Conception and the sign of Pregnancy

Working out your ovulation cycle

If your health and nutrition MOTs are up to scratch, then it’s time to learn more about when your body releases your egg – otherwise known as your ovulation cycle. This helps you know the time when you’re most fertile.When do you ovulate?: Your periods happenaround every 23 to 35 days and you're most likely to ovulate roughly two weeks before your period, although it varies, woman to woman. Most women have a 28-day cycle and ovulate around day 14.

Ovulation signs: When you're ovulating you might notice your vaginal mucus increases and becomes gluey or like egg white. Recording your temperature: Important ovulation signs also include clear changes in your body’s temperature. You can predict your ovulation cycle by taking your temperature. It drops just before and rises after ovulation has taken place but you need to record it at the same time every morning, before drinking, eating or getting out of bed.Buy a predictor kit: You can buy ovulation predictor kits at large chemists and most large supermarkets. They contain sticks that you use to test your urine, a bit like a pregnancy test.Have sex regularly during your fertile period: When you think you’ve spotted all your ovulation signs, it’s time to have plenty of sex! This will boost your chances of conceiving, especially as sperm can survive for up to 7 days so are more likely to connect with the egg, which only survives unfertilised for up to a day.

How healthy habits can help you conceive
Getting your body ready for trying for a baby needn’t be too complicated or stressful – for you it’s mostly to do with looking after yourself and preparing your body to create and carry new life. For your partner, it’s all about making sure his sperm are healthy enough to make it to their final destination! Get your partner involved tooOf course, how quickly you get pregnant isn't all down to you. Your partner has a very important role to play too! He should try to:Stop smoking and avoid any excessive intake of alcohol.Reduce caffeine intake too.Reduce his stress levels.Stay away from hazardous work environments: some chemicals can affect his sperm.Keep his testicles cool: make sure he's got some roomy, cotton underpants and ensure his trousers aren’t too tight.Encourage him to eat well: plenty of fruit and vegetables will provide a wide range of vitamins and minerals including Vitamin C - essential for producing healthy sperm. Foods high in Zinc are good for virility so he should be eating foods such as seafood, wholefoods, meat, eggs and rye bread. Lots of calcium rich dairy foods and iron rich red meat and pulses should also be on the menu.Stay relaxed and enjoy the practice!
The best advice for any couple trying for a family is to relax and enjoy the practice! Mother Nature often doesn't want to feel rushed or pressurised.It's a good idea to keep having a fun and loving sexual relationship all month – so you don't begin to only associate sex with making babies and pile the pressure on each other.

Give your body a Check-up

Before you start trying to get pregnant, it's a good idea to give yourself a check-up:
Smoking: Smoking will severely reduce your chances of actually conceiving, not to mention be potentially harmful to your baby's development and give you a higher risk of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancies. If you smoke, try and give up now. Your doctor should be able to help you.
Diet and exercise: Being too over or under weight may affect your fertility. Exercise and a well balanced diet will also help you get your body in tip-top shape for trying for a baby.
You should cut back on processed foods and foods containing high levels of fat and sugar. But also, make sure you’re getting plenty of fruit and vegetables- at least 5 portions a day and use a variety of colours plenty of starchy foods - like bread, pasta, rice (preferably wholegrain which contains more folic acid), oats and potatoes protein with each meal - such as lean meat and chicken, fish (twice a week), dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds and pulses

Vitamin supplements: If you're having a balanced diet you probably don't need extra vitamins but if you are taking supplements, make sure they're suitable for women trying to conceive. Regular vitamin supplements often contain Vitamin A which could be harmful in too large a dose.

Folic acid: Folic acid is important as it helps prevent some developmental defects, such as spina bifida. Folic acid occurs in some foods, such as fortified breakfast cereals, bananas and leafy green vegetables but it's difficult to get enough every day to match the 400 micrograms recommended for women planning and starting a family. That’s why it’s recommended you take a folic acid supplement during pregnancy. So if you’re not already taking it, it’s a good idea to start now and continue until your 12th week of pregnancy.

Medications:

Some medicines can lower your fertility levels, so check with your doctor if you are taking any, and if you've been recently using an IUD, Depro-Provera or Norplant, or have been sterilised. If you've recently been taking the pill it may be a good idea to allow your body to adjust for a couple of months before you start trying to conceive but again, that's something to talk to your doctor about.

Stress:

Our modern lifestyles can often be stressful and it'll help your chances of conception if you try to keep stress to a minimum – although it's often easier said than done!