Thank you guys again for all of your advice and uplifting words/stories regarding fertility!

Despite the negativity and intermittent sadness, there are a lot of positive things that have come of this journey. It has been a major quest in finding myself and becoming more comfortable with my body. I have never really been comfortable with my body. I’m not talking about the “I think I’m fat” stuff. I’m talking about not believing in my own physical strength. Since I was a young girl, the smallest thing would convince me that I was sick or abnormal. I was in perfect health, but I was often preoccupied about what could happen to my body. Eventually, it all lead to my mind constantly telling my body I would have trouble having kids.

Since I have started on this fertility path, I have come across many other women who seem to share my fears and doubts. We are all convinced we can’t get pregnant for one reason or another. It can be “nice” to hear this, mainly because we don’t feel alone. But otherwise, think about how it also sets us up for heartache? If we all believe we can’t get pregnant, the ones that do, are basically… lucky? And the ones that don’t are…what? Doomed?

You either surge to the top of the “feel good” charts or you plummet to the depths of despair when most of the time we don’t actually know what’s going on.

I have been trying to break down my years of negative thinking about what my body can and cannot do, and choose to believe, FIRST and FOREMOST, that my body CAN do a lot. My body can make miracles (baby or otherwise) happen. It is so much stronger than I have given it credit for.

Secondly, I am constantly reading about fertility. I have been researching the heck out of everything I can get my hands on. Diet is such a huge part of all of this. Our exposure to toxins and “bad stuff” can be out of control. These toxins not only mess with our bodies, but can also cause hormonal imbalances which can affect fertility.

Some major changes I have implemented so far:

1) Switched from bottled water to filtered water. I used to drink any and all bottled water like a mad woman. I *thought* I was doing a good job. Now I know better.

2) Increased my daily intake of fruits and veggies. Leafy greens are super important. Since I am terrible about eating veggies, the easiest thing for me is to make sure I have a big salad at dinner. We buy a huge bin of spring mix at Trader Joe’s and eat it all week. I’m not going to lie; sometimes I have to force it down while plugging my nose. I’m dramatic.

3) Decreased my intake of chicken and red meat. When I do eat chicken and meat, I try my best to eat/buy organic.

4) Decreased my fast food. BIG time. This one is pretty self-explanatory.

5) Increased my intake of green tea. I am not sure if this one helps much with fertility, but it seems to soothe me.

6) Take a pre-natal vitamin daily.

7) Take an iron supplement daily prescribed by my doctor (I’m anemic).

This is just a short list of improvements. My diet is definitely not perfect. I know I should be working harder at being gluten-free. Hopefully I can tackle that next!

One last thing, before I end this version of “Fertility Fine Tuning” is I think every woman can benefit from possessing a good understanding of her menstrual cycle.

Do I sound like your 10th grade health teacher?

Seriously though, I have learned so much about what my body goes through each and every month. I am really embarrassed to admit this, but until about a year ago, I didn’t even know exactly when a woman could and could not get pregnant. There I said it. I just kinda guestimated when it came to those types of things.