Getting Pregnant with PCOS
February 14, 2010 by Tammy Richardson
Filed under Pregnancy
A major cause of infertility in women is PCOS, or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. One of the main reasons for this occurring is an over-production of insulin. A woman suffering from this problem may find that in order to counteract the insulin, her body will begin to produce androgens and male hormones. This induces different response and effects in a woman’s body, and one such effect can be infertility which makes getting pregnant with PCOS a difficulty.
PCOS brings out many other effects in a woman’s body also. Every woman will suffer from different symptoms, and no two women’s experience is exactly the same, however there are some similarities. There are some symptoms which are commonly experienced by PCOS sufferers, and these include the development of type two diabetes, weight gain or obesity, pain in the pelvis, acne and an increase in hair on the chest back or face as well as thinning head hair. The possibility of infertility for some women makes these other symptoms pale into insignificance.
PCOS generally interrupts the normal menstrual functions. Follicles develop on the ovaries during a regular cycle, and inside these are the eggs. As the cycle continues, only one follicle will develop fully and it is from this follicle that the egg comes out of during ovulation. There is a hormone called LH which is responsible for setting this all in motion, and the body responds in the menstrual cycle to rising levels of LH. Sufferers of PCOS don’t normally release enough of the hormone to actually bring on ovulation. This means that all those follicles that come at the start of the cycle and usually develop into eggs don’t mature, and many simply turn into cysts. When women get ultrasound tests done, it is these cysts which show up. “String of pearls” is the name many attribute to the look of these cysts on the ovary. There is also the possibility of the menses being interrupted, or stopping altogether when a woman has PCOS.
PCOS is not diagnosed, or even discovered in every woman who has it. It is also not absolute that every woman will have problems getting pregnant with PCOS and will be unable to conceive – there are those who despite an irregular period are able to carry a baby to full term without problem. It is thought that of women of childbearing age, around 5 or 10 percent suffer from PCOS.
What are the things which can help those who suffer from PCOS? Loosing excess weight can help to rectify hormonal imbalances, and some women have found that this is enough to mange their PCOS. There are drugs available for PCOS, however the herbal and natural remedies available for treating PCOS are numerous, so leaping into a course of drugs is not recommended. There are so many drugs available these days, which are given like ‘miracle pills’ that are dolled out for whatever condition we have. Lots of these drugs are simple tested for short-term side effects, without any studies made of their long term effects, or the effects on the next generation. These drugs are still doled out, even when evidence is surfacing that links them to cancer.
A good friend, who I’ll call Candy for the purposes of the article had PCOS from when she was just a child. Candy was only diagnosed after she requested some tests from her doctor, even though she had the condition all the way through her teens. Her biggest worry was that she wasn’t going to be able to have a baby in later life, as ever since she had first got her period at thirteen they had been irregular. Candy’s ultrasound results showed that she had quite an advanced and severe case of PCOS. She was very concerned, so spoke to a specialist to see if she would be able to have children or not. This specialist informed her that despite the PCOS, they could just administer her with drugs when she wanted to have children, even though these are the same drugs that are responsible for women having multiple births and other complications. Needless to say, she is in no hurry to be going back to that ’specialist’ for those drugs.
It may help you to know the end of Candy’s story – not long after she got some more tests done to see what was going on in her body, and after a good cleanse, and the inclusion of lots of fresh organic fruit and veggies in her diet, the PCOS had shrunk, and in the end disappeared altogether. Her chances of a pregnancy when the time arrived were just fine.
Very often the reason for having trouble getting pregnant with PCOS and with infertility is because the internal state of the body is not healthy enough to sustain a healthy baby. By going to the root of the problem and finding a natural way to rebalance and re-energise your system, it is possible to manage and overcome PCOS and become pregnant naturally and have the joy of a healthy baby.
Maybe you liked this information on getting pregnant with pcos why not make the entire process of getting pregnant simple and easy. Get your free report 7 Simple Mistakes Stopping You Conceiving now!
categories: get pregnant,getting pregnant,fertility,infertility,conceiving,pregnancy,health,women,girls,family,baby
Best Time to Conceive a Baby
February 14, 2010 by Tammy Richardson
Filed under Pregnancy
Knowing the best time to conceive is about knowing when the fertile time in a woman’s cycle is, but this is a somewhat complex thing to understand. For a start, the general life span of an ovum is twenty four hours at most, and as two or more eggs may be released in a 24 hours period of ovulation a woman is fertile for only around two or more days. Another factor for consideration is the man, who’s sperm lives for up to five days which combines to mean that a couple is jointly fertile for about one week in each month. For the best indicator of a woman’s fertile time one needs to check the quality of cervical fluid – when it is an eggwhite consistency this is the fertile period, but it may only be there for a couple of days.
There are lots of women who think they conceived a child during a period, despite this being a next to impossible thing to do. There are occasions when one may become pregnant from intercourse during the end of her period, but this is quite rare. If a woman’s cycle is very short, then it is possible for the sperm to live long enough to fertilise an egg when intercourse was had during the end of menstruations. The more common case is when a woman mistakes blood spotting during ovulation as a period and get pregnant at this time. This is a reminder of how important it is to really know and understand you cycle and the functioning of your body.
The most common way which doctors prescribe for finding the best time to conceive is by charting changes in the body’s basal temperature. This is sadly to the exclusion of the most important (and most accurate) determinant of fertility, and that is cervical fluid. Moreover using the basal method for fertile timings can actually impede efforts at conception, because by the time a change in temperature is record it’s too late and the egg has died. Of course that doesn’t mean that there is no use for charting the basal temperature, but it is useless as a measure of the fertile period.
The most accurate way of finding your fertile window is by charting the changes in cervical fluid. There is cervical mucus which resembles eggwhites, and this is what you are looking for as an indication of your fertile time. This eggwhite fluid is a sign that you are ovulating, but for women who can’t recognise if it is eggwhite, then look for the wettest sensation which will indicate that the fertile time is coming. On the last day that there is an eggwhite mucus (the most fertile day) is the best time to conceive.
Couples (with normal sperm count) need to have intercourse every day when the eggwhite mucus comes and to do so until a rise in temperature is noted, which will mean that the fertile window is closed. Men with low sperm counts must only have sex every second day during this time, and stop on the morning the basal temperature rises.
Prior to keeping a record of the cervical fluid, you must know what it is you are looking for as the cervical mucus changes greatly in colour, consistency as well as volume. By noting these changes you can really improve the chances of conceiving quickly.
It goes without saying that ovulation is the best time to conceive – and ovulation is the time of month with the most cervical fluid. The ovulation mucus is what is called ‘eggwhite mucus’ and is extremely fertile, so it is the prime time to get pregnant!
If you want to know where you are in your cycle, then it is important to start taking notice, and recording the changes in your cervical mucus. Noting these changes for a number of months will give you the tools to pin-point very accurately when you ovulate, and in contrast to the use of the basal temperature method, you will actually know before hand, and have the opportunity of using the fertile window.
Maybe you enjoyed this information on best time to conceive why not make the entire process of getting pregnant simple and effortless. Get your free report 7 Simple Mistakes Stopping You Conceiving now!
Conceiving After a Miscarriage
February 13, 2010 by Tammy Richardson
Filed under Pregnancy
Many women are worried about getting pregnant after miscarriage because they may fear a recurrence. A miscarriage, referred to by doctors as a spontaneous abortion, is the loss of a pregnancy before around twenty weeks. As much as 25% of all pregnancies that are known about end in miscarriage according to statistics from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. This rate may be even higher as many women will miscarry before they are even aware of the pregnancy.
What causes a woman to miscarry is still not completely clear. If miscarriage occurs in the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy, it is generally thought to be the result of a random instance of chromosomal abnormalities which prevent the foetus from properly developing.
The health and well-being of the mother can also play a part. There are a number of medical conditions which may increase the likelihood of miscarriage, such as some autoimmune diseases, untreated diabetes and any structural problems in the uterus (this can inhibit proper implantation of the egg). There are also lifestyle factors, like smoking or drug abuse by the mother which can increase the chances of miscarrying. Apart from the above mentioned factors, a large number of miscarriages happen when the egg has been improperly implanted into the uterine lining – this can be remedied by knowing the right times each month for intercourse, which we will come to further on in the article.
Vaginal Bleeding and other fluids and tissue being expelled from the vagina, pelvic and abdominal cramps and pain are all signs that may precede a miscarriage. Many women experience some blood spotting during early pregnancy, so although bleeding precedes a miscarriage, it is not always the case that when there is some blood you are miscarrying.
Most miscarriages in the early stages do not require medical treatment as the uterus voluntarily empties out like a heavy period. In cases where tissue remains inside and shows up on an ultrasound, then a cleansing procedure, or medication may be required to make sure all the residual tissue is expelled. This is an important step if tissue remains inside, as infections may set in if nothing is done. It is best if couples do not try getting pregnant after miscarriage for at least a couple of months, six months is best. If there are recurrent miscarriages then more tests can be done to try and determine the causes and to see if the problem can be stopped.
It is important before going out and getting any of these (sometimes painful) tests, that you make sure that the improper implantation of the egg into the uterine lining is not the cause. The problem can be lowered significantly by having intercourse at the right time in the month.
This is the time when a woman’s cervical fluid is of an ‘eggwhite’ consistency, and it is the most fertile time in the woman’s cycle. When the man has a normal sperm count, then the couple should have intercourse every day of the eggwhite cervical fluid and should only cease once a rise in basal temperature is noticed in the woman. If there is a problem with sperm count, then it is important that intercourse is only undertaken every second day of the fertile cervical fluid up until a rise in temperature is noted. Intercourse at this time will increase the likelihood of conception, as well as lowering the chances of miscarriage due to an improper implantation of the egg in the lining of the uterus.
Pre-pregnancy preparation is also important, so your health must be attended to. So this means taking care of your diet, making sure you partake in regular exercise and keeping weight within a healthy range. Cutting out smoking and even being around second-hand smoke is also an important step, pre and post conception (and if you know what’s good for you, from hereon in!). Alcohol is a big no-no and caffeine is on the cut list too. External toxins from paints and such things are important to avoid, so if you are painting the house, use ‘green’ products, and re-carpeting should be avoided as many new carpets have loads of formaldehyde in them. Importantly for getting pregnant after miscarriage, you have to remember to look at lifestyle factors like stress and emotional worries, and try to have intercourse at the appropriate time of the month.
If you enjoyed this article on getting pregnant after miscarriage why not make the whole procedure of getting pregnant simple and effortless. Get your free report 7 Simple Mistakes Stopping You Conceiving now!
