proof exists that the sexual position you choose has any effect on conception rates. Feel free to experiment, especially if it makes having sex less like a chore and more like something you do for fun — you know, like the good old days.
Does my partner’s past use of the birth control pill mean getting pregnant will take longer?It varies from person to person. One woman can miss a single pill and end up pregnant; others may take a little longer to return to their regular ovulation pattern. The chances of getting pregnant the first month are small, but the average couple is pregnant within a year, regardless of past birth-control usage.
Is it okay to drink and smoke when trying to conceive?If you’re ready to start a family, you should both give up smoking immediately. Occasionally having a drink or two when you’re trying to become a mom or dad won’t likely produce a negative outcome, but the general rule of thumb is to live as though your partner is pregnant from the moment you begin trying to conceive. Check out the section “Assessing lifestyle choices that affect eggs and sperm,” later in this chapter, for more tips on getting healthy to improve the odds of conception.
Tracking the Journey: Using Fertility Apps and Monitors
If you need one more reason to play with your smartphone, or if you’re the type that lives to organize data, using a fertility app can make getting pregnant more fun and sometimes a bit easier. Yes, you could do much the same with a diary or written calendar, but if you have an app on your phone, you’ll always be able to find it. A few even have a place for dad-to-be data, to help spot possible issues.
Fertility apps, which can range in price from free to up to $100 a year, can make the baby journey easier by tracking
Your partner’s normal cycle schedule
When ovulation is most likely to occur, based on her cycles
Symptoms that indicate ovulation is imminent
Premenstrual symptoms, including mood changes
Some apps go a lot further — and cost a whole lot more — by synching the app data with monitors they sell to track your temperature, saliva, or cervical mucus. These can get quite pricy.
If you want to determine when ovulation occurs in a less techy way, you can use ovulation prediction kits, which measure the amount of LH in your partner’s urine to determine when ovulation is about to occur. These tests can work well if your partner has regular cycles and a good idea of when she usually ovulates, but may not work at all for women with PCOS, who often have abnormally high LH levels. (For more on this, see “Polycystic ovary syndrome,” later in this chapter.) They can also get pretty expensive if your partner has irregular cycles and no idea when she’s going to ovulate. You can go through a lot of expensive strips in this case.
Evaluating Health to Get Ready for Parenthood
Some health issues and bad habits can make it harder to get pregnant. A few months before trying to get pregnant, take an inventory of your behaviors and health issues and get yourselves into the best shape possible, not only so that you can get pregnant without difficulty but also so you’ll be healthy new parents.
Discovering female health issues that affect conception
Many female health problems can cause fertility difficulties. Some affect egg production and the menstrual cycle; others affect egg transport and implantation. The good news is that you can improve many of these problems after you identify them.
Sexually transmitted infections
Among the biggest fertility busters in the age of sexual freedom are sexually transmitted infections (STIs), formerly known as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The following STIs can affect female fertility in these ways:
Chlamydia, if not treated promptly, increases the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) by 40 percent. PID damages the fallopian tubes. Women with PID are seven to ten times more likely to have an ectopic pregnancy. Eighty percent of women who’ve had chlamydia three or more times are infertile.
Gonorrhea also increases the risk of PID and ectopic pregnancy.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), if untreated, can affect male and female fertility and increase the risk of pregnancy loss. Antiretroviral treatment before trying to get pregnant can significantly reduce the risks. An undetectable viral load can reduce the risk of transmission to your child during pregnancy to less than 1 percent.
Human papillomavirus (HPV), also called genital warts, may increase the risk of early miscarriage, and could affect sperm motility in some cases. To be safe, have treatment before trying to get pregnant.
Syphilis can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, developmental delays, and blindness in your unborn child.
Endometriosis
Endometriosis, which is growth of the tissue that lines the inside of the uterus, called the endometrium, in places it doesn’t belong, is common; 5.5 million women in the United States suffer from it, and 40 percent of women with endometriosis have fertility issues.
Endometriosis tissue bleeds at the time of the menstrual period and leads to scarring and pain. Endometrial implants can be removed in some cases, but they tend to recur. Most endometriosis is found in the pelvis, near the uterus, but it can turn up in some odd places, like the lungs. In vitro fertilization (IVF) can increase the chances of pregnancy in women with endometriosis.
Polycystic ovary syndrome
Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, affects between 5 to 10 percent of women of childbearing age and can cause anovulation, or failure to produce a mature egg. PCOS is associated with an abnormal rise in male hormones, called androgens; all women have some male hormones, but women with PCOS have more than normal. They’re often overweight and have excess body and facial hair, thinning head hair (just like some men), and acne.
Women with PCOS also have a higher rate of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. They may need fertility medications to get pregnant because you can’t get pregnant unless you ovulate.
Thyroid problems
Thyroid problems are common in women of childbearing age and can cause anovulation. A simple blood test checks for thyroid function. Low thyroid levels can raise prolactin levels, which can also interfere with ovulation.
Fibroids
Fibroids are common uterine growths (rarely cancerous, lest you add another worry to your list) that occur