Movies like Knocked Up and Juno make it seem like getting pregnant is NBD, but the truth is that it can be a little tricky, particularly if you’re uninformed. Even if motherhood seems light years away (kids — lolz), it’s never too soon to get informed. Here’s what you need to know now about getting pregnant:
1. This is how you get pregnant: About 14 days before your next period is scheduled to arrive, your left or right ovary (which switch off every cycle) releases an egg in a process known as ovulation, explains Maria Sophocles, board-certified gynecologist and medical director of Women’s Health Care, a private practice in Princeton, New Jersey, and a mother of four who’s delivered more than 8,000 babies. The egg travels down the fallopian tube and waits for sperm to show up. During penetrative vaginal sex involving ejaculation, millions of sperm enter the vagina and travel through the cervix into your uterus.
There, they pick a path: The left or right fallopian tube. The sperm that pick the tube where that month’s egg resides get all up in there, burrowing into the egg. To become an embryo that becomes a fetus that becomes a baby, one dominant sperm needs to get far enough into the egg to fuse with it — hence the need for strong swimmers! Then, the egg and alpha sperm plant itself in the wall of your uterus and begin to grow.
2. There are only three to five days a month when you can actually get pregnant.Despite all the unintended pregnancies you see in shows and movies, you can’t get knocked up any old time you have unprotected sex. Your egg and your partner’s sperm are best able to connect when you’re ovulating. And if your partner’s sperm is seriously persistent, it may survive in the vagina for 24 to 48 hours, giving you about a 48-hour window before and after ovulation for baby-making to happen. The bottom line: All the sperm in the world won’t produce a baby if they enter your body at the wrong time (i.e., when the ovary isn’t releasing an egg), according to Dr. Sophocles.
3. You should really go sober when you’re trying. New recommendations say no amount of alcohol is safe to drink while you’re pregnant, but it can take weeks to confirm you’re pregnant — and god knows you can throw back a whole case of wine in that window. Because the most important time to lay off booze is during the earliest stages of pregnancy when the baby’s heart and spinal cord begin to develop, you’re better off stone-cold sober than sorry while actively baby-making.
4. You need to take prenatal vitamins before you get pregnant. Prenatal VITAMINScontain at least at least 400 micrograms of folic acid, a nutrient humans only need during the first four weeks of life to prevent major birth defects while the spinal cord is developing, Dr. Sophocles says. Because most home pregnancy tests won’t detect a pregnancy until a baby is five or six weeks in the making, it’s super important for any woman who might possibly get pregnant to take a daily dose of folic acid. While there’s no rule that you need to dope up months before conceiving, start as early as you need to ensure you get vital nutrients on the day you conceive — and every day throughout your pregnancy thereafter. (Starting prenatal VITAMINS too early can’t hurt, since you’ll just pee out any nutrients you don’t need.)
5. You can get pregnant as soon as 24 hours after going off birth control. Unlike oral contraceptives of yesteryear, which contained high doses of hormones and caused lots of annoying side effects, most pills prescribed today have such a low dose of hormones that missing one or two pills can leave you completely unprotected. (It’s why so many women get pregnant by eff-ing up their packs.)
That said, hormonal birth control prevents ovulation. If you take it for years and years and suddenly stop popping pills, your body might forget to release an egg during your next cycle, which will prohibit you from getting pregnant right away, Dr. Sophocles says. Chances are, you’ll ovulate within a month or two of going off the pill, so if you’re trying to plan your pregnancy around a specific season, go off the pill at least a month before you officially begin trying to give your body a head start.
6. There’s no evidence that certain sex positions improve your chances of getting pregnant. But certain kinds of sex — like anal, oral, or non-penetrative sex, will certainly reduce your chances: Only vaginal penetration can get you pregnant, for the record.
7. There’s no scientific evidence that you need to orgasm to get pregnant. But anecdotally? Dr. Sophocles thinks it could help: Some experts believe that the uterine contractions associated with female orgasms can help mobilize sperm by drawing it up into the uterus toward the egg, so long as your orgasm occurs within 45 minutes of your partner’s. (That said, plenty of women get pregnant without having an orgasm — so seriously, no pressure if it doesn’t happen.)
8. You’re more likely to get pregnant when you have thin, clear discharge as opposed to thicker mucus. Typically, your cervix makes a thick, mucus-y plug to prevent sperm from reaching your eggs. When you ovulate mid-cycle, this mucus thins out significantly — so much that clear discharge is a reliable sign that you’re ovulating, Dr. Sophocles explains.
9. It takes a typical healthy couple about six months of trying to get pregnant. Why so long? Dr. Sophocles says timing sex to coincide with ovulation can be tricky — particularly among women with irregular periods who might not be able to nail down the precise dates.
10. Sweaty balls can lower your partner’s sperm count. Regular hot tub or sauna use, or any other super sweaty situation, can overheat your partner’s testicles, which lowers his sperm count, according to Dr. Sophocles. Luckily, the dip is only temporary and completely reversible — he makes new sperm all the time.
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