How Do You Get Pregnant?
In today’s fast paced society and busy lifestyles – with women working long hours and both men women travelling for business, getting pregnant is not as easy as you may think. If you are planning a family you should know your fertile period, which basically encompasses days in your ovarian cycle when you are likely to conceive after intercourse. The length of a normal cycle is 28 ± 7 days, with ovulation on the 14th day. The first day of the cycle is equivalent to the first day of your LMP (Last Menstruation Period).
After your menstruation stops, your body begins preparing for ovulation, which normally comes on the 14th day after your first day of LMP. If you have regular cycles, your chances of conceiving are brighter if intercourse takes place 3 days prior to ovulation to 2 days after ovulation. So knowing when you are ovulating is important. There will be some physical changes in your body that denotes ovulation, but if you are unsure, you can measure ovulation by using Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPKs) that are available off-the-shelf in pharmacies. Don’t worry, this is just a simple urine test. How the OPKs work is that it measures a woman’s Luteinising Hormone (LH) level. Ovulation correlates with a surge in the LH level. Such LH surge occurs 24-36 hours prior to ovulation, allowing you time to plan for the big night!
Initially, the body will be preparing itself for the release of 20 eggs, known as ova, but only one (or two) will become dominant and go down your fallopian tubes to meet your partner’s sperm. Concurrently, the lining of your uterus thickens to prepare for implantation of a fertilized egg. That’s multi-tasking for you.
If intercourse happens during your fertility period, it will take almost 10 hrs for the sperms to meet your egg. Once they meet, a reaction takes place that prevents further fertilization of your egg with another sperm. That is, your egg cannot be unfaithful. The fusion of egg and sperm forms a zygote that transverses the tubes which takes a few days. During which it goes through a series of equal cell divisions until implantation takes place in the uterus in week 4. So you are unlikely to be able to confirm your pregnancy until then.
What You May Be Feeling
Ovulation is marked by three physical changes:
1. Increase in body temperature by 1 to 2 degrees
2. Thickening of cervical mucus (vaginal fluids). In the first few days of the second week, there will be no vaginal discharge and you will be dry until the middle of this week. After almost 10 to 12 days from your LMP, the consistency of your mucus secretions will become sticky, cloudy and a bit moist. In a couple of days, the cervical fluid will become stretchy, slippery and clear. You will be able to spread this mucus for up to 5cm between two fingers. This is a sign of ovulation.
3. The cervix’s position becomes more flexible to direct your male partner to the desired destination to deposit his sperms. This is a momentary feeling and most women may not realize it.
In case there is no fusion of your egg with a sperm, the egg gets wasted and is shed as menses. In normal cases, it is an uneventful course and you cannot detect it and there are no potential dangers as long as you don’t have:
a. Continuous genital infection (which thickens the genital tubes and makes it difficult for your egg and sperm to reach the uterus, its final destination). Your product of egg and sperm are like passengers who have to catch a train well in time. If their arrival is late, they will not be able to get a seat or may even miss the train. Similarly if the passage is delayed, menstrual period will start that will shed the uterine lining and eventually the product of egg and sperm will be wasted too.
b. Previous tube pregnancy or surgery. This refers to the development of baby in maternal tubes due to delay in passage of the sperm that arose out of previous scarring or thickening of tubes. Once there is a history of tubal pregnancy, chances are substantially increased that it will repeat in later pregnancies due to the further damage of the tubes.
c. Any surgery of the pelvis (part between abdomen and legs). This leads to scarring of internal organs and delays the passage of sperm.
What Tests To Perform
A number of tests should be conducted prior to pregnancy to determine risks and detect any medical problems you may have. It is best to conduct these early so you know what to expect and, if possible, to treat them. Because it may be hard to treat once you become pregnant. See detailed list in [Article 1]
Knowing your family’s medical history and of any developmental or genetic issues that any of the members faced would be useful and provide your doctor some guidance on specific tests for your situation. For example, if there has been a history of some development disorders, you may wish to consider conducting genetic screening.