Planning for Pregnancy

The decision to have a baby is a huge one, and it’s something that usually comes after a lot of thought. There are many things someone must take into consideration before planning to start a family, such as income and most importantly health. Many factors come into play when it comes to being gravid, such as age and infertility issues. If you want to start trying to have a baby, you want to make sure your body is healthy and ready. 

Visit Your Doctor 

The first step you should take after deciding you want to start a family is to make an appointment with your doctor for a preconception visit. The good news is that you can make an appointment like this up to a year before you start trying to conceive. During this appointment, your doctor will discuss with you your existing medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression, and they may talk to you about your current weight. 

Learn Your Cycle 

To better understand when you should try to conceive, you should start learning how to track your cycle. During ovulation, the egg is released into your fallopian tube and it only stays there for about 12 to 24 hours. Sperm can live in the uterus and fallopian tube for approximately six days after having sex, meaning you’re fertile on average for seven days each menstrual cycle. 

Women are most fertile 12 to 14 days before their next period starts, which is why it’s helpful to learn your cycle. You can also use at-home ovulation test strips which will tell you when you are ovulating. After you start trying to get pregnant, it could be helpful to use hCG test strips which are designed to help detect pregnancy much earlier than the traditional pregnancy test. 

Break Unhealthy Habits 

If you want to ensure your body is healthy enough for pregnancy, it’s time to work on breaking all of your unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking, and any drug use. Once you stop using contraceptives and officially start trying to get pregnant, you should eliminate these unhealthy habits. 

Some things are harder to break than others, such as smoking. It can sometimes be more harmful and cause more stress to quit cold turkey, especially if you’re a heavy smoker. If you find you’re having a difficult time with this, many resources can help you. You can also choose to work closely with your primary care physician to help you kick these habits. While the process to start leading a better lifestyle might be bumpy at first, keep your focus on your dream to start a family so you can have the motivation to get through the difficult days. 

Exercise Regularly 

The average person should strive to get approximately 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. If you break that down, that’s only 21 minutes of activity each day, which makes that goal easy to achieve. If you’re not a person who incorporates this into their normal routine, it’s never too late to start. It’s okay to start small and work your way up to exercising more and doing more challenging exercises. Strength training is good to incorporate into your daily routine at least two times a week and try to target each of the major muscle groups.  

Be Patient

If you’re not getting pregnant right away, try to stay patient. Worrying about becoming with child and stressing about seeing two lines on the pregnancy test may be making it harder for conception to take place. Some women have no problems at all becoming gravid, but around one in ten women experience infertility. If you’re under 35 and have been trying for at least a year, you should consult your doctor to find out your next steps. Women over 35 and who have been trying for six months should make an appointment. A preliminary fertility evaluation may be needed to determine the best course of action to get you closer to making your dream a reality.