7 Changes I Made To Improve My Fertility

I want to first say that anyone reading this should consult their doctor or PCP if you are having fertility issues or questions. Below you will read about my experience and what I did to change or improve.

What You’ll Read In This Post

• Free Fertility Apps I used
• Vitamins & Medicals
• My Cycle
  • Learning To Relax
• Changes I Made In My Diet
  • The Fertility Smoothie I tried
• What magic got me knocked up <3

Often times when couples begin the ‘trying to conceive’ or TTC phase of their relationship they start to realize how difficult it actually is. My husband and I merely stopped preventing about a year to a year and a half prior to conceiving.

The Free Apps For Tracking Your Cycle

I’ve used multiple apps to track my cycle well before I was married. I have a consistent issue with migraines/headaches and needed to track them to see when they were occurring and if it involved my cycle. This is something that my mom and sister have had issues with too so I knew I was bound to get them.

Luckily, by the time I decided to track my TTC habits I was already in a good routine. I tested out multiple apps but found that Fertility Friend is the best free app for tracking your basal body temperature (BBT) and ovulation. In my opinion, if you aren’t someone who can keep a routine the best/easiest thing you can do is track your BBT.

The other app I began using is the Babycenter app. I used this app during my TTC days and now because it is a wonderful tool to get support from fellow women! Of course, with all things – use it with a grain of salt as the people on there are not medical professionals and if you ever do have a major question to consult your PCP. However, it is a good source for support from people going through the same things as you!

I also attempted to use ovulation kits but it wasn’t the route I wanted to take so I stopped using those after my first pregnancy.

My Cycle

For as long as I can remember I had an extremely regular cycle. I always knew exactly when it was coming and how long it was going to be. The moment my husband and I were TTC all of a sudden my cycle went haywire which is the worst time for this to happen. Perhaps it was stress/worrying or it was just a matter of time.

There are other pieces about your cycle that are a little more personal that I don’t need to put in this post but if you have questions or are curious about mine please reach out!

Learning To Relax

It’s pretty amazing how this journey has been the one that is teaching me to relax and to be patient. Truly never knew I had so much angst until I had to completely cut it out to have the best chance of getting pregnant. I don’t have to touch much on this one but I started a yoga practice a few years ago and it has truly saved me. So – I recommend starting some sort of calming or relaxing routine that can reduce as much stress and worry as possible.

Prenatal & Medical

As always – it’s best to take a prenatal vitamin. I have been taking THIS ONE for over a year before I got pregnant. I read suggestions to start taking it prior to, or during, TTC because it gets your body prepped for baby and helps you start your routine for taking them.

Early on I was curious to see why it was ‘taking so long’ or at least thats what it felt like. Tracking for so long really puts you in a weird vibe so I asked my doctor whats going on and she decided to check my thyroid hormone levels.

She believed that if they were really high or really low that it could be cause some hiccups. We found out that I did end up having low levels so I was put on Synthroid medication and have been ever since. The only time I stopped taking it was when I found out I was pregnant the first time because my first doctor/nurse told me to stop taking it when I become pregnant. that was a mistake – My next doctor and nurse told me that the vast majority of women with my levels take it throughout their entire pregnancy so – that was cool to find out.

The other aspect I found out POST miscarriage was that my blood was RH-. I’ve read a ton of articles that say that RH- is rare but for some reason the doctors are not very convinced. I’m not a medical professional obviously, but, if you have RH- and your baby is the opposite (which most cases they are) then you have to take steps to prevent antibodies from attacking your baby ie: make you and your baby compatible. I’m convinced this happened with my MC but jury is still out.

The steps to prevent this from happening are pretty simple. You have to take a rhogam shot given by your doctor. I took one post MC and the rhogam is in your system for approximately 12 weeks. Then, when I found out I was pregnant the 2nd time I was very adamant on making sure a MC wouldn’t happen again so the doctor gave me another shot at 7 weeks post conception. The next time I would need a rhogam shot is 3rd trimester.

Changes In My Diet

Now that I had my app I had to figure out what happened to my cycle. I decided to attempt to change my diet. If you know me at all you will already know that I only eat fries and pasta with a huge cup of coffee. If any veggie made its way to my plate I would frown upon it and push it aside.

The Fertility Smoothie

I came across a Fertility Smoothie that claimed that I would get ‘knocked up fast’, so why not try it! *insert cry/laughing emoji*. I told myself that I wouldn’t be able to do this unless hubby did it with me. Support is the best way to keep consistent and it creates a fun activity during TTC!

The ingredients are a bit intense but all extremely good for you. We replaced the coconut butter with coconut oil and we didn’t always have every single ingredient but made it work. Royal Jelly is too darn expensive so we used Honey.

I linked some of the ingredients that we ordered from Amazon for more of a bulk order option.

Ingredients: 

• 4 oz. almond milk
• 4 oz. coconut water –> I used THIS ONE
• 1 tsp. coconut butter –> I used THIS Coconut Oil instead
• 1 tbsp. green protein –> I used THIS ONE (chocolate flavor)
• 1 tbsp. acai powder –> THIS ONE
• 1 tsp. goji berries –> I used THIS ONE
• 1 tsp. Superfood Greens –> I used THIS ONE or THIS ONE
• 1 tsp. ground flax powder –> I used THIS ONE
• 1 tbsp. maca root –> I used THIS ONE
• 1/4 tsp. royal jelly –> Honey
• 1/2 cup frozen banana –> Cut up our own and froze
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/4 avocado
• 1/3 cup ice

Here is the link directly from where I got the recipe from –> https://www.mollysims.com/blog/uncategorized/fertility-smoothie

Since I don’t do veggies this was the best way for me to get good nutrients for growing a baby. This smoothie isn’t for everyone and it was really hard for me to get through. Thus, I spread out my portion throughout my work day and paired it with cheese or an apple. I also drank it with a straw because I felt like that helped get it down.

Reminder: This smoothie doesn’t have to be for just the woman preparing for pregnancy! Your significant other involved must also have a healthy fertile body! So, invite them to join you in the journey!

Tip: Prep your smoothie, put it in the freezer overnight. Then put it in the fridge in the morning to thaw a little bit. You can also just prep out the ingredients so you can just throw it all in the blender real quick!

Overall Diet Tip

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The final thing I’ll talk about as far as diet goes is drink water, eat your veggies (or powders), fruits, limit alcohol and eat as if you are already growing the baby inside you because once you do become pregnant it will become hard to start that process due to nausea, food aversions and feeling hungry for anything and everything.

If you start before you’re pregnant you’re more likely to want it and you start your pregnancy off healthy! However, don’t force anything too quickly because you will get frustrated and won’t continue. Stay strong and keep positive!

The Magic That Probably Got Me Pregnant

So, after doing yoga, learning to relax, tracking my cycle/BBT, and drinking a really healthy but painful smoothie for months; I still felt like something wasn’t working. I spoke with my doctor about feeling down about it not happening ‘right away’ but she mentioned that it’s timing and relaxing.

I then ran across this tea that claims that it will help with your cycle because (like I mentioned my cycle was irregular ever since TTC). This tea is called Fertility Tea. I was very skeptical because I don’t like to trying unfamiliar foods but I was really desperate to start a family. I also really wanted my cycle to get back to being regular so I could track my information better. So, I went for it especially because the reviews were so positive!

Get the Tea here –> Pink Stork Fertility Tea

The tea tastes delicious! You don’t get that many in the bag but luckily they advise that each tea bag gets two uses and to drink 2 cups a day! I started drinking this tea in January the day after my cycle ended. Then I stopped drinking it the moment I ovulated or when my BBT spiked.

The very first cycle I drank this tea I found out I was pregnant. *insert jaw dropped emoji*. I couldn’t believe it either – I thought it was a hoax!! Unfortunately – as you may know by now my first pregnancy ended in a Miscarriage. I then didn’t use it for a cycle post MC and started using it again and BOOM… Flash forward and I’m 15 weeks Pregnant while writing this!! I’m not saying this will work for EVERYONE but – I tell ya, it seemed like magic to me!

Talk It Out

Wow! That was intense. The journey was and has been very long but what journey isn’t? Everyone will have a different experience. Some will be easier, some will be more difficult. The thing is to find someone you can talk to like your significant other, family, friends and finding a doctor you trust. I switched my doctor for pregnancy 2 and I’ve been MUCH happier!

All in all, thank you for reading this really long post and as always reach out to me if you have thoughts or questions! Take care!

Until next time,