Fertility Kits and TTC Tricks

TTC Tips and Products that Can Help You Conceive

When it comes to "babymaking", essential preconception tips often correspond with specific fertility products designed to help couples get pregnant or conceive sooner! Just a few short years ago, the only TTC (trying-to-conceive) accessory for home use was as bulky test-tube chemistry-set used for ovulation testing [1]. These early ovulation predictor kits were awkward and test results were sometimes sketchy. They were also prohibitively expensive and made a disastrous mess on the kitchen table. So much for the good old days...

Needless to say, in less than a decade things have changed quite a bit! Unwieldy glass test-tube apparatuses and kitchen laboratories have been slimmed down to an ultra-thin test strip format [2] that integrate ease-of-use with much improved accuracy (over 99%) and at just a fraction of the price. In fact, today we have an abundance of fertility products to choose from - from nutritional supplements [3] to support our fertility to ovulation monitors [4], ultra-accurate home pregnancy tests [5], and all kinds of newfangled baby-making gizmos.

This article is designed to cross-reference fundamental preconception tips with products that can help you conceive or quicken the pace to a positive pregnancy test!

TTC Tip # 1: If you know when you ovulate, you can radically boost your odds of a pregnancy!

Related Products: Ovulation Tests, Microscopes, and Fertility Monitors

As may know, a woman is fertile for just a few days each month. If you can pinpoint when you are most fertile than you can time lovemaking to increase the chances you will conceive. To this end, ovulation predictor kits [1] (OPKs) are specifically designed to detect sudden shifts in key reproductive hormones - shifts which take place directly prior to a woman's most fertile time of the month. The two key hormonal markers are estrogen and luteinizing hormone, or "LH". Estrogen is the hormone that "prepares" the body and womb for pregnancy. A surge in LH actually facilitates ovulation, the release of the egg. If you can screen for these hormonal changes, then you can pinpoint ovulation and boost your odds of conceiving.

Traditional urine-based (LH) Ovulation Tests remain the favorite method for ovulation testing. That's because this method is not only highly affordable, its very accurate. The LH hormone actually "causes" ovulation by creating the nexus from which the egg emerges from the ovary. When you get a positive on your urine ovulation test, you know that ovulation is imminent within the next 12 to 36 hours! Today, urine LH tests come in easy-to-use clinical test strips or in handheld "midstream" formats - with accuracy ratings of over 99%! Drugstore brands may cost $10.00 to $15.00 for just two kits. At under a buck each, clinical ovulation tests [1] (like those found at a doctor's office) are very affordable and available at Early-Pregnancy-Tests.com [6]. Join their newsletter while you are there!

Fertility Monitors and Ovulation Microscopes: When it comes to predicting fertility, the options are nearly limitless today. While urine testing remains the traditional, affordable (and favorite) option, newfangled fertility monitors like the ClearBlue [7], The OvaCue [8], or OvWatch [9] bring a space-age spin to detecting age-old hormonal patterns. As mentioned above, the two ovulation-predicting hormones of choice are LH and estrogen. A "digital" monitor like the ClearBlue actually integrates a dual-detection system that is able to screen for increases in LH and estrogen. While digital fertility monitors offer many hi-tech advantages, they do remain the more expensive option. Read more about fertility monitors [10].

A more affordable but nevertheless highly accurate alternative to a digital monitor is the ovulation microscope. Ovulation microscopes [11] work by detecting a woman's "estrogen surge", a more gradual increase in estrogen hormones that occurs about five to six days prior to ovulation. With the ovulation microscope, you simply view a dry saliva sample through a microscope lens. If you are about to ovulate, you'll begin to see crystal patterns in the saliva. The patterns (called "ferning") will gradually sharpen and intensify as you near peak fertility. Fertile Focus [12] remains the "customer favorite" ovulation scope, and its endorsed by fertility expert Amos Grunebaum, MD. Convenient, accurate, and easy-to-use, some women elect to use scopes like Fertile Focus in concert with traditional LH urine tests to "focus" on fertility.

TTC Tip # 2: Why WAIT for a Missed Period when you can test for pregnancy NOW!

Related Products: High-Sensitivity Pregnancy Tests

While we are on the topic of urine tests, Pregnancy Tests [5] are the logical follow-up to ovulation testing. If you know when you ovulate, then you will also know that about seven to ten days past ovulation, you can start testing for pregnancy with the high-sensitivity (20 mIU/ml) pregnancy tests that are now available. That means you do not need to wait for a "missed period". How do pregnancy tests work? For a quick summary, pregnancy tests detect the "pregnancy hormone" called hCG. This hormone is released by the placenta the moment a fertilized egg "implants" in the womb. Just a few days after implantation of the egg, urine hCG levels may be high enough to "trigger" a positive response. Like their ovulation-predicting sisters, pregnancy tests are accurate and easy to use. Better yet, they are equally affordable.

TTC Tip # 3: Avoid lubricants, moisturizers, and douches that can "block" sperm or alter your natural ph balance...

Related Products: Pre-Seed "Sperm Friendly Lubricant"

Hailed as a revolution in trying-to-conceive products, Pre-Seed [13] is a "sperm-friendly" sexual lubricant that is applied directly prior to lovemaking. Designed to reduce the stress of "on-demand" sex during a woman's fertile time, Pre-Seed emulates the texture and ph-balance of natural cervical fluids. This means that Pre-Seed won't block or kill sperm like conventional lubricants, moisturizers, and even saliva. In fact, for women with dryness issues, Pre-Seed may actually increase your odds of conceiving by providing a healthy medium for sustaining sperm movement. Pre-Seed comes in a number of forms. The manufacturer recommends using the applicator version that situates Pre-Seed near the cervix. However, Pre-Seed is now available in external application moisturizer packaging. Learn more about Pre-Seed [14]!

TTC Tip # 4: Folic acid is critical to prenatal health; Omega-3s support fetal development; Certain safe herbs have been shown to promote fertility in women and men...

Related Products: FertilAid for Women and Men [15], Fertility Blend, and Pregnancy Plus Vitamins

It's practically common knowledge that folic acid (contained in prenatal vitamins) is essential for trying-to-conceive and pregnant women. Folic acid has been shown to reduce birth defects and prenatal vitamins like Pregnancy Plus [16] are balanced with a smart "just right" formula designed specifically for TTC, pregnant, and nursing women. Recent literature has also confirmed that Omega-3 fatty acids are important to fetal development and can support the growth of the brain and visual centers - with cognitive improvements that are long-lasting. But not all Omega-3 products are alike: Pregnancy Plus Omega 3 [17] is molecularly distilled to avoid impurities and contaminants.

More and more research indicates that antioxidants and herbs can promote fertility in both men and women. Unlike prescription fertility drugs, fertility supplements are the natural, herbal-nutritional alternatives designed to support reproductive wellness and safely increase your odds of getting pregnant. There are a number of brands on the market today including the doctor-approved FertilAid or Fertility Blend [15]. Containing a dynamic spectrum of vitamins, minerals, and clinically-proven herbal ingredients, FertilAid comes in two special formulas - a woman's blend (with folic acid and vitex agnus castus) and a men's blend (containing essential antioxidants and l-carnitine). The ingredients in these supplements have been carefully selected based on clinical studies indicating increased fertility rates or, in the case of the men's formula, improved sperm motility and sperm count.

Formulated by fertility expert Amos Grunebaum, MD, FertilAid [18] is unique because it combines complete vitamin formulas with a special proprietary blend of proven herbal ingredients. The Women's formula essentially contains everything in a prenatal vitamin, but also includes the natural herb vitex agnus castus and other safe, fertility-enhancing nutrients. The FertilAid for Men formula is strong on antioxidants and boasts a potent dose of the natural amino acid, l-carnitine, which has been shown in numerous studies to improve both sperm count and motility. In fact, a study on FertilAid for Men was just recently released confirming its ability to support sperm counts and "total normal motile sperm". Fertility Blend supplements has been shown to increase fertility as well in other trials. Read more about fertility supplements [19]!

TTC Tip # 5: Get a preconception check-up with your doctor and start fertility charting....

Related Products: BBT Thermometer

Today, its recommended that trying-to-conceive women get a preconception check-up. Your doctor can provide you with advice, review any prescription drugs you are taking for safety, and make sure that existing health conditions are safe and sound for getting pregnant. Most doctors will also recommend starting a fertility chart or ovulation calendar - another means of predicting your fertile window that can be used in conjunction with our Tip #1 suggestions. Fertility (bbt) charting allows you to determine the length of your monthly cycle and when you ovulate during each cycle. That's because the moment you ovulate, your body temperature shoots up as due to a surge of the "body-heating" hormone progesterone. If you can detect this temperature increase with a special basal thermometer, you can know when you ovulate. Learn more about preconception facts and bbt charting with a basal thermometer [20].

So that's an overview of some fundamental preconception tips with a look at corresponding fertility products. A lot has changed in the last decade, thanks to advances in reproductive technologies, and the best part is that new preconception products have allowed couples to take charge of their fertility!

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