Trying For a Baby? What Helped me Conceive

Nate and I were engaged when I was 27, and got married when I was 29 and while biologically that’s the ideal time to start having children, Nate and I had only dated for six months prior to our engagement and I wanted to make sure that we took enough time to enjoy the two of us as a married couple. In my mind, 30 would be a good age to get going. Especially since I knew that Nate and I want multiple children. I don’t have much fear about being an “older” mom, but I did have worries about either having children before we were fully ready (realizing that no one ever is), or waiting too long and lessening our chances due to biology.

When turning 30, I had already started to wrap my mind around the idea of getting pregnant but me being who I am – I wanted to plan it out very precisely. If I’m 30 in February, I convinced myself that this would be the last summer Nate and I would have to live it up and enjoy ourselves because come August, we’d start trying. And then COVID hit… The world shut down and my plan for making pre-baby memories was out of the window. In July of 2020, I went to my OBGYN for a general well-woman exam and started discussing our family planning options. Everything looked great. I was healthy, had no pre-existing conditions that were a cause for concern and from what I understand, already had a healthy lifestyle that would make it fairly easy to conceive. We had the green light and my doctor encouraged me to have fun while trying and call him once it happened. 

August came around and I was mentally ready to give up the reigns on preventing pregnancy… and then nothing happened. Why I thought it would on our first try, I’m not too sure LOL. However, when I want to do something, I will put my all into a “project” and having a baby for me was one I was committed to. We tried for a few cycles before getting pregnant in February of 2021.

I knew that I could not control everything and that yes, it would happen when it was supposed to. But I also, wanted to take conception seriously and do what I could on my end to ensure it happened as soon as it could.

Prepping for Conception

Premom Ovulation Strips and App

I had no experience with tracking my ovulation and had no knowledge of how small the window to conceiving was until I ordered these Premom Ovulation Strips and began using the app to track. They also have a Facebook group with thousands of women who are also trying to and are conceiving where you can ask questions, engage in conversation and connect with others experiencing similar situations. It took me a while to get the hang of my “peak”, etc., but it was truly helpful in understanding my body and the window for conception.

Premama Wellness Fertility Support

Because I was tracking my period and ovulation with Premom, it led me to find out that the length between my cycles was much longer than it should’ve been. I found Premama Wellness Fertility Support that aids in ovulation and improving your natural egg quality. I enjoyed this because it’s flavorless and could be added to my coffee or even a glass of cold water and easily consumed on a daily basis. After taking this daily for a month, my period was much closer to a 32 day cycle.

Conception Fertility Prenatal Vitamins

This product is known for regulating your cycle, balancing your hormones and aiding in ovulation. I took 1 pill daily, since I was also taking the Premama Wellness Fertility Support and didn’t want to overdo it with my hormones. Because you can take these throughout your first trimester also to aid in a healthy pregnancy, I went through three bottles of these.

Yoni Steam

I have a highly recommended yoni steam professional here in Houston named Faren (@edensgardenvsteams) that really encouraged me to try vaginal steaming to aid in conception. I did two – one at the start of my journey and one the month that I conceived and am a firm believer in them. The herbs used in the steam are known to nourish your womb and warm it to prepare to house a fertilized egg.

Healthy Diet

This may seem like a no brainer but I cleaned up my diet quite a bit – trying to eat fresh foods as much as possible. Food has a huge impact on how or bodies function so I focused on the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen. I also avoided heating and eating out of plastic containers due to BPA’s having a negative affect on fertility. I was working out about 5 times a week and getting plenty of sleep (8-9 hours) a night.

Things I Did Differently the Month I Conceived

Meditation

I am a firm believer of everything starting in your mind. I knew that I was starting to obsess over making a baby but stress and control would only result in the opposite. Getting pregnant is so much more likely to happen when you’re stress-free. Each morning after a workout I’d commit to doing at least 10 minutes of guided meditation through the Deepak Chopra app where I grounded myself. But you could easily use YouTube, or another app like Calm or Headspace.

I personally believe that stress can absolutely have a negative effect on trying to conceive, so try your best to live in a peaceful state of mind as much as you can. But you could easily use YouTube, or another app like Calm or Headspace.

Wrote a Letter to my Baby

While doing a yoni steam at home that I got from Edens Garden V Steams, I journaled to my baby. I wrote a letter letting him know that me and his daddy were anxiously awaiting him and knew he was making his way to us. I told him all about how we were preparing for his life and how excited we were for his creation. That month – I conceived.

Wisdom of the Womb Products + Womb Massages

I would genuinely accredit my pregnancy to Arielle and her Wisdom of the Womb products. They changed everything for me. I found these products through a pop-up ad on my Instagram and was instantly intrigued. On the website, they have tests that you can take where you can select what you’ve been struggling with and the result will give you product recommendations. She also has a Facebook group with so many women struggling from PCOS, tubal blockage, fibroids, miscarriages and unexplained infertility.

My only “concerns” were irregular periods and making sure I was nourishing my womb to house a healthy baby, so I purchased their Fertile Mama, Detox, and Bitch’s Brew teas, which also came with a bath soak and womb massaging oil.

After drinking Detox in the morning and Fertile Mama each afternoon/evening for one cycle, I was pregnant. I didn’t even get to finish the bags of teas that I had. Not only did the products help, but Arielle offered so much information about each phase of our cycles and the best ways to nourish our wombs since each phase requires different action from us. I watched a few of her YouTube videos and did my best to support each phase of my cycle, whether it be with mindset shifts, changes in diet or physical actions.

She personally helped me understand that conceiving requires much mental preparation and not just physical. When I really trusted my body and only offered to nurture it and not control it, it happened.

Sound Bath Frequencies for Conception

When I would take baths and do my womb massages using the bath soak and womb massaging oil that I received from Wisdom of the Womb, I would put in my headphones and listen to these sound bath frequencies for conception.

Old Wives Tales

These old wives tales could easily be just that, but I know many women that swear by them – myself included. All of the items below are things I implemented while trying to conceive.

Kept Warm Feet

A lot of grandmothers will tell you to sleep with socks on to keep your womb warm and create a warm space for a baby to nestle in. I absolutely hate wearing socks, but luckily it was winter and I was working from home – so I’d wear them daily (and also to sleep) with these fuzzy house shoes and ordered these to walk around the house in. I also ordered this small heater for my home office since it was the coldest room in the house and it would blow directly on my feet, keeping them warm.

Nothing Cold After Ovulation

I stayed away from drinking cold beverages or eating cold foods after I ovulated (detected with my Premom strips and app) to “keep my womb warm”. That means, no ice coffee, ice water, cold salads, yogurt, or sandwiches. Instead, I opted for room temperature water, hot coffee and teas, warm soups, oatmeals and meals or at minimum, room temperature.

Mucinex

Realistically, you need your cervical mucus to be a certain consistency for a “sticky” baby. Since mucus is mucus, a lot of mamas swore by getting pregnant after using Mucinex during their ovulation window. You can take a dosage each day of your “peak window”, however I took one extra strength Mucinex for three days during my fertile window and also became pregnant that cycle. Could be coincidence, or it could have worked!

Pineapple Core

This wives tale says you’re supposed to eat a piece of pineapple core first thing in the morning on an empty stomach for five days, starting the day after your ovulation peak. Because I was tracking my ovulation using the Premom strips and app, this was easy for me to do. After my peak lowered, I’d have a slice of pineapple core on an empty stomach each morning for the five days that followed.

It may seem like I did a ton to assist in my conception, especially when all some people do is just have sex LOL. But I did take it very seriously, wanting the best outcome for us and our future baby. I do not want to say that I manifested my baby – but I did have faith that it would happen for us and that my body was capable.

When we decide to try for our next baby I will be following all these same things. I hope that this helps anyone on the road to conception. If there are any details that you’re wanting more info or clarification on, feel free to leave a comment! Baby dust to you, ladies!