Be on the Lookout: The Signs of Infertility

The signs of infertility may differ from one person to another, but the first and most common sign is the failure to achieve pregnancy after a couple has been having unprotected sexual intercourse for one year without any form of contraception. Being healthy, having normal and regular menstrual cycles and a healthy sexual drive do not exempt you from being infertile.

If you feel that you are infertile or if you suspect that you are, you should ask yourself and your partner important questions and try to answer them with all honesty so that you can better evaluate your present condition. Most of these questions are related to your menstrual cycle and your age.

With regards to age, are you 35 years old or older? Infertility is quite common to individuals whose age is more than 35 years old compared to individuals who are in their 20′s or younger. For example, a woman who is 30 years old has 20% chance of achieving pregnancy in any cycle, while a woman who is 40 years old will experience a drop in conception rates and percentage may go down as low as 5%. So if you are in your 30′s and have been trying real hard to get pregnant for 6 months without success, it is better to consult your doctor so you can discuss any fertility issues with him.

With regards to menstrual cycles, you have to know if your cycle is regular or irregular. An irregular menstrual cycle can suggest problems with fertility, it is sort of a warning signal that something is not right. Although this is not conclusive nor definitive. It is best that further diagnostic examinations be done to determine any fertility issues or any underlying medical conditions that can affect fertility. A normal menstrual cycle may run for 24 to 35 days. Any cycle that fall out of this period is considered irregular or abnormal.

Another thing you need to be aware of about your menstrual cycle is the amount of blood that flows from you each time you have your period. Is it light or heavy? Do you feel severe pain or intense abdominal cramps? Normal bleeding usually lasts for 3 to 7 days. If your period is too light or exceptionally heavy, you may need to seek medical attention. When you’re trying to get pregnant, any variance from what is considered normal should be noted and taken into consideration. All these should be discussed with your health care provider.

Lastly, you should also check if your male partner has been experiencing any ejaculatory issues and signs of impotence. Unlike in females, the detection of male infertility may require more sophisticated tests like sperm count and sperm motility tests.

Click here to get tips on how to overcome infertility.

Trying to Conceive: How Do You Get Pregnant

Couples who are trying to conceive ask questions like how do one get pregnant faster. There are a lot of ways, but the best advice we can give you is to not depend on luck instead learn to maximize your fertility by predicting your ovulation period and knowing the do’s and don’ts of fertility.

Here are some of the things you should know about getting pregnant and when to seek help:

  1. To get pregnant, have sex regularly. Try to time sexual intercourse on both instances when you think you are and aren’t ovulating. It is correct that sex that is not done during the ovulation period will not result to pregnancy. However, most women do not ovulate when they think they are ovulating. Having sex regularly ensures that you will not miss any chances of getting pregnant.
  2. To get pregnant, try to use an ovulation predictor kit or a fertility monitor. Other methods of predicting ovulation are difficult to understand and are simply confusing for women. Ovulation prediction kits work by testing your urine for surge in hormones that usually happens before ovulation. It can identify the most likely period you’re ovulating or it can provide you signals right before it happens. Fertility monitors are just like ovulation prediction kits, but they read changes in hormones.  They are also very helpful and can tell you when is the best time to get pregnant.
  3. To get pregnant, you have to make healthy lifestyle choices. Avoid stress, engage in an exercise program, eat a well balanced fertility diet, quit smoking and alcohol, limit your caffeine intake and most of all maintain a healthy weight. All these will also benefit you once you’re pregnant already.
  4. To get pregnant, you have to consider preconception planning. Your doctor will be able to check your overall health status and can tell you if you need to make changes in your lifestyle. A preconception planning is particularly helpful for couples or individuals who have past and current health problems.

When to seek help:

Most couples within the age bracket of 30 years and younger are able to conceive after a year of unprotected sexual intercourse. You need to seek the help of your health care provider or a fertility specialist if you are 35 years old and above or if you and your partner have known fertility issues.

You don’t have to worry, infertility happens to both men and women. There are options and treatments available. In some case, fertility specialists offer natural infertility treatments like the methods offered in Lisa Olson’s famous e-book Pregnancy Miracle. Natural methods of treating infertility have lesser side effects and risks compared to medications and assistive reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization.

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