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Fertility Facts: Your “fertility window” is the 6 days leading up to and ending on the day of ovulation.

When couples start to consider building a family, they often wonder when they are most fertile or try to make a fertility calendar. Generally speaking, your fertility window is 6 days leading up to and ending on the day of the female partner’s ovulation.  This is because sperm can live inside the female body for several days and the egg survives for about 24 hours after ovulation. Having intercourse every 24-48 hours leading up to ovulation will increase your chances of pregnancy.

For women that have regular cycles, determining ovulation and your fertility calendar is easy – it is typically 14 days before the start of your next period. However, many women do not have regular cycles, making planning more challenging. Ovulation predictor kits detect rises in luteinizing hormone (LH) which happens prior to ovulation. For those of you already in fertility treating at Shady Grove Fertility you are probably very familiar with LH, as it is part of your basic Day 3 testing and often included in treatment protocols to stimulate the development of eggs.

If you are having trouble conceiving on your own, it may be time to see a fertility specialist. Please call us at 877-971-7755 or request an appointment online.

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SGF Nurse

Birthdays are celebrations—small or grand, a time to reflect back on the year behind, and the year ahead.  Fertility patients may approach birthdays wondering ‘is age affecting my fertility?’ or wishing to celebrate in the future with their own child.
July 25th marks a very special birthday, the birth of Louise Brown, the world’s first IVF baby in Bristol, England. The advances in the field of reproductive medicine and IVF have come a long way since her birth 34 years ago.

Some Historical Perspective

Like many infertility patients, John and Lesley Brown struggled with trying to conceive for nine years.  Suffering from fallopian tube damage, Lesley was referred to Gynecologist Dr. Patrick Steptoe in 1976.
Dr. Steptoe was working with college professor Robert Edwards, a physiologist at Cambridge University.  For the previous ten years, they were working on human conception.  Advances were made when they discovered a way to fertilize the human egg outside of the body.  Setbacks were encountered when transferring the embryo back to the woman’s body.  The Edwards-Steptoe team let the embryos divide in the lab for 4 or 5 days.  By 1977, the 80 or so pregnancies resulting from this procedure only lasted for a few weeks.

With Lesley and John Brown, laparoscopy surgery retrieved one mature egg from her ovary.  This egg was combined with John’s sperm, and fertilization occurred.  The resulting embryo was transferred back to Lesley 2 ½ days later, and pregnancy occurred.  Sonograms over time revealed the pregnancy to be proceeding normally.  Near her due date, Dr. Steptoe delivered Louise via C-section.

From the very beginning, some themes of the current infertility journey were identified:  the deep longing for a child, and the relentless pursuit of the science and technology to make this dream happen.  So many hours and individuals were involved in this earliest IVF process many years ago, to culminate in the live birth of long-awaited first IVF baby, Louise.  Since that time, over 5 million children have been born through the IVF technique. In 2010, Robert Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize  in Physiology or Medicine for the development of in vitro fertilization.  Thank you to all the early pioneers whose focus and dedication led to these developments.

Today, Louise is married with a child of her own. Happy 34th birthday, Louise!

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Women have a heightened sense of smell during ovulation.

We all know that infertility stinks. But what really can stink are the smells around you when you are ovulating.

In addition to the super sniffer you may gain at this time in your cycle, other symptoms include:

SGF Nurse
  • Light spotting
  • Slight pain or cramping
  • Breast tenderness
  • Increased sex drive
  • Increased basal body temperature
  • Bloating
  • Increased sense of vision or taste

To learn more about your fertility options call 1-877-971-7755 or contact us online.

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sex position doesn't impact chances of pregnancyThere is no best sex position to conceive a baby.

While the goal is to have the sperm as close to the cervix as possible, in general, the sexual position you choose will not have any bearing chances of conception. There are no studies to support that any one position increase the likelihood of pregnancy.

As for your post-coital routine, healthy sperm will begin swimming immediately after ejaculation so there is no need to lay with your feet in the air after intercourse to help them out.

When a patient comes in for treatment, we do advise they lay still for 5 minutes after their embryo transfer and treat their bodies as if they are pregnant until it is time to take their first pregnancy 2 weeks later. That means no alcohol, a healthy diet and only moderate exercise.

Find out more about seeking treatment at Shady Grove Fertility by calling 1-877-971-7755 or click here.

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MOST COUPLES ONLY HAVE A 15% CHANCE OF CONCEIVING ON THEIR OWN EACH MONTH.

SGF Nurse

While it may seem that your friends seem to keep getting pregnant with ease, the truth is women in their 30s who have unprotected sex only have about a 15% chance of conceiving each month. On average, couples take 8 months to get a positive pregnancy test.  Shady Grove Fertility encourages couples under 35 that have been trying to conceive (TTC) for over a year to schedule an appointment with a fertility specialist. For couples over 35, meeting with a fertility specialist after 6 months is recommended.

> Read “Understanding Fertility – Back to Basics”

Come back to Insider’s Guide to Fertility each Friday for more fertility facts.
To schedule your new patient appointment, call 1-877-971-7755.

2026 Shady Grove Fertility

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