Pregnancy: Trying to Conceive

Stages of Pregnancy Slideshow

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.

• Fertility Awareness
• Charting your fertility pattern
• Basal body temperature method
• Calendar method
• Cervical mucus method
• Infertility
• Reasons for infertility
• Age
• Health Problems
• Treating infertility
• Tests
• Drugs and surgery
• Counseling and support groups

Ten Infertility Questions to Ask Your Doctor Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD Medical Editor: William C. Shiel, Jr., MD, FACP, FACR Be sure to take along the records of any diagnostic studies and/or fertility treatments you may have had in the past if you are visiting a new fertility specialist. If you have been keeping records of the dates of your menstrual cycles and/or basal body temperature charts, take these along too. Also, print this and take it with you to your doctor visit. What is my diagnosis, and how does this condition specifically interfere with fertility? Does my partner have a condition that interferes with fertility? Will these conditions worsen over time, improve, or remain constant? If the reason for my infertility is unclear, what diagnostic tests do you recommend? What is the likelihood that each of these tests will establish a diagnosis? Are there any risks associated with the testing? Does my partner need additional testing? What type of treatment would you recommend trying first? Does this treatment involve surgery, medications, or both? What are the risks of treatment? In your practice, how often does this treatment result in pregnancy? (Be sure to determine whether your doctor is talking about pregnancy rates or live-birth rates when discussing specific treatments so you can make adequate comparisons. For example, a treatment may have a 30% pregnancy rate per cycle but only a 25% live-birth rate due to early miscarriages.) Read the rest of the questions to ask your doctor » Top Searched Infertility Terms: trying to conceive, male infertility, infertility treatment, infertility drugs, obesity and infertility, infertility support groups, endometriosis and infertility, female infertility

Fertility Awareness

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.

Charting Your Fertility Pattern

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:

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