Preparing for Pregnancy | Ovulation Basics for First-Time Moms
When you’re trying to get pregnant, knowing when you’re ovulating can be a huge help. After all, you won’t be getting pregnant during your menstrual cycle but while you’re ovulating, and sometimes it’s hard to determine when that happens. Once you learn how ovulation works, it’s easier to tell when it’s happening, and starting with the basics is always a good way to start.
The Basics of Ovulation
On the first day of your period, the body will release hormones that help your eggs grow. Starting on day two of your cycle and lasting for roughly two weeks, the uterus lining thickens in order to prepare itself for a fertilized egg. Between 11 and 21 days after your cycle starts, the luteinizing hormone, or LH, is released and helps start the release of the egg that’s the ripest.
During this same time, the mucus in the cervix becomes slippery so that it’s easier for the sperm to get to the egg. Keep in mind that when preparing for pregnancy, the timing has to be just right. Once the egg gets to the fallopian tubes, it only stays there around 24 hours, and if the fertilization doesn’t take place during that time, the egg dissolves and the uterine lining is shed.
Sperm can also live for three to five days, so if live sperm is already in the body once you start to ovulate, you can actually become pregnant even if it’s been several days since you’ve had intercourse. This is yet another reason why it’s so important to know when you’re ovulating if you’re trying to get pregnant. Many couples have sex every other day instead of every day when the woman is ovulating because having sex too much can be detrimental to your efforts.
Tracking Ovulation Helps a Lot
Tracking when you’re ovulating is one of the first steps to take when a healthy pregnancy is your ultimate goal, and you can do this in several ways. These include:
- Using an online ovulation calculator or an over-the-counter ovulation kit.
- Tracking your basal body temperature, which has to be taken with a thermometer specifically designed for that particular task.
- Monitoring when your LH tries to stimulate the release of an egg, which is easier with a fertility monitoring kit from the drugstore.
As you can see, there are various OTC kits available to help determine ovulation and make tracking what is going on with your body a lot easier. Most of the kits are user-friendly and inexpensive, but most importantly, they work. When you’re trying to get pregnant, knowing when you’re ovulating is important but often a little tricky, which is why these kits are so helpful.
Other Things That You Can Do to Become Pregnant
When it comes to getting pregnant, your preconception health is more important than you think. Simply put, the healthier you are when you start trying to get pregnant, the easier it will be for you. Your diet, medical conditions, and even your mental health can affect your ability to conceive, but paying attention to the following things can help a lot:
- Stop drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco.
- Whenever possible, avoid anything that could be toxic, including certain chemicals and even cat feces.
- Take a folic acid supplement daily; the dosage should be 400 to 800 micrograms.
- Make sure that any medical conditions, such as diabetes or asthma, are controlled with medication.
- Discuss with your doctor any herbal supplements or vitamins that you’re taking.
Naturally, eating right and exercising can help improve your overall health as well, and yet another reason to be healthy before becoming pregnant is that your odds of having a baby prematurely or one that has a low birth weight increases if you are unhealthy. If you are overweight, losing just 10% of your body weight can be a huge help.
Is it Normal to Bleed When You’re Pregnant?
When you do become pregnant, don’t be alarmed if you experience a little bleeding early in the pregnancy. Implantation bleeding occurs when the egg attaches itself to the wall of the uterus, which is caused because the blood vessels in the uterine lining are disrupted due to this attachment. In most cases, the bleeding is only a spot and is much lighter than menstrual blood. This type of bleeding is most common roughly 6 to 12 days after the egg is fertilized.
Approximately one-fourth of all pregnant women experience this bleeding, but most of the time it is no cause for alarm. Nevertheless, if you’re unsure or nervous about it, you should consult with your doctor to make sure there are no other problems occurring. In most cases, this bleeding is a normal part of the pregnancy and will go away in one to two days.
When you’re trying to get pregnant, knowing as much as possible about ovulation can help increase the odds that it will happen sooner instead of later. Fortunately, it’s easy to learn about ovulation thanks to the OTC and online tools that are now available. Regular contact with your doctor is also a big help.