When you decide it’s time to start trying to conceive it should be an exciting time filled with eager anticipation about the future. The reality is that trying to get pregnant can be overwhelming. Luckily, there are some great products to help you get pregnant and guide you through the process of trying to conceive.
Growing up, it’s engraved in our thoughts that accidentally getting pregnant can happen so easily. So, when you do decide it’s time to try to get pregnant you think it will happen immediately. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case and there are a lot of factors contributing to a successful pregnancy.
You can be as scientific as you want when trying to conceive. It’s easy to get lost in all of the timing and planning, so remember to relax and enjoy this time with your husband too!
How Can You Increase Your Chances of Getting Pregnant?
Knowledge. Understanding your body and the processes involved in trying to conceive will maximize your chances of getting pregnant each month. A healthy, 30-year woman has about a 20% chance of getting pregnant each month. So, understanding your cycle and reproductive health will help you make the most of that 20% chance.
Fortunately, there are some products to help make the process less confusing, easier to understand, and more enjoyable!
The Best Products For Trying To Conceive
Fertility Tracking App
Getting to know your cycle is the key to getting pregnant. You have the highest chance of getting pregnant the two days before you ovulate and the day of ovulation. Since not everyone has a standard 28-day cycle, you can’t count on ovulating on day 14 every month. The best way to get to know your own cycle is by tracking it.
My two favorite fertility tracking apps are Premom and Fertility Friend. You can enter all types of data related to your cycles including period start and end dates, ovulation test results, basal body temperature, cervical mucous consistency, moods, and symptoms. These apps then take that data and predict when you will ovulate. It might take a couple months of tracking before there’s enough data to be considered accurate, but it’s worth the effort to know what day you are ovulating.
Ovulation Test Strips
Ovulation is obviously an important factor in getting pregnant. Ovulation is when a mature egg is released from the ovary. It travels down the fallopian tube and, if sperm are present, it can be fertilized.
Ovulation test strips help determine when you ovulate. They detect levels of LH hormones in your urine. As you get closer to ovulation, your LH levels surge and these test strips are able to pick that up. Ovulation occurs soon after the surge.
My favorite ovulation test strips are the Easy@Home brand. They can be used with the Premom app and make it really easy to read and analyze the test strips – meaning it’s super easy to know what day you are ovulating!
Basal Body Temperature Thermometer
Basal body temperature is your temperature when you are fully at rest. It’s thought that ovulation causes an increase in this temperature. So, by tracking your temperature with a basal body temperature thermometer and recording the data in a fertility app you will start to see a pattern of when your temperature has increased and be able to better predict your day of ovulation.
I like this basal body temperature thermometer because it automatically pairs with the Premom app via Bluetooth, but if you’re looking for something more budget-friendly and don’t mind manually entering your temperature into an app, this one is great too.
Since ovulation test strips predict ovulation and basal body temperature confirms ovulation, the window of baby-making opportunity can be narrowed down pretty precisely when you track both of these. And that’s the ultimate goal – take the guesswork out of trying to conceive!
Taking Charge of Your Fertility Book
I realize that suggesting you read a book to get pregnant doesn’t sound like very good advice, but Taking Charge of Your Fertility has so much information about reproductive health, understanding your menstrual cycles, and signs and symptoms to look for when trying to conceive that it’s well worth your time.
I’ve had this book since I was in college (not because I was trying to get pregnant in college, more because I wanted to learn what was going on with my body and tracking my periods). I didn’t realize how popular it was until my husband and I started trying to conceive and it popped up all over the place as a great resource for understanding reproductive health. I went back and reread the relevant sections on maximizing my chances to get pregnant and learned even more than I did the first time I read it. So, give this book a try!
Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins help ensure your baby has everything it needs to grow strong and healthy. Since you don’t know how long it will take you to get pregnant and women typically don’t know until week 4 or 5 that they are pregnant, it’s important to make sure your body is ready to support that growing baby. I’m a fan of the One-A-Day prenatal vitamins, but I know a lot of people prefer the gummy versions. They probably taste better!
Cheap Pregnancy Tests
Even though you’re supposed to wait until the end of your two week wait to test, we all give in and test early sometimes (okay, maybe a lot of times). Pregnancy tests can be expensive so having some that you don’t feel guilty using up can ease a little bit of that two-week wait anxiety.
These pregnancy test strips are great for those moments when you just can’t wait any longer. And since they’re fairly inexpensive compared to digital tests, they are a good option for early testing. You can always confirm with a digital test later. There’s even this combo pack of ovulation tests and pregnancy tests if you’re looking to get both.
Date Night Cookbook
Ok, so this product might not be directly related to helping you get pregnant, but after months or years of trying to conceive, the flame sometimes burns out. It’s no longer fun. Remember when trying for a baby was exciting and romantic? It’s time to feel that way again. It’s well known that stress can be a hindrance to getting pregnant, so relax and have a date night (or two or three or twenty) with your husband.
This Date Night In cookbook is one of my favorites. The meals are set up in a menu format that typically includes a drink, main course, side dish, and dessert. There’s even a grocery list and instructions on when to start prepping ingredients.
If you and your husband like to cook, I highly recommend this book. Plan a few fun date night menus and put that spark back into your TTC journey!
It’s important to remember that getting pregnant can take time and patience. There are a lot of factors involved in getting pregnant and understanding your own body and your own cycle is the best way to maximize your changes of conceiving each month.
Most importantly, don’t forget to have fun and enjoy this time with your husband! After all, you’re trying to create a new life and that’s pretty amazing.
Related Posts
