10 Questions To Ask Your OB-Gyn When You Are Trying To Conceive

When you and your partner make the decision that you are ready to start your family it can be a very exciting time in your life. First of all, you get to use baby-making as an excuse to rekindle some romance that may have slipped away with the daily routines of your lives. Second, the anticipation of a little one running around, while a bit scary, is invigorating. Finally, you're ready to join the mommy club.

You and your partner try month after month with no success. You're not worried yet because it has only been a few months. More than six months pass and you still are not pregnant. You start to become a little flustered. What do you do now? If you are under the age of 35, most doctors will tell you to try another six months before you consider alternative methods. Instead of just "trying" for twelve months, which can seem like forever when you want to conceive, I recommend talking with your doctor about some inexpensive initial fertility testing to rule out common problems, such as ovulation irregularities. However, if you are over age 35, then my advice is to talk with your doctor about fertility treatment options and the possibility of a referral to a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE).

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If you are new to the topic of infertility, you are probably not sure what to ask your doctor or where to look for resources or information. Below are ten important questions to ask your Ob/Gyn:

10 Questions To Ask Your OB-Gyn When You Are Trying To Conceive

1. Do they take a reproductive history to determine if you have any infertility risks such as endometriosis, fibroids, recurrent miscarriages, etc.?

2. If your doctor hasn't done preliminary fertility blood testing, ask for a full-range of tests to determine if you have any infertility risks. It is important to be aware that some of these tests must be done at certain times in your menstrual cycle. Ask your doctor to explain why she is doing the tests when she is, so that you can be certain that your doctor is performing the test at the appropriate time.

3. Do they perform a semen analysis on your husband/boyfriend/partner? For example, if your spouse has sperm issues there would be no reason for your Ob/Gyn to prescribe Clomid (a common drug to stimulate ovulation). The goal is to minimize the drugs to which your body is exposed, the expense, and the emotional ups and downs you may experience.

4. What advice does your doctor offer for life style changes? For example, dietary changes can help increase your fertility as can regular exercise. However, sometimes even diet and exercise are not enough to resolve your medical issues.

5. What medications do they recommend or procedures do they offer for your condition(s)?

6. How much experience does he/she have with helping patients overcome their fertility issues? This is an extremely important question, as you do not want to stay with an Ob/Gyn who "dabbles" in fertility treatments because it could cost you time as well as money.

7. Who within their office can help you understand your health insurance benefits so that you can maximize your coverage for the fertility testing and treatments?

8. If they suggest Clomid, how many cycles will they recommend before considering additional testing or more advanced medications or treatments?

9. If they offer artificial insemination, known as intra-uterine insemination (IUI), do they monitor the number of follicles you produce via ultrasound before the insemination procedure takes place? Monitoring the number of follicles will alert them/you of the risk of twins or a high-order (three or more babies) multiple pregnancy.

10. Which REs do they recommend if advanced procedures are required?

There are four main organizations dedicated to helping the infertile community gather information as well as provide support either through articles, chat groups, or peer-lead support groups. RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association was founded in 1974 and advocates for the community in many ways, including mandated insurance coverage initiatives (see RESOLVE's website for information on the Family Building Act of 2007). INCIID, the InterNational Council on Infertility Information Dissemination, Inc., was founded in 1995 to provide infertility information and support. INCIID hosts discussion forums on its website. The American Fertility Association was founded in 1999 and offers easy to read informational and educational content on their website. Finally, Fertility LifeLines is a new educational resource for the community and offers discount coupons for certain medications.

Two of the most effective methods for surviving your fertility journey are to gather information and ask questions. For most of you, your Ob/Gyn will be your first step in the information gathering process. I urge you not to waste the opportunity to both gain as much knowledge as possible from your Ob/Gyn and to know when it is time to move on and seek the assistant of a fertility specialist.

10 Questions To Ask Your OB-Gyn When You Are Trying To ConceivePRETTY FACE! (Opening Mail: Day 594) Tube. Duration : 18.72 Mins.

THIS ISN'T TODAY'S VLOG. READ HERE - You guys asked to show more clips of the mail we get being opened, however - since there is so much of it you said we should put it in a separate video. That way we can show more stuff! Please remember guys, you DON'T need to spend money on us! We love artwork, letters just as much! Please save your money for yourself! :) Today's vlog (Day 594) can be seen by clicking here: www.youtube.com

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Kelly Damron is the mother of twin girls conceived via IVF. She lives in Phoenix, AZ with her husband, Dave, and their daughters. She is an active volunteer with the March of Dimes and RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. Her book Tiny Toes: A Couple's Journey Through Infertility, Prematurity, and Depression is available at http://www.TinyToesBook.com or Amazon.com. Read her blog at http://www.twinpeas.com/wordpress/

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Ovulation Calendar to Conceive a Boy - There's a More Reliable Way

I run a website that is geared toward couples that are trying to conceive a son. Recently, I received a request to include an "ovulation calendar to help conceive a boy" on the site. I wrote back and explained why I don't include these. The reason is that there are far superior, and less old fashioned, methods that will yield much better, more reliable results. I'll explain why this is so in this article and tell you what works better. I'll also provide you with additional things that you can do to greatly increase your odds of getting the son you want.

How Ovulation Calendars Are Supposed To Help You Conceive A Boy: You have a few choices with these calendars. You can use one of the online versions available or you can use a traditional paper calendar. They basically work like this. You enter in the first and last day of your menstrual cycle a few months prior to when you actually want to conceive. This will tell you the length of your cycle. You are then directed to conceive approximately two weeks prior to the start of your next period, or mid way through your cycle. For most women with a 28 day cycle, this is somewhere around day 14. This is really just a numbers game. There is no physical testing taking place. It is just a guesstimate, really.

There are problems with this, though. Not every woman has a 28 day cycle and sometimes, women will ovulate earlier or later in their cycles. Not every month is exactly the same for every woman.

I experienced this first hand when I was not having any success using old fashioned methods like calendaring, cervical mucus monitoring, and basal temperature when I was trying to get pregnant. Every time I approached day 14, I would anticipate all of the signs to tell me that the time was right, but I was never really sure and I wasn't getting pregnant.

Finally, I started using an ovulation predictor and was horrified when I did not get a positive reading around day 14. I was afraid I wasn't ovulating at all, but was stunned when my saliva showed a positive reading at day 20 one month and even later the next. It wasn't that I wasn't ovulating. It was just that I was ovulating almost a week later than the calendars were telling me I should. And, once I knew this, I had no problems conceiving.

The Science Behind Conceiving A Boy: The reason all of these ovulation predictors come into play is because correctly timing your conception to correspond with your ovulation is vital to conceiving a boy. That's because, comparatively speaking, the sperm that produce a boy are weak . So, if you conceive well before the egg is ready, the boy sperm will deteriorate, weaken, and die off before conception can even happen. Therefore, it's important to know exactly when you ovulate so that you aren't too early (if you are, the odds are better for a girl.) Ultimately, you want to conceive on the day of or just after ovulation to get a male baby.

Ovulation predictors can tell you more definitively when this happens by testing your urine or your saliva rather than just guessing. I like the saliva models better because they are reusable and you don't have to use first morning urine or worry about running out.

Other Things You Should Address If You Are Trying To Conceive A Boy: It's vitally important that you time your conception right, but don't stop short there. There are other things that can optimize the weak boy sperm's odds. One way is to use intercourse positions that give these little guys less of a distance to travel. This means deeper penetration.

Another thing that you will need to do is lower your acidity and PH. The reason for this is that a high vaginal PH is not at all friendly to boy sperm. But, you can neutralize this through your diet and / or through douching or both (using both together will get you faster results.) Again, there are tools that can make this easier. You can test your PH with strips you can get online or at health food places. Then, you'll know how much work has to be done before you're at the optimal levels to conceive a boy. There are also food lists and douche recipes to take the mystery out of this.

The real key is to get the timing right, get the positioning right, and then get the environment right so that all of these variables are working together to yield far greater odds for success (over 95%, some say) than a simple, old fashioned calendar that many times leaves you guessing.

Conceive A Boy is a website I set up to make the process of having a son a bit easier. I've included step by step instructions and resources for the douching recipes, food lists, and PH testing strips mentioned in this article as well as hints, tips, and support. Check it out if you like at http://conceive-a-boy-baby.com/

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