Planning to get pregnant is tricky, especially when friends, family and the media are handing out conflicting advice. The advise covers the best time to have sex, the best foods to eat and habits you should break. If you are planning to get pregnant, one fact to know is early planning is important to ensure a healthy, successful pregnancy.
Understanding Your Menstrual Cycle
A regular menstrual cycle definitely makes getting pregnant easier and can be the key to calculating your ovulation days. Your cycle begins the first day you start bleeding -- the day you notice bright red blood, not spotting. The cycle ends the day before your next period. Most women's cycles vary between 21 and 35 days; if your cycle varies by more than three days each month, you are irregular. If this is the case, don't worry. Most women have irregular cycles and it simply means that predicting your ovulation days can be more challenging.
Ovulation and When to Have Sex
Many couples will begin planning sex around ovulation days. In theory, this is a good idea, but because ovulation is but one day each month and pregnancy can only occur four to five days leading up to that date, it might be a better idea to have sex more frequently. All those rumors you have hear about too much sex preventing pregnancy, are just that: rumors. Experts advise having sex two to three times per week, or even better, every day of the month. As long as your partner has a normal sperm count, each drop of semen containing approximately 3 million sperm increases your chances of pregnancy.
Best Foods to Eat
Consuming pickles and ice cream every morning or drinking a shot of wheat grass before bed will not increase your chances of conceiving. In fact, no particular food will make getting pregnant any easier. Nonetheless, your diet is important. Consuming a healthful diet rich in nutrients such as folic acid, iron, calcium and vitamin D can help ensure a healthful pregnancy and baby. It is never too early to start. Getting your body's nutrient levels to adequate levels can be an arduous, on-going task. Women of child-bearing age are advised to maintain a nutritious diet and supplement as needed to sustain the Food and Drug Administration's recommended daily values.
Habits to Break
If you are planning to get pregnant, you might need to kick a few habits. Smoking, alcohol consumption and high caffeine intake are among the most important. Smoking not only delays conception, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also raises the odds of infertility by 30 percent. The CDC and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine advise abstaining from alcohol when trying to conceive because no safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy has been determined and it can be difficult to determine the exact moment you conceive. Additionally, a 2008 review in Fertility and Sterility found that more than 250 mg of caffeine per day can contribute to infertility by 45 percent.
