All you need to know while planning for pregnancy and coping with infertility

The pregnancy planner

We need to be mentally and physically ready while deciding to embark the journey of a parent. Remember that nothing is a sure thing hence we have to be patient and give it our best shot. Once decided, according to me we need to give ourselves at least 6 months of time. Below are some of my thoughts which might help you to sail through the preconception period smoothly:

• Maintain and reach a healthy weight.

• Have a balanced diet. Avoid junk, fried, sugary, processed, saturated foods and carbonated or sugary drinks. Limit caffeine. Include folic acid, iron rich food and antioxidants in your diet.

• Regular exercises and physical activity really helps to keep you fit. But do not indulge in any strenuous exercises specially running for a longer time.

• Keep track of your menstrual cycle. Record your period start and end date.

• Know your ovulation cycle. Ovulation is the release of a mature egg from one of the ovaries which happens every month. A woman is more fertile around this time. Ovulation usually occurs around 12-14 days counting from the first day of last period considering a 28 day menstrual cycle.

• Try for baby every alternate day during the fertile window (while you are ovulating).

• Have a healthy and open communication with your partner.

• Avoid smoking and drinking as much as possible.

• Be stress free. Take care of your mental and spiritual health. Practice meditation, yoga and indulge in hobbies and things that interests you. Keep away negativity and depression.

• Take frequent breaks between works and plan for a holiday or outing or dinner whenever feasible.

Coping with infertility

In case you have been trying for 6 months or more its best time to seek help.

• Consult a nearby gynecologist considering the fact that doctor might ask you to visit often. From the very first day visit your doctor together. Doctors might prescribe medication, ask both of you to go for few tests and also give recommended advices.

• In case you have been trying for a while as per the doctor’s advice, may be for 6 months or more and still there are no positive result it is time to see a fertility expert.

• Fertility treatment may range from counseling to medication to surgery. This kind of treatment needs time, energy and money so be prepared and be together.

• Doctor might ask you to go through some specific fertility tests like semen analysis, hormone and genetic testing, imaging, HSG test. For women, some of the common tests are Hysteroscopy to look for uterine diseases and Laparoscopy to identify blockages and problems with ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes. Some tests are really painful and expensive so be mentally and financially prepared for it.

• For basic infertility cure, medication and lifestyle remedies often helps but if it doesn't help assisted reproduction techniques are suggested.

• In case doctor suggests you to go for ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) to treat infertility it is better to get acquainted with some common procedures. There are two common treatments:

1. IUI (Intra-Uterine Insemination): Artificial insemination. Healthy sperms are collected and inserted directly into uterus during ovulation. This process is not painful and also less expensive.

2. IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization): Eggs are taken from ovaries and fertilized by a sperm in a lab where they develop into embryos and transferring of resulting embryos into the womb. This is a very expensive process and includes numerous stages from triggering stimulation/hormone injections, egg and semen retrieval, fertilization, embryo transfer, luteal phase, pregnancy test. Two embryos are generally implanted in a single procedure to increase chances. In IVF doctors try to have more embryos so that they could be implanted later in next cycles. Egg retrieval procedure is really painful. TESA (Testicular sperm aspiration) is sometimes done for men to retrieve sperm artificially which is again a painful procedure.

• Other assisted modes of reproduction includes egg donation, sperm donation, surrogacy.

• Fertility advisers would guide and recommend you accordingly.

This journey can sometimes be stressful and depressing but we should not lose hope. Every problem has a solution. We just need to find the right solution that fits us. To be a parent, we do not always need to give birth to a baby, there are millions of orphans waiting to have a family of their own. We may also consider adopting even if we have our own children. At least we can donate to the orphanages or take responsibility of some parentless children. Just a thought to make this world a better place. Anyways whatever I have shared in this article is as per experience gathered from my friends and relatives topping up with some personal exposures. Hope it is informative and inspires you to walk through the red carpet towards parenthood.