pregnant women

Trying To Conceive? Follow These Important Steps!

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Trying to conceive?  Planning to start a family can be a lot of fun until months go by with no baby.  Sex can become more like a burdensome chore.  Relationships can become strained.  You may even feel betrayed by your own body.  However, consider this before you turn to fertility medicine which can be really hard on your body and quite expensive.

How To Conceive Naturally

There are some natural things you can try to get your body in the best shape possible to support a baby.  And, if you do end up needing fertility medicine, you will have a better chance of success.

This will be the first article in a series on how to conceive naturally.  We will cover:

• Getting the right tests
• Eating the right foods
• Supplements to consider
• Eliminating toxins
• Managing stress
• Healthy sperm
• Managing health challenges like obesity, endometriosis, PCOS, and fibroids

Get The Right Tests

When it takes a while to get pregnant, there are a few things to consider.  It could be that your thyroid is not working right, your hormones are out of whack, or you have a nutritional deficiency.  Testing can help you determine what next steps to take.

Cholesterol

• Your cholesterol should be over 150 mg/dl or 3.879 mmol/l.  Cholesterol is the building block on progesterone, the baby making hormone.  You need adequate cholesterol to conceive and maintain a healthy pregnancy.  Click here to learn The Myths About Cholesterol.

Full Thyroid Panel

• Get a full thyroid panel (not just a TSH) with antibodies.  You want to ensure you don’t have Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune thyroid condition that often gets diagnosed as depression or anxiety.  A full panel will help to determine what kind, if any, thyroid issue you might have.  Thyroid hormones are essential for a healthy pregnancy so you want to make sure you are taking proper care of the thyroid gland.  A TSH by itself is not very useful as TSH can be normal in many thyroid conditions.

Iodine Loading Test

• See if you are deficient in iodine.  This is a common problem with endometriosis, fibroids, and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).  Iodine deficiency is very common because we don’t consume adequate amounts unless we are eating sea vegetables and seafood.  This is a urine test, not a blood test.  You want a score of 90% or better.  Click here to read how This One Urine Test Could Save Your Life!

Check Estrogen, Progesterone & Testosterone

• A very common hormone issue is estrogen dominance.  You may actually have normal values for both estrogen and progesterone, but they may not be balanced well.  This can hinder fertility.  Excess testosterone can also interfere with conception and is common in PCOS.  Click here to read my article on how Get Your Body Ready For A Baby.

These tests will give you a good picture of what could be preventing a pregnancy.  Once you know what is going on, you can take the right steps to solve the problem and enhance your chances of getting pregnant.

For more information, Click here download my free Baby-Ready Body guide or click here to visit my website .

Get Your Body Ready For A Baby

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We have headed into a new year where anything is possible!  We can leave behind all the things that didn’t go the way we wanted them to and move forward with a fresh outlook.  This is especially true if you’ve been struggling to conceive.  Let the struggle of the past year go, take a deep breath, and look forward to the possibilities of the new year just beginning.

If you want the best chances of getting pregnant in 2019, put BABY into practice:

B: Boost Your Cholesterol

Most of us have heard all our lives that we need to lower our cholesterol, but that is not a good idea, especially if you want to get pregnant and carry a baby to term.  Contrary to popular belief, cholesterol is good for you. It is the building block of hormones like progesterone, the baby making hormone.  Without progesterone it is difficult to get pregnant and stay pregnant.  Without cholesterol, you can’t make progesterone, click here to learn more!

Action steps:

  1. Have your doctor check your cholesterol levels.
  2. Add cholesterol rich foods to your diet such as eggs, liver, butter, and full fat dairy (just don’t use ultra-pasteurized dairy).

A: Assess Your Iodine Levels

Iodine is important for thyroid hormones which you need for a healthy pregnancy.  Thyroid hormones support nearly every cell in the body including the central nervous system and developing brain of a fetus.  If a mother is deficient in iodine it can affect the IQ and brain function of the baby.  Iodine deficiency can also be a factor in fibroids, endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome.  For more information, click here to read iodine-friend or foe.

Action steps:

  1. Ask your doctor for an iodine loading test.  This is a urine test, not a blood test. You can also order a test yourself by clicking here.
  2. Eat iodine rich foods like seaweed, shellfish, fish, and full fat diary.  An easy way to start is to sprinkle kelp flakes on foods.  Supplements may be needed but it is best to work with a knowledgeable physician when taking iodine supplements.

B: Banish The Toxins

We are exposed to numerous toxins from food, plastic, personal care products, cleaning products, weed killer, fire retardant clothing…the list is endless.  The problem with all these toxins is that many are endocrine disruptors which means they mess up your hormones which can make it difficult to get pregnant.  It may take a while to banish them all so the important thing is to just start somewhere.

Action steps:

  1. Click here for my free getting started guide to eliminating toxins in skincare products and food.
  2. Get a copy of The Switch Diet available on Amazon for a more detailed step by step guide.

Y: Yield To A Time Out

Stress is something we all face, but if we don’t manage it well, it can derail our best efforts to get pregnant.  Stress can come from relationships, finances, our to-do list, and even from our own unmet desires.  It’s good to take a time out periodically to get a new perspective, recharge, and let go.

Action steps:

  1. Schedule some time every day to relax, breathe, and meditate.  Click here to learn more about the benefits of meditation.
  2. Look at your schedule.  Is there anything you can say no to?
  3. Take a break from scheduling (sex) and tracking (cycles) if it’s creating tension in your relationship.
  4. Do something fun every day.

If you remember BABY, you’ll be well on your way to a healthy pregnancy.  If you’d like more support on your journey to becoming a mom, click here to join or get more details about my Baby-Ready Body Academy which will be open for enrollment on January 20th.