How to get a bun in the Oven.

When you come to see me in clinic I like to give you lots of helpful hints for when you are trying to conceive. Here is the list of tips from my fertility MOT protocol. There are so many things we can do to make sure your body is in optimal health and baby ready.

Temperature Charting

One of the first things you can do that gives us loads of information about your hormones is a BBT chart. Just fill in the Points chart each day as soon as you wake at the same time each day if possible. Fill it in before you do anything else as your temperature can rise as soon as you sit up and become more active. This chart can tell us where your estrogen and progesterone levels are, and if you’re ovulating. It can also tell us if you need to get your thyroid checked if your temperature is too low.

Ovulation

Do you know if you are ovulating? Or what to look out for? From your BBT chart ovulation happens mid-cycle when your temperature rises and stays high for a few days. But it’s hard to use this as a way to get pregnant as by the time you know you have ovulated it’s often too late to get pregnant. This is also the problem with ovulation sticks as they measure the surge in LH and this only happens within a very small window at ovulation. The best time to be getting fruity is in the five days before ovulation. A woman is only fertile for three days before ovulation and on the day of ovulation. But sperm can work its magic for five days within that time, as it can stay alive inside a women’s body for five days. Another great way to track if you are ovulating is your cervical mucus, when you’re fertile its job it to provide a helping hand to guide the sperm on its way to find your egg. Getting close to ovulation it’s wet and watery, and at ovulation, it goes wet and stretchy like raw egg whites. It can be handy to chart this too so you can see if it happens at the same time each month.

Exercise

Exercise is amazing and we love it here at Points, but when you’re trying to get pregnant too much aerobic exercise can have a negative effect on fertility. We like to keep it gentle with yoga or cutting back a little on the aerobic stuff for a little while so you don’t overwork your body and it can concentrate on baby-making. You can go back to the full-on aerobic stuff afterwards no problem.

Toxins

Cutting down on the levels of toxins in your life can be helpful too, this means eating organic where possible. Looking out for toiletries that are SLS and paraben-free, cutting out air fresheners, strong-smelling washing powders and fabric conditioners, just check labels for fragrance or parfum as this normally means chemical fragrance. Keep away from weedkiller/roundup in the garden too. Also BPA plastics can be very toxic and cause hormone imbalances. Cooking with cast iron, ceramic or stainless steal pans not non stick or teflon.

Stress

Let’s talk about stress baby, in the world we live in and especially in the past few years, we have all had to deal with stress. If our bodies get too stressed it just shuts off our reproductive system and says sorry I’m running from a lion and now is not the time to get pregnant. It doesn’t know that there is no lion and it’s just work or life stress so it just shuts the system down by lowering hormones. This is why it’s so important to find some form of stress relief like yoga, meditation, hobbies, friends or whatever floats your chill boat. The good news is that acupuncture turns your reproductive system back on and helps you de-stress by switching the nervous system from fight or flight into rest and digest which is why acupuncture is so calming and you leave feeling so blissed out.

Diet

Food is very important at this time too. Diet-wise there are a few things to try and get on your weekly shopping list. Are you getting enough good fats? Our bodies need fats to produce our sex hormones, as they all start as cholesterol, which turns into testosterone, which then aromatises into estrogen, without the cholesterol  there is no estrogen which is bad news for fertility. Of course, that doesn’t mean go crazy on fats, just make sure you are getting some good fats like avocado and oily fish into your diet. The ideal plate is half vegetables a quarter good fats and a quarter protein. Keep away from trans fats and watch your sugar intake, sorry guys it’s just not that great for your fertility. If you’re a meat-eater make sure it’s organic lean meat, and meat is a side not, the main event, remember only a quarter of your plate. Of course, diet is not a one size fits all, and we can create individual plans within our sessions.

Here are some of my firm fertility favourites -

Eggs

Organic meat

Wild Salmon

Fatty Fish

Mussels

Veg, loads of it in all colours of the rainbow, seasonal is great.

Bone broth/chicken soups

Pulses

Pumpkin, sesame, linseed and sunflower seeds

Nuts

And remember it takes 3 months to make a difference to the egg quality and for that egg to be recruited, so what you do in those 3 months is very important.

Please get in touch with Tracy at Points if you have any questions about our Fertility packages