Naturally Getting Pregnant

How can I get pregnant fast ?

I’ve asked myself this question so many times. And I know I’m not the only one.

Fast is relative, so let’s look at the two main options to facilitate conception (a.k.a. hurry up and get pregnant): natural treatments and conventional medicine.

Originally, I thought that conventional medicine would offer the fastest way to get pregnant. But as advanced as many of the conventional treatments are, I discovered that they are not the speeding bullet that I had once hoped.

It took me almost a year to find the right fertility clinic, get an appointment, go through the initial battery of tests, and execute the first treatment. Not to mention that the first treatment is just that: the first treatment.

To my knowledge there aren’t any statistics available on how long the treatment of infertility through conventional medicine usually takes until (if) it’s successful. And since treatment length seems to vary greatly between individuals, we still wouldn’t know how long it’s going to take each of us (where’s that crystal ball when you need it?).

How long does Getting Pregnant Naturally Take?

Women have shown that we can increase our odds of having a baby through natural treatments, but the catch here is that in order to boost our fertility naturally we need  –  time.

Before we all hit the panic button, remember that natural remedies for fertility generally focus on bringing the entire body back into balance. This, for me, is gaining time. Why? Because bringing our body back into balance not only increases our chances of having a healthy baby but can actually prolong our fertile years (like Julia Indichova describes in her book, Inconceivable).

It has taken me about four months to find the right fertility diet for my body. Once I found it, my body showed positive signs of health starting after just one week (like the disappearance of acne and a regular digestive system). And now I’m seeing a trend in my cycles: they are becoming shorter  –  a more normal length  –  having gone from 44 to 39 to 36 days.

A good trend. But three cycles? That’s a long time for those of us in a race with our biological clocks.

But that’s the reality of it: It may take several months to bring the body into balance through natural methods.

There, I said it. What none of us wanted to hear: It takes time to boost your fertility naturally.

We all want to run away from the fact that there is no quick-fix. But if you’ve made it this far in the article (even though I don’t have a magic supplement, a miracle pill, or a stand on your head trick to share) you’ll probably want to stay for the good news  –  I promise it’s coming.

Why does Increasing Fertility Naturally Take Time?

When we think of getting pregnant, we most often think that each cycle is a fresh start: an egg develops and releases. Each of the follicles that we have (we’re born with all we’ll ever have – about 350,000) needs longer than one cycle to develop into an egg, however. In fact, the entire growth phase of a follicle is longer than 220 days or eight menstrual cycles (1).

During those 220 days, the follicles go through various stages and although scientists don’t know all the hormones responsible for the health and development during each stage, they do know that the hormone FSH is vital in the later stages and believe it plays a role in the earlier ones as well (1).

Natural fertility treatments, like diet and exercise, can create healthy levels of FSH, and therefore healthy eggs. How? Through insulin - the hormone your body uses to regulate sugar. If insulin levels are high (often a result of eating poorly or not exercising) the amount of free insulin-like growth factor increases which inhibits the function of FSH (2).

Knowing this, it’s not hard to imagine that a healthy growth phase (potentially all 220 days of it) requires a healthy, balanced body.

Dr. Jeremy Groll, an expert in reproductive endocrinology and fertility treatment, has experienced this with many of his patients. In his book, Fertility Foods, Dr. Groll says, “I am not selling a get-pregnant quick scheme, but I am offering a solution to your infertility that’s risk-free and painless.” He goes on to say that the diet and exercise program may work in just a month or two, but that several months may be required to get your insulin levels in check and your body responding properly.” (2)

Herbalist Stacey Roberts from Sharkey’s Healing Center also reports that her patients need about 6-8 months to balance out their bodies and become pregnant.  Interestingly, her patients that use the herbs and supplements prior to undergoing IVF, to increase there chances of success, reported producing healthier eggs (3).

And the Good News Part: Having a Healthy Baby

Getting your body healthy and into balance prior to pregnancy also increases your chances of having a healthy baby: after all our desire is to have a healthy baby – not just get pregnant. There’s a long list of proof that a healthy body has better chances of giving birth to a healthy baby. Like a mother who gets enough folate – prior to conception – has a reduced chance of having a child with neural tube defects and a mother with healthy insulin levels has a lower chance of miscarriage (2).

So, for those with clear cut infertility issues that can be addressed directly with conventional medicine going to an infertility specialist could be the fastest way to get pregnant. But for those of us with unexplained infertility or an issue that has no effective treatment: natural treatments could be our fast track to getting pregnant and to having a healthy baby.

Sources

1. McGee, Elizabeth, Hsueh, Aaron. “Initial and Cyclic Recruitment of Ovarian Follicles.” Endocrine Reviews 21.2 (2000): 200-214

2. Groll, Jeremy, Groll, Lorie. Fertility Foods: Optimize Ovulation and Conception Through Food Choices. Simon and Schuster, 2006

3. Roberts, Stacey. “Don’t Forget About Your Follicles.” Sharkey’s Healing Centre. Accessed December 23, 2008. http://www.sharkeyshealingcentre.com.au/content/fertility-tips/don-t-forget-about-your-follicles-their-develop