Thursday, April 28, 2016

I wanna get pregnant!!

"What is wrong with me?", "Why it seems so easy on other but not me?", "I'm ready but it just doesn't happen…", "I'd been trying for so long, but it just…" I understand how you feel, trust me... I do. So here I am sharing you some tips that I'd gathered and I hope this will help you too!

Build Up Your Foundation

This seems to be the easiest, but not to all of us... Some of us struggled forever to get this right, like myself. I'm a foodie and love all kinds of food, for sure, not the healthy type. Hahaha!!! Having a solid foundation will go a long way, and it is not a one-day process:


  1. Have a Balanced diet
I'm not asking you to whopper down all the healthy food in huge proportion, just to cut down on fatty food and fast food. You still have your cheat day, once or twice a week. Start off by reducing oil, fats, sugar and salt intake. You can refer to this link for a guideline: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/balanced-diet-women if you want go on a strict healthy diet. Or alternatively, here's a rough guide I gave myself:

  1. Drop those bad habits
If you smoke, quit! If you drink, cut down! Try to have at least 6-8 hours of undisturbed sleep.  I'm as guilty as you are, so cut it down….

  1. Top up with Supplements
Hmm… I have to emphasize again that I'm neither a doctor nor a nutritionist, but these are the set of supplements I took after long research and study. It does not harm but doesn’t mean you should eat in huge quantity.

    1. Vitex
Vitex, also known to many as Chasteberry is said to correct hormonal imbalances in women and resulting in a regular menstrual cycle and increase of level of progesterone[i]. Although there is insufficient evidence to proof that Vitex alone can cure infertility, it does have great results in improving the probability of fertility in woman[ii].

Dose: One tablet per day
Where to get it: You can buy this herb easily over the counter. I got mine from GNC in case you cannot find them.
NOTE: STOP TAKING THEM ONCE YOU ARE PREGNANT!

    1. Royal Jelly
Although there is no documented evidence in human of RJ's increase in fertility rates, but there are evidence that it may be effective in improving pregnancy rates in ewes[iii].

I used to be a sickly child and had been taking RJ since the age of 20. It does helps to boost up my immunity and health[iv]. Hence, I think there's no harm since it also contains antioxidants, and helps beautify your skin.

Dose: One tablet, alternate day (alternate this with Coenzyme), you can get your hubby to take them too (same dose). How much to take per day depends on dosage recommended for the brand you buy, but I don't take it every day since I'm taking RJ.
Where to get it: Easily available over the counter. No preferred brand, Mine is originated from Australia.
NOTE: STOP TAKING THEM ONCE YOU ARE PREGNANT!

    1. Coenzyme Q10
We all know that one of the main requirements for a healthy pregnancy is "egg quality", especially for 'mature' woman like us. It is an antioxidant and known mitochondrial nutrients, which may help in our eggs performance[v].

Even if it doesn’t have evidence showing that it'll help, it’s not going to hurt to take it as a supplement since it is not expensive and have positive skin benefits to help you stay young and beautiful[vi]!

Dose: One tablet, alternate day (alternate this with Royal Jelly), you can get your hubby to take them too (same dose). How much to take per day depends on dosage recommended for the brand you buy, but I don't take it every day since I'm taking RJ.
Where to get it: Easily available over the counter. For me, I got Blackmores as I trust the brand (there's no need for you to go for high dose).
NOTE: STOP TAKING THEM ONCE YOU ARE PREGNANT!

    1. Folic Acid
If you are planning to get pregnant, please start taking folic acid, or at least have diet with a good yield of folate. Evidence shows that birth defects occur within the first 3-4 weeks of pregnancy. So it's important to start early when your baby's brain and spinal cord are developing. Well, I'm not asking you to take 5mg as prescribe by gynae, just have it in your system rather to totally omit.
Dose: 2 tablets of 500 mcg per day
Where to get it: Easily available over the counter. For me, I got Blackmores Folate, as I trust the brand (there's no need for you to go for high dose).
NOTE: Has to continue even after you are pregnant. It vital for 1st trimester.

    1. Zinc
This mineral helps to keep your immune system strong, strengthen your health. It does not help in infertility, but we all know that we need a healthy body to begin this journey isn't it?
Dose: One tablet per day (depending on the dose suggested for the brand you purchase)
Where to get it: You can buy this mineral easily over the counter.
NOTE: You can continue this after pregnancy, to boost your immune system. Take it with Vitamin C for better results.

    1. Vitamin C
Boost your immune system and beautiful skin!
Dose: One tablet (500mg) per day
Where to get it: You can buy this herb easily over the counter.
NOTE: If you are taking enough of the daily dose of vegetables and fruits, you can skip the tablet, like I always do. I have this in the list as I sometimes do not have enough of vegetables in my diet.

Other tips… Try avoid cold drinks, your body will conceive better with warm body. This is an advice given by most Chinese physician. So, start drinking warm water, tea, coffee, malt drink, etc. BUT, PLEASE STOP ALL CAFFEINE DRINKS ONCE YOU ARE PREGNANT, i.e. no coffee, tea or even chocolate products. If you must, limit to 1 small cup per day…


Start an Exercise Regimen

Whether you are above or below your ideal BMI, you still need to do some workout. If you are below, eat more and gain some weight. If you are above, then you may consider work-out more, instead of the minimum of 30-minutes. You can check you BMI via this link here: http://tunza.com.au/ThePlanet/templates/theplanet-00/BMICalculator-Index.htm

Well, I'm not asking you to be a triathlon champion or participant. Haha! I'm asking you to do a minimum of 30-minutes exercise per day, as it helps you to improve you stamina, boost your health, strengthens and tones your body, improve your quality of life and as a form of weight management.


Go for a Simple Check

I'm not saying that's something wrong with you, but just to make sure you are in perfect condition to have a healthy baby! At the very least, go for a fallopian tubes blockage scan, especially if you are in your mid or late 30s. This is a very common phenomenon and I can assure you, there's nothing for you to be ashamed of. You may be surprise to know that THIS IS ONE OF THE TOP REASONS FOR INFERTILITY (top 3 in some countries)!

Here's how it happens… During a normal menstrual cycle, the lining of your uterus will thicken and be ready for pregnancy. In cases if your egg is not fertilized, this lining will shed and the process will repeats itself. In the case of fallopian tube(s) blockage, for some reasons, tissue similar to the lining tissue (endometrium) may sometimes grow in the structures grow outside of the uterus, in various places that it shouldn't. I.e. in or on the ovaries, the fallopian tubes, the various structures that support the uterus, and the lining of the pelvic cavity[vii]. This results in blockage or scarring of the fallopian tube and prevents egg from being fertilized by the sperm. Or worst, partial blockage may end you with an ectopic pregnancy. Here's an illustration that may help you understand more…

The test sometimes helps to 'unblock' the tube and you may not even need any medication and will be able to conceive naturally, like me. Otherwise, the gynae will advice you further.

Some other test that you may be interested will be the transvaginal ultrasound – to see your supply of eggs, your pelvic health and your uterus wall conditions; blood test and semen analysis. Ask your gynae for more details.


Stay Happy and Relax

Stress is definitely not good. Different people react to stress differently. Some women stop ovulating due to stress and causing them unable to conceive[viii].

Keeping a positive mindset and a relax body will help you go further. I mean both you and your partner. Man will have more sex urges when they are not stress.


Kept this from your partner

We all know, man stressed easily. Do your ovulation cycle monitoring via thermometer and all of the above. So long both of you have consensus, there's no need for you to spell it out to him to have sex with you on the "peak dates". The moment you do, he will feel stress and will not have the urge to touch you. Girls… try to avoid urinating and washing up after sex, give the sperms a chance to move up to your Fallopian tubes.

Good luck and tell me if this helps!




[i] Westphal, L. M., M. L. Polan, and A. Sontag Trant. "Double-blind, placebo-controlled study of Fertilityblend: a nutritional supplement for improving fertility in women." Clinical and experimental obstetrics & gynecology 33, no. 4 (2005): 205-208.
[ii] Westphal, Lynn M., Mary Lake Polan, Aileen Sontag Trant, and S. B. Mooney. "A nutritional supplement for improving fertility in women." J Reprod Med 49, no. 4 (2004): 289-93.
[iii] Kridli, R. T., and S. S. Al-Khetib. "Reproductive responses in ewes treated with eCG or increasing doses of royal jelly." Animal reproduction science 92, no. 1 (2006): 75-85.
[iv] Ramadan, Mohamed Fawzy, and Ahmed Al-Ghamdi. "Bioactive compounds and health-promoting properties of royal jelly: A review." Journal of Functional Foods 4, no. 1 (2012): 39-52.
[v] Bentov, Yaakov, Navid Esfandiari, Eliezer Burstein, and Robert F. Casper. "The use of mitochondrial nutrients to improve the outcome of infertility treatment in older patients." Fertility and sterility 93, no. 1 (2010): 272-275.
[vi] Prahl, S., T. Kueper, T. Biernoth, Y. Wöhrmann, A. Münster, M. Fürstenau, M. Schmidt et al. "Aging skin is functionally anaerobic: Importance of coenzyme Q_ {10} for anti aging skin care." Biofactors 32, no. 1-4 (2008): 245-255.
[vii] http://www.webmd.com/women/endometriosis/endometriosis-and-fallopian-tube-problems
[viii] Seibel, Machelle M., and Melvin L. Taymor. "Emotional aspects of infertility." Fertility and sterility 37, no. 2 (1982): 137.

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