How do you figure out when you're fertile and when you're not? Wondering if you or your partner is infertile? Read on to boost your chances of conception and get help for fertility problems

1.  How do you figure out when you're fertile
and when you're not? Wondering if you or
your partner is infertile? Read on to boost
your chances of conception and get help for
fertility problems...

2.  The Menstrual Cycle
 Being aware of your menstrual cycle and the changes in your body that
happen during this time can be key to helping you plan a pregnancy, or avoid
pregnancy. During the menstrual cycle (a total average of 28 days), there are
two parts: before ovulation and after ovulation.
 Day 1 starts with the first day of your period.
 Usually by Day 7, a woman's eggs start to prepare to be fertilized by sperm.
 Between Day 7 and 11, the lining of the uterus (womb) starts to thicken,
waiting for a fertilized egg to implant there.
 Around Day 14 (in a 28-day cycle), hormones cause the egg that is most ripe
to be released, a process called ovulation. The egg travels down the fallopian
tube towards the uterus. If a sperm unites with the egg here, the egg will
attach to the lining of the uterus, and pregnancy occurs.
 If the egg is not fertilized, it will break apart.
 Around Day 25 when hormone levels drop, it will be shed from the body with
the lining of the uterus as a menstrual period.
 The first part of the menstrual cycle is different in every woman, and even can
be different from month-to-month in the same woman, varying from 13 to 20
days long. This is the most important part of the cycle to learn about, since
this is when ovulation and pregnancy can occur. After ovulation, every woman
(unless she has a health problem that affects her periods) will have a period
within 14 to 16 days.

3.  Knowing when you're most fertile will help you plan or prevent pregnancy. There are
three ways you can keep track of your fertile times. They are:
 Basal body temperature method - Basal body temperature is your temperature at
rest as soon as you awake in the morning. A woman's basal body temperature rises
slightly with ovulation. So by recording this temperature daily for several months
you'll be able to predict your most fertile days.
 Basal body temperature differs slightly from woman to woman. Anywhere from 96 to
98 degrees orally is average before ovulation. After ovulation most women have an
oral temperature between 97 and 99 degrees. The rise in temperature can be a
sudden jump or a gradual climb over a few days.
 Usually a woman's basal body temperature rises by only 0.4 to 0.8 degrees
Fahrenheit. To detect this tiny change, women must use a basal body thermometer.
These thermometers are very sensitive. Most pharmacies sell them for around $10.
You then record your temperature on a special chart.
 The rise in temperature doesn't show exactly when the egg is released. But almost
all women have ovulated within three days after their temperatures spike. Body
temperature stays at the higher level until your period starts.
 You are most fertile and most likely to get pregnant:
 two to three days before your temperature hits the highest point (ovulation),
and
 12 to 24 hours after ovulation.
 A man's sperm can live for up to three days in a woman's body. The sperm can
fertilize an egg at any point during that time. So if you have unprotected sex a few
days before ovulation there is a chance of becoming pregnant.
 Many things can affect basal body temperature. To get the most useful chart you
should take your temperature every morning at about the same time. Things that
can alter your temperature include:
 drinking alcohol the night before
 smoking cigarettes the night before
 getting a poor night's sleep
 having a fever
 doing anything in the morning before you take your temperature -- including
going to the bathroom and talking on the phone

4.  Age
 There are many different reasons why a couple might have infertility. One is age-related. Women
today are often delaying having children until later in life, when they are in their 30s and 40s. A
couple of things add to this trend. Birth control is easy to obtain and use, more women are in the
work force, women are marrying at an older age, the divorce rate remains high, and married
couples are delaying pregnancy until they are more financially secure. But the older you are, the
harder it is to become pregnant. Women generally have some decrease in fertility starting in their
early 30s. And while many women in their 30s and 40s have no problems getting pregnant, fertility
especially declines after age 35.
 As a woman ages, there are normal changes that occur in her ovaries and eggs. All women are
born with over a million eggs in their ovaries (all the eggs that they will ever have), but only have
about 300,000 left by puberty. Then of these, only about 300 eggs will be ovulated during the
reproductive years. Even though menstrual cycles continue to be regular in a woman's 30s and
40s, the eggs that ovulate each month are of poorer quality than those from her 20s. It is harder
to get pregnant when the eggs are poorer in quality.
Ovarian reserve is the number and quality of eggs in your ovaries and how well the ovarian follicles
respond to hormones in your body. As you approach menopause, your ovaries don't respond as
well to your hormones, and in time they may not release an egg each month. A reduced ovarian
reserve is natural as a woman ages, but young women might have reduced ovarian reserves due to
smoking, a prior surgery on their ovaries, or a family history of early menopause. Also, as a woman
and her eggs age, if she becomes pregnant, there is a greater chance of having genetic problems,
such as having a baby with Down Syndrome. Embryos formed from eggs in older women also are
less likely to fully develop, a main reason for miscarriage (early pregnancy loss).

5.  Health Problems
 Couples also can have fertility problems because of health problems, in either the woman or the
man. Common problems with a woman's reproductive organs, like uterine fibroids, endometriosis,
and pelvic inflammatory disease can worsen with age and also affect fertility. These conditions
might cause the fallopian tubes to be blocked, so the egg can't travel through the tubes into the
uterus.
 Some people also have diseases or conditions that affect their hormone levels, which can cause
infertility in women and impotence and infertility in men. Polycystic Ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is
one such hormonal condition that affects many women, and is the most common cause of
anovulation, or when a woman rarely or never ovulates. Another hormonal condition that is a
common cause of infertility is when a woman has a luteal phase defect (LPD). A luteal phase is the
time in the menstrual cycle between ovulation and the start of the next menstrual period. LPD is a
failure of the uterine lining to be fully prepared for a fertilized egg to implant there. This happens
either because a woman's body is not producing enough progesterone, or the uterine lining isn't
responding to progesterone levels at some point in the menstrual cycle. Since pregnancy depends
on a fertilized egg implanting in the uterine lining, LPD can interfere with a woman getting
pregnant and with carrying a pregnancy successfully.
 Certain lifestyle choices also can have a negative effect on a woman's fertility, such as smoking,
alcohol use, weighing much more or much less than an ideal body weight, a lot of strenuous
exercise, and having an eating disorder.
 Unlike women, some men remain fertile into their 60s and 70s. But as men age, they might begin
to have problems with the shape and movement of their sperm, and have a slightly higher risk of
sperm gene defects. They also might produce no sperm, or too few sperm. Lifestyle choices also
can affect the number and quality of a man's sperm. Alcohol and drugs can temporarily reduce
sperm quality. And researchers are looking at whether environmental toxins, such as pesticides and
lead, also may be to blame for some cases of infertility. Men also can have health problems that
affect their sexual and reproductive function. These can include sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs), diabetes, surgery on the prostate gland, or a severe testicle injury or problem.

6.  You should talk to your doctor about your fertility if you:
 are under age 35 and, after a year of frequent sex without birth control, you are having problems getting pregnant, or
 are age 35 or over and, after six months of frequent sex without birth control, you are having problems getting pregnant, or
 believe you or your partner might have fertility problems in the future (even before you begin trying to get pregnant).
 Your doctor can refer you to a fertility specialist, a doctor who focuses in treating infertility. This doctor can recommend treatments such as drugs,
surgery, or assisted reproductive technology. Don't delay seeing your doctor because age also affects the success rates of these treatments.
 There are many ways to treat infertility. They include: Tests
 The first step to treat infertility is to see a doctor for a fertility evaluation. He or she will test both the woman and the man, to find out where the
problem is. Testing on the man focuses on the number and health of his sperm. The lab will look at a sample of his sperm under a microscope to
check sperm number, shape, and movement. Blood tests also can be done to check hormone levels. More tests might be needed to look for infection,
or problems with hormones. These tests can include:
 an x-ray (to look at his reproductive organs)
 a mucus penetrance test (to see if sperm can swim through mucus)
 a hamster-egg penetrance assay (to see if sperm can go through hamster egg cells, somewhat showing their power to fertilize human eggs)
 Testing for the woman first looks at whether she is ovulating each month. This can be done by having her chart changes in her morning body
temperature, by using an FDA-approved home ovulation test kit (which she can buy at a drug store), or by looking at her cervical mucus, which
changes throughout her menstrual cycle. Ovulation also can be checked in her doctor's office with an ultrasound test of the ovaries, or simple blood
tests that check hormone levels, like the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) test. FSH is produced by the pituitary gland. In women, it helps control
the menstrual cycle and the production of eggs by the ovaries. The amount of FSH varies throughout the menstrual cycle and is highest just before
an egg is released. The amounts of FSH and other hormones (luteinizing hormone, estrogen, and progesterone) are measured in both a man and a
woman to determine why the couple cannot achieve pregnancy. If the woman is ovulating, more testing will need to be done. These tests can
include:
 an hysterosalpingogram (an x-ray to check if the fallopian tubes are open and to show the shape of the uterus)
 a laparoscopy (an exam of the tubes and other female organs for disease)
 an endometrial biopsy (an exam of a small shred of the uterine lining to see if monthly changes in it are normal)
 Other tests can be done to show whether the sperm and mucus are interacting in the right way, or if the man or woman is forming antibodies that
are attacking the sperm and stopping them from getting to the egg.

7.  Different treatments for infertility are
recommended depending on what the problem is.
About 90 percent of cases are treated with drugs
or surgery. Various fertility drugs may be used for
women with ovulation problems. It is important
to talk with your doctor about the drug to be
used. You should understand the drug's benefits
and side effects. Depending on the type of
fertility drug and the dosage of the drug used,
multiple births (such as twins) can occur in some
women. If needed, surgery can be done to repair
damage to a woman's ovaries, fallopian tubes, or
uterus. Sometimes a man has an infertility
problem that can be corrected by surgery.

8.  Assisted reproductive technology (ART) uses special methods to help infertile couples, and involves
handling both the woman's eggs and the man's sperm. Success rates vary and depend on many
factors. But ART has made it possible for many couples to have children that otherwise would not
have been conceived. ART can be expensive and time-consuming. Many health insurance
companies do not provide coverage for infertility or provide only limited coverage. Check your
health insurance contract carefully to learn about what is covered. Also, some states have laws for
infertility insurance coverage. Some of these include Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Hawaii,
Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Texas, and West Virginia.
 In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of ART that is often used when a woman's fallopian tubes are
blocked or when a man has low sperm counts. A drug is used to stimulate the ovaries to produce
multiple eggs. Once mature, the eggs are removed and placed in a culture dish with the man's
sperm for fertilization. After about 40 hours, the eggs are examined to see if they have become
fertilized by the sperm and are dividing into cells. These fertilized eggs (embryos) are then placed
in the woman's uterus, thus bypassing the fallopian tubes. Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) is
similar to IVF, but used when the woman has at least one normal fallopian tube. Three to five eggs
are placed in the fallopian tube, along with the man's sperm, for fertilization inside the woman's
body. Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT), also called tubal embryo transfer, combines IVF and
GIFT. The eggs retrieved from the woman's ovaries are fertilized in the lab and placed in the
fallopian tubes rather than the uterus.
 ART sometimes involves the use of donor eggs (eggs from another woman) or previously frozen
embryos. Donor eggs may be used if a woman has impaired ovaries or has a genetic disease that
could be passed on to her baby. And if a woman does not have any eggs, or her eggs are not of a
good enough quality to produce a pregnancy, she and her partner might want to consider
surrogacy. A surrogate is a woman who agrees to become pregnant using the man's sperm and her
own egg. The child will be genetically related to the surrogate and the male partner, but the
surrogate will give the baby to the couple at birth.

9.  If you've been having problems getting pregnant, you know
how frustrating it can feel. Not being able to get pregnant can
be one of the most stressful experiences a couple has. Both
counseling and support groups can help you and your partner
talk about your feelings, and to help you meet other couples
like you in the same situation. You will learn that anger, grief,
blame, guilt, and depression are all normal. Couples do
survive infertility, and can become closer and stronger in the
process. Ask your doctor for the names of counselors or
therapists with an interest in fertility
 Visit us: http://www.promiseprenatal.com/
 Contact Us | 1.800.201.7935 | 1540 Southtown Dr Ste.111, Granbury, TX
76049