Ladies,
I love my job and feel very fortunate to work with infertility. I talk about fertility all the time. I talk about it with my friends. I talk about it with my family. I even talk about it on dates and recall drawing drawing the internal reproductive system on a bar napkin once. What really amazes me, is that everyone seems to have an opinion on it. Yesterday, two retired gentleman at a restaurant even had questions and insights about infertility. Maybe it touches everyone’s live now. (It’s even a hot topic on Hulu with the Handmaid’s Tale). Regardless of where I am, it does seem to come up in conversation. So, if you ever get stuck next to me at the dinner table, and decided to ask about fertility here is some basic questions and advice I might share:
When trying to achieve pregnancy you’re the top things to ask yourself:
Do you ovulate? When?
Females only actually ovulate one day a month a normal cycle. If you’re having sex on the wrong days conception will not happen. This can be done by tracking your body temperature, using an ovulation predictor kit, or even a new ovulation tracking bracelet, called, Ava. I want to try it next.
Are you eating green stuff and drinking fresh spring water while avoiding pesticides?
Mother nature has the best plan for increasing fertility. Trust that the foods that we are given in nature are exactly what we need. Animals eat little buds off the branches because they are full of phyto-nutrients which our body’s cells need. Are we getting those same nutrients? They’re certainly not in this coffee I’m holding right now.
Are you using nutritional supplements actually bio-available to your body?
The truth is we are probably not going to get everything we need in our diet in a short amount of time we want to increase or fertility. Proper nutritional supplementation is the quickest, most proven way to do this. Choose whole food or liposomal products so your not wasting your dollars and pills your not even absorbing. You can even get your vitamin levels checked with lab testing if you’re concerned about what lacking.
Are you enjoying caffeine, alcohol, and sugar you take in on a daily basis?
We all know these items are not really good for us. Over time, excess of these indulgences will definitely decrease your fertility. Everything in healthy moderation ladies. Enjoy these items in their more natural, organic, and pesticide free whenever you can.
Are you smoking cigarettes and marijuana?
The substances have a profound negative effect on female follicles and male sperm cells, particularly if one has been using these substances over a period of time. So if you just have a few, on the weekends, or after the bar but just with your friends I can guarantee it is not helping. Cutting back and quitting these will help give your cells the oxygen they so desperately need to create new life.
How much stress is actually in your life?
I didn’t ask how much stress you can handle. That’s a different question. When we have high amounts of stress we produce cortisol. When we produce the hormone cortisol it is absorbed by our sex cells instead of our proper sex hormones. This decreases fertility. So when push comes to shove, we have to take a good hard look at how much daily stress you really endure on a biochemical level, and how this is affecting your sex hormones. Counteracting the ill effects of stress is hugely important.
Is your life as balanced as you would like it to be? Are you happy the way it is?
Make sure your life is indeed balanced. In cultures where they make time to laugh, worship, relax, spend time outdoors, and get plenty of sleep fertility is not an issue. It is only a problem in our modern, industrialized society. Are you getting everything you need in your current life?
Are you getting all the right tests performed with your doctors?
There are more reasons you may not be getting pregnant than you may even be aware of. Of course it’s a good to check for possible blocked tubes or see if hormone levels that are in normal range. However, if you have unexplained infertility then be aware there is no such thing as unexplained-nly unfounded infertility. There are many more tests to check for the hidden culprits of infertility.
More Thoughts:
Be patient with yourself, your partner, and nature.
If you spent 20 years training your body not to get pregnant then do not expect your body to get untrained overnight. Mother nature wants us to have children and for life to continue on this planet. Fertility is on your side. When the body is ready to conceive and bear a child it will do so. All we need to do is to get your body ready for what it naturally wants to do (procreate), and do it in a healthy manor.
Finally, Get an advocate or sounding board.
Throughout history women have always stuck together through onset of menses, pregnancy, fertility ceremonies, childbirth, and child rearing. Only recently have we decided to do it alone as an independent nuclear family unit. Women need and deserve support of other women. Not a “negative nelly” that perpetuate and complicate the problem. Look for positive, open minded, pro-active people to help you get you through this.
Ladies, we are changing history. For thousands of years we have been having children early in life and continuing until we are middle aged. Now, we are often waiting until we are a little older. This is ok. This is how evolution happens. So, if your body needs a little extra help through acupuncture, herbs, detoxes, supplements, hormone testing, medical intervention, massage, meditation, prayer, hypnosis…or whatever it may be, well..that’s okay with us. Use these basic tips to know that you are indeed doing the right actions to increase your fertility.
with kindness,
Dr. Lorri
