A Myth-Proof Guide to Getting Pregnant
When it comes to getting pregnant, simply having made a baby does not make you an expert. Yet once you and your partner announce that you’re trying to conceive, everyone from your jeweler to your sister-in-law’s cleaning lady will claim to have the secret method your doctor isn’t telling you. While these snippets of advice can be intriguing, and may even appear to have some justifiable basis, some are unfounded, unscientific, unproven and are best left with the old wives themselves.
First, it’s important to understand that it’s not that easy to get pregnant. Many women spend their entire young adulthood trying not to getting pregnant, fearful that even thinking about sex without protection could land you in pants with a pouch. But as adults, we soon realize that having a baby isn’t as easy as our biology teachers would have us believe.
A healthy couple in prime reproductive age has only a 25 percent chance of conceiving during each cycle. And, according to Felicia Stewart, M.D., co-author of Understanding Your Body: Every Woman’s Guide to Gynecology and Health, only half of all couples get pregnant within six months, and 85 percent do so within a year.
So what’s our first lesson? It takes time. Don’t get freaked out if you don’t get pregnant the first time you try, or even the second or the third. The story you heard about your friend’s friend who accidentally skipped a pill and got pregnant is a rarity, assuming it’s even true.
The absolute first thing you should do once you and your partner decide it’s time for a baby is see your doctor. Blood pressure, weight, an unknown vaginal infection and even the use of certain herbs can all affect your ability to conceive. And, if you or your partner more than occasionally consume alcohol, smoke cigarettes, use marijuana or have a history of drug abuse, now is the time to quit. Not only will these bad habits adversely affect your fertility, but they can also reduce your partner’s sperm count, as well as the swimming rate of his sperm.
The second thing you need to do is to go off your birth control. If you’ve been using condoms, a diaphragm, cervical cap, IUD or natural methods such as withdrawal or the rhythm method, all you have to do is stop using them and go for it. If you’re on the Pill, Norplant® or Depo-Provera®, you need to consult your doctor, as he may want you to finish out one last cycle, or wait a little before trying to rid your system of any lingering hormones.
So now that you and your partner are on the road to healthy living, it’s time to discuss the number-one, scientifically proven method for successfully getting pregnant: knowing and following your cycle. Now we know this isn’t as interesting as lying with your legs up over your head after sex (which by the way is a myth and does not work), but it is the most effective method. There are four ways you can go about getting to know your cycle and monitoring your ovulation.
Go by your days: Contrary to the belief that your most fertile day is 14 days after your period starts, it’s actually 14 days before your next period starts. If your cycle is regular, a little math could help time things. For a 30-day cycle, day 16 is your most fertile day. Similarly, if your cycle is normally 32 days, then you should go for it on day 18.