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A healthy, 30-year-old woman has only a 20 percent chance of getting pregnant each month. It’s normal for it to take a few months or longer.
If you’re anxious to get pregnant, there are a few steps you can take to make “trying” more effective.
Here’s how to safely increase your chances.
Your high school health teacher probably made it sound like you can get pregnant any time you have sex. But in truth, it’s a little more complicated.
Each month, there are a series of hormonal changes in your body that cause an immature egg in the ovary to grow and mature. Every woman’s cycle is different. This process takes about two weeks on average, beginning with a woman’s menstrual period.
Once the egg is mature, it’s released from the ovary in a process known as ovulation. The egg then travels down the fallopian tube toward the uterus. The egg is only viable for about 24 hours once it’s been released.
If the egg is fertilized by a sperm cell during this time frame, the fertilized egg will keep traveling down toward the uterus. It will then implant into the uterine lining.
The key is to have sex in the days before and during ovulation. That way, the sperm cells are in the fallopian tubes when the egg is released. This makes it easier for fertilization to occur. Sperm can survive in the female reproductive tract for up to four or five days.
The best way to increase your odds of getting pregnant quickly is to make sure that you’re having sex at the right time in your cycle.
If you have regular cycles, you will ovulate around two weeks before your period. This means your fertile window will be the seven days before your expected ovulation.
If you have irregular cycles, it can be a little more difficult to predict when you will ovulate and when your fertile window will be.
There are a number of techniques that you can use to more precisely pinpoint your ovulation and fertile window.
Ovulation predictor kit
These kits are similar to a urine pregnancy test. You will urinate on the test strips every morning, starting a few days before you think you will ovulate.
The test strips detect luteinizing hormone (LH). It surges right before ovulation.
Once you get a positive result (check your test instructions for details), you should have sex that day and for the next few days. These test kits are available over the counter at your pharmacy. Shop for ovulation prediction kits.
Basal body temperature
By measuring your basal body temperature every morning before getting out of bed, you might be able to detect, first, a very slight decrease then a very slight rise in temperature for three mornings in a row.
The temperature rise may be as little as half of a degree. This can be a signal that you have ovulated. Keep in mind that an egg only survives about 24 hours after ovulation so this so-called fertile window may not be a good indicator of when you should have sex.
Other concerns that this method isn’t always reliable include different factors — such as infection — that can cause a rise in temperature. Some women also find it difficult to detect that rise in temperature.
Cervical mucus changes
As the ovarian follicle — a small sac in the ovary that contains the maturing egg — develops, your estrogen level rises. This rise in estrogen causes your cervical mucus to become thin and slippery. You may also notice an increase in cervical mucus.
As you start seeing these changes, you should begin having sex every day or every other day until ovulation. Once ovulation occurs, your cervical mucus will be become thick and sticky. It also may appear cloudy.
Follicular monitoring
If you’re having difficulty tracking your ovulation using the above methods, you can talk to your doctor about your options. Some doctors will monitor you with regular blood hormone tests and ultrasounds of your ovaries. This will help you know exactly when your ovulation will occur.
There are a lot of myths about sex, fertility, and how to make pregnancy more likely. Some of these recommend different positions or keeping the hips elevated after sex for a period of time.
Others claim that if the woman orgasms (or doesn’t), conception is more likely. Unfortunately, there are no studies that support these claims.
The one thing you should think about is your lubricant. Certain products can decrease sperm motility and viability. These are important when trying to get pregnant.
You’ll want to avoid:
- Astroglide
- K-Y jelly
- saliva
- olive oil
If you need to use a lubricant, try:
- Pre-Seed
- mineral oil
- canola oil
These products won’t interfere with your partner’s sperm.
Before trying to get pregnant, you should try to be as healthy as possible. In fact, most doctors will recommend that you make an appointment with your obstetrician before you’re pregnant.
At this preconception visit, you’ll talk about existing health problems and get screened for genetic diseases. You can also address other health concerns you might have.
Your doctor might recommend that you make lifestyle changes before you get pregnant. These might include:
- getting to a healthy weight
- improving diet/exercise habits
- eliminating alcohol
- quitting smoking, if you smoke
- cutting back on caffeine
If you drink a lot of coffee or soda, it may be helpful to begin cutting back now. Current recommendations are to limit caffeine intake to less than 200 mg per day. This is equivalent to a 12-ounce cup of coffee.
You should also start taking a prenatal vitamin with at least 400 micrograms of folic acid each day as soon as you decide to start trying to conceive. This is to reduce the risk of certain birth defects.
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The Actual Top Five Things Men Should Know About Pregnant Women
In a couple days, I’ll hit the 32-week mark in my third pregnancy. And maybe it’s just my whacked-out hormones, but this post—13 Things All Men Should Know About Pregnant Women—is complete crap.
Okay, maybe not complete. For instance, pregnancy brain is absolutely real, and later turns into mom brain. Pillows do become helpful, and for the most part we don’t want to be treated like we’re suddenly fragile and useless. But most of the points made are asinine and predictable, and those that are legit lose all credibility due to the overall tone of the piece.
Allow me to take a few minutes to address some of the major issues and set y’all straight with my top five things men should know about pregnant women.
5. We Are Just As Confused as You Are
No matter how much we wish we could help you understand what is happening, more often than not we wish we knew ourselves. Pregnancy runs us through the wringer—physically, mentally, and emotionally. We feel completely out of control, and you might realize for most women that’s possibly her worst nightmare.
So, no, we don’t know why one day nothing sounds appetizing, but the next we suddenly want food we have hated our whole lives. No, we don’t know why one night we don’t want you to touch us, but the next night we’re all over you. Or why one moment that back rub you offer is the perfect solution to our aching muscles, but the next night we simply cringe at the feel of your hands. And yes, we are just as confused as you when that “morning” sickness has absolutely little to do with the time of day—so please forgive us if we mutter under our breath how a man must have titled the condition.
For we veteran moms, it can be even more confusing, because we’ve done this before. We should know what to expect and why, so when we’re left feeling just as confused with our fourth pregnancy as we were with our first, cut us some slack for getting a bit peeved.
4. We Are Tired, Not Lazy
Pregnancy is hard work. Even though it looks like we’re doing nothing, our bodies are doing a crap-ton behind the scenes. We’re growing an entire person. We can’t explain it, and we don’t really understand it ourselves—remember #5. And honestly, we often hate it. We hate feeling tired and exhausted and suddenly needing to nap at two in the afternoon. And often with each pregnancy it becomes a little harder and a little more tiring for us. Add older kids to the mix and you might start to understand why we’re left feeling a little more run down, a little slower, and a little more ragged.
But we’re not lazy. If we don’t keep the house as clean as we used to, it’s because we’re tired. If we don’t keep up with some chores, it’s because we’re tired. If the kids go an extra day or two without a shower—or if we do—it’s because we’re tired.
3. We Still Want You And Sex
While yes, we might be tired, and yes, our hormones will fluctuate throughout the months, pregnancy does not necessarily turn us into prude ice queens who don’t want to be touched. In fact, for some, pregnancy hormones can actually turn up the heat and rev our sex drive more. For those in later pregnancies, we might even remember the 6-8 week dry spell that hits after baby is born, and we actually want to take advantage of the time we can get some while we can, because despite what some men seem to think, women actually like sex.
Also, we want to know you still want us, especially when we might feel repulsive, unattractive, and disgusting. We want to know that you still find us attractive, still find us desirable, and still want to be intimate with us even after we’ve gained 40-plus pounds and none of our clothes fit well.
So, no. Don’t write off intimacy during these 40 weeks. It’s not off the table and it can actually be pretty dang awesome during this time. And those bigger boobs aren’t necessarily off limits. Just sayin’.
2. Every Pregnancy Is Different
Regardless of what you’ve heard or experienced with pregnant women, every pregnancy is unique. Some women get odd food cravings. Some women don’t. Some women will bite off your hand if you try to grab a French fry. Some women will happily share their plate. Some women will be moody. Others will seem pretty normal. Some will want sex all the time. Others won’t want to be touched.
And your wife may be all of these women in the course of a single pregnancy—please remember #5.
So, no, we’re not all crazy food Nazis. We’re not all humorless b*tches. We’re not all glowing balls of sunshine either. And trust me, if we could help you know what to expect with our pregnancy, we’d gladly help you out, because we don’t like seeing you struggle with whether to tiptoe around us.
And this leads me to the number one thing you must remember about pregnant women…
1. We Need You To Go With The Flow
Roll with the punches, dude. While pregnancy helps prepare us for motherhood—those frequent nighttime bathroom breaks prep us for night feedings and that morning sickness we battle gets us well-acquainted with bodily fluids—it also prepares you for fatherhood. The best thing you can learn as a parent is to be flexible, because that blessed child of yours will be as moody and unpredictable as your pregnant wife. And learning to go with the flow may be the only thing that will keep you sane in your vocation as dad. So start now.
You don’t have to stop joking around—we don’t lose all sense of humor. You don’t have to stop being honest with us. We can handle hearing about your crap day or addressing a relationship concern you have. Just gauge our mood. Ask us what we need. Talk to us. Be with us. Support us and love us. Basically, don’t be like the jerk who wrote this piece. And don’t forget #2. Every woman and every pregnancy is different, so items 3, 4, and 5 may not apply to your woman. Roll with it.
And please for the love of everything holy don’t go to the HuffPo for marital advice—because it’s crap.
Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms of Early Pregnancy
Anita Sadaty, MD, is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, resident instructor at Northwell Health, and founder of Redefining Health Medical.
From what you’ve told us, there is a very good chance that you are pregnant. Not only do you have many of the symptoms, you have had the opportunity to get pregnant based on your score.
The first place to start is to take a pregnancy test and to meet with your doctor to confirm the results and ensure everything is on track. The next step would then to calculate the due date and make all of the necessary preparations to ensure you and your baby remain healthy throughout the entire course of the pregnancy.
THIS TOOL DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. It is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical consultation, diagnosis or treatment.
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While it’s not entirely certain, you definitely have many of the signs of an early pregnancy. Sure, there’s a chance it’s a false alarm, but the likelihood is better than not that a pregnancy has occurred.
The only way to know for sure, of course, is to take a pregnancy test. If you’re not quite ready to find out yet, wait a few days and take the quiz again. If your score goes up, the best course of action would be to either get an in-home test or visit your doctor to confirm your suspicions.
THIS TOOL DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. It is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical consultation, diagnosis or treatment.
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We’re not saying that your chances are either good or bad. There is definitely something going on, and many of the symptoms you’re experiencing are suggestive of a pregnancy. Still, there’s also a chance that may be caused by something else.
The best thing to do is to wait for a few days and take this quiz again. If the score goes up, it would suggest that your condition is progressing. If you can’t wait that long (and why would you?), you can take a pregnancy now so long as you use it as directed.
If the test is negative, it may still be a good idea to visit your doctor. Whatever the cause of your symptoms may be, it’s always best to have it checked out sooner rather than later.
THIS TOOL DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. It is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical consultation, diagnosis or treatment.
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While there is something definitely going on, there is not enough to suggest that pregnancy is the cause. Things like excessive urination, for example, could be caused by a number of conditions.The same applies to vaginal discharge, nausea, and mood swings.
This is not to suggest that you aren’t pregnant; you could very well be. But it’s hard to make an assumption based on what you’ve told us.
The best thing to do at this stage is to wait a few days and take the quiz again to see if the score changes. Alternately, you can take an at-home pregnancy test which is fast and accurate if used correctly.
THIS TOOL DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. It is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical consultation, diagnosis or treatment.
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Based on what you’ve told us, it is unlikely that you are pregnant. Either your symptoms aren’t suggestive of early pregnancy or your likelihood of pregnancy is low in relation to your symptoms.
If you consistently use a birth control pill, for example, there is only a one percent chance of getting pregnant. The same applies to Depo-Provera or an IUD. This, coupled with low-level or contradictory symptoms, makes it difficult to suggest that a pregnancy has taken place.
If, however, you still believe you are pregnant, follow your instincts. You lose nothing by taking a pregnancy test and may even be surprised by the results.
THIS TOOL DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. It is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical consultation, diagnosis or treatment.
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- How many weeks are in a pregnancy?
- How many weeks are in a trimester?
- How many trimesters are in a pregnancy?
- Is pregnancy nine or 10 months long?
- How many weeks is a full-term pregnancy?
- Pregnancy months to weeks chart
- How do I know what week I am currently in my pregnancy?
- How do I calculate my due date?
- Why is pregnancy calculated from your last period?
Pregnancy math can get confusing pretty quickly. Are you in week 12 or 13? Your first trimester or your second? Three months pregnant or four?
Fortunately, the answers are (relatively) simple once you know what to count. Here’s what you need to know about how many weeks, months and trimesters there are in a pregnancy — and where you fit in.
How many weeks are in a pregnancy?
There are 40 weeks (or 280 days) in a pregnancy. Your due date is calculated starting from the first day of your last menstrual period (even though most pregnancies are not conceived until two weeks later). Keep in mind that only about 30 percent of pregnancies will reach precisely week 40.
How many weeks are in a trimester?
There are 13 or 14 weeks per trimester (just divide 40 by three and you’ll see why the breakdown isn’t exact).
How many trimesters are in a pregnancy?
There are three trimesters in a pregnancy: the first trimester, which lasts from approximately weeks 1 to 13, the second trimester, which lasts from about week 14 to week 27, and the third trimester, which lasts from around week 28 to week 40 (and up).
Is pregnancy nine or 10 months long?
Your 40 weeks of pregnancy are counted as nine months. But wait … there are four weeks in a month, which would make 40 weeks 10 months. Right? Not exactly. Four weeks is 28 days, but months (with the exception of February, of course) have 30 or 31 days, making each month about 4.3 weeks long.
How many weeks is a full-term pregnancy?
If you’re carrying a single baby, a full-term pregnancy is between the start of 39 weeks up to the end of 40 weeks. If you’re carrying twins, a full-term pregnancy is considered at least 38 weeks.
More About Pregnancy Trimesters
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) as outlined the following terms for pregnancy, depending on when your baby is born:
- Preterm: 20 weeks to 37 weeks
- Early term: 37 weeks 0 days to 38 weeks 6 days
- Full term: 39 weeks 0 days to 40 weeks 6 days
- Late term: 41 weeks 0 days to 41 weeks 6 days
- Post term: after 42 weeks 0 days
Pregnancy months to weeks chart
If these explanations have your head spinning, here’s a simple breakdown of approximately how the weeks, months and trimesters are counted in pregnancy:
Trimester 1
- Month 1: Weeks 1 to 4
- Month 2: Weeks 5 to 8
- Month 3: Weeks 9 to 13
Trimester 2
- Month 4: Weeks 14 to 17
- Month 5: Weeks 18 to 22
- Month 6: Weeks 23 to 27
Trimester 3
- Month 7: Weeks 28 to 31
- Month 8: Weeks 32 to 35
- Month 9: Weeks 36 to 40
How do I know what week I am currently in my pregnancy?
Your doctor says you’re 15 weeks pregnant, but you’re also being told that you’re in week 16. Which is right? Short answer: both. In both cases, your due date is the same — it’s the language referring to it that’s different.
Turns out how many weeks into pregnancy you are is a little different than how many weeks pregnant you are. If you’re in week 16, you’re actually 15 weeks and some days pregnant. Fifteen full weeks have gone by, but not 16 weeks, so people say that you’re both 15 weeks pregnant and in week 16 of pregnancy.
To clear things up, think about birthdays. When you were born, you weren’t even a day old but you were in your first week of life. When you turned 1 year old, you had lived through your first year and were starting on your second. In other words, on your first birthday you were in day one of your second year. But no one said you were 2 years old until you’d finished that second year and had begun your third.
The same rules apply when talking about your weeks of pregnancy: You are x weeks pregnant, but in your x+1 week of pregnancy.
How do I calculate my due date?
Still haven’t checked in with the doc about your estimated due date? It’s calculated counting from the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP) instead of the day you conceived. So try to remember the first day of your LMP and add 40 weeks to that.
If you like math, you can also calculate your due date with the following formula:
- Subtract three months from the first day of your LMP
- Add seven days
- Add one year
For example, if the first day of your LMP was 6/2/2020, subtract three months to get 3/2/2020. Add seven days and you’ll get 3/9/2020. Finally, add one year to find your estimated due date of 3/9/2021.
Why is pregnancy calculated from your last period?
Why start the clock on pregnancy before sperm even meets egg (and, actually, before your ovary even dropped the fated egg that made your baby)? The LMP is simply a more reliable day to date a pregnancy from. Even if you’re a master of cervical mucus and are sure about the day you ovulated as well as the day(s) you had sex, you probably can’t pinpoint the exact moment of conception.
That’s because there’s a bigger window than you might think: Sperm can hang out and wait for an egg to fertilize for three to five days after they’ve arrived, and an egg can be fertilized for up to 24 hours after it’s been released. That’s also good news, since it means you’ll already have clocked four weeks of pregnancy by the time you miss your period.
From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Health information on this site is based on peer-reviewed medical journals and highly respected health organizations and institutions including ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists), CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), as well as the What to Expect books by Heidi Murkoff.
Pregnancy news |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers and their colleagues have developed a “placenta-on-a-chip” to study the inner workings of the human placenta and its role in pregnancy. The device was designed to imitate, on a micro-level, the structure and function of the placenta and model the transfer of nutrients from mother to fetus. This prototype is one of the latest in a series of organ-on-a-chip technologies developed to accelerate biomedical advances.
The study, published online in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the University of Pennsylvania, Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center, Seoul National University and Asan Medical Center in South Korea.
“We believe that this technology may be used to address questions that are difficult to answer with current placenta model systems and help enable research on pregnancy and its complications,” said Roberto Romero, M.D., chief of the NICHD’s Perinatology Research Branch and one of the study authors.
The placenta is a temporary organ that develops in pregnancy and is the major interface between mother and fetus. Among its many functions is to serve as a “crossing guard” for substances traveling between mother and fetus. The placenta helps nutrients and oxygen move to the fetus and helps waste products move away. At the same time, the placenta tries to stop harmful environmental exposures, like bacteria, viruses and certain medications, from reaching the fetus. When the placenta doesn’t function correctly, the health of both mom and baby suffers.
Researchers are trying to learn how the placenta manages all this traffic, transporting some substances and blocking others. This knowledge may one day help clinicians better assess placental health and ultimately improve pregnancy outcomes.
However, studying the placenta in humans is challenging: it is time-consuming, subject to a great deal of variability and potentially risky for the fetus. For those reasons, previous studies on placental transport have relied largely on animal models and on laboratory-grown human cells. These methods have yielded helpful information, but are limited as to how well they can mimic physiological processes in humans.
The researchers created the placenta-on-a-chip technology to address these challenges, using human cells in a structure that more closely resembles the placenta’s maternal-fetal barrier. The device consists of a semi-permeable membrane between two tiny chambers, one filled with maternal cells derived from a delivered placenta and the other filled with fetal cells derived from an umbilical cord.
After designing the structure of the model, the researchers tested its function by evaluating the transfer of glucose (a substance made by the body when converting carbohydrates to energy) from the maternal compartment to the fetal compartment. The successful transfer of glucose in the device mirrored what occurs in the body.
“The chip may allow us to do experiments more efficiently and at a lower cost than animal studies,” said Dr. Romero. “With further improvements, we hope this technology may lead to better understanding of normal placental processes and placental disorders.”
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Getting Real About Pregnancy
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I always knew I wanted to have kids, but it wasn’t until I decided to go for it that I realized what a miracle making another life can be. Growing up Dominican American, I never thought twice about the side jabs and jokes our culture sometimes makes about getting married or when you’re going to have kids. I just brushed them off and continued going full force into my career.
At around 33, I had some health issues and my doctor told me I should consider starting a family right away. At the time, I remember being so angry with him for being so blunt. Not only did I get comments from friends or family about family planning, but now also my doctor. Looking back, I’m now grateful because it got the conversation started with my partner and we were in for a ride. After 6 months (then 34), I decided to get some tests because we were not having any luck. I happened to work at a job that had full fertility coverage, so it was kind of a “why not” scenario. It turned out that for my age, one of my hormone levels was low, and it would in fact take longer to get pregnant.
This is when I finally understood that the jabs and jokes were not ok. We spent a year and eight months trying to get pregnant. We tried everything and we were unsuccessful. On top of all that stress, people were asking us when we were going to have kids, advising us to relax, to pray and countless other hurtful suggestions that don’t help when you’re in the thick of trying to start a family. Tactless comments and suggestions that lead you to pull away and deal with all of these challenges in isolation. I made a decision to stop telling my parents about my fertility treatments because of the way they were reacting. When I first started at Latino USA, I even pitched a segment on infertility within the Latino community to help us better understand the gravity of what women go through.
Jeanne Montalvo Lucar and her son Martin in the Latino USA recording studio in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Jeanne Montalvo Lucar)
Eventually we did get pregnant in 2017, on a break from treatments, like the cliche everyone talks about. I had a son, so I got a break from worrying about family planning. Until of course, people started asking, “¿Y el hermanito/a?” When are you going to give him a brother/sister? Knowing my own history it was something in the back of my mind, so imagine my surprise when I got an unplanned pregnancy in the winter of 2019. I was ecstatic. This time around, I wouldn’t have to deal with the stress of months of trying, in quiet isolation.
But something was off from the beginning. From my first blood test, the numbers didn’t line up and despite seeing a heartbeat early on, at my next appointment the pregnancy was not viable—no more heartbeat. I was devastated. When we got pregnant the first time, miscarriage never crossed my mind. I thought, “I’m pregnant, I’m done.” But here I was now isolating again with a miscarriage because my family didn’t know how to speak to me, and honestly I didn’t know what to do either. So, I just didn’t speak about it.
Jeanne Montalvo Lucar showing her baby bump, at home during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. (Photo courtesy of Jeanne Montalvo Lucar)
But knowing about my struggles with infertility and miscarriage didn’t stop people from asking, “¿Y el hermanito/a?” And that was hard, especially when you’re quietly dealing with things that are often considered taboo in the Latino community. People don’t want to talk about fertility problems, miscarriages or pre- and postpartum depression, but they sure love to ask you about starting a family without knowing what you may have been struggling with for years.
On today’s episode of Latino USA, Maria Hinojosa and I sit down with certified birth doula Elizabeth Perez, and lay it all out on the table. No subject is off limits. And hopefully with more conversations like this one, we can change the overall narrative from, “When are you … getting married? Starting a family? Having a second child?” to “How are you feeling today?”
Photo courtesy of Jeanne Montalvo.
When you’re trying to get pregnant, sex is about more than just having fun. You want to do everything right in bed to maximize your chances of conceiving.
No methods have been proven to produce a pregnancy. Yet a few changes to the timing and frequency of your lovemaking might help increase your odds of success.
The best time to get pregnant is at the most fertile point in your menstrual cycle. Your ‘fertile window’ includes five days prior to ovulation and the day of ovulation.
The two days before you ovulate and the day of ovulation have the highest probability of conception . Having sex on those days will give you the greatest odds of conceiving.
During ovulation, your ovary releases a mature egg. That egg makes its way down the fallopian tube on its way to your uterus.
On this route, the sperm will (hopefully) meet up with and fertilize the egg. Sperm can live for about five days. So if you’re trying to conceive, your goal is to have live sperm in your Fallopian tubes when you ovulate.
How do you know you’re ovulating? One way is to count your cycle days.
Keep a calendar of your menstrual cycles or use an app to keep track. Each cycle starts on the first day of your period, and ends on the day before your next period starts.
Look for the midpoint of your cycle. If you have a 28-day cycle, you’ll generally ovulate around day 14.
Did you know?
- Not all women ovulate at the midpoint of their cycle. If you’re having trouble getting pregnant and suspect your ovulation may be earlier or later than the midpoint, talk to your doctor about using another method to confirm ovulation.
You can also look for signs like these, which indicate ovulation:
- Change in vaginal discharge. When you ovulate, your mucus will turn clear and thick — about the consistency of an egg white.
- Rise in basal body temperature (BBT). Your body’s resting temperature will increase slightly after you ovulate. You can measure BBT with a basal body temperature thermometer before you get up in the morning. Note: This will only tell you that you ovulated and cannot predict ovulation. However, if you track your temperature for a few cycles, you can see in hindsight what cycle day you generally ovulate.
Drugstores also sell over-the-counter ovulation kits. These tests look for hormone changes in your urine, and can let you know when you’re most likely to be ovulating. Refer to the test kit instructions for more information.
With hundreds of millions of sperm released in each male orgasm, any unprotected sex around the time of ovulation could result in a pregnancy. As long as sperm enter the vagina, you have a chance to conceive.
No certain positions during sex have been proven to increase likelihood of conception. Yet certain positions may be better than others for ensuring those little swimmers find their way up to the egg. The missionary (man on top) and doggie-style positions (man behind) allow for deeper penetration — bringing sperm in closer proximity to the cervix.
In the standing and woman-on-top positions, gravity works against you. Yet standing up right after sex shouldn’t reduce your odds of a pregnancy. Sperm are pretty good swimmers. Once deposited in the vagina, they can reach the cervix within 15 minutes.
Though you don’t need to raise your legs in the air after sex, or even lie flat on your back to help them get there, it can’t hurt. Placing a pillow under your lower back will also keep the sperm swimming in the right direction.
An HCG pregnancy test checks human chorionic gonadotropin levels in the blood or urine. This measurement means that an HCG test can test whether a woman is pregnant, as well as whether their body is producing the right level of pregnancy hormones.
Typically, HCG levels increase steadily during the first trimester, peak, then decline as the pregnancy progresses in the second and third trimesters.
Doctors may order several HCG blood tests over a number of days in order to monitor how the HCG levels change. This HCG trend can help doctors determine how a pregnancy is developing.
In this article, we take a look at human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) levels and how they relate to pregnancy. We also examine the potential results and accuracy of an HCG pregnancy test.
Share on Pinterest An HCG test can help indicate whether someone is pregnant or not.
Cells that become the placenta produce the hormone HCG. The HCG levels in the body quickly rise during the first few weeks of pregnancy.
HCG levels not only signal pregnancy but are also a way to measure whether a pregnancy is developing correctly.
Very low HCG levels may point to a problem with the pregnancy, an ectopic pregnancy, or warn that a miscarriage could happen. Rapidly rising HCG levels can signal a molar pregnancy when a uterine tumor grows.
Doctors require multiple HCG measurements in order to track the development of a pregnancy.
HCG levels stop rising late in the first trimester. This leveling out may be why many women experience relief from pregnancy symptoms, such as nausea and fatigue, around this time.
Many women have very low levels of HCG in their blood and urine when they are not pregnant. HCG tests detect elevated levels.
Tests may not detect pregnancy until HCG has risen to a certain level. This requirement means tests that detect lower levels of HCG may diagnose pregnancy earlier.
Blood tests are typically more sensitive than urine tests. However, many home urine tests are highly sensitive. A 2014 analysis found that four types of home pregnancy tests were able to detect HCG levels up to 4 days before the expected period, or about 10 days after ovulation for many women.
People must read the urine test instructions and follow them carefully. Most tests use lines to show when a test is positive. The test line does not have to be as dark as the control line to be positive. Any line at all indicates the test is positive.
Test strips can change color as they dry. Some people notice an evaporation line after several minutes. This is a very faint line that may look like a shadow.
An individual must check the test within the time frame the instructions indicate, usually 3 minutes. Tests read after 10 minutes may be inaccurate or show evaporation lines.
HCG tests are more likely to produce false negatives than false positives. The longer after implantation a person waits to do the test, the more accurate it will be. HCG levels begin rising when an embryo implants in the uterus.
Implantation usually happens a week or so after ovulation. It can take several days for HCG levels to rise high enough for a test to detect the hormone.
Due to how long it takes for HCG levels to rise, it is possible for a woman to be pregnant and still get a negative test. A positive result usually appears after retesting a few days later.
False-positive results are rare. However, because home pregnancy tests are increasingly sensitive, some can detect very early pregnancies with low HCG levels.
This sensitivity means it is possible to have a positive test that a very early miscarriage then follows. A woman who delayed testing or who used a less sensitive test might not have known about the miscarriage.
In rare cases, a woman can have abnormally high levels of HCG even though they are not pregnant. The most common reasons for this include:
- a recent miscarriage
- using certain fertility drugs
- molar pregnancy, which is a pregnancy that implants but fails to grow, and which instead becomes a mass inside the uterus
Less common causes include:
- cancer, including tumors that secrete HCG
- endocrine disorders, especially pituitary gland issues
- unusual antibodies in the blood
The Art of Dealing With a Pregnancy Scare
Sometimes in a relationship, you’re not sure how to phrase a delicate subject or tricky topic. Sure, saying nothing at all is easy, but avoiding the subject doesn’t do anyone any good. Awkward Conversations, a regular AskMen franchise, provides you with a template for what to say — and what not to say — and why, so you can have those difficult discussions without them turning into full-blown fights.
“I think I might be pregnant.”
Boom. There it is, the devastating gut punch. If you’re not trying to have a baby, hearing this sentence could rock your world. It’s hard to know how to react other than in sheer panic, but this is a crucial moment for both you and your partner. Despite feeling overwhelmed or anxious, you need to stay level-headed, keeping your cool without doing or saying something that will sabotage your relationship.
Read on for our handy guide on navigating an unexpected pregnancy, and the undoubtedly difficult conversations that can come from it.
1. Don’t Run From It
If you want to run away, ghost, or pack up and move to a small country in Europe, resist that urge. Take a deep breath, and let the information wash calmly over you until you have more clarity on how to deal with it.
Don’t freak out or avoid her calls to avoid dealing with the problem. Remember, this won’t go away if you pretend it doesn’t exist. Right now, your partner needs you to be calm, strong and capable. Let’s face it — she’s probably freaking out even more than you are. Sit with your thoughts for a moment until you are able to say something useful and supportive.
2. Don’t Get Accusatory
You: What do you mean, you’re pregnant? Did you forget to take your birth control? How could you forget? How could you let this happen?
It’s very easy to blame your partner for a pregnancy scare out of fear. You might adopt an accusatory tone, or judge her for not being careful. If you didn’t already guess, that isn’t entirely unhelpful to the situation. Chances are she’s probably already beating herself up about the thought of a potential life shift.
Don’t let yourself fall into that anger-filled trap. Instead, use words that are nonjudgmental and soothing. Ask her how she’s feeling. Give her the space to express her anxieties without pressing her angrily on the details. Let the details come forth naturally.
You: Really? Baby, are you okay? Don’t stress. Let’s handle this one step at a time. First of all, why do you think you’re pregnant?
This is a much better way to elicit information without putting her on the defensive.
3. Be Pragmatic
It may feel like you two are the only people in the world dealing with something like this, but know you’re not alone. With this in mind, be practical. It’s often the most comforting thought process you can have. Suggest sensible actions that the two of you can take — this will go a long way to assuaging her anxiety (and yours!)
You: Well, your period is only late by two days. I feel like it’s too early to jump to any conclusions. What do you think? Personally, I suggest this: Let me go buy a pregnancy test kit and meet you at your place after work. Then we can start thinking about next steps.
Show her that you’re a responsible adult who is equal to the worry of a pregnancy scare. If you break down the problem into small, bite-size chunks, you’ll be able to minimize the stress on your relationship.
4. Don’t Pressure Her Towards Getting an Abortion
You: Well … if you’re really pregnant, what would you do about it?
Her: I don’t know, I’m freaking out right now.
You: You’d get an abortion, right?
Her: I don’t know. I don’t know what I want yet.
You: What do you mean, you don’t know? I’m not ready to become a dad!
Unfortunately, this conversation is an all-too common one in a pregnancy scare. Resist the temptation to push for an answer — and definitely don’t bring up the abortion option before the pregnancy is even confirmed. It’s too early, it’s pushy, and it will freak her out even more.
Don’t let the conversation go this far south. Instead of framing it as her problem, explain that you’re ready to shoulder the pregnancy with her:
You: I’m sorry you’re upset. I can imagine how stressful it must be, but I’m here for you. Let’s talk through this.
5. Don’t React Selfishly — Think of the Future
Pregnancy scares can be just that — quick, sudden, and scary. They don’t necessarily indicate an actual problem. However, your reaction to a pregnancy scare certainly has the potential to cause real problems.
A pregnancy scare isn’t an isolated incident — you don’t get to move on as if nothing has happened. If you’ve been callous, or brought up something hurtful, that will take a toll on the relationship as a whole. Think of a pregnancy scare as a kind of intense relationship test: In the midst of it all, she gets a chance to assess how you’d react to a crisis in the future. If you do or say something hurtful, you can’t just move on from the scare as if nothing has happened.
Once the panic abates, make sure to react kindly and with consideration:
You: Baby, I hope you’re feeling a little better now. I’m sorry this happened. Listen, just let me know if I said or did anything that you didn’t like in the heat of the moment. I want to apologize if I hurt you in any way.
People can react badly when they’re under duress. What’s important is that you move on from this with grace and generosity. Be ready to apologize if you come across as a jerk, and understand that she might be feeling sensitive right now.
If you handle it maturely, you should be able to tackle the pregnancy scare as smoothly as possible, and continue your relationship without any problems. Be a man about it.
Causes and Treatment
If you are pregnant or are supporting someone through pregnancy, you probably have some experience with mood swings. You are not alone; mood swings during pregnancy are common. You may be excited about being pregnant, but you can also be stressed or overwhelmed. You may have constant worries that contribute to your mood swings.
Questions such as:
- Will I be a good parent?
- How am I going to manage financially?
- Will my baby be healthy?
- Am I doing the right things to prepare for my baby?
Pregnancy is a life-changing event full of physical and emotional changes. Understanding these changes will help you have a positive experience. It may prove helpful to talk through these changes and worries with a professional.
What causes pregnancy mood swings?
Mood changes during pregnancy can be caused by physical stresses, fatigue, changes in your metabolism, or by the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Significant changes in your hormone levels can affect your level of neurotransmitters, which are brain chemicals that regulate mood. Mood swings are mostly experienced during the first trimester between 6 to 10 weeks and then again in the third trimester as your body prepares for birth.
Check out this book for ideas on how to keep your mood steady during pregnancy:
What should I do to treat my mood swings?
It is important to understand you are not alone; mood swings are just another aspect of the pregnancy experience. Knowing that what you are experiencing is normal and somewhat expected may help you cope.
The following list includes ways to manage your stress level:
- Get plenty of sleep
- Take a break during the day to relax
- Get regular physical activity
- Eat well
- Spend time with your partner
- Take a nap.
- Go for a walk
- See a movie with a friend
- Don’t be so hard on yourself
- Try pregnancy yoga class or meditation
- Get a massage
When should I seek professional help?
If your mood swings last more than two weeks and do not seem to get better, you may want to ask your health care provider for a referral to a counselor. More than 11 million American women are affected by depression each year. Depression is most prevalent in women during childbearing years but can occur at any age.
Some symptoms of depression include:
- Recurrent anxiety and increased irritability
- Sleep disturbances
- Change in eating habits
- Inability to concentrate on anything for very long
- Short-term memory loss
If your mood swings become more frequent and intense, it is crucial that you speak with your health care provider about options for dealing with severe mood swings, anxiety or depression.
