This weekend I found myself telling my “gettin’ knocked up” story for about the millionth time.  It’s not that my story is that fascinating, it’s just that we as women are impatient and it’s good to hear other stories to know that we are normal.   It’s a funny thing, we decide that we want to get pregnant, and if we aren’t pregnant within a month of making that decision we decide that there is something wrong with us.  We get stressed out, insecure and feel inadequate.  Yuck.

I had just turned 38 when I decided to get pregnant.  I went to my beloved OB/GYN to get checked out and get the “all clear” that I thought I needed.  She thought my FSH numbers were not quite good enough so she told me I would have to do a Clomid challenge test to find out more.  All I knew about Clomid was that you took it as part of IVF and it made you feel awful.  I told my doctor that I didn’t want to put my body through that just to find out if I was fertile.  Her response to that was basically, “Good luck lady, you probably can’t get pregnant anyways, and you obviously don’t care enough to find out if you can or not.”

I drove home in tears.  I was now convinced that I was infertile  and I hadn’t even started trying yet!  The minute I got home I went to find my tattered copy of the Lady Bible (aka Women’s Bodies Women’s Wisdom) to see what Dr. Northrup would tell me in this situation.  Positive words and relief, not what I got from the doctor I had been going to for 15 years!  The next day I made an appointment with a naturopath that specialized in fertility.  She told me an entirely different story that made feel happy and hopeful.

It did take us another year to get pregnant, and I spent that year studying the best of the best of how to get pregnant.  My friends that are getting pregnant always want my master list, so I thought perhaps there were others out there that could be helped as well.  So here goes…

❤ If you don’t like what your doctor has to say and she/he doesn’t make you feel positive and hopeful then find another doctor.

❤ If you have been trying for a while and are over 35 then I highly recommend that you read Inconceivable.  This woman’s story is so inspirational.  I have given it to so many friends that were stuck in despair and it pulled them right out of it.

❤ The Infertility Cure and Making Babies are good reads for anyone wanting to get pregnant.  You don’t need to buy any other books because these two cover everything.

❤ In a perfect world you would start following the advice of these books 3 months before you even start trying.  The healthier you are, the healthier the baby will be!

❤ Acupuncture rules for making babies!  If you are in Seattle then you should run as fast as you can to Janet Michel.  A Google search for fertility acupuncture should bring up many choices in your area.

❤ Mayan Abdominal Massage is a not so well known, but very relaxing treat that will help with fertility.  Sarah Lawrence (also in Seattle) knows more about fertility than anyone I have ever met.  Once again, a Google search will help you locate someone in your area.

❤ The Clearblue Fertlity Monitor is the expensive little toy that really works.  I have loaned mine out to multiple friends that have all gotten lucky with it.  Borrow one from a friend if you can or just suck it up and buy one.  It’s worth it.

❤ A friend recommended I try FertiliTea and it became part of my protocol.  I have no idea if it did anything, but it tasted good and I got pregnant.  So who knows!

❤ FertilAid for Women and FertilAid for Men, these are supplements that my “good doctor” recommended.  Yeah, let’s not forget that there is a Man in this equation and his little swimmers need to be as healthy and strong as possible!

❤ Pre-Seed Lubricant is a must.  Remember those little swimmers?  They don’t like KY Jelly or any other lubricant.

❤ My friend Michele Morgan is an incredible psychic, she had me write a letter to my baby to be, telling him/her about the loving family that was waiting for them.  I’ll admit, I felt a little silly writing the letter at the time, but I did it anyways.  I recently found the letter and it made me cry it was so sweet, I will definitely save it and give it to Johnny when he is older and can properly make fun of me.

❤ Treat yourself like the queen that you are.  Take baths, get massages, get pedicures, read romance novels, go to matinees, go for long walks on sunny days.  Make lists of the things that make you happy, then go out and do them!

❤ Have really good sex!

This could easily be a 10 part blog series on how to get pregnant, but I wanted to give you the quick & dirty cheat sheet on what you might want to get started with.  Of course I can’t guarantee that any of these things will work for you, but they sure worked for me!

Other important topics such as nutrition, exercise, meditation and more are all beautifully covered in the books mentioned above.  Please read them!

There is a really great site that carries everything and their prices are the same and sometimes better than Amazon, it’s good to compare!  Click here to go to getting pregnant shopping heaven…

What tips and tricks do you have up your sleeve?  Please share in the comments below!

Photo by Kelly Hicks