Fertility Support
Are you are trying to conceive or planning to have kids at some point in the future? It’s so important to begin to think ahead. Prepare your body now as much as possible. Here are some tips to set yourself up for a healthy pregnancy, baby, and a great postpartum season.
Know your cycle
Get to know your cycle. If you haven’t read Taking Control of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler, it’s a great resource to learn more about your cycle, hormones, and tracking fertility. Beginning to take your temperature upon waking every morning is a great way to learn more about your cycle and an important indicator of your current health. Too low of a temperature (below 97.0° during the follicular phase and below 97.5° during ovulation) can be a sign of high cortisol and an indicator your thyroid may need support. Being aware of your sleep quality, stress levels, diet and appetite, and exercise routine are all important to know. Each of these areas has an impact on your hormone health and menstrual cycle.
Eat a Nutrient Dense Diet
Eat nutrient-dense food now. Don’t just wait until you are pregnant. And no this does not just mean for the woman, this is also SO important for your spouse, after all, he is contributing 50% of the baby’s DNA. What you do leading up to your pregnancy has a huge impact on egg and sperm quality. Mineral-rich, protein-packed, nutrient-dense food is so important to prepare your body for conception. If you want some recipe ideas, make sure you are signed up for my newsletter and check out my ebook, 7 Days to Balance.
Start Your Supplements
Begin taking high-quality supplements including a prenatal. Beef liver is nature’s multivitamin and would be a great addition. Needed also has fertility-specific supplement support for women and men. Finally. I would add in adrenal cocktails and electrolytes daily to ensure you are getting enough minerals.
Lower your toxin load
Begin switching out products in your home for less toxic options, including toiletries and cleaning products. Start buying organic produce, especially those highest in pesticides listed on the dirty dozen. Switch to filtered water. Do what you can to eliminate your toxic load. Studies are now showing microplastics are being found in placentas. It’s a bit overwhelming to think about how much toxins we are exposed to but do what you can to minimize that overall toxic load. The Environmental Working Group is a great resource with product recommendations. Visit www.ewg.org to learn more!
Get Tested
Get lab work done so you know where you are starting and what areas you can work on to improve your health.
An HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) is a great way to assess your mineral status, stress levels, and stress response. With this tool, you see how you can add in specific nutrition and supplement support.
If you’d like to look into doing an HTMA, contact me here and I’d love to chat.
Some other labs that would be great to do are a full thyroid panel, comprehensive blood work, a GI map, and a DUTCH hormone test. If you have any questions or want recommendations on where to do these labs, please reach out! Although I don’t do these other labs with clients, I am happy to refer to other practitioners I trust.
Continue Learning
If you’d like to dive in and learn more about how you can prepare your body for pregnancy here are some great books to read:
Don't Stress!
Lastly, don’t stress! Beginning to plan for a family and growing your family is such an exciting season of life! I hope you can enjoy each day with intentionality and peace.