About Your Fertility


You are now about to create a baby – just think of it! It really is a miracle and it's all you (or nearly all!)

We give you some tips and go over information which will serve a very useful background to any questions or discussions you may have. Most women have a little knowledge but it is very important to really know more about the process of getting pregnant as nature does it.

Fertilisation

If your menstrual cycle is regular, as a general rule, fertilisation happens 14 days before your next period is due to start. (Do not worry if you are outside these days – some women ovulate the day after their ovulation!) By checking your personal signs regularly and updating your ovulation calendar you will know all about yourself.

About seven to ten days after fertilisation, the egg is implanted in the lining of the womb. By the end of another week, it is firmly attached by its primitive placenta, which links the developing embryo to its mother.

The placenta is the organ through which foodstuffs and oxygen are carried from the mother to the baby and waste substance are carried form the baby to the mother. It is an absolutely crucial organ to the healthy progress of pregnancy because it produces pregnancy hormones that are responsible for maintaining the health of the developing baby, the uterus and the female genital organs. At that time it's critical that the mother does not smoke or take social drugs and as little of prescription drugs as possible. The pregnancy hormones need every chance and they also prepare the woman’s body for labour and for birth.

The ovum is usually fertilised about a third of the way along the Fallopian tube by a single sperm which was deposited with thousands of others in the vagina after ejaculation. Within a few seconds of ejaculation the sperms become mobile with the lashings of their whip-like tails.

This then carries them out of the acid conditions of the vagina and through the neck of the cervix, which has become more fluid during ovulation, into the cavity of the uterus.

In a few seconds, the sperm passes through the uterus and enters the Fallopian tube to meet the ovum (the egg) that is traveling down the tube.

Sperm are chemically attracted to the comparatively enormous ovum and attach themselves to it like limpets over the whole surface. However the thick egg membrane can only be penetrated as a result of the membrane having a pH that is at opposite to the incoming sperm. The Ph of the different sperms is always either alkaline (y) or acidic (x), whereas the egg will alternate its pH and at times will be able to accept a y (boy)sperm and at other times an x (girl) sperm.This means that there are a few days in each cycle when either a sperm with an x chromosomes or a y chromosome will fertilise the egg. Once penetrated the egg loses its attraction, hardens its outer shell and all the superfluous sperm let go. This whole process, from ejaculation to fertilisation can take less than 60 minutes.

A ripe ovum usually survives for a maximum of 24 hours. Sperm retain the power to fertilise for not much more than 36 hours . Conception is therefore unlikely unless sexual intercourse occurs during or immediately before and after ovulation.

Only the head of the sperm fuses with the ovum, forming a single cell. The cell divides into two in the first 24 hours: by the fourth day it is a ball of over 100 cells.

This ball of cells floats free for the first three days in the cavity of the uterus, nurtured on uterine ‘milk’ secreted by glands in the uterine wall.

By the end of the first week, it has implanted into the uterine lining, where it is continuously bathed in a lake of its mothers blood, allowing food and waste to pass to and fro. Until week 8 the developing baby is known as an embryo, after which it is called a foetus which will become your baby after 6 or 8 weeks. Every year a small number of babies are born who are not as healthy as they might be. There are many reasons why this may happen, but two of the most important factors are the nutrition and fitness of the mother.

Although it has been shown that maternal malnutrition and lack of fitness become more common as you descend the economic scale, it is also worth bearing in mind that eating disorders or excessive dieting may also have an effect on your health.

BE WELL --its not just you-it's you and your baby's health. Can you imagine your little foetus about to become your little baby being exposed to a dose of chemicals! YOU would be distraught!

So try to pay attention to nutrition and lifestyle as well as your general state of health before you decide to have a baby.

If you’re not already doing so, you can improve your health and therefore your baby's health enormously by examining your diet. You may think you eat well, but check the natural content of your food as opposed to pre-packed foods or foods with added chemicals, preservatives and colourants.You will be surprised and encouraged to change your bad habits or at least bad for your baby.

You can improve your health almost immediately by increasing your intake of fresh fruit, vegetables and high-fibre foods and cutting out highly refined, starchy foods.

You have decided to have a baby girl or boy so now give your baby every chance to be born and grow healthily- and you should start now, not just a couple of days before you become pregnant!

Please take particular care to cut down on ‘social’ drugs before you conceive, especially cigarettes. Smoking is associated with infertility in women, though the effects on men may be more damaging.

Sperm are more at risk than eggs form the chemicals in cigarette smoke and it is believed that smoking could cause damage to chromosomes in the cells of smokers.

Regular exercise is very important – go for long walks 2 hour twice per week and half an hour daily

and perhaps you could consider a keep fit spa near you. You have 9 months of pregnancy ahead of you and if you are well and fit , you will enjoy it and look great !

Getting pregnant is also romantic. You are more likely to conceive with a full orgasm. Set the scene and make sure that you and your partner are relaxed. If you stuff yourself with food, sex will go out of the window. Eat carefully and well and you will be more able to conceive and ready for your little miracle. If you are trying for only one gender, follow the disciplines of your gender selection calendar and try arrange to set the romantic scene with your partner on the days that nature will give you a boy or girl according to your choice.

We hope that this has been useful information. Please Keep your cycle details updated on your ovulation or gender selection calendar and make love on the days that are right for a boy or girl, or if it does not matter, then just on the days that your are ovulating. We wish you a healthy, loving and successful pregnancy.