Natural Family Planning: Basal Body Temperature

Monitoring your basal body temperature can help you determine when your chances of becoming pregnant, or not becoming pregnant, are at their peak. Tracking your basal body temperature needs to be done daily and you may need to keep records for several months in order to accurately determine how your body reacts to ovulation.
If you are trying to become pregnant, you will want to increase your chances by having sex during the five days before ovulation and on the day that you ovulate. To begin, you will need a basal body temperature thermometer. A basal body temperature thermometer measures your body temperature by tenths of degrees, much more accurate than typical thermometers. Since you will be looking for very slight variations in temperature, the basal body temperature thermometer is a must.
Basal body temperature refers to the temperature of your body when you are at rest. Therefore, you need to take your temperature in the morning before you get out of bed. Record your daily temperature on a chart. When your temperature rises by as little as 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit and stays there for a few days, then you can assume that ovulation has occurred. Some women experience a full degree of difference, but many women only have a slight change in temperature.
You may notice your temperature decrease slightly just before ovulation. Your hormone levels should change when ovulation occurs and cause your basal body temperature to increase the day after ovulation and stay elevated for a few days. If your menstrual cycles are fairly consistent, then you should be able to determine fairly accurately when you are about to ovulate.
If you are trying to avoid pregnancy, then you want to consider that after ovulation, your egg can survive and be fertile anywhere from a few hours to a full day after ovulation. It may be best when monitoring your basal body temperature to abstain from sexual activity for a few days after ovulation to increase your chances of avoiding pregnancy. Keep in mind that any fluctuation in your menstrual cycle can cause things to change and estimating your ovulation day is not the most reliable method of birth control. Factors such as stress, diet, weight gain or loss, and medications can change things with little or no indication on a basal body temperature thermometer.
If you are trying to conceive, starting with a basal body temperature chart is a good place to begin. It can help you determine the best times to attempt to conceive. If you are having problems conceiving, then you should see an infertility specialist. Your diligent attempts at keeping an accurate record of your basal body temperature could prove to be a valuable asset when determining what infertility treatment may be right for you.

About the Author: Eric Daiter is the medical director of The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine, LLC, a leading NEW JERSEY INFERTILITY CENTER that offers a complete range of MALE INFERTILITY AND FEMALE INFERTILITY TREATMENT.

Ovulation Induction: Advanced Infertility Treatment

Many women having trouble conceiving turn to an infertility specialist, or Reproductive Endocrinologist for help. If you are in this situation and have been diagnosed with ovulatory problems, then your infertility specialist may have suggested ovulation induction as a possible solution. Ovulation induction can be very effective for women who do not ovulate or who have irregular ovulation patterns.
Ovulation induction is a treatment that stimulates your ovaries into ovulating. There are a few medications that are commonly used to induce ovulation. Your infertility specialist will work with you in determining which medications will help you reach your goals. Careful monitoring is essential to improving your odds of conception. Working with an experienced and skilled infertility specialist could prove invaluable on your quest to achieve pregnancy.
There are a few different types of ovulation induction therapies that your doctor will discuss with you. Having a basic understanding of each one should help you make an informed decision about how to proceed with your ovulation induction. Drugs that stimulate the ovary and help to produce mature eggs include injectable gonadotropins, clomiphene citrate, gonadotropin releasing hormone, among others.
Clomiphene citrate is commonly used to treat women experiencing ovulatory problems. This is usually the first step that you will take in trying to make your ovaries release one or more eggs. Most women experiencing little or no ovulation have only a slight rise, or no rise in follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and/or luteinizing hormone (LH). Clomiphene citrate lowers or blocks estrogen receptors in the body. Your pituitary gland should produce more FSH and LH to try and bring the estrogen levels back up. In a normal menstrual cycle, the estrogen drops, FSH and LH stimulate the ovarian follicles to mature and release eggs until the estrogen levels are brought back to a normal level. By blocking estrogen receptors, clomiphene citrate tricks the body into releasing additional FSH and LH.
Occasionally, the clomiphene citrate will not produce a high enough or long enough FSH level to encourage ovulation. If this is the case with you, then injectable gonadotropins may be recommended by your infertility specialist. Basically, injectable gonadotropins are injections of FSH. This can help you keep the levels of FSH in your body higher and for longer periods of time. Your doctor will monitor you to determine the correct amount of stimulation that you need without over-stimulating your ovaries into the production of many eggs.
When your doctor says that the eggs have matured in the follicles of your ovaries and are ready to be released, an HCG injection may be administered, which acts like LH in the ovaries. An LH surge usually happens naturally in a menstrual cycle to release an egg. It usually does not happen in an ovulation induction treatment and your doctor may choose to do the HCG injection.
All of this information should be used for familiarizing yourself with ovulation induction treatments and should not replace advice given by your infertility specialist. Ovulatory problems should be dealt with by a professional, experienced Reproductive Endocrinologist. Ovulation success rates are fairly high for these types of treatments, but not all will conceive. Other problems could be affecting your infertility, so find an infertility specialist that is willing to work with you to find your best infertility treatment options.

About the Author: Eric Daiter is the medical director of The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine, LLC, a leading NEW JERSEY INFERTILITY CENTER that offers a complete range of MALE INFERTILITY AND FEMALE INFERTILITY TREATMENT. For more information on The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine and Dr. Eric Daiter please visit http://www.drericdaitermd.com/.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a common cause of infertility in women. Women can develop PCOS if there are too many male hormones in their bodies and not enough female hormones. This affects ovulation rates and can make ovulation irregular or non-existent in some women. PCOS causes the ovarian follicles to stop growing. If the follicles do not grow, then they can not release an egg. The follicles don’t reach maturity and they just continue to build up as small to midsized cysts on the ovaries.
The cysts that form on the ovaries release estrogen. The estrogen produced by the ovarian follicles use androgenic or male hormones during this production process. If ovulation doesn’t occur, then the male hormone levels stay high. The result can affect the production of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). This can severely impact your ability to ovulate.
There are a few symptoms of PCOS that your doctor will look for when diagnosing PCOS as your cause of infertility. Your symptoms may include obesity and insulin resistance, as well as an excess amount of body hair. These symptoms affect about half of the women experiencing PCOS. Your doctor will also look for irregularities in your menstrual periods. This could be very heavy or very light bleeding, fluctuating cycle lengths or the cessation of periods all together. Acne is a common PCOS symptom, as well as skin discolorations around the genitals, chest and arm pits. Conceiving can be difficult and is often the trigger that gets women to the doctor for their diagnosis.
Diagnosing PCOS can be difficult and often includes ruling out many other possibilities. Your doctor will go over your symptoms and family history. A family history of obesity and/or diabetes can be a factor. Since PCOS can cause insulin resistance, weight loss can be difficult, blood sugar levels can be high, high blood pressure is a risk, and all of these things can lead to diabetes or heart disease. Your doctor may do an ultrasound to look for cysts, but some women with the hormone imbalances of PCOS don’t have cysts, and some women with cysts don’t have PCOS. This makes the diagnosis a little more difficult and many other things may need to be ruled out before a PCOS diagnosis will be given.
A heart healthy diet and regular exercise are essential when you’re trying to control the effects of PCOS. Your doctor may prescribe medications to help balance your hormones. There isn’t an actual cure for PCOS, but controlling the symptoms can greatly reduce your risks of the serious side effects of PCOS. Losing even a small amount of weight can help bring your hormones back into balance and restore your fertility. Your doctor may also want to lower your insulin levels with medicine to increase your chances of conceiving. If you’re not planning on conceiving, then birth control pills can help regulate your periods. With PCOS, the lining of your uterus can build and build. This can lead to uterine cancer if not treated. Birth control pills can significantly reduce this risk by ensuring that you menstruate monthly.
There are many other therapy options that you can discuss with your doctor. Keep in mind that hormone therapies do not help decrease your heart disease and diabetes risk. Therefore, you should take the healthy diet and exercise advice very seriously.

About the Author: Eric Daiter is the medical director of The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine, LLC, a leading NEW JERSEY INFERTILITY CENTER that offers a complete range of MALE INFERTILITY AND FEMALE INFERTILITY TREATMENT. For more information on The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine and Dr. Eric Daiter please visit www.drericdaitermd.com.

Ovulation Prediction

Your best chances of getting pregnant are when you’re ovulating. This includes a few days before and after your egg is released. Ovulation generally occurs 14 days before the start of your next menstrual period, but everyone is different, and predicting when you ovulate could get a little tricky.
First, you need to determine when your menstrual period begins. The first day of a menstrual cycle is considered the day that your period starts. The last day of your cycle is the last day before your period starts again. The menstrual cycle is usually around 28 days long, but could be longer or shorter for you. Track your period on a calendar to figure out how long your menstrual cycle is. Ovulation should occur about 14 days before your next period begins.
Accurately predicting ovulation can be a little trickier than figuring out when day 14 is for you. Ovulation can be irregular or it can be affected by diet, stress or illness. There are a few other ways to more accurately predict ovulation. Tracking your basal body temperature is a common way to predict ovulation. Take your temperature every morning before you get out of bed and track the changes. After you ovulate, your body temperature will rise slightly, around a half a degree Fahrenheit. Your body temperature rises to create a more fertile environment for a fertilized egg. Your body temperature should remain elevated from the day after you ovulate until your next period begins due to the increased progesterone in your system.
Another prediction method is the cervical mucus method. Monitoring your cervical mucus levels can help you predict ovulation. This can help you figure out when ovulation is about to happen and increase your chances of getting pregnant. Just before ovulation, your cervical mucus will become thin, clear and slippery. Sperm can live in your body for a few days, so intercourse around this time can increase your chances of having a fertilized egg and achieving pregnancy.
Ovulation prediction kits and tests can be very accurate. When your body is preparing to ovulate, it creates a surge of luteinizing hormone which prompts the ovary to release the egg from the ovarian follicle. Ovulation prediction kits and tests detect the surge of luteinizing hormone and accurately show when ovulation is going to occur. It is very important when using this method to follow the manufacturer’s directions exactly. Unlike pregnancy tests, early morning is not the best time to take and ovulation test. Luteinizing hormone can take until early afternoon to collect in your urine. Take the test at the same time every day for the most accurate interpretation of the results. Like a pregnancy test, you should avoid drinking a lot of liquids for two hours before you take the test, as to not dilute the hormone being detected.
You may need to try different methods while you are attempting to get pregnant. Talk to your doctor about your results and keep track of each method’s results on a calendar. This will help you track your fertility and best figure when ovulation is actually taking place.

About the Author: Eric Daiter is the medical director of The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine, LLC, a leading NEW JERSEY INFERTILITY CENTER that offers a complete range of MALE INFERTILITY AND FEMALE INFERTILITY TREATMENT. For more information on The NJ Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine and Dr. Eric Daiter please visit www.drericdaitermd.com.