Once you decide that you're ready to have a baby, a 40-week pregnancy can seem like it will last forever. Now add to that the number of months it may take you to get pregnant in the first place. While you can't speed up a pregnancy, you may be able to speed up the time it takes to get there by following some basic strategies.
Visit the doctor. Make sure your body is primed for pregnancy before you try to conceive. Both prospective parents should get a physical check-up to make sure that they don't have any sexually transmitted diseases, untreated infections or other health conditions that can reduce chances of becoming pregnant or compromise a pregnancy.
Be (or get) healthy. Both prospective parents should do their part to stay healthy while trying to conceive. According to the Mayo Clinic, for both men and women, being stressed, being overweight, being malnourished, drinking alcohol, smoking and using drugs can stand in the way of conception. Women should be especially careful as these factors may endanger a developing fetus. Moreover, women should begin to take prenatal vitamins before they ever try to conceive.Know the fertility window. You can have sex frequently and still accidentally miss the days when the egg is fully ready to be fertilized. A method that involves monitoring a woman's temperature when she wakes up (called her basal body temperature, or BBT) can be one indicator of ovulation because a woman's BBT raises about one-half of a degree around ovulation. However, by the time this temperature change is noticed, she may have already ovulated. A more high-tech way of determining fertile days is to invest in an ovulation predictor kit (OPK), which detects changes in hormones a day or two prior to ovulation.Have sex before ovulation. According to Parents magazine online, sperm can thrive in the uterus and fallopian tubes for up to two or three days, but the egg can only last for 12 hours to a day after it has been released. Having sex prior to ovulation increases the chances that sperm will be able to meet with the egg when it is released. Using an OPK, you will know when ovulation is about to occur, so have sex for a few days after the kit shows a positive result.
Use techniques that could aid in conception. Some are said to help, but though they are not thoroughly proven to work. Baby Center suggests that positions which deposit sperm nearest to the cervix, such as the missionary (man on top) position, could be more promising than other positions. Parents magazine online says that if woman rests on her back after sex, the sperm will be able to gravitate toward the egg and pool in that location because the vagina slopes downward. Having sex prior to sleep can be a helpful way to stay in that position for an extended time.
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