Enhancing your Fertility this Spring (beyond the birds & the bees!)

Well, Spring is in the air, and who would know it more than me, the lady carrying twins!  Being pregnant in the springtime certianly puts you in tune with nature...the baby animals at Drumlin Farm, the eggs still nestled in their nests, the baby deer and foxes peeking through the woods in my back yard.  Spring feels like a natural time for fertility.  However, as many know very well, try as you may, pregnancy does not always happen easily.  If you are trying to coneive, here are some tips for enhancing your fertility!



1. Understand Your Cycle: Even if you have a very regular menstrual cycle, learning to pinpoint your ovulation can be of great help in conceiving. Two good options are BBT temperature charting and using ovulation kits. We recommend the BBT chart if it is not too stressful, because it also gives a wealth of other information about why a woman may not be conceiving.


2. Check Your Cervical Mucus: This is a very easy and effective way to learn your body’s signs of fertility. During infertile times of the month, the mucus is scant and thick. For the 3-5 days around ovulation, the mucus becomes a stretchy egg-white consistency.

3. If you are going to use lubrication, use Pre-Seed: most external lubrications, including saliva, are ‘unfriendly’ to sperm. The one exception is a product called Pre-Seed which is a similar pH to ideal cervical mucus and this product has been shown to enhance fertility for women that are experiencing inadequate mucus/lubrication. Check out www.preseed.com for more information.

4. Check your Cervical Position: As you approach ovulation, the cervix will rise higher towards the uterus and feel soft and open. Think of the acronym SHOW (Soft, High, Open,Wet). After ovulation is past it will feel just the opposite (Hard, Low, Closed and Dry).

5. Keep Control over your Weight: Being overweight or underweight can make conception more challenging. The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study found that overweight women took twice as long to get pregnant as ‘normal’ weight women. Underweight was even worse- it look them four times as long to get pregnant.

6. Get Moderate Exercise: The Harvard study also showed that moderate exercise reduced the risk of ovulatory infertility by as much as 25%.

7. Reduce Your Stress!: Who knows what came first, the stress or the infertility? It really doesn’t matter, because either way, stress reduction and more time for relaxation will enhance your chances of conception.

8. Enjoy SEX: It seems like this would be obvious, but sex can become yet another source of stress when trying to conceive. Try to relax and remember that the enjoyment of baby-making actually increases its likelihood! Orgasms bring about relaxation and increase cervical fluids. Also, best to lie flat for around 20 minutes after intercourse to give those swimmers a fighting chance! Of course, we know that not everyone is conceiving through intercourse but this applies to the many that are.

9. Get enough Sleep: sleep deprivation alters your hormones, effects your mood and lowers immunity. This can signal to your body that there is not enough energy to support conception. As a result, irregular menstrual cycles and anovulation can occur.

10. Eat Healthy Foods: As much as possible, try to eat an organic, whole foods based diet rich in vegetables and whole grains. Avoid processed foods which contain toxins, dioxins and artificial hormones.

11. Avoid Xenoestrogens: These are chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body and wreak havoc with the proper performance of real estrogen. They are so structurally similar to estrogen that they attach to the same receptors and block the real estrogen from doing its work. It has been linked to recurrent miscarriages, endometriosis, ectopic pregnancy & Polycycstic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). They come mainly from pesticides and plastics.

12. Get more Phytoestrogens instead: The best defense against Xenoestrogens (other than avoiding them) is to ingest more phytoestrogens (plant estrogens). These also mimic estrogen but in a beneficial way. Flaxseeds and Soy are the best sources, as well as nuts, legumes and sesame seeds. It is also in many fruits and vegetables.

13. Forget the Coffee and drink Green Tea instead: coffee is very acidic which can harm cervical fluids and it also reduces blood flow to the uterus. Green tea is rich in polyphenols- a powerful antioxidant that aids in implantation, benefits the immune system and may help prevent chromosomal abnormalities. Green tea is also alkaline as opposed to acidic.

14. Take a good Multi-Vitamin: The full spectrum of vitamins will all enhance your energy and fertility. You can take a good prenatal vitamin and then when you get pregnant you will already be giving that baby everything they need!

15. Try Taking Royal Jelly: Royal Jelly is what bees in a colony feed to their queen to help her produce hundreds of eggs a day. Think of it as the bee equivalent to a fertility drug. This supplement contains a complex blend of amino acids, vitamins, enzymes, fatty acids and sterols (a component of hormones). This should not be taken by anyone with an allergy to bee stings or any bee products.

16. Get regular Acupuncture!: Acupuncture reduces stress, successfully regulates the menstrual cycle and improves overall health. All of these things will greatly enhance your ability to conceive and have a healthy pregnancy & child.

17. Forget anything on this list if it is causing too much stress!!!: These suggestions are meant to empower and affirm life (yours and the baby to be). If it is causing stress and anxiety, then it is not achieving that goal and should be let go of.

Slowing down and staying warm this winter...

The Winter Season represents the water element, the kidneys, adrenal glands, bladder and bones. In Traditional Chinese medicine the kidneys are considered to be the body’s source of energy. When the seasons change different organs become vulnerable as our bodies shift to keep balanced. In winter, the water element predominates which corresponds to our kidneys and bladder. There are simple habits, foods, herbs and acupuncture techniques we can employ to keep our kidneys and our whole system healthy and strong during the winter.

During the cold and dark of winter, there is a natural inclination to slow down and 'hibernate'.  This is a good instinct that we should listen to.  Winter is a great time to get more rest and allow ourselves time to turn inward.  Unfortunately, in this culture, the pace of life does not change much with the seasons- we still work, commute and stay as busy as ever.  During the winter months, I love when a really big snowstorm will stop everything in its tracks.  The power of nature overpowers us, and everyone needs to stop.  The roads and the world become quiet, even if just for a little while.  When this happens, I love the beauty and silence that it creates.  Even the snow falling is silent and can create a feeling of peace within.  Meditation is a practice that happen naturally during the winter- when the pull towards introspection can be quite strong.                       

The winter is also the time to stay warm, especially the lower back where the Kidneys and Bladder are.  In acupuncture we are very fond of the use of moxibustion during this time of year.  In Chinese Medicine, the kidneys are our 'pilot light', the source of our core energy that ignites all of the others systems in the body.  By warming the lower back with the use of 'moxa', we can tonify and strengthen this pilot light and it can keep the body warm and full of energy throughout the winter.  A great technique to use at home, is to buy a buckwheat pillow and warm it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes and then place it on your lower back while relaxing each evening.  I recently found a great pillow at CVS for $15 called the bed buddy that works great for this purpose.  It is amazing how much warmth it puts off and lasts for quite awhile.  The pillow also works great for a stiff neck that often takes in the cold of winter!

According to Chinese ancient wisdom, one of the best drinks during the wintertime is Ginger Tea. Ginger has always played the role of warding off colds and flu in the Chinese herbal medicine system, because colds and flu are considered “coldness” from outside, while ginger can enhance the “warmness” from within.  So, everyone continue to eat your warm hearty soups, teas and enjoy the slow pace of winter whenever you can. You will be storing up your inner energy for a bountiful and overflowing spring!!