Crazy Conception

So I've been wanting to post some pregnancy topics and figured, where better to start than conception? For me, my husband and I were ACTIVELY trying to get preggers and I was pretty obsessed with it. Here I'm going to detail the crazy steps I took, some of the reasons behind my obsession, and things NOT to say to a friend who is in a crazy conception phase of her own.

Why the craze?

There are lots of reasons that people may be in a rush to see that positive sign on a pregnancy test. For me, it was insecurity and fear. See, my husband and I experienced a loss when I miscarried our first pregnancy early in the first trimester. Miscarriage seriously messes with your mind... (and yes, I'll be doing a post on miscarriage at some point because it's like this ugly, huge elephant in the corner that no one wants to acknowledge or discuss) and it leaves behind fears that you'll never be able to have a child, there's something fundamentally wrong with you or your body, and the fear that you'll never be able to carry a baby to term. Yes, we all know the statistics about the unfortunate percentage of pregnancies that end in miscarriage and my doctor of course assured me that many women go on to have successful pregnancies after a miscarriage but let me tell you, until you're holding that baby in your arms, you have doubts that you ever will. In addition to miscarriage, some women worry that they're getting too old, they have PCOS or another disorder that makes conceiving difficult, they're just plan excited, and who knows how many other reasons. My point? You never know why someone is in a rush to get knocked up, which brings me to my next point...

What NOT to say to someone in a rush to conceive:

• What's the rush?
• It will happen when it's meant to happen
• I would never plan it like that, I want it to be natural
• You need to stop stressing it so much
• What's meant to be will be!

Yes, you may mean nothing but sweet things when you utter some version of the above but as someone who's been on the receiving end of this, just please don't. Again, you don't know always know why someone wants it so badly and you come off a little judgmental and non-supportive when you dismiss their efforts and insist that just letting things "happen naturally" is the best way.

My crazy conception steps:

The most important thing? TRACK, TRACK, TRACK SOME MORE!

If you don't know your cycle, you're basically just shooting in the dark *snort*. Seriously, tracking ovulation helped me realize that I ovulate on average a few days later than the standard 14 days. Who knows how many months I would have assumed we had passed the window and missed out on it altogether. How to track? Follow these steps:

1. Track your BBT (Basal Body Temperature) each morning.
2. Use ovulation sticks, no need to waste tons of money on them! Amazon sells Wondfos that are super cheap and totally reliable. Find them here.
3. Make sure to DTD (do the deed) on the right days! (this is the FUN part!)
4. Take a bromelain supplement (or eat pineapple core) on 1-5 DPO (days post ovulation).
5. Start taking pregnancy tests (again with the cheapie Wondfos) around 10 DPO. No need to wait until your missed period, I got my first positive WAY early. And it's super fun to see the line get darker each day.

People recommend some even crazier things, but the above steps worked for me! It's a lot to keep track of so I would recommend joining a site. I joined Fertility Friend which keeps a super easy to interpret chart for you. And if you pay to be a VIP member, you have access to even more helpful tools. 

It took me 3 months of tracking to get pregnant with our sweet little Emmaleigh. Even if you do everything right, it sometimes just doesn't happen. Don't give up hope! It can take people months, even a year, to get pregnant. If you want to make it more likely for yourself, follow the above tips. Best of luck!