Preparing the body for Conception
There comes a time in many women’s lives where they decide they want to have children. This is a big step and it can bring a lot of changes in order to prepare both mentally and physically to conceive and then carry a child in their womb for nine months. We can prepare for this step in many ways: by understanding what an ideal menstrual cycle looks like, addressing anything that’s preventing the body from the ideal cycle, and incorporating a holistic diet and lifestyle to set up the body for the best chance at success.
Keep in mind that it takes 90 days for an egg to fully form, so any diet and lifestyle changes should be in place for at least 90 days to have a positive effect on the egg. The earlier you start, the better. But if you’re reading this and are already trying to conceive, that’s ok too! Any changes you make during this time will be beneficial. Intention is really important here, so be sure to thoughtfully infuse positive energy into whatever steps you take.
What An Ideal Menstrual Cycle Looks Like
An ideal menstrual cycle is typically 28 days (this is tracked from the start of menstruation to the start of the next menstruation), though a cycle can range from 21-35 days. In an ideal situation, menstruation lasts 3-5 days, symptoms of PMS are nonexistent or minimal, and bleeding is not too heavy (i.e. bleeding through a tampon should take a few hours) nor too light (i.e. having to only use panty liners during “heavy” days). Ovulation occurs in the middle of the cycle (e.g. for a 28-day cycle, ovulation occurs around day 14), giving balanced follicular and luteal phases. Cervical mucus presents as clear, with an “egg-white”, stretchy consistency for a few days leading up to ovulation.
Days You Can Conceive
The chances of getting pregnant each month, even if you time everything correctly, is only about 33%.
Ovulation occurs for only one day during each menstrual cycle. This is when the egg travels down the fallopian tube and waits to be fertilized. After ovulation, it can only live for about 12 hours, if it’s not fertilized.
Sperm can last up to 5 days in the vagina and when you are trying to conceive, you can start as early as 5 days prior to your day of ovulation. You can have intercourse daily for all days leading up to ovulation as well as on the day of ovulation, or you can have intercourse every other day which allows time for more semen to be replenished, thus giving you greater odds by the number of sperm available.
How To Prepare Your Body To Conceive
Get in Touch with Your Ovulation
While it’s not always necessary to track your ovulation in order to get pregnant, it certainly helps to make sure your timing is right, as this can increase your odds of conceiving. Tracking your cycle month-to-month is also recommended as it’s easy to forget what past cycles looked like. Keeping a detailed history is good to have for any future analysis you may want to do. Find an app on your phone (Clue or Flo are great options), a free chart online, or write it down by hand daily.
Track the following:
Days of bleeding and heaviness each day
Days of cervical mucus and what it looked like
Basal body temperature (BBT) - this can help to determine when the shift in hormones happens from the follicular phase into the luteal phase. Body temperature will increase ½ - 1℉ after ovulation.
Days of intercourse
Anything significant going on in your life - stress, sickness, emotions, etc. Any type of change to regular activity for your body, either mentally or physically, can affect the timing of your cycle and everything that goes on during the cycle.
It’s best to have several months of data to look back on before determining if your cycle is regular or irregular. In order to determine an irregular cycle, it must be irregular for at least 3 months in a row. It’s normal to have an irregular cycle every once in a while, as emotional or physical stressors can throw the body off balance and cause it to shorten or lengthen your cycle that month. It can also change the number of days menstruating, the day of ovulation (e.g. you always ovulate on day 14, however, you were very stressed this month and it ended up occurring on day 17), or the length of either the follicular or luteal phases.
This history is also helpful to show a health care specialist if you are struggling to conceive, as this data helps them to understand your cycle and can tailor any recommendations they have for you.
Identify Any Hormone Imbalances
If you read the section on ‘what an ideal menstrual cycle looks like’ and it was nothing like your own cycle experience, you may have a hormone imbalance. Fixing these imbalances is important as the closer your cycle is to ‘ideal’, the better your chance of conceiving. Having a hormone testing done is the best way to determine any hormonal imbalances in the body.
Identifying imbalances is the first step. To begin regulating your hormones back to balance, try some of the recommendations below.
Lifestyle
Decrease stress in the body as it blocks the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. The HPG axis refers to the way the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and ovaries (gonads) work together to regulate the menstrual cycle.
Limit your exposure to xenoestrogens by removing plastics, cosmetics and body care products that are not clean from your daily routine. Xenoestrogens are known to interfere with the body’s normal hormone functions.
Use the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetics database or Think Dirty app to help you find clean products. There are so many amazing clean brands available!
Herbs
Maca - A wonderful adaptogenic herb for the reproductive system. It reduces side effects of hormone imbalances and helps to bring the body back into balance.
Vitex - Regulates ovulation, increases fertility, and increases progesterone.
Dong quai - Helps to regulate the menstrual cycle and maintain healthy estrogen and progesterone levels.
Supplements
B complex - The liver uses B vitamins to process hormones.
Zinc - Used for the production and utilization of hormones, zinc plays an important role in cell division.
Magnesium - Helps in the production of ovarian hormones.
Support Your Liver
Supporting your liver is a great way to help your body with detoxification. Regardless of what we put into or onto our bodies, our liver works tirelessly for us to help detoxify all the ‘bad’ things. That means it will be better able to help us eliminate any excess hormones (such as estrogen) or do any other general ‘spring cleaning’ that can allow us to feel lighter in our bodies.
Often, supporting the liver by alleviating the toxic load for a set period of time can help our bodies go back into balance (i.e. regulate our hormone levels, help us achieve an ideal cycle, etc.). If you are on the birth control pill or another form of hormonal birth control and have come off it in order to conceive, your body may have built up some excess estrogen that should be eliminated. If you are going to do a detox, make sure you are doing it at a time when you are not actively trying to conceive. Detoxing means cleaning out the body. When creating a new life, we do not want to be cleaning out the body! The best time to perform a detox would be immediately after getting off hormonal birth control. You can detox for a few weeks or up to 3 months in length (depending on the strength of your cleanse), and then, once you notice that your cycle has regulated, try to conceive.
It’s recommended to do a light cleanse, incorporating whole foods, herbs, and drinking plenty of water. Avoid inflammatory foods, such as processed foods, fast food, sugar, dairy, conventionally-grown meat, food additives, and gluten.
Foods to Incorporate:
Fresh fruit and vegetables - Your best fruit choices are low-glycemic, high antioxidant fruit such as berries. Other options are apples, apricots, cherries, kiwi, peaches, pears, and watermelon. Your best vegetable choices are the cruciferous family - broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and bok choi. These are rich in a diversity of nutrients to support all of the body’s functions. They are also rich in fiber, which helps remove toxins. Aim to fill half your plate with vegetables.
High quality protein - During a cleanse you can reduce protein a little bit, especially animal protein, as it can be acidic and slightly inflammatory. Try to choose plant-based protein from organic, non-GMO legumes, tempeh, nuts and seeds. These will also add fiber to aid in detoxification.
Flax seeds are an excellent seed to add daily (1 to 2 tablespoons). Their high levels of lignans and fiber make them a great detox support food. Be sure to use freshly ground to avoid rancidity. .
Herbs to Incorporate:
Dandelion root - Causes an increase in bile production and flow to the gallbladder, and causes the gallbladder to contract and release stored bile.
Yellow dock - A powerful blood and lymph cleanser that helps to increase both digestive enzymes and stomach acid to aid in digestion.
Burdock root - Restores and stimulates the liver and gallbladder, and provides a mild diuretic action to the kidneys.
Water: Be sure to incorporate enough water into your body daily. It helps to remove all the toxins from your body via the kidneys. Detoxification depends on how well you are able to eliminate the toxins through the bowels, kidneys, and skin. Water plays a key role in all these functions. To drink enough, divide your body weight (in pounds) in half, and convert that amount to ounces. That is how much you should be drinking daily. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, you need to drink 70 ounces of water a day, or 8.75 cups of water. It is also important to remember to limit the amount of dehydrating liquids consumed (e.g. coffee, black teas, etc.).
Eat Clean Regardless of whether or not you cleanse your liver prior to trying to conceive, eating clean is a way that you can take stress off your body daily. Follow the 80/20 rule when eating clean, as you do not have to be so strict that you cannot enjoy a treat (or two!), but be mindful of what you put in your body. Eat plenty of whole foods including leafy greens, organic meats and dairy, a variety of beans and legumes, and a lot of water. Make sure meals are filled with complex carbohydrates, protein, and fat in balance to allow them to be filling and satisfying to your body. This should not feel like a diet! If you really love treats, look up some recipes to recreate your treats in a healthier way. Ideally, look for recipes that are gluten-free, dairy-free, and low in sugar.
Balance your Physical & Mental Health Making sure you have a balanced lifestyle, both mentally and physically, is key in helping your body to conceive. You want to be at a place where your body does not feel overloaded, but it also does not feel lazy.
Stress Management Manage your stress by finding ways to decrease it or release it. This could include meditating, deep breathing, or taking relaxing baths or even a nap. Find something that works best for you.
Get Regular Exercise All bodies benefit from a regular exercise routine. Find a form of exercise that works best for you, and that does not put negative stress on the body, and commit to doing it 3-4 times a week. This may be anything from brisk walking to Pilates to yoga.
Get Enough Sleep Sleep is the time when our bodies repair and rebuild. Give your body enough time nightly to do the work it needs to in order to help you feel refreshed and restored. Everybody is different but aim to get at least 6-8 hours a night. Work on a bedtime routine to help you settle in for a great sleep.
Work Through Your Feelings If you find you often ruminate in your thoughts about things that happened or might happen, it could be causing mental stress on the body, which can also manifest as physical stress. Try to release these stressors from the body as they are often impacting us negatively. There are different ways to release these stressors, from journal writing to speaking to a professional. Everyone is different. Find a way that works best for you!