trying to conceive (TTC)

For many couples getting pregnant and trying to conceive is easy. However, for others getting pregnant can take a long time and they have to resort to reproductive technology.

"Am I Pregnant" and "Could I be Pregnant" is the #1 health question both in women trying to get pregnant and those not trying to get pregnant.

According to research completed by the University of Utah’s
Department of Family and Preventative Medicine, some women seek out and
receive fertility treatments before such treatment is clinically
indicated.

You have
been trying to conceive for what feels like forever. You want to have a
child and you’ve followed every suggestion your fertility specialist has
offered. You are about to jump into fertility drugs and assisted
reproduction when a friend gets pregnant.

Long work
hours leave little time for home life; they also increase fatigue and
convince adults to wait longer to marry or start a family.

Mother’s Day is supposed to be a happy celebration of life and dedication. For women who have been trying to conceive,
however, the day can feel more like a smack in the face than a celebration.

When your
night is spent fighting with bedtime rituals and keeping baby in her own
room, the idea of conceiving another child gets pushed back behind
fatigue, stress and the fights that inevitably ensue over the latter
issues. Try working on that bedtime routine.

There was a
time when I worked a minimum of 60 hours a week. My wife took care of
everything that even remotely had to do with our home, kids and
finances. I worked and that was the only job I needed to do as a man, or
so I thought.

This is the
reason potty training experts say toddlers should start potty training
at 18 months – not because they are all emotionally ready, but because
the body is physically capable of learning how to hold it at 18 months.

Getting pregnant may be the easy part – changing your life around to
prepare for baby may be a little harder. There are a number of things
you need to avoid prior to even thinking about trying to conceive.

Were couples trying to conceive really so focused on their goal that sex
completely takes over their lives? If so, is filling every possible
free moment with sex the best way to get pregnant?

Times have changed. Couples are now living together for years,
sometimes even decades, before choosing when to work on growing a family
with or without a marriage commitment. Other couples follow the more
traditional route.

At the heart of pregnancy is sex. If couples do not have intercourse,
independent of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted
reproductive techniques (ART), pregnancy will not occur. Sex is an
intimate activity driven by emotion.

Fertility is at the heart of reproduction, conception, pregnancy and
parenthood, but many couples do not give fertility a passing thought
until something goes wrong in the process. It is then that couples want
to know when to work on fertility.

You do not have to stop breastfeeding to conceive, but conception is
harder for some women while breastfeeding. Prolactin (breast milk stimulating hormone) may suppress
ovulation making it difficult to track fertility and to get pregnant.

You can get pregnant before you have your first postpartum period.
An egg is released (ovulation) before your period starts. Some women
have reported conceiving the first month after giving birth before
having their first postpartum menstrual period. 

Some women experience lactation amenorrhea while breastfeeding.
Amenorrhea is the cessation of your monthly period. Hormones associated
with breastfeeding affect reproductive cycles.

You can conceive while breastfeeding though you are less fertile
during this time. You may notice irregular periods or a complete lack of
periods, called lactation amenorrhea, for up to one year (longer for
some women).

If you want to have the best chance at pregnancy, try conceiving in the
winter months. Sperm are produced in larger numbers and swim faster in
winter compared to the remaining three seasons.

Sex is at the heart of trying to conceive (TTC). It is not uncommon
for couples to have sex multiple times a week or even multiple times a
day, in an effort to conceive. However, the longer a couple tries to
conceive, the more planned and tedious sex can become.

Less than 10 years ago having a cell phone was a luxury. Today, cell
phones are an expected as a part of everyday life. You can access the
Internet, social medial sites like Facebook and Twitter and keep in
contact with people all over the world with a few clicks.

The healthier you are, the easier it will be for you to conceive. By
maintaining a healthy weight and eating right, your reproductive organs
will work the right way, as will the rest of your body.

There is nothing more confusing than facing male infertility when trying
to conceive a second child. The first time around conception happened
nearly to the day you started trying.

Trying to conceive does not have to always be a game of fertility
calendars and conception calculators. Sometimes, in the heat of trying
so hard, all you have to do is let romance happen and there is no better
time than Valentine’s Day.

Just because you are a married couple trying to conceive (TTC) does not
mean you have to spend Valentine’s Day worrying about ovulation, body
temperature and fertility treatments.

The bedroom is your place of business when you are trying to conceive
(TTC), but that does not mean you have to limit your sexual encounters
to the bedroom. Taking sex out of the bedroom this Valentine’s Day can
mean all the difference.

Operation Baby is in full effect and you are tracking body temperature, checking cervical mucus, eating healthy and exercising daily to optimize fertility. Everything is on track for conception, but it is just not working.

Male fertility problems account for about 50% of all infertility. In the
past, women were thought to play the sole role in infertility. If a
couple could not conceive, the woman was to blame.

There’s nothing worse than booking a vacation getaway to forget the
struggles of infertility only to find your cruise, resort or hotel is
packed with children. Relieving the stress associated with infertility
does not mean immersing yourself in a sea of children.

Sex on demand in a relationship suffering infertility tends to be
initiated by the woman, not the man, though men rarely say anything
about it to friends, family or even his partner.