Pre Family Planning
For some, becoming a mom doesn’t begin at conception. Like me, many moms start their journey to motherhood with purposeful planning.
My fertility journey started over a year before I became pregnant with my now 5 month old son. Fertility issues are not commonly talked about or discussed and I found it difficult to find resources and information when needed. It’s a touchy subject for a lot of reasons but mainly due to the emotional toll infertility causes on those that it effects. If it weren’t for the few individuals I know who were okay answering my questions I don’t know if I would’ve mentally and emotionally survived. As those people were a god send for me, I hope that I can be a clarifying voice to answer some of your questions and ease a little bit of the confusion.
PCOS
If you feel like you might have PCOS, talk to your doctor! A lot of women have PCOS and are able to conceive with help from a medical professional. I will talk more specifically about PCOS in another blog post, but for now know that if you have any of the signs or symptoms of PCOS and would like to start a family, talk to your Doctor or OBGYN.
If you’re like me and you’re an overthinking, anxious planner you’ve probably already imagined starting a family, but where do you begin? This is how it looked for me.
STEP 1
Talk to your OB or Doctor. Let them know you are preparing to start a family and discuss some of your concerns and don’t be afraid to ask questions! For me, this was a conversation about PCOS. I knew I had PCOS and I wanted to start interventions ASAP so that I would be ready to start my family when the time came. There are a few blood draw labs that can be analyzed to give a general idea of your current fertility status, for example your AMH lab is commonly used to guesstimate your current fertility status and chances of easy conception.
Step 2
Order an at home semen analysis kit. Okay I know how this sounds. WOW that was a giant leap! But I will be frank with you. This is EXACTLY what my OB told me to do when I met with her initially to test my hormones. The idea is… Don’t waste your time, money, and torture yourself with tests before you know if the semen is going to be an issue. It’s non invasive and you can do it in the comfort of your own home with a mail in test kit!
We used Legacy Semen Analysis Kit (I am not affiliated with this company nor sponsored). This kit was so easy to use and we got our results back in 2 days! If your numbers are good, then awesome! But if they are not, at least you know where to begin and you can contact your local fertility clinic without wasting unneeded time.
Good thing we checked because WOW. My husbands numbers were basically zero. We knew Instantly that we had to get help. I reached out to my OB with the results and she placed a referral to a Fertility Clinic.
Step 3- Results Were Ok
Great! Now what? I would recommend looking into “timed intercourse, when you time intercourse to your ovulation, giving you the best chance of conception. Most OBs want to know you’ve tried timed intercourse for a year before they will refer you to a fertility clinic if there are no known health conditions.
You can download a Fertility Tracker App which will help you log and monitor your cycle, giving you an estimated ovulation date and window for conception. I personally really liked using Flo and Premom.
Step 3 – Results Not OK
Get a referral to a Fertility Clinic. Urologists can help diagnose, treat, and recommend next steps.
