I can't speak for all infertile woman, but I can definitely speak for myself when I say that when you're trying desperately to conceive you'll literally do almost anything to get that positive outcome.
I've become a mad woman, spending hours googling infertility, reading countless community forums. Hoping to find anything that has worked for others. Obsessing over different things you should be doing becomes as time consuming as the infertility treatments themselves. Some of the information out there is good, and some of it is downright ridiculous. Does that stop us from trying it though?? Of course not! We'll try it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here are just a few of the tips, myths, and wives' tails that some of my friends and I have read about and/or tried.
First you have the good, healthy tips, the kind that come from actual medical professionals. They tell you the first step to having a healthy reproductive system is to have a healthier you. They advise you to make sure you're well-rested. Diet, exercise, and weight loss are a must. Take prenatal vitamins daily, not just for the benefits that they will have when you do finally get pregnant, but because they help your eggs become healthier as well. Quit smoking; it is proven that chemicals in cigarettes kill parts of your ovaries and reduce your egg production. Limit alcohol and caffeine, since they has an effect on your ovulation.
But what do you do once this is all done and you still aren't pregnant?.. You move on to the myths and wives' tails, hoping that if it worked for someone else, who claims so on the internet, then it could very well work for you! Here are some of the better (and by better I mean mostly ridiculous) ones that I've read about, and yes, even tried myself!
Robitussin. Yup, the cough syrup. Some believe that if you take Robitussin before you ovulate it will thin out your thick cervical mucous making it easier for them boys to swim towards your now very healthy eggs, since you did just complete all of the above before skipping to this wives tail. I personally have not tried this, but I do know there are woman out there who are. The concept is very believable. If you think about it scientifically, the purpose of cough syrup is to thin the mucous in your chest, so why wouldn't it do the same thing for your cervix? But who knows for sure? Are we measuring the thickness of our mucous? Gross!
Moving on...
Legs up...or legs down. There are seemingly valid arguments for both of these positions, and they contradict each other, big time. On one hand you have people saying that you need to prop the pelvis up on a pillow for 20 minutes after the big moment. This helps the sperm find exactly where they need to be. This is what my doctor has me do after every insemination. On the other hand, there are people out there who say, “NO! Sperm can't swim while a woman is lying down, so you need to get up and move right after.” So honestly, who knows. Maybe both methods work just the same. But for now I'll take my doctor's advice.
Foods. Where do I even start with this? There are so many foods and so many justifications for certain foods out there. I honestly think people just pick random foods, throw in some rationalizations, and put it out there for woman like me to try. I asked my doctor once about some of the foods I'm about to list, and he just laughed and said he'd honestly never heard anything like that before.
My acupuncturist (that's right I do acupuncture, since that's one of the things I read on the internet that totally helps with infertility) told me to eat no gluten and to only eat warm, cooked foods. She claims that in order to maintain your reproductive zen you need to keep your system as balanced as possible. Cold foods and any product with gluten throw our systems into shock.
I've read that the core of a pineapple breaks up certain proteins that inhibit implantation. Grapefruit and grape juice are supposed to change the PH of your system. Baby carrots are supposed to help make your system more alkaline. Why baby carrots?? Clearly only baby carrots will help you get a baby! Makes perfect sense. Full sized carrots could never do that.
Lastly, I've ready to eat foods high in vitamin B6, since these help you RELAX! Like a banana a day is going to help me relax during this process! Please!!!
...That being said, I've definitely tried most of these foods at one point or another.
I honestly believe that, as silly as some of these things may sound, I'm so desperate to have a baby that they don't feel silly at all in the moment. It's hope. It's something to do to keep my mind off what's actually going on. I want so badly to believe that one little thing like drinking grape juice can change my fate. If someone told me that all I had to do was hop up and down on one foot, backwards while eating cake, I'd do it. At least the cake part. That much for sure.
Infertility is my life; it never disappears. I don't have the luxury of just relaxing. If I don't take this fate in my own hands, then it'll never happen. And even though Dallas and I are in the midst of trying again to conceive, we'll be blissfully not thinking about infertility (except for my daily 8pm shots) for 4 whole days while we take a mini-vacation for my birthday. Maybe the relaxation I gain will be just what I need, or maybe it'll be just another wives' tail.
Either way, I'll take it!
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