Behavioral Solutions
An understanding of
how to regulate timing, and other behavioral related
aspects can help to increase the likelihood that pregnancy
can occur, and that miscarriage is prevented. But it
is also important to realize that it is not all controllable.
Sperm is manufactured
on a supply and demand basis. According to some sources,
intercourse every two or three days helps to increase
the amount of viable sperm. This may help for couples
dealing with low sperm count, or low motility.
Pregnancy can occur
from intercourse up to five days before ovulation, though
it is rare for it to occur that early. The life span
of the egg, once released though, is only about 24 hours
or so. Women get pregnant from intercourse right before
ovulation, or during ovulation.
Sperm typically live
for about 72 hours, occasionally longer. There is evidence
to indicate that they break down with age, and that
pregnancies from older sperm are more likely to have
genetic problems than pregnancies from younger sperm
- that is, pregnancy which occurred within 2 days or
less of ovulation. If a couple is coping with low sperm
count or low motility, the potential for pregnancy would
be less across the board, so careful timing would be
more important.
If you are calculating
ovulation, and using ovulation prediction methods, you
may be able to time things more closely, but if not,
you may need to use the strategy of making sure all
your bases are covered - and that means intercourse
every other day through the time during which you are
most likely to ovulate.
Since a frequency of
every two to three days helps to increase sperm volume
(according to some sources), it follows that you might
wish to start that strategy as soon as your period is
over, in order to give his body time to build up the
levels some.
And we have to laugh
at ourselves some. I mean, here we are obsessing about
when we ovulate, and whether there are enough pollywogs
to get the job done, when there are women all over the
world are wondering how in the world they could have
got pregnant when they should not have even been fertile!
There was a time when I knew that even if I were trying
to prevent pregnancy, there was a good chance I'd end
up with another baby on the way anyway! Having a baby
was never a disaster to me, all our children were welcome,
but two were conceived when we were trying to delay
the arrival of the next one. Almost ludicrous that I
should have to TRY to have a baby!
Of course, then there
are the theories about staying down after intercourse,
laying down, to give it a better chance, or not taking
a bath, etc. While in some situations with low motility,
there is a possible justification for that theory, in
general, it is not going to make much difference.
Timing is the critical
issue that you have the most control over. And it influences
you in regards to chemical exposure, illness, and other
factors also. There is no real way to know for sure
when chemical exposure affects are completely out of
a man's system, or when they have affected a woman or
for how long. Doctors have an idea about it some of
the time, but other times they know no more than we.
Sperm completely replaces
itself within about 74 days. But it is in some part
or other of the development process in between that
time, so affects from chemical exposure may resolve
more rapidly than that, depending on how it affected
the sperm and how severely. This means if you are not
sure something is affecting sperm quality, you can eliminate
it and hope for the best. A viable pregnancy may result
in sooner than three months if that item was a contributing
factor, because some chemicals only affect a specific
phase of sperm development. Chemical affects should
be completely gone in about two and a half months though.
People say you should
not obsess over timing, and that pregnancy is more likely
if you "don't worry about it". People who
say that obviously have no idea of what it is like to
want a child, to have that on your mind day in and day
out, and to not be able to get the idea to go away!
So just pick a strategy, and then don't try to second
guess yourself if you can.
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