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| Before you and your partner start trying
to get pregnant, it is important to book a health before pregnancy
check-up with your health care provider. Both men and women benefit
from a check-up prior to pregnancy. If you or your partner has not
had infections such as chicken pox or rubella (German measles), you
need to be immunized before pregnancy. Screening for sexually transmitted
infections can also be done. If you have had problems with a previous
pregnancy, have a medical condition or are taking drugs, you may need
specialized care before, during and after pregnancy. |
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| While you are booking your health before
pregnancy check-up with your health care provider, book one with your
dentist. Dental problems and infections can lead to serious consequences
for both the mother and the baby during pregnancy. It is best to ensure
your dental health before conception. |
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Are
my eggs ready yet?
Much goes on when you start getting ready to have children. You and
your partner have a lot to think about and to discuss. You search for
family planning tips. You start asking friends for what they know about
babies. But pregnancy becomes more real as you start preparing your
body for pregnancy.
Barrier methods such as condoms, diaphragms and sponges stop the sperm
from reaching the egg but do not interfere with ovulation. An egg is
still released each month. When you have thought things through and
are ready to get pregnant, simply stop using these forms of birth control.
From pill to pregnancy
If you have been using birth control pills, you may have questions. “When
do I stop taking the pill? What should I know?”
There are many different kinds of birth control pills. That is
because women’s bodies are not all the same – you really
are one of a kind. So you can expect that your body will have its
own unique way of responding when you stop taking the pill.
There is no way to tell how long it will take you to get pregnant
based on the time you have been on the pill or the kind of pill
you use. But some basic information can be counted on to help ease
your mind while you make your way to parenthood.
Sunny side up
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You do not have to wait for
the pill to leave your system before you try to get pregnant. |
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More than 98% of women will
ovulate (release an egg) within 3 to 6 months after stopping
the pill. |
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A small number of women might
find it takes longer to get pregnant. This is not linked
to using the birth control pill. |
Baby in waiting… staying
with birth control
If you decide to use another
type of birth control for a while after you go off the
pill, you will need to find out…
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About all
the choices that would suit your needs and your partner’s
needs |
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How to use the different forms
of birth control |
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How much
each costs |
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Where to buy birth control |
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How well the different
birth control methods work |
Talk to your health care provider about bridging the gap between
the pill and pregnancy with other birth control. |
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Other forms of birth control
If you want to get pregnant and you are using another form of birth control such
as hormone injections, implants, patches or an IUD, talk to your health care
provider. In order for ovulation to occur, these birth control methods will need
to be removed or stopped.
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The time is now
Are you ready to handle pregnancy when it happens – either right away or
sometime in the next year? To know for sure, make these plans: |
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Set up realistic time frames. Be ready if
pregnancy happens quickly. But if pregnancy takes many months, be prepared
for the time that it takes. |
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Learn more about what affects the ability
to get pregnant – your fertility. |
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Be open with your partner about your feelings
towards birth control and how you can handle it together. |
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I will…
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Getting egg and sperm together
Your body is like a clock. We hear this so often that we might not stop to think
about how true it is. And for most couples that are trying to get pregnant, the
clock can be counted on to know when it has the best chance for an egg to meet
some sperm. This union means fertility – it means you can get pregnant.
Because you can chart fertility, you can plan a pregnancy to happen when your
body, relationships and your life are at their healthiest.
The “egg timer”
If you want to become pregnant, you will want to have sex during your most fertile
time – during ovulation. But when is this? You can predict it. Track your
periods for more than 2 months. Any calendar will do. The more menstrual cycles
you track, the more likely you will be able to see your pattern of fertility.
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Decide how many months you want to track. |
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Put a “P” on the days you have
your period each month, starting with the first day you bleed. |
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Count the number of days in each cycle.
Count from the 1st day of one period to the day the next period begins.
Write this number down under each month in your calendar. |
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Next count back 14 days from the start of
each period for every month you tracked. Mark an X. The X marks the days
you are most likely to have released an egg during that cycle. You should
also mark an X on the other possible fertile days. This could be 2 days
earlier or 2 days later. As each one of us is unique, it is often difficult
to pinpoint the exact day and is helpful to mark all of these days as possibly
fertile. |
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Pay attention to your vaginal discharge. Fertile mucus
is clear, sticky and there’s lots of it! The only time of the month
you have this particular discharge is during ovulation. |
What all couples should know
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95% of healthy couples under the
age of 35 are able to get pregnant within 1 year of trying. |
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Pregnancy is more likely to happen
when sex takes place around the time that an egg is released from the ovary. |
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After an egg is released it lives
for about 24 hours. |
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Sperm can live
up to 5 days in a woman’s reproductive tract. |
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A woman is most likely to release
an egg (ovulate) 14 days before the start of her period. |
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Having sex too often can decrease sperm counts
in men. If you are trying to get pregnant, have sex every couple of days
around the time of ovulation. |
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Women can track menstrual cycles (periods) to
tell when ovulation happens for them. Learn more about your own fertility
pattern. |
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Healthy eating, getting enough sleep, being
active and getting a handle on stress helps to keep your sex organs healthy. |
Regular vs. irregular
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How long are your cycles (from the
start of 1 period to the start of the next period)? |
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Are they about the same length each month? If yes, then
your periods are “regular” and ovulation is easier to predict
because it happens close to the same time each cycle.
Do your cycles vary a lot in length? Then they are irregular, making it
harder to know when ovulation will occur. |
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Which day did
you ovulate in each cycle if you count from the first day of each period?
You’re most fertile time starts a day or 2 before your ovulation
day and ends a day or 2 after. |
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Does this number stay the same each cycle? Then you are regular.
Is this number different each cycle? This makes it harder to predict when
you will ovulate, but not impossible. |
Changing cycles
Some women do not have regular cycles – here is an example: over 3 months
you find one cycle is 28 days long, another is 24 and another is 36 days long.
For each cycle subtract 14 days to find out when you may have ovulated.
28 day cycle – 14 = 14
In this cycle, you likely ovulate on the 14th day after the start of your period.
24 day cycle – 14 = 10
In this cycle, you likely ovulate on the 10th day after the start of your period
36 day cycle – 14 = 22
In this cycle, you likely ovulate on the 22nd day after the start of your period.
You now know you release an egg (you are fertile) sometime between day 10 and
day 22 after the beginning of your period. The egg lives only 24 hours, but because
sperm can live up to 5 days, the day you have sex is not the only time when the
sperm and egg can meet.
When you have irregular cycles, you will find it much harder to figure out fertile
times than someone with regular cycles. You might want to look into other ways
of predicting your fertile times, such as measuring your body temperature and
watching for changes in discharge from the vagina. All details of fertility tracking
are hard to piece together so it is a good idea to review your pregnancy plans
with people who work on fertility issues.
| For help
close to home, contact: |
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• your
health care provider
• fertility
clinics
• library |
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