The trying to conceive (TTC) journey can be such a nerve-wracking, yet exciting experience for many women. For some it is a straightforward process, whereas others have more of a challenging time. Whichever path you are on it doesn’t hurt to take steps to get your body into optimal shape for conception.
Are you trying to conceive or thinking about pregnancy? If you’re anywhere in your journey to prepare your body for pregnancy, then this is the post for you!
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Starting to Think about Pregnancy
I remember being on a female tracking application on my phone some time ago, and after entering my data, I proceeded into one of the community discussion groups. I began reading about the experiences of various women trying to conceive or preparing for pregnancy. It peaked my curiosity.
Prior to that I had never really given my fertility and chances of conception much thought. But on that day I wondered, what would my experience be like? Would I be able to get pregnant at all? How long would it take? Would it be a straightforward process or would we have difficulty?
Considering my Chances of Conception
As I read the plight of many women who had been trying for some time without any luck, I started to think about how my lifestyle might contribute to my ability to conceive quickly. As far as I knew most of the women in my family had conceived fairly easily, but I know that many factors impact fertility and conception.
That night as I lay in bed I thought about it some more: What would it take to prepare for pregnancy? Was it ready for this kind of journey, not only physically but emotionally as well. I had no doubt I was ready for a baby, but I wondered more and more about what toll the process would take on my body and our little family of two.
Most would consider me fairly healthy considering that I did not have any pre-existing health conditions, other than asthma. I ate a variety of nutrient rich foods and a little junk too (what I considered a healthy balance), took vitamins regularly and was fairly active.
To me, this seemed like a good place to start but as I continued to do more reading and research about the struggles of so many women I wondered if I should be doing more to prepare myself. I thought to myself, how do you even prepare your body for pregnancy?
The Beginning of a Plan for Conception
My fiancé at the time (now my husband) and I, had discussed having kids but had never actively tried. Our wedding was about 7 months away and most of my spare time outside of work and taking care of things at home had been devoted to planning and preparing for the wedding.
We knew we wanted to start trying for a baby soon after we were married, but as I was reading that it took some women several months or even years of trying, I wondered if it would happen when we wanted it to.
Even more so, when I considered that some women have to enlist the help of fertility specialists and cannot conceive on their own, I thought it may be a good idea to do some more research into what it might take to conceive.
Creating a Plan to Prepare my Mind and Body
So that day I began making a list, one that inspired this post, of the changes that I would make right away to help to prepare my body for pregnancy with the aim of getting pregnant somewhere in the near future. I had hoped that we would be pregnant within a year.
The day I created the list was December 21st, and of course since the new year was right around the corner I gave myself January 1st as a starting date to put my list into action.
We decided that we weren’t going to actively try until after the wedding, which was scheduled for July. But I decided I would take the steps to prepare my body to work towards that goal, knowing that it usually took some time to wean off birth control and to actually get pregnant.
A Plan Became a Dream Come True
Little did I know that a few short months later I would be pregnant! It’s safe to say that I was surprised when I found out, but elated of course!
Despite conceiving earlier than we hoped we welcomed the news with open hearts.
What I found ironic was that my daughter’s due date was nearly one year to the day that I wrote the list of the steps I would take to try to get pregnant. She was due December 22nd.
Hope of Helping Others
If you are on a journey to conceive, the best advice that I can give to you is to try to think positively and keep yourself in a calm mindset. Stress and anxiety can take a big toll on your body, both physically and mentally, which can impact your journey to conceive.
Apart from all of the scientific stuff and actionable steps you can take, your mindset will be your greatest strength throughout your journey.
Everyone’s path is different, and not everyone may conceive using these tips, but if I can help just one couple that would make me very happy.
So here are the steps that I took to prepare my body to conceive. I had been doing most of these things for about 3 months when I conceived my daughter.
The 10 tips that helped me to prepare for pregnancy and conceive quickly (in 3 months)!
1. Stop hormonal birth control to prepare your body for pregnancy!
If you are currently on some type of hormonal birth control it might be wise to speak to your health care provider to discuss when is the best time to stop it. This may vary depending on the type you are using and your cycle.
I was under the impression that it took a few months or even longer for your cycle to become regular after stopping the pill. When I asked my health care provider, I was told that it is different for every woman: some have a regular cycle and ovulate the following month, whereas for others it might take longer.
I stopped the pill three weeks before I started my list on January 1st. I had what appeared to be a regular period the following month but it took me a few months of tracking to gauge and understand my fertile window.
If you’re not familiar with what that is, your fertile window is the few days around the day you ovulate when you are most likely to conceive a baby. Your ovulation date typically falls about midway through your cycle, but for some women it is not that predictable, especially if you do not have traditional 28 cycle.
Stopping birth control a few months before you plan to begin trying to get pregnant will allow you time to track your periods, in order to figure out when you ovulate and your fertile window.
When I got pregnant I wasn’t actually aiming for my ovulation date or fertile window . After the fact I realized that she was conceived one day before my predicted ovulation date, according to my fertility tracking app, pointing to the importance of timing when trying to conceive.
2. Track your cycle to prepare your body for pregnancy!
Tracking your cycle and your attempts to conceive will provide you with a wealth of information about your body. This can be extremely valuable during your attempts to conceive.
Application Tracking
Knowing about your period (start date and duration), your ovulation day and fertile window will allow you to effectively time your conception attempts.
I used an app called Glow, which I had been using for just over a year at that time. I like that Glow seems to be the most accurate at predicting my cycle and that there are great online communities where you can interact with other women about a range of topics.
Cycle tracking helps you to track your entire cycle for the month, and then compiles data using the information from your cycles for a few months. This narrows down your ideal fertile window and period start and end dates. The more data you enter in the app, the more accurate your analyses usually are.
Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPK’s)
Along with the app to track my cycle, I used an ovulation predictor kit (OPK) to track my ovulation date. These kits are designed to help you find your peak, your ovulation day, as well as narrow down your fertile window around you ovulation day. This was another step that helped to confirm the apps data. The one I used is linked below:
Other Methods of Tracking
You may also choose to use a calendar, diary or other method to track your cycle. The most important thing is that you get to know your body and your cycle while you’re actively trying to conceive a baby.
You could leave it to chance, and many people are successful this way, but if you want to take a more planned approach tracking should be one of your first steps.
The Take Away
As a bonus, having data from tracking becomes even more important if you do become pregnant, to help you narrow down your date or conception and provide the doctor with information about your menstrual history. It can also be helpful if you’re having difficultly and are seeking assistance.
3. Begin taking a multivitamin or prenatal vitamin with folic acid to prepare your body for pregnancy!
I’ve always felt that it’s important to take vitamins. I do eat well, but it can be hard to get all of the nutrients we need from food alone, so I’ve supplemented when necessary to increase my intake of certain vitamins and minerals.
Months before I conceived, around the beginning of January when I began my list, I started taking a prenatal vitamin with folate. My doctor recommended this to ensure that all the nutrients I needed for a healthy baby would already be in my system rather than waiting until I actually conceived.
The recommendation was that women should begin taking a prenatal vitamin with folic acid/folate 3 months before trying to conceive. This is so that they have time to build up stores of important nutrients like iron and folic acid to reduce the chance of neural tube defects that often occur before a woman even knows that she’s pregnant.
As always, it is important that you speak with your doctor before adding any supplements to your diet to ensure that this is the right course of action for you.
4. Avoid supplements, teas or unnecessary consumables that may negatively impact conception or could harm a growing fetus.
Around the time that I started on the prenatals, I cut out many of the other supplements I was taking. This was for two reasons: One, the prenatal contained many of them, so it was not necessary to take them separately. The second reason was that some of these weren’t safe to be taking while pregnant.
Certain essential oils, medications, herbal teas and beauty products, like those containing retinol or salicylic acid, can be harmful during pregnancy. Since you are actively trying to conceive, it is a good idea to avoid these products from the time you start to try to conceive, and find alternatives that pose less of a risk to your ttc goal.
5. Limit alcohol and caffeine to prepare your body for pregnancy!
Alcohol consumption is not recommended during pregnancy. Although some choose to consume small amounts, research indicates that there is no safe amount that can be consumed without the risk of it negatively impacting the fetus.
Limiting caffeine is also recommended. The recommendation is between 200-300mg per day maximum.
Again, the earlier you start reducing or avoiding all together, the better. Some people wait until they find out they are pregnant, but considering that you are already a couple of weeks pregnant when you miss your period and usually get the first indication that you are pregnant, I chose to stop consuming these substances from the start of the cycle I began trying to conceive.
These steps aren’t required to get you pregnant, but since they were changes I would have to eventually make once pregnant, I decided that it was best to start before I got pregnant. I figured that it would give me the best chance of success and I wanted to do everything that I could to have a healthy pregnancy.
If you are a big tea or coffee drinker, there are some great natural alternatives that are thought to aid with conception. Some of these include:
6. Be mindful of your body!
I would never recommend any crash diets or drastic changes in eating, but I did become more cognizant of the kind of food I was putting in my body.
In general I aimed for more natural, whole and organic foods, over highly processed alternatives. This was in the hopes of getting into better shape and providing my body with the right nutrients and energy for childbearing. I will discuss some of my specific food choices shortly.
I started a simple exercise regimen. Some walking, light hiking, basic light body weight and floor exercises at home. My fiancé and I did a lot of outdoor activities, like visiting some of our favourite beaches, waterfalls or hiking trails, where we live in St. Lucia.
A bonus was that I lost a few pounds. Although it wasn’t my intention, it is recommended to be at a healthy weight when you try to conceive.
7. Increase your consumption of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, low fat dairy, whole grains and healthy fats.
I just mentioned that I made changes to my exercise and eating habits, let me tell you more about that.
I aimed to eat more fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, dairy and whole grains. After researching, these are thought to be some of the optimal foods for conception and during pregnancy.
Don’t only focus on salads or raw fruits or vegetables, but find ways to increase your intake by adding fruits and veggies to soups, protein dishes, smoothies, cereals and breakfast foods to ensure you’re getting the recommended daily amount. I even added them to baked goods.
You can also add some healthy fats, such as plant based oils, like avocado, olive or coconut to all of the above. Chia and flax seeds are also great sources of healthy fats.
Some of my favourite things to eat before I conceived were avocado, cantaloupe, fruit and veggie smoothies, sea moss gel and chicken breast with vegetables.
8. Eat more detoxifying foods and drinks to prepare your body for pregnancy!
Along with eating a range of healthier food choices, I started eating food that would cleanse and detoxify my body. My aim was to get rid of built up toxins naturally.
My day began by drinking warm water with lemon and I had decaffeinated green tea before bed. I noticed an almost immediate difference in how I felt: less bloated, more energized and my digestion seemed to improve as well.
I also began adding greens and sea moss gel to my smoothies. Sea moss has many noted benefits, including being very high in nutrients, and having cleansing properties. It is also available in capsule form if you aren’t a fan of the gel.
Adding naturally detoxifying herbs like ginger, turmeric, garlic, and additives like chia seeds, flaxseeds and cinnamon helped me to take advantage of key benefits these foods offer. Some of their most noted benefits include detoxification and reducing inflammation.
9. Start or continue a self-care regimen!
As I’ve mentioned before, trying to conceive can become a very stressful task for some couples. It is as much a mental process, as it is a physical one.
You become so consumed with tracking and trying that it can be easy to forget yourself and your wellbeing. It may also create some tension between you and your partner.
Try your best to remember that taking care of your body means taking care of your mental and emotional health, as much as it means taking care and preparing your body physically.
Be mindful about your wellness and make time for self care, whether it is once a day or once a week. Do something deliberate to help you to relax and unwind. Check out this post for some ideas.
Meditation, journaling, exercise, doing hobbies your love or other forms of self-care are great ideas to continuously practice during your TTC journey.
10. Begin a journal to document as you prepare for pregnancy!
The final step I took my journey to prepare to conceive a baby was to begin a journal to document the journey. This is where I first wrote down these goals and tracked my progress.
This isn’t exactly a physical step to prepare your body, but it is a therapeutic step to give you an outlet to express your thoughts, feelings, and to track your progress. This is just as important.
As a mental health practitioner I often recommend journaling to clients. It’s a great way to record our experiences and to track progress, and it has significant therapeutic benefits.
I mentioned previously that part of this TTC journey is mental as much as it is physical. You want to give yourself outlets to process your emotions, feelings and thoughts, and reduce any stressors to help ensure that your body and mind are in optimal shape for conception.
During the trying to conceive process I wrote down information relevant to the journey and this list. When I did become pregnant, I stuck my HCG pregnancy test into my journal and wrote about how happy and excited I was.
I continued to track how I was feeling emotionally, my symptoms, information from doctor appointments and anything else that I believed was important to my journey.
After I delivered my daughter, I loved being able to look back and reflect on the entire journey. It is a great keepsake that has allowed me to both track my journey and has allowed me to share my experience with all of you.
For anyone embarking on a journey to conceive I highly recommend journaling or writing down your experience in your phone or wherever you feel comfortable.
It is a nice way to reflect and share with your future child someday, but it can also be a really helpful tool to share with your health care providers without having to remember all the minute details yourself, making it extremely important to your trying to conceive journey.
Disclaimer
Please remember that I am not a medical doctor and that none of these tips should be taken in lieu of medical advice. You should consult your doctor before making any changes to your diet, eating habits or medical/wellness routine. They can also be helpful on your ttc journey, as they know your specific circumstances and health.
Final Thoughts on Preparing Your Body for Pregnancy
If you have been trying to conceive and haven’t conceived within 6 months, consider speaking with your OBGYN or a specialist for additional help. There is nothing wrong with asking for help, and it could be just what you need to help you overcome any ttc obstacles.
These above tips are simply meant to share my experience and what helped me to prepare my body for pregnancy before I conceived my sweet baby girl in a few short months.
I wish you the best of luck and baby dust! I hope that you have found this list helpful!
Want to look ahead to what the first trimester will entail? Check out this post!
I Would Love to Hear from You
Great advice for anyone planning ahead to conceive! I think numbers 1 through 3 are the most important (in my experience).
this was really helpful! i’m not ready to start conceiving yet, but it’s good to have a baseline of what to expect when I do in the next few years.
Stress is something that affects our bodies before and during pregnancy. It is a very important issue to keep in mind.