How do you give yourself the best chance of falling pregnant?
That biological clock is ticking, and every month that passes without a positive pregnancy test is another month wasted. Your relationship with your friends and your partner is feeling the strain, and you’re distancing yourself from your friends with children. Your social circle is being broken apart and you’re scared of being left behind.
Not to mention the dollars that are being spent on fertility treatments. The cost of your fertility specialist, acupuncture, prenatal vitamins and IVF treatment is exorbitant. You may have borrowed from your parents, had to take money out of your superannuation, or taken out a second mortgage. Whatever you have to do, there is added pressure to fall pregnant NOW. Because you may not be able to afford to do this again.
And lastly, there is the emotional toll that this rollercoaster is having on you. The longer it takes for you to fall pregnant, the deeper you go down into that hole of negativity, frustration and fear of “what if this doesn’t happen?”.
I understand that you want to make this happen NOW. I understand the frenzy and panic of wanting to just keep pushing and pushing. The thought of taking a break and regrouping is sometimes scarier – because what if this was your month and you weren’t actively trying? What if this IVF cycle is "the one" and you decide to take a month off?
I’ll be completely honest with you. My fertility journey nearly broke me. 7 years of pushing myself and my body to extreme lengths. I was exhausted both physically and emotionally. Sure, I got there in the end, but there IS another way.
Before heading into a cycle or a month of trying to conceive, here are 4 questions to ask yourself:
1. Do you feel rested, or are you tired?
2. Do you feel emotionally strong, or are you overwhelmed with guilt/sadness/anger/frustration?
3. Do you feel physically healthy, or is your body tired, feeling pain or sickness?
4. Do you believe or have faith that you will become pregnant?
If you said NO to those questions, don’t panic. I’m not saying that you need to stop trying, however this is proof that you have a little more preparation to do.
You wouldn’t run a marathon without doing the training or being ready – you’d do some real damage to yourself. Preparing your body for pregnancy whether it’s naturally or by undertaking an IVF cycle, is the same thing. You’re about to bring a life into this world. And that takes a huge amount of energy.
So I’m going to keep it really simple for you because we tend to overcomplicate everything, which leads us to live in fear. We’re scared that if we don’t do everything perfectly this is all our fault. So instead of wasting your time and energy punishing yourself for not being perfect, lets try something a little different.
How do you prepare your mind and body to give yourself the best chance of falling pregnant?
Here is a simple preparing for baby checklist:
1. Go out into nature as much as possible. A bush-walk, the beach, fresh air and sunshine. You won’t regret it.
2. Healthy eating. Real food, not processed. Keep it simple.
3. Breathe. Seriously, it’s good for you and a great way to reset.
4. Say NO to things, people or situations that don’t make you feel good.
5. Focus on the beauty in your life right now. Look around. I guarantee you it’s there. Have fun with it.
Give yourself permission to stop pushing, stop punishing, stop panicking, stop tracking.
Approach each cycle with an open mind and instead of coming from a place of fear, take action from a place of faith and belief. One cycle at a time.
That’s exactly how you prepare for pregnancy, and LIFE in general.
If you'd like to read a little more on how I fell pregnant naturally after 5 years of struggling to conceive, click here or you can watch my YouTube video on this topic below.
p.s. If you struggle with pregnancy announcements and find yourself cringing every time you open your social media account, don’t miss out on your FREE Pregnancy Announcement Survival guide. Fear no more, because this is tried and tested!!