around 70% of women with PCOS. It’s usually the first step in treating fertility problems and works for many women (including me).

Overall don’t give up. Getting pregnant with PCOS is not only possible for most women it’s also likely so if one method doesn’t work for you keep trying until you do. Good luck and baby dust.

When is the Best Time to Get Pregnant?

Is there a perfect time for getting pregnant? This post will go over the best time to get pregnant in your reproductive cycle so that you can time things to give you the best chance.


Obviously the best time is going to be when you ovulate (when your body releases an egg). So you need to have a good knowledge of when that might occur in your cycle.

For most people, ovulation occurs around 14 days before the start of your next period. So if you have a typical 28 day cycle, then you would likely ovulate on day fourteen. If you have a 30 day cycle then you would probably ovulate on day 16, and so on.

However not everyone has perfect cycles. While I do have a 28 day cycle, I typically ovulate on day 16 or 17. Therefore it’s wise to track your basal body temperature (BBT) over a few cycles so you get to know when this will occur for you. You will notice that your temperature is always slightly higher in the second half of your cycle than in the first half. Getting a special BBT will be able to detect even the smallest changes in temperature.
You can also monitor your cervical mucus as the closer you get to ovulation, you will notice that it changes from dry to wet and slippery. The most fertile cervical mucus is called egg white cervical mucus (ewcm) and usually indicates the best time to get pregnant.

It’s also helpful to get a fertility book such as Toni Weschler’s Taking Charge of Your Fertility which is considered one of the best fertility books on the market.

If you don’t want to spend time looking at your cervical mucus everyday or taking your temperature, you can always get some ovulation predictor kit’s which detect changes in the hormones in your body. Very similar to a pregnancy test, you pee on a stick on the days prior to when you think you’ll ovulate. When the test turns positive it usually means that you will ovulate in the next 24-48 hours after that.

The better knowledge you have about your body and your menstrual cycle then you’ll know what is the best time to get pregnant for you.

How To Get Pregnant with Twins

If you are in a hurry to have a big family and you’ve always dreamed of having twins or if you are running out of time to start a family then you probably would like to know how to get pregnant with twins.

Trying for twins can be a lot of fun, but of course even if you try all of the tips on this page there is still only a slight increased chance that you’ll have two babies.  Even couples who have the twin gene somewhere in their family (or are a twin themselves) still have no guarantees that they’ll get them.

But if you would like to give it a go then here are some tips that will help you to improve your chances of getting pregnant with twins.

Eat Yams
In Nigeria there is a tribe where their diet consists mostly of yams.  They also have the highest incidence of twins than anywhere else in the world.  The theory is that yams contain a potent chemical which increases fertility (yams are also recommended for women who are struggling to conceive).

Wait until you are Older
As the mother get’s older there is a higher likelihood that she’ll release more than one egg at a time resulting in twins.  The statistics say that a women in her late 30’s has nearly double the chance of having twins than someone in her early twenties.

Use Fertility Drugs
It is well known that certain fertility drugs that stimulate ovulation such as Clomid increases your chances of twins or multiples.  This is because it can cause the ovaries to release multiple eggs at once.  However Clomid is only prescribed to women who are having trouble conceiving so you won’t be able to get any from your doctor if you have perfect fertility.

Go Dairy Free
While not recommended for your long term health, women who are depleted in calcium have a higher incidence of twins than those with great diets.  The reason is thought to be that the lack of calcium causes a fertilised egg to split more easily than in a women who is healthy.  If you do find out that you are pregnant though make sure you increase your calcium levels again as it is needed by your baby.

So there you go.  Slightly controversial, but still interesting tips none the less.  And remember that knowing how to get pregnant with twins, and actually falling pregnant with them is still no guarantee.

Tips on Getting Pregnant

Before I fell pregnant with my second child (after a two year struggle), many of my highly fertile and well meaning friends would offer me tips on getting pregnant. The one I heard most often was ‘Just Relax, It’ll Happen’. Don’t you just want to smack people in the head when they tell you that? I know I did.


But over the years I did pick up quite a few good tips that have helped women like you and me to increase their fertility and improve their odds of conceiving.

In this blog post I’ll go over some of the easy and simple things that you can do right now to improve your chances of getting pregnant faster.

See Your Doctor

If you haven’t gotten pregnant naturally within six months of trying then this really should be your next step when you are trying to conceive because you want to be sure that you have no reasons why you couldn’t fall pregnant such as blocked tubes, a hormone imbalance, or a condition such as PCOS or Endometriosis.

And that goes for your partner as well. In fact it’s much easier for your guy to get his sperm checked that it is for you to undergo blood tests for your hormones and a laparoscopy to check your internal reproductive system.

Get Healthy

That means exercising and eating a good healthy balanced diet. To ensure optimum fertility you need to be healthy both inside and out. If you are overweight (even by a small amount) in can significantly impair your chances of conceiving.

You also want to ensure that you are getting all your essential vitamins and minerals so that your hormones will be running efficiently. If they get even slightly out of whack it can harm your chances of having a baby.
Also certain unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking and high amounts of caffeine have been proven to reduce your odds dramatically of conceiving.

Take supplements

There are many good supplements on the market that can improve your fertility.

Folic Acid (Folate) – Not only is this vital for all women trying to conceive to help reduce the risk of birth defects including spina bifida, in can also helps your reproductive system stay healthy.

Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) – Increase the amount of fertile cervical mucus you produce which the sperm need to swim through to reach the egg

Vitamin B6 – Well known for balancing your hormones and improving fertility for many women.

Vitex (Angus Castus) – Also know for balancing hormones and improving fertility.

How to Conceive Twins

Is there really a way to increase your chances of having more than one baby? While there are no guarantees that trying for twins will result in success, there are a few factors that will increase your odds of how to conceive twins.


According to published studies and reports you can improve your chances for conceiving twins if you fall into one of the following categories.

Age
You have a much higher chance of getting two babies at once if you are over the age of 30 when you fall pregnant. Women in their 30’s have a 5% or more chance of conceiving twins than a women in her twenties.

Race
It has been shown that Caucasian and African American women have a much higher chance of having twins than Hispanic or Asian women.

Previous Pregnancies
If you already have children, then the likelihood of having a multiple birth in your second or subsequent pregnancy is higher by around 3%.

Family History
Twins do run in the family, so if there is a history of twins on the maternal side (your mother’s family) then you have a higher chance of having them too.

Foods
Many women swear that eating yams will also help improve your odds since the main Nigerian diet consists of yams and they tend to have the highest rate of conceiving twins than other parts of the world.

Fertility Drugs
Fertility drugs which stimulate ovulation (such as Clomid) often result in more than one egg being released at a time producing twins. Usually these twins are non-identical since they have come from two different eggs.

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)
IVF has the highest success rate for conceiving twins, increasing your odds by a whopping 25%. Of course as we all know with stories such as OctoMom and Kate Plus 8, IVF and IUI procedures also carry the risk of triplets or more as well.

While all of the methods outlined in this blog post will increase your chances of how to conceive twins, there are still no guarantee’s, but as we say here on the getting pregnant blog – have fun trying!

Conceiving a Girl Diet

While I’m not convinced that food alone can determine whether you will have a girl or boy baby or not, there is some evidence that it can indeed play a role in the chance of you conceiving a girl. Diet along with intercourse timing and different positions can help boost the odds in your favour of buying pink for the nursery.

Let’s talk a little about the science behind diet first. We all have heard that you are what you eat, and that certain foods can have different effects in the body. When it comes to conceiving a girl, the optimum environment for the female sperm to thrive in is acidic vaginal levels.

Therefore you would want to include such foods in the diet that increase the acidity of your vagina as well as the proper nutrients to ensure that you have a balanced diet full of the essential nutrients needed for both your personal health and your reproductive health.

According to a study by Oxford University the following findings regarding diet can increase your chances of conceiving a girl.

• High calorie diets are were more likely to product boys so if you are aiming for a girl – try and still to your daily limit for your weight and age.
• Breakfast eaters usually had boys, and those that skipped breakfast more often had girls.
• Eating cereal increased your odds of a boy while reducing the amount of cereals you ate to no more than 2 or 3 bowls a week favoured your chances of getting a girl.

So which foods should you diet on the Conceiving a Girl Diet?

• For breakfast, choose fruit smoothies, yoghurt, fruit and/or nuts.
• For other meals lean towards, fish, cheese, eggs, bread, fruits, vegetables (particular green leafy vege’s) and nuts.
• For drinks, try high acidic juices such as cranberry, orange or grapefruit juice.
• Avoid high calorie and sugary foods if possible.

It has been said that the diet for getting pregnant with a girl baby is far more healthy that that for conceiving a boy.

While following this diet, it is important that you take a supplement and eat a balanced diet to ensure optimum fertility.

Does Age Play A Role in Trying To Get Pregnant?

With more and more couples putting off having a family until later in life, fertility for woman starting trying to conceive over the age of 35 has become a big issue.


But can age really affect fertility that much, and is it still possible to get pregnant naturally when you are older?
While studies do show a decreasing fertility in both men and women due to hormone fluctuations, the biggest factor in older couples trying to conceive is the rate of miscarriage which increases slowly after the age of 30 and at around 42 years of age is a factor in about half of all pregnancies.

There is also an increased risk factor for birth defects, especially Down syndrome in babies born to woman over the age of 35.

But having said all that, if your biological clock is ticking away and you are ready to start a family then there are things that you can do to help improve your fertility and have that baby you’ve been dreaming about.

If you are over 35 and have been trying to conceive a child for over six months without any luck then you may need to visit your doctor to rule out any physical reasons for your inability to get pregnant. He may perform a laparoscopy to view your reproductive organs to make sure that everything is ok, as well as taking some tests to see your hormone levels.

If you are not ovulating correctly, or strongly enough, he may decide to prescribe fertility drugs such as Clomid to help improve your fertility.

Other things that you can do to help your fertility is to remain stress free (yes I know that’s easier said than done when you are trying to get pregnant), exercise regularly, keep your weight within a healthy weight range and remain as healthy as you can.

They when you do fall pregnant, have the necessary checks to ensure that your baby is healthy too.

Basal Body Temperature (BBT) 101

Don’t know how to chart your BBT temperature or need a refresher course in what exactly Basal Body Temperature means? Then this article will go over some of the basics you need to know when charting your cycle and understanding the temperature changes that your body goes through.


Why measure your BBT?

If you have spent any time at all trying to conceive then you know that you need to know your exact ovulation day to increase your chances of getting pregnant each month, and so measuring your basal body temperature will help to accurately pinpoint your ovulation day (even though you usually only can confirm it after you have already ovulated).

Can BBT charting help you get pregnant?

Yes and No. Charting your temperature is useful for understanding your cycle better and also for determining your ovulation day, but since it can only tell you after ovulation has already occurred it should be used in conjunction with other methods of determining your approaching ovulation such as cervical mucus changes or prediction tests such as OPK’s and saliva monitors.

How and when do you take your BBT?

You need to use a special Basal Body Thermometer because they are more accurate (they measure to a higher level) than regular thermometer’s. Every day at the same time each morning , before you get out of bed and as long as you’ve had at least 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep, you need to take your temperature orally and then record that day’s temperature. You can then enter the temp onto your online chart or paper chart.

What temperature changes are normal?

Generally you have a lower temperature in the first half of your cycle (your follicular phase) because of the presence of estrogen. Once progesterone is released in the second half of your cycle (the luteal phase) you’ll notice that your BBT will be slightly higher (around 0.4 to 0.6 degrees) until your next period arrives (or you are pregant).

That change in temperature confirms that ovulation has taken place (the last day of lower temperatures).

How to Get Pregnant – Maximize Your Fertility

Getting Pregnant can be easy for some people and a struggle for others, and medicine is still not giving us the clear answers as to why that is the case, but whether you will be trying for the first time, or have been trying to conceive for months (or even years) there are many things that you can do right now to maximize your fertility and know how to get pregnant faster and easier, so read on.

What to do before you conceive

The first thing you need to do if you want to know how to fall pregnant is get yourself as healthy as you can. Once you do fall pregnant, you will have a much easier time if you have a healthy body and so it pays to start now. It’s proven that women who eat healthy foods and exercise regularly have a much easier time conceiving than those who don’t. Yes I know, I’ve heard all those stories of women who are overweight, smoke, take drugs or eat junk food too and still fall pregnant, but we are not talking about them, we are talking about YOU, and what YOU can do to get pregnant.

Check your multivitamin to make sure that you are getting enough folic acid. This B group vitamin is essential for preventing birth defects like spina bifida and you should be taking it well before you conceive for maximum benefits. As a bonus it will give you a slight boost in energy which is important when you want to fall pregnant.
There are other fertility supplements that you can take to help improve your chances of getting pregnant as well.

Also take up some form of mild regular exercise, whether that’s walking, yoga or a leisurely bike ride.
Regular exercise has many benefits to fertility including balancing hormones, reducing stress and improving circulation, all which will help you get pregnant faster.

What he can do

Next make sure that your partner has healthy sperm. He can easily get that tested by visiting a sperm bank or even his local GP. Because this test is so easy to do (especially compared to the fertility tests that women have to go through) it’s worth doing upfront to rule out any issues that may cause problems down the track.
You should also try and convince your partner to wear boxer shorts and avoid hot showers or baths, as this can make his sperm much stronger and this means they’ll be able to live longer and have a better chance of fertilizing your egg.

You next steps is finding out when you ovulate so that you can time lovemaking appropriately. A woman is fertile for around six days of her cycle, which includes the five days prior to ovulation and the day of ovulation itself.

There are many ways of determining your ovulation day from charting your BBT, to keeping track of your cervical mucus, to using ovulation predictor kits or saliva monitors. Each method is different and can also be used in conjunction with each other to really pinpoint your most fertile phase.

Pinpointing ovulation really is the main factor in knowing how to fall pregnant but it doesn’t have to be stressful. If you have a regular cycle and want to avoid obsessing over every temperature rise or dip then you could do what many women do and have intercourse every second day between days 10 and 18 of your cycle which should make sure that you optimize your fertile period.

What if you are still not pregnant after 6 months?

If you still haven’t gotten pregnant after at least six months of trying then the next step is to visit your doctor to see if they can determine the reason. Your doctor will usually order a number of tests including hormone tests and perhaps even a laparoscopy to check for any structural issues.

It could be something as simple as balancing your hormones or prescribing a fertility drug like Clomid to help you conceive or you might need further help such as IUI or even IVF to have a baby. IVF methods (while expensive) are becoming very efficient at helping couples have a baby that are unable to do so naturally and shouldn’t be ruled out.

There are many other ideas and tips on this blog about how to get pregnant so I hope you have a look around and find something that brings you closer to your dream of having a baby.

When to Get Pregnant In Your Cycle – Fertility Charting 101

Knowing when you are most fertile is the best way to know when to get pregnant within your cycle. Every women is different and it’s simply not always a case that you ovulate on Day 14 (remember this is just an average), so by charting your daily basal body temperature you will start to get a good indication of your usual ovulation day.

Charting should be used in conjunction with the other methods of determining your ovulation day because while useful, it will only confirm that you have ovulated, not tell you when you are about to. However after around two months of charting you should have a good idea when the best time to get pregnant in your cycle will be.

It’s also useful for detecting luteal phase defects (when the time between ovulation and menstruation is less than 10 days).

So how do you start charting?
The first thing that you will need is a basal body thermometer. You can get those quite inexpensively at most big supermarkets or pharmacies or even online (eBay often has BBT thermometers cheap). Make sure you get a digital one as they are much easier to read.

Starting at Day 1 of your cycle (the first day of your period), take your temperature first thing in the morning at the same time before you get out of bed. You can either temp orally or vaginally – it’s up to you whichever you prefer.

Record it on a notepad and fill in your chart. You can either print out BBT chart or use an online ovulation calculator like Fertility Friend and enter your temperatures in there so it does the calculations for you.
As you approach ovulation you should notice any changes in your cervical fluid to determine if you are becoming fertile. You can note these on your chart as well. Often you may find that your peak cervical mucus day is actually a day or two before you ovulate rather then the day of.

Once you have released an egg you’ll notice that your temperature will increase, often by around 0.5 to 1 degree and be higher than your previous temps of that cycle. If your temperature remains high for at least three temperatures then you can safely confirm ovulation has taken place.
The day BEFORE the rise is your ovulation day.

Draw a coverline to distinguish your high and low temps so you can easily see your charting pattern.
The reason for the increase in temperature’s is that the body releases progesterone in the second half of your cycle which warms the body by around half a degree waiting for the impending pregnancy. If you are not pregnant, the progesterone drops and estrogen takes over and your cycle starts all over again.

There are many variations on what constitutes a ‘perfect’ chart and many women notice erratic temperatures, fall back temperatures, a dip before the rise and other out of place temperatures while they are charting. They are all normal and won’t stop you getting pregnant.

Keep charting throughout the rest of your cycle as often times you may determine if you are pregnant or not from what your chart does. If the temps remain high past your usual cycle length then it is a good chance that you might be pregnant. If you notice that your temps fall then it’s likely that your period is on its way either later that day or the next day.

After a few cycles it’s likely that you’ll know your body very well and you’ll be able to determine when to get pregnant in your cycle just by looking at your previous charts.

-- Get Pregnant Right Now Right The Proven Program! --

Getting Pregnant by Improving Your Cervical Mucus

Cervical mucus / cervical fluid is one of the three primary fertility signs to getting pregnant according to Toni Weschler of Taking Charge of Your Fertility, with the others being charting your basal body temperature each morning and keeping track of your cervical position during your cycle.


In this post I’ll talk about how you can improve your chances of getting pregnant by increasing the amount and quality of your cervical fluid.

By the way, I’ll use both the terms cervical fluid (CF) and cervical mucus (CM) throughout this post, but they both mean the same thing.

Throughout a woman’s menstrual cycle there are many changes to her body and one of the most obvious signs is the type and quantity of cervical mucus that she produces. It appears right before ovulation and is considered an important sign of fertility.

The typical pattern usually goes something like this:
Menstruation
Nothing/Dry
Sticky/Gummy/Tacky
Creamy/White/Milky

Slippery/Wet/Eggwhite << Most Fertile
Nothing/Dry
It is the slippery wet cervical fluid that is the ideal and most fertile fluid that you can produce because it is what helps get the sperm to the egg – it’s what they swim through and keep them nourished while waiting for the egg to appear and fertilize it. It often resembles egg whites because it’s clear and stretchy and very slippery.
Therefore the more quality egg white cervical fluid that you produce, the more fertile that you will be and the better your chances of getting pregnant.

So how do you make sure that you have lots of fertile cervical fluid?

• First of all make sure you drink lots of water. Your body needs water to make the fluid from and the more you drink the more you should be able to produce.
• Vitamin B6 is a great vitamin for improving the amount of fertile cervical mucus that you produce. Most women are deficient in B6 and don’t realize it because many multi vitamins usually only have a small amount included. You can safely take up to 200mg per day but start with a smaller does (around 60mg) and work up each month.
• Many women swear that snacking on baby carrots and steaming them for their dinner greatly improves the amount of fluid that they produce.
• Plain Robitussin expectorant with the active ingredient Guaiferenesin works by thinning out any mucus in the body and is great if you only produce thick creamy fluid and want to ‘water’ it down. Try taking 2 teaspoons 3 times per day for optimal results.
• Drinking green tea has also improved the fertility of many women and many swear that by drinking it during the weeks leading up to ovulation was the first time that they produced really good quality egg white cervical fluid.

By improving their fluid quality many women who have had trouble conceiving a baby have found getting pregnant much easier and these tips are very easy to do at home.

-- Learn more about how you can get pregnant with 90% Proven Program! --

How to Get Pregnant Fast – Top 5 Tips

If you want to know how to get pregnant fast then it’s not always simply a matter of trying for a baby a few times and crossing your fingers. There are ways to take control and improve your chances of getting pregnant each month by making a few small adjustments to your lifestyle and habits. This post will show you some of the top five ways that you can get pregnant faster.


1. Have Regular Enjoyable Sex
Many women fall into the notion that they should just try and have sex as close to ovulation as possible and while it’s true that you are only fertile when you ovulate, often times women get it all wrong about timing.
So to make sure that you catch that egg you need to be having regular intercourse at least three times a week, preferably every second day throughout your entire cycle. While that may seem like a lot of baby making, it actually works out around eleven times per cycle if you have a regular 28 day cycle and avoid intercourse during menstruation.

Women who fall pregnant easily usually have a very healthy sex life and enjoy lovemaking. Trying for a baby does sometimes make lovemaking seem like a chore but you can do things to help ignite the passion again such as romantic evenings, flirting and massages with your partner

2. Use Positions That Are Known For Better Conception
While there isn’t one ‘best’ position when it comes to getting pregnant, there are positions that can help improve your chances of sperm getting to where it is supposed to much easier. That includes missionary and rear entry.

In fact nearly any position that involves deeper penetration where the sperm is deposited as close to the cervix as possible will improve your chances of conceiving a baby.

3. Get Him to Wear Boxers
By getting your partner to wear boxer shorts instead of tight underwear and having him avoid hot showers or baths, you’ll be improving the health and potency of his sperm. If his sperm gets too hot they can often die off before ejaculation which makes getting pregnant increasingly difficult.

But don’t go to the other extreme and ask him to sit on icepacks because that will be too cold. Ideally by keeping his testes just one degree cooler has often been enough to help previously unsuccessful couples go on to have lots of babies and you can do that by him wearing boxers.

4. Keep Yourself Healthy
This one is a no brainer but by eating healthy foods and getting regular exercise you’ll not only improve your health but also your ability to conceive.

Many studies have shown that women who start an exercise program (walking and yoga have been shown to have the most success) reduce stress, improve circulation and balance hormones – all of which are extremely important to your fertility.

As an added benefit, you’ll find that your healthy body will have a much easier time during the pregnancy when you do get pregnant.

5. Drink Lots Of Water.
Did you know that dehydration affects your fertility? It’s true so make sure you keep up your liquids.
As an added benefit you’ll have more fertile egg white cervical mucus which is essential to improving your chances of making a baby.

Still Not Pregnant? What to Do Next
If you haven’t fallen pregnant within a year of trying then it’s possible that you or your partner may have something that is preventing you from conceiving.

It’s worth checking out by visiting your doctor or gynecologist; especially if it’s something that’s easily fixed and will allow you to go on to have a healthy happy baby. Sometimes it’s not enough knowing how to get pregnant fast, you just need a little helping hand.

-- You can find out more about Getting Pregnant Here! -- 

Trying to Get Pregnant? The Top 4 Supplements You Might Need

Trying to get pregnant is a struggle and a reality for so many women (I know because I’m one of them) but there are things you can do to help improve your chances of getting pregnant such as diet, fertility supplements, ovulation timing and more. I’ve previously talked a bit about ovulation timing, so in this post I wanted to go over some of the better vitamin and herb supplements that have helped many women conceive naturally.


Here are my top supplements to get pregnant:

Vitex (Agnus Castus / Chasteberry)
There have been a ton of studies that show how great Vitex is as helping many women fall pregnant and balance their reproductive systems but what does it actually do and how much do you need to take?
Vitex helps you get pregnant by balancing your hormones, which is why it is especially beneficial for women with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). With today’s diets and lifestyles it’s not uncommon to have your balance of estrogen and progesterone out of whack making it difficult to conceive and so Vitex works with the body to balance things out again.

If you have a luteal phase defect (where the second half of your cycle after ovulation is less than 10 days) then many women have reported that Vitex can help correct that.
Vitex does take a while to work within the body so allow up to 3 – 6 months before you see any significant changes.

It can be taken throughout your whole cycle until your fall pregnant and you can get it in tea, tincture or capsule form whichever you prefer.

Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is another great fertility booster and should be taken by all women (not just those trying to get pregnant).  Many women say that the used vitamin b6 to get pregnant successfully after trying prior to using it for months without success.

It is beneficial in reducing period cramps, PMS, fluid retention, mood swings, and of course for improving fertility. It will increase your odds of falling pregnant and also for preventing miscarriage in the early weeks.
It’s very good for women who have a luteal phase defect and they will benefit greatly from Vitamin B6 as it helps increase the levels of progesterone in the body. A deficiency in B6 leads to too much estrogen. It’s also great for improving cervical mucus so that sperm can live longer which increases your chance of conceiving each month.

Most women report great results with around 60mg per day but it’s safe to take up to 200mg.
Do you take B6 for your whole cycle?  Yes, you can safely take it throughout your whole cycle and it’s best taken in conjunction with the other B group vitamins.

Dong Quai (Angelica Sinensis Root)
Dong Quai is a Chinese herb known for its blood building properties. It is used extensively in China for fertility problems and to regulate the menstrual cycle.

It can be taken throughout your cycle except when you are menstruating.
Many women claim that Dong Quai is very helpful in implantation by making the uterus soft enough for a fertilized egg to implant and thus making it very helpful in falling pregnant.

Evening Primrose Oil

Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) can help you in getting pregnant by improving the quality of your cervical fluid. It is an essential fatty acid that contains gamma linolenic acid (GLA).

The better quality your cervical mucus, the more fertile that you become, with the most fertile cervical fluid often known as egg white cervical mucus (ewcm). This fluid is clear, watery and stretchy very much like real egg whites and is what the sperm uses to swim through to reach the egg. The more you have the easier it makes it for the sperm to reach the egg.

Drinking a lot of water can also help in improving your cervical fluid.
Since Evening Primrose Oil can cause uterine contractions, it should only be taken from menstruation to your ovulation day and not after if you are trying to get pregnant.
So if you have been asking yourself what vitamin helps you get pregnant, then I hope this post has helped you.

-- Stop living lonely with 90% success rate of getting Pregnant! --

How to Conceive a Boy – Diet, pH and Chinese Gender Chart

In my previous post about conceiving a boy I talked a lot about the Shettles Method of using timing to influence which sperm reaches the egg first and how to use that to your advantage when trying for a boy baby.


In this post I’ll go further into gender selection methods such as the ever popular chinese method (prediction calendar) for a but of fun and talk about the ways how to conceive a boy using diet and ph Levels. So let’s look at diet first.

Foods to eat to conceive a boy baby
It has been said that certain foods help make the cervical fluid (cf) more alkaline or acidic and to get a boy baby you need to make your cf more alkaline since that favors the Y chromosome sperm.
According to research by Oxford and Exeter universities, many first time mothers were studied according to their diets and the gender of their child and among the group the highest percentage of boys (56%) was to women who ate a high calorie, high potassium diet.

In fact the study went on to look at other factors and nutrients and the more vitamins and nutrients that the mother took prior to conceiving the more likely she was to have a male child.

Foods that were particularly beneficial to having a healthy baby boy included lots of potassium (banana’s are high in potassium), steak and potatoes, foods high in calories such as cake and biscuits and also breakfast cereal every morning (according to some statistics you have an 87% chance of conceiving a baby boy by not skipping breakfast!) Of course there have been no clinical trials on the effects of breakfast versus no breakfast for conceiving a boy or girl, but it makes sense since the Oxford study suggest the more nutrients you get the higher the chances of getting a boy.

Of course diet isn’t the only thing that can influence whether you get a boy or girl, but if it moves the odds in your favor just a tiny bit it’s worth trying along with other methods for falling pregnant with a boy baby.
pH levels for getting pregnant with a boy baby

As I mentioned earlier, a more alkaline pH level is much better for conceiving a boy and there are few ways that you can achieve that without douching (douching can cause health problems and may even lead to infertility in extreme cases).

The absolute best way that you can quickly change the pH level of your reproductive tract is to have an orgasm. Yes the good news is that as soon as the woman has climaxed the fluid she produces makes the pH levels much more favorable to having a boy.

Of course changing your diet also helps such as eating more red meat and salty snacks, but it isn’t quite as fun.

Using the Chinese Gender Chart for How to Conceive a Boy Baby
And I couldn’t go past a little bit of ancient eastern tradition with the Chinese Gender Chart which takes into account both the month that you conceive and the mother’s age at time of conception. Many people claim it is successful 90% of the time to help you have a baby boy, but I’m not quite convinced. At any rate it can be a fun way to determine what baby you will have.  Here’s the chinese gender chart that shows what you will have according to when you should conceive:

 -- No more excuses for not getting a baby boy now! --

How to Get Pregnant – Maximize Your Fertility

Getting Pregnant can be easy for some people and a struggle for others, and medicine is still not giving us the clear answers as to why that is the case, but whether you will be trying for the first time, or have been trying to conceive for months (or even years) there are many things that you can do right now to maximize your fertility and know how to get pregnant faster and easier, so read on.


What to do before you conceive

The first thing you need to do if you want to know how to fall pregnant is get yourself as healthy as you can. Once you do fall pregnant, you will have a much easier time if you have a healthy body and so it pays to start now. It’s proven that women who eat healthy foods and exercise regularly have a much easier time conceiving than those who don’t. Yes I know, I’ve heard all those stories of women who are overweight, smoke, take drugs or eat junk food too and still fall pregnant, but we are not talking about them, we are talking about YOU, and what YOU can do to get pregnant.

Check your multivitamin to make sure that you are getting enough folic acid. This B group vitamin is essential for preventing birth defects like spina bifida and you should be taking it well before you conceive for maximum benefits. As a bonus it will give you a slight boost in energy which is important when you want to fall pregnant.
There are other fertility supplements that you can take to help improve your chances of getting pregnant as well.

Also take up some form of mild regular exercise, whether that’s walking, yoga or a leisurely bike ride.
Regular exercise has many benefits to fertility including balancing hormones, reducing stress and improving circulation, all which will help you get pregnant faster.

What he can do

Next make sure that your partner has healthy sperm. He can easily get that tested by visiting a sperm bank or even his local GP. Because this test is so easy to do (especially compared to the fertility tests that women have to go through) it’s worth doing upfront to rule out any issues that may cause problems down the track.
You should also try and convince your partner to wear boxer shorts and avoid hot showers or baths, as this can make his sperm much stronger and this means they’ll be able to live longer and have a better chance of fertilizing your egg.

Trying to get pregnant

You next steps is finding out when you ovulate so that you can time lovemaking appropriately. A woman is fertile for around six days of her cycle, which includes the five days prior to ovulation and the day of ovulation itself.

There are many ways of determining your ovulation day from charting your BBT, to keeping track of your cervical mucus, to using ovulation predictor kits or saliva monitors. Each method is different and can also be used in conjunction with each other to really pinpoint your most fertile phase.

Pinpointing ovulation really is the main factor in knowing how to fall pregnant but it doesn’t have to be stressful. If you have a regular cycle and want to avoid obsessing over every temperature rise or dip then you could do what many women do and have intercourse every second day between days 10 and 18 of your cycle which should make sure that you optimize your fertile period.

What if you are still not pregnant after 6 months?

If you still haven’t gotten pregnant after at least six months of trying then the next step is to visit your doctor to see if they can determine the reason. Your doctor will usually order a number of tests including hormone tests and perhaps even a laparoscopy to check for any structural issues.

It could be something as simple as balancing your hormones or prescribing a fertility drug like Clomid to help you conceive or you might need further help such as IUI or even IVF to have a baby. IVF methods (while expensive) are becoming very efficient at helping couples have a baby that are unable to do so naturally and shouldn’t be ruled out.

There are many other ideas and tips on this blog about how to get pregnant so I hope you have a look around and find something that brings you closer to your dream of having a baby.

-- Get Pregnant Today and Stop Worrying --

When to Get Pregnant In Your Cycle – Fertility Charting 101

Knowing when you are most fertile is the best way to know when to get pregnant within your cycle. Every women is different and it’s simply not always a case that you ovulate on Day 14 (remember this is just an average), so by charting your daily basal body temperature you will start to get a good indication of your usual ovulation day.

Charting should be used in conjunction with the other methods of determining your ovulation day because while useful, it will only confirm that you have ovulated, not tell you when you are about to. However after around two months of charting you should have a good idea when the best time to get pregnant in your cycle will be.

It’s also useful for detecting luteal phase defects (when the time between ovulation and menstruation is less than 10 days).

So how do you start charting?
The first thing that you will need is a basal body thermometer. You can get those quite inexpensively at most big supermarkets or pharmacies or even online (eBay often has BBT thermometers cheap). Make sure you get a digital one as they are much easier to read.

Starting at Day 1 of your cycle (the first day of your period), take your temperature first thing in the morning at the same time before you get out of bed. You can either temp orally or vaginally – it’s up to you whichever you prefer.

Record it on a notepad and fill in your chart. You can use an online ovulation calculator like Fertility Friend and enter your temperatures in there so it does the calculations for you.

As you approach ovulation you should notice any changes in your cervical fluid to determine if you are becoming fertile. You can note these on your chart as well. Often you may find that your peak cervical mucus day is actually a day or two before you ovulate rather then the day of.

Once you have released an egg you’ll notice that your temperature will increase, often by around 0.5 to 1 degree and be higher than your previous temps of that cycle. If your temperature remains high for at least three temperatures then you can safely confirm ovulation has taken place.
The day BEFORE the rise is your ovulation day.

Draw a coverline to distinguish your high and low temps so you can easily see your charting pattern.
The reason for the increase in temperature’s is that the body releases progesterone in the second half of your cycle which warms the body by around half a degree waiting for the impending pregnancy. If you are not pregnant, the progesterone drops and estrogen takes over and your cycle starts all over again.

There are many variations on what constitutes a ‘perfect’ chart and many women notice erratic temperatures, fall back temperatures, a dip before the rise and other out of place temperatures while they are charting. They are all normal and won’t stop you getting pregnant.

Keep charting throughout the rest of your cycle as often times you may determine if you are pregnant or not from what your chart does. If the temps remain high past your usual cycle length then it is a good chance that you might be pregnant. If you notice that your temps fall then it’s likely that your period is on its way either later that day or the next day.

After a few cycles it’s likely that you’ll know your body very well and you’ll be able to determine when to get pregnant in your cycle just by looking at your previous charts.

-- Chart Your Pregnancy Days Now! --

Getting Pregnant by Improving Your Cervical Mucus

Cervical mucus / cervical fluid is one of the three primary fertility signs to getting pregnant according to Toni Weschler of Taking Charge of Your Fertility, with the others being charting your basal body temperature each morning and keeping track of your cervical position during your cycle.


In this post I’ll talk about how you can improve your chances of getting pregnant by increasing the amount and quality of your cervical fluid.

By the way, I’ll use both the terms cervical fluid (CF) and cervical mucus (CM) throughout this post, but they both mean the same thing.

Throughout a woman’s menstrual cycle there are many changes to her body and one of the most obvious signs is the type and quantity of cervical mucus that she produces. It appears right before ovulation and is considered an important sign of fertility.

The typical pattern usually goes something like this:
Menstruation
Nothing/Dry
Sticky/Gummy/Tacky
Creamy/White/Milky
Slippery/Wet/Eggwhite << Most Fertile
Nothing/Dry

It is the slippery wet cervical fluid that is the ideal and most fertile fluid that you can produce because it is what helps get the sperm to the egg – it’s what they swim through and keep them nourished while waiting for the egg to appear and fertilize it. It often resembles egg whites because it’s clear and stretchy and very slippery.
Therefore the more quality egg white cervical fluid that you produce, the more fertile that you will be and the better your chances of getting pregnant.

So how do you make sure that you have lots of fertile cervical fluid?

• First of all make sure you drink lots of water. Your body needs water to make the fluid from and the more you drink the more you should be able to produce.
• Vitamin B6 is a great vitamin for improving the amount of fertile cervical mucus that you produce. Most women are deficient in B6 and don’t realize it because many multi vitamins usually only have a small amount included. You can safely take up to 200mg per day but start with a smaller does (around 60mg) and work up each month.
• Many women swear that snacking on baby carrots and steaming them for their dinner greatly improves the amount of fluid that they produce.
• Plain Robitussin expectorant with the active ingredient Guaiferenesin works by thinning out any mucus in the body and is great if you only produce thick creamy fluid and want to ‘water’ it down. Try taking 2 teaspoons 3 times per day for optimal results.
• Drinking green tea has also improved the fertility of many women and many swear that by drinking it during the weeks leading up to ovulation was the first time that they produced really good quality egg white cervical fluid.

By improving their fluid quality many women who have had trouble conceiving a baby have found getting pregnant much easier and these tips are very easy to do at home.

-- Have A Good Sex And Get Pregnant Tonight! --

How to Get Pregnant Fast – Top 5 Tips

If you want to know how to get pregnant fast then it’s not always simply a matter of trying for a baby a few times and crossing your fingers. There are ways to take control and improve your chances of getting pregnant each month by making a few small adjustments to your lifestyle and habits. This post will show you some of the top five ways that you can get pregnant faster.


1. Have Regular Enjoyable Sex

Many women fall into the notion that they should just try and have sex as close to ovulation as possible and while it’s true that you are only fertile when you ovulate, often times women get it all wrong about timing.
So to make sure that you catch that egg you need to be having regular intercourse at least three times a week, preferably every second day throughout your entire cycle. While that may seem like a lot of baby making, it actually works out around eleven times per cycle if you have a regular 28 day cycle and avoid intercourse during menstruation.

Women who fall pregnant easily usually have a very healthy sex life and enjoy lovemaking. Trying for a baby does sometimes make lovemaking seem like a chore but you can do things to help ignite the passion again such as romantic evenings, flirting and massages with your partner

2. Use Positions That Are Known For Better Conception

While there isn’t one ‘best’ position when it comes to getting pregnant, there are positions that can help improve your chances of sperm getting to where it is supposed to much easier. That includes missionary and rear entry.

In fact nearly any position that involves deeper penetration where the sperm is deposited as close to the cervix as possible will improve your chances of conceiving a baby.

3. Get Him to Wear Boxers

By getting your partner to wear boxer shorts instead of tight underwear and having him avoid hot showers or baths, you’ll be improving the health and potency of his sperm. If his sperm gets too hot they can often die off before ejaculation which makes getting pregnant increasingly difficult.

But don’t go to the other extreme and ask him to sit on icepacks because that will be too cold. Ideally by keeping his testes just one degree cooler has often been enough to help previously unsuccessful couples go on to have lots of babies and you can do that by him wearing boxers.

4. Keep Yourself Healthy

This one is a no brainer but by eating healthy foods and getting regular exercise you’ll not only improve your health but also your ability to conceive.

Many studies have shown that women who start an exercise program (walking and yoga have been shown to have the most success) reduce stress, improve circulation and balance hormones – all of which are extremely important to your fertility.

As an added benefit, you’ll find that your healthy body will have a much easier time during the pregnancy when you do get pregnant.

5. Drink Lots Of Water.

Did you know that dehydration affects your fertility? It’s true so make sure you keep up your liquids.
As an added benefit you’ll have more fertile egg white cervical mucus which is essential to improving your chances of making a baby.

Still Not Pregnant? What to Do Next

If you haven’t fallen pregnant within a year of trying then it’s possible that you or your partner may have something that is preventing you from conceiving.

It’s worth checking out by visiting your doctor or gynecologist; especially if it’s something that’s easily fixed and will allow you to go on to have a healthy happy baby. Sometimes it’s not enough knowing how to get pregnant fast, you just need a little helping hand.

-- Try This Internet #1 Pregnancy Program With Over 90% Success Rate Now! --