Infertility is a stressful experience for many couples. You may feel alone, or have difficulty trying to cope with problems associated with childlessness. There are times when a couple or individuals need help to work through these emotions and it is at these times that you can turn to a friend for support.

As a fertility Nurse Specialist,i created this thread so that women who found themselves "trying to conceive" or considering moving ahead to other assisted reproduction tecniques can share their experiences on the journey so far, express the frustrations on the failures had, encourage each other and above all,ask your dearest Nurse Specialist whatsoever fertility questions bothering you at all times!

...lets get started!

I know how it is: Once the word is out that you’re trying to conceive, friends and family start offering up all kinds of unsolicited advice. And while some of it can get pretty annoying (“Just relax — it’ll happen!”), every now and then a few pearls of wisdom shine through. Its true they are unwanted, but some of them could be useful!
How do you know which is #word or which is #trash
Lets share them here.A lot of other women could learn from these advices we think are funny!

The desire to have children can encourage some women to make healthier lifestyle choices. They may become more conscious of the foods, beverages and drugs they put into their bodies, and may set aside time to exercise. 
For women who want to optimize their fertility, taking better care of their bodies is a good first step. But what else can women do to improve their odds of having a baby? 
The most important advice for a woman who wants to get pregnant is to get to know her body, specifically her menstrual cycle.
It's important to know how far apart her cycles are so she can more accurately time intercourse to try to get pregnant.

Here are some tips that may help increase a healthy woman's chances of becoming pregnant, assuming that neither she nor her partner have a known fertility problem.  

Record menstrual cycle frequency 
A woman who wants to have a baby should monitor whether the first days of her period tends to come the same number of days apart every month, which is considered being regular. Conversely, her periods may be irregular, meaning her cycle lengths vary from month to month. By tracking this information on a calendar, a woman can better predict when she might be ovulating, the time when her ovaries will release an egg every month. 
A woman's egg is fertile for only 12 to 24 hours after its release, according to the March of Dimes. However, a man's sperm can survive in a woman's body for about three to five days!

Monitor ovulation 
Women with regular cycles generally ovulate two weeks before the arrival of their periods. It's harder to predict ovulation in women with irregular cycles, but it usually occurs 12 to 16 days before the start of the woman's next period. 
There are several methods women can use to help determine their most fertile days each month. 
-Home ovulation-prediction kits can take some of the guesswork out of finding when a woman is ovulating. They're good to use for this purpose.Sold at drug stores, the kits test urine for luteinizing hormone, a substance whose levels increase each month during ovulation and cause the ovaries to release an egg. The three days right after a positive test result are the best time for couples to have sex to increase their odds of becoming pregnant.

-Other clues to ovulation include the basal body temperature method, in which a woman takes her temperature before she gets out of bed every day and charts this on a graph for at least three menstrual cycles. After a woman ovulates, her basal body temperature typically increases less than half a degree (0.3 degrees Celsius). A woman is most fertile during the two to three days before this slight rise in body temperature, reports the Mayo Clinic. 
-A second method is tracking cervical mucus, which involves a woman regularly checking both the amount and appearance of mucus in her vagina.Just before ovulation when a woman is most fertile, the amount of mucus increases and it also becomes thinner, clearer and more slippery. When cervical mucus becomes more slippery, it can help sperm make its way to the egg. 

-Have sex every other day during the fertile window 
The "fertile window" spans a six-day interval, the five days prior to ovulation and the day of it. These are the days each month when a woman is most fertile. 

There are plenty of common misconceptions and old wives' tales about conception. For example, there's no evidence that the position a couple has sex in will influence their chances of conception!
Who knows other misconceptions you have heard regarding conception as a whole!
Share with us and encourage a sister out there!
-Fertility Nurse.

Here are just a few reasons why you should choose to be happy while on the TTC journey!

1) Girl, you are ALIVE

Yes, yes…you’ve heard this over and over again, but it’s a fact that so many people would have given anything to still be alive today. But there you are, alive and probably in the best of health, save for a few reproductive issues. The woman who has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness would probably give anything to be in your shoes. So, yeah…you do need to be happy…and grateful.

2) You have LOVE

If you are TTC, that means you probably have a partner. Yes, your sexual romps might not have hit the bull’s eye yet, but hey…at least you’re having sex. You have someone to cuddle up with at night…someone to talk to…someone to love. You might want to take it for granted, but there are millions of people the world over, who would give anything to have someone wrap a loving arm around them, even if only for just 5 minutes. In the midst of your TTC anxiety, never take your partner for granted.

3) You have HOPE

Yes, you might have failed cycle after cycle, but you HAVE kept on trying. Yes, your heart has been broken over and over again, but you have kept on hoping. You see a future of yourself with your babies, and the delay in the realisation of that dream is what is causing you much angst. Take a break from the sadness and give thought to those people who can not see a day past tomorrow, those people who have totally given up on life and believe they have nothing to live for. You, on the other hand, do have something to live for. Never take that for granted.

Of course, it is not easy to choose to be happy when surrounded by frustrating issues! . How do you deal with the kill joys in your life? The people and things that, whether deliberately or inadvertently, bring you down? First of all, you need to recognise them for what they are. Identify, and acknowledge, that these are the things that are most guaranteed to bring down your Positive Mental Attitude (PMA), and then choose to act accordingly. It’s not compulsory to engage in conversation with that woman who always asks the tactless and over personal questions. It’s your prerogative to choose whether, or not, to answer the call of that friend who keeps lamenting about how fertile she is. You can always go hunting for another Church if yours has suddenly turned to a baby factory for everyone but you, with every other person sporting a baby bump and wanting to pray for yours. Anything that attempts to mess with your zen, take a pair of scissors and snip them right out!

Because happy you choose to be, and happy you must remain!  (Nicolethefertilechuick)

# Fertility Nurse

I think its time we review the topic "Assisted reproductive technology (ART)"
It is the technology used to achieve pregnancy in procedures such as fertility medication, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and surrogacy. It is the reproductive technology used primarily for infertility treatments, and is also known as fertility treatment. It mainly belongs to the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility, and may also include intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and cryopreservation.

With ART, the process of sexual intercourse is bypassed either by artificial insemination or fertilization of the oocytes in the laboratory environment (i.e., in vitro fertilization).

If a woman does not become pregnant after earnestly TTC for more than two years, and if she is way above age 35, then its time for more aggressive treatments!

These include:

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)
In Vitro Fertilization
Third Party Assisted ART
Sperm Donation
Egg Donation
Surrogates and Gestational Carriers.

But in all these available options,a wanna-be mom would obviously be confused with all these medical terms and treatments! Who do u talk to? Talking about it actually helps to ease the burden way more dan we think!
Come on here lets talk about them and fight as hard as we can to achieve our dreams!

XOXO # fertility nurse.