7 Things To Cut Out If You’re Trying to Conceive

Posted on April 2, 2018

If you are trying to conceive, you have probably already started taking pre natal vitamins and may be engaging in habits to help along the process.

However, did you know there are several things to avoid when attempting to get pregnant?

Here are 7 things that Mary Jane Minkin, MD, Clinical Professor of Ob/Gyn at Yale University recommends giving up to increase your chances of getting pregnant this year:

1. Alcohol. Studies focusing on alcohol’s effect on conception have produced mixed results, with some indicating that pregnancy is more likely if women give up drinking entirely and others suggesting that those who drink moderately might increase their chances of conception – perhaps because an occasional glass of wine makes them more relaxed. But experts agree that women who give up alcohol will increase their chances of a healthy baby once conception does happen, and that alone is reason enough for most women to quit.

2. Tobacco. Unlike alcohol, the data smoking’s correlation to pregnancy is undisputed. Both primary and secondhand smoke are detrimental to a woman’s chance of conceiving and to a developing fetus as well. Quitting is never easy, but resources and support to help you find a plan and stick to it.

3. Caffeine. As the daily substance of choice for most Americans, dependency on those morning cups of coffee or afternoon soft drink is difficult to break. But even if caffeine’s link to fertility isn’t universally upon, reputable studies exist that suggest caffeine – especially in excess – can stunt the maturation of an egg or increase the chances of a miscarriage. If giving up your cup of morning joe can help you get pregnant, the sacrifice is worth it.

4. Your Spot on the Couch. In other words, get up and move around! Couch potatoes aren’t helping any aspect of their health, but women who are trying to conceive have an extra-compelling reason to kick it into high gear. Experts agree that women who stay within their ideal weight have a better chance of becoming pregnant, and a recent study by Obstetrics and Gynecology reported that women who exercise 30 minutes or more a day had a reduced risk of ovulation disorders, which often lead to infertility.

5. Junk food. Generally speaking, any change that moves you toward a healthier lifestyle will promote fertility. But when it comes to diet, advice seems to fall all over the map. Specific fertility diets advocate for eating foods like oysters, garlic and yams, but an extensive 2009 study advised women to follow simpler guidelines – healthy fats, selective proteins, whole grains and plenty of iron and other vitamins. The sooner you can start taking a prenatal vitamin with sufficient folic acid like OB Complete One, the better! And, obviously, putting down the potato chips and the candy bars is an excellent first step to take to help you get pregnant this year.

6. Excessive Stress. Granted, this step is easier said than done, especially when the chief cause of the stress is the infertility itself. But if external factors are causing undue anxiety, a women’s chance at conception can decrease, and the stress of waiting for that positive pregnancy test month after month could be the last straw for her emotional health. Give up extra responsibilities whenever possible, talk to your boss about reducing your job stress and work in regular “mental health” days to be refreshed by activities and people you enjoy.

7. Lubricants Containing Glycerin. According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) “Guidelines for Optimizing Natural Fertility”, several leading vaginal lubricants (e.g. K-Y) may decrease fertility based on their observed effects on sperm survival. Another study showed that lubricants containing glycerin had an adverse effect on sperm motility. Fertility experts recommend using a fertility friendly lubricant like Pre-Seed that is specially formulated without glycerin that will not harm sperm and allows sperm to swim freely.

Good luck!

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News

VA Welcomes Sextuplets after 17 Years of Trying to Conceive

Posted on May 28, 2017

After trying to have “a baby” for 17 years, a Virginia couple welcomed six at once this week.

Adeboye and Ajibola Taiwo of Richmond, Virginia tried for 17 years to have children. In January, they learned they were expecting six.

“I was excited,” dad Adeboye told repo. “For the very first time we were expecting.”

The babies, three boys and three girls, range in weight from 1 pound, 10 ounces, to 2 pounds, 15 ounces, according to VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia.

In 2015, there were close to 4 million live births in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only 24 of those births were quintuplets or other higher-order births

“We’re going through this extraordinary journey together with the family,” Ronald Ramus, M.D., director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at VCU Medical Center, said in the hospital’s press release. “It’s not every day that parents bring home sextuplets. Mrs. Taiwo was eating, sleeping and breathing for seven. A lot of the support and encouragement we gave her to make it as far as she did was important, and one of the biggest contributions we made as a team.”

h/t Yahoo! news

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BumpNews

Study: Weight Loss Surgery Patients Need Wait 3 Years Before Trying to Conceive

Posted on October 21, 2016

A new study advises women who have undergone bariatric surgery for weight loss to wait at least three years afterward before attempting to become pregnant.

Those were the results of a 33-year retrospective study published this week in JAMA Surgery.

The reasons: complications.

Compared with infants from the general population, infants from mothers with a bariatric-surgery history were at higher risk for perinatal complications – namely prematurity, intensive care unit admission, and low birth weight, data indicated.

It is during the first three years, post-op, when these risks diminish over time.

“This is new information that can help inform counseling for bariatric patients,” said corresponding author Dr. Brodie Parent, a general surgery resident at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

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VIRAL: After 17 Years Trying to Conceive, Wife Delivers Shocking News to Husband (VIDEO)

Posted on October 3, 2015

After 17 years of trying to have a baby including one stillborn at six months and four miscarriages, Dana Griffin-Graves and her husband Arkell had given up hope of ever having a baby on their own.

“It just didn’t work out, so we kind of gave up,” Dana told Buzzfeed about her and her husband’s repeated unsuccessful attempts.

But after going to the doctor to inquire about suspicious weight gain, Dana learned she was 5 months pregnant with a son but never knew.

In this video, which has since gone viral with over 6 million views on YouTube, watch Arkell’s tearful response when he learns the news.

She placed a photo of the ultrasound next to a pack of buns in the oven and set it up for her husband to open the oven. Creative.

Grab your tissues. This is a tear jerker.

>photos: Facebook

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Are you TTC (Trying to Conceive)? Download our Fertility 100 ebook FREE!

Posted on August 11, 2015

Is 2015 the year you plan to start a family or hope to finally become successful and conceive a baby after some fertility struggles? If so, we here at Bellyitch have assembled 100 of the common tips, suggestions, old wives’ tales, dietary and lifestyle advice we’ve heard and read in various sources over the years.

Download our Bellyitch Fertility 100 ebook FREE at Gumroad enter $0! (Or if you’d like to contribute to its production, feel free to enter a fair price! (smile))

Enjoy, God Bless and Good Luck!

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BumpNews

Trying to Conceive: Questions to Ask Your Doctor

Posted on April 5, 2014

Congratulations! You’ve decided to have a baby and that’s a very exciting time of your life. But remember, making a baby can take time. So be patient, especially when your friends seem to constantly be sharing their good news and the in-laws are asking, ‘Are you pregnant yet?’ every time they see you. Often, after years of painstaking birth control, it can be a tough realization that getting pregnant when you finally want to isn’t as easy as you thought it would be. Here are a few questions to ask your doctor when you are ready to conceive:

1. How long should it take for me to get pregnant? This depends on a great number of factors. But realize that making a baby takes time, often up to 12 months. If you’ve been trying for longer than a year, see your doctor to begin an infertility evaluation. If you’re older than 35, it can take longer because of aging impact on your eggs, so start your evaluation after 6 months if you have not conceived . Don’t panic, try to be patient and have fun in the process. After all, stress will only exacerbate the challenge.

2. How much will my age really affect my chances? The chances of a woman naturally having a baby after age 35 decline by about 50 percent, and they decline by about 90 percent after age 40. So if having a baby is in your future plans, get started sooner rather than later. If you’re under 35, see an infertility expert after one year of trying without success. If you’re 35 or more, see an infertility expert if you don’t conceive naturally within six months. If you’re over 38, be seen after 3 months of unsuccessful trying. Though conceiving after 40 may be difficult, it’s not impossible, so ask your doctor what else you can do.

3. Should I take prenatal vitamins? What kind? Yes. Eating healthy will raise your chances of conceiving and having a healthy pregnancy (that means cutting out the junk food and loading up on greens), and prenatal vitamins help fill in any holes in the mother’s diet. Ask your doctor to recommend a good prenatal vitamin with calcium and lots of B6 when you first start thinking about having a baby. Rainbow Light Complete Prenatal System is one of the few prenatals that has enough vitamin B6, which has been shown to increase fertility. Also, take an Omega-3 fish oil. Look for those with a higher mg of DHA and EPA.

4. Does timing matter? You’re best bet is try to conceive just before and during ovulation, which happens anywhere from 13 to 20 days before your period. I recommend using an ovulation predictor kit to time intercourse. Then, have sex a few days leading up to and on the day of ovulation. Remember that sperm can live up to 6 days in your body, but your egg can only survive 12 to 24 hours. This timing gives you the best odds of the sperm and egg meeting. To be sure you’re getting the timing right, pick up a ClearBlue fertility monitor to help you map your fertility calendar. Use a digital thermometer, which is much faster and easier to use than a standard one, for basal temperature measurements. And to keep you on track, use a journal to keep track as a personal conception and pregnancy organizer.

5. Can I use a lubricant? If having timed relations is affecting your ability to be intimate, a lubricant is a great option. But many lubricants may actually negatively affect sperm motility. Try Pre-Seed. It’s the only FDA-cleared, clinically shown ‘Fertility-Friendly’ Lubricant developed by doctors and used by fertility clinics. Use the applicator to apply it near the cervix. Its pH balanced to match fertile cervical mucus as well as the pH of sperm, so it won’t harm your chances of conceiving.

6. When should I take a pregnancy test? And which one should I use? Home pregnancy tests work by detecting levels of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), that is produced during pregnancy. These tests can only detect hCG after implantation occurs, which is generally 10 days post-ovulation (dpo). But don’t freak out if a test comes up negative at 10 dpo, since it’s not an exact science and you may still get pregnant up to 15 dpo. 15 dpo is when a woman who is not pregnant will typically get her period, so it’s the ‘first day of a missed period.’

First Response Early Result is the only pregnancy test that can detect pregnancy up to 6 days before your missed period (9 dpo). That’s one day sooner than any other home pregnancy test in the market.

Gloria Richard-Davis, MD, from the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences (UAMS) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, is an educator and Educator author of Planning Parenthood.

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BumpNews

10 Things DINKS (Dual Income No Kids) give up when TTC (Trying to Conceive)

Posted on June 4, 2014

Updating a piece I did on the 5 Things you need to do before having your first baby for you DINKs (Dual Income No Kids) out there. DINKs are people who are childless or child free and have two incomes and all the time and money they earn to spend on themselves. For the DINKs that want to have children, you will need to know what’s in store.

Recently, I’ve come in contact with and read stories about people who have children and seemingly were unaware or unprepared for how much having children disrupts and alters their way of life.

So, I assembled a list of TEN things you will have to give up when you have kids.

Some of these are well known but because you never know what others’ know, here is a list:

Sleep –

From the day you bring home a tiny person who doesn’t know of, neither respects

the rule that says night is for sleeping, then you know you’re screwed.
White or

light colored carpet or furniture – Unless you don’t mind it ending up a

new shade of tie-dye by the time junior learns how to eat with his fingers or little

Esmeralda grows a fondness for crayons, sell, trade in or give away that post-modern fancy lily white Ethan Allen gallery sofa set you got when you purchased your first condo.
Low

threshold of Patience – The 5th time your preschooler melts down

in the middle of the grocery store crying for candy and all eyes turn on you, you’ll realize you are

more patient than you ever thought
Dignity –

Because one of these days you may have to insert a tiny peen into an empty water bottle and collect pee

from your potty -trained son when a bathroom isn’t available.
A clean

car – Cheerios, toy cars, crumbs…it will be a smorgasbord of random pieces

of crap in every crevice, nook and cranny of your minivan. Be forewarned and fire armed with a mini-vac.
Weekends –

Sleeping in? What’s that? In between little League games, dance recitals and

cries for breakfast, there’s no chance in heck you’ll be able to sleep til noon

on a Saturday any longer.
Last

minute Get-Away fares –Unless you have a live in nanny, then… say goodbye

to those $100 weekend deals to Arizona

you spotted on Expedia.com.
Arrogance – No more looking down on that woman

with no make-up on, wearing pajama bottoms and a head scarf at the late-night pharmacy counter when that woman is YOU getting cough medicine for a sick kid.
A day

without bending over – To pick up toys, de-clutter a messy kids’ room, a

tantrum-throwing kid or a crawling baby going out of bounds.
A piece of your heart that will forever hold

love, affection, adoration and the interest of your little one or ones forever.

Now you know for sure And knowing is half the battle!

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Celebrity

Insider: Beyonce Struggled for a Long Time to Conceive Again

Posted on February 2, 2017

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Editor’s Note: I know. I know. Enough Beyonce coverage. Soon. I cannot help myself as I am a big fan. Now this….

It feels like the world stopped spinning on its axis for a moment after we found out Beyoncé is not only pregnant, but that she and Jay Z are expecting twins!

She’s already released a slew of gorgeous photos in honor of the exciting news, and now E! News has learned the whole process has been quite a “miracle.”

An insider tells us exclusively, “[Bey and Jay] have been trying for sometime, and it has not been very easy conceiving this time around, so when they did it was a miracle. They always wanted more kids, and they are doing really well as a couple so the timing is on point.”

As for Queen B’s health, our source explains, “Beyoncé is feeling OK. She had some morning sickness early on and her energy level is slower then usual, [but she] is taking good care of her body and has good doctors that are making sure she is on track.”

The rest of the family, including 5-year-old Blue Ivy, is ecstatic.

“Blue is excited to be a big sister,” our insider reveals. “And Jay Z has expressed his excitement to some of his very close friends.”

For now, the insider adds, “Jay Z has new music, and Beyoncé will take some time for herself now and after she has the babies.”

Meanwhile, Bey announced the news on her Instagram Wednesday, releasing a joint statement with her family beside a Virgin Mary-esq photo.

“We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes,” she wrote.

The announcement broke Selena Gomez‘s record by becoming the most-liked Instagram ever.

Then, on Thursday, the excitement only continued when she released even more photos as a part of the announcement in which she’s seen posing node, sitting atop an old car and and swimming in a pool.

originally printed and

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News

STUDY: Marijuana Use Reduces Chances of Getting Pregnant

Posted on March 6, 2021

For women, using marijuana while trying to conceive was linked with a 40% reduced chance of getting pregnant during the study.

Women who use marijuana while they are trying to conceive may be less likely to get pregnant compared with those who don’t get high, a new study suggests.

The study researchers found that, among women trying to conceive, those who reported using marijuana or who had a positive urine test for the drug were 40% less likely to get pregnant during each monthly cycle, compared with those who didn’t use marijuana.

In addition, marijuana users had differences in levels of certain reproductive hormones, which could potentially affect their pregnancy chances.

“These results highlight potentially harmful associations between cannabis use and reproductive health outcomes,” the researchers, from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), wrote in their study, published Monday (Jan. 11) in the journal Human Reproduction.

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News

TTC: Ready to Start A Family | What Will Happen At Your First Doctor’s Visit

Posted on August 16, 2020

Deciding to start or expand your family is one of the most exciting times in your life!

It can also be one of the most nerve-racking. That’s why it’s so essential to confirm you’re properly caring for your health before you become pregnant to both settle those nerves, and ensure you’re building the right foundation for both you and for your future baby.

This is called Preconception Care, and talking with your doctor is one of the best ways to check for any potential risks or medical issues you may have before getting pregnant. Before you begin, you should start by setting a “Preconception appointment” with your doctor.

What Will My Doctor Review with Me During My Preconception Visit?

During your preconception appointment, your doctor should discuss histories related to medical, surgical, family (of both you and future dad), and reproductive histories.

She/He should also talk about your diet & exercise, alcohol & caffeine consumption (or other drugs/stimulants), along with any medications or supplements you may be taking.

Your preconception visit is really the perfect time to ask your doctor anything that may be on your mind. Whether it’s health concerns, past histories, sex, diet, or prenatal vitamins, this visit is all about you and your health. It’s so much about you, that it’s worth saying again.

Preconception Care is all about you, and your doctor is on your side to help you give birth to a beautiful baby.

Physical Exam.

Because you’re about to embark on this exciting new journey, a physical exam is one of the best ways to ensure you’re ready. You should also ask her/him about a pelvic exam or Pap smear.

Vaccinations.

If you’re not vaccinated for chickenpox or rubella (or you’re not sure), it’s essential to ask your doctor to check your medical records, and if you’re not, request a vaccine. If you develop chickenpox or rubella during pregnancy, you are at higher risk of developing pneumonia, or congenital disabilities (birth defects). While a vaccine may delay your attempts to conceive by a month or so, it will be well worth it in the end if you’re not vaccinated.

Genetic Counseling.

This may require a separate appointment with a genetic counselor, however, it will help you understand your family’s risk of passing on an inherited medical condition, and how easy it may be for you to conceive.

Prenatal Vitamins.

Even before you become pregnant, it’s important to start to think about taking a prenatal vitamin or at least increasing your consumption of Folate & Iron-rich foods such as Leafy Greens or Broccoli every day. Along with several other vitamins and minerals, Folate, in particular, plays a significant role during pregnancy, as it aids in neural tube development, and its importance starts the day you conceive (when you may not know you’re pregnant yet).

Diet.

Similar to Genetic Counseling, getting a firm grasp on your diet may require a separate appointment with a nutritionist, but remember, “we are what we eat”, and you’ll soon be eating for two! Understanding the right foods for you and your potential allergies, will help give you a leg up on a more comfortable, successful journey to motherhood.

Remember, this appointment is ALL ABOUT YOU, so take a deep breath and get ready for one of the most exciting journeys of your life.

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