* These suggestions are written in no particular order.  Some suggestions are more important than others.

• Engage in intercourse once every forty-eight hours.  Having more frequent sex decrease the chances of becoming pregnant because it takes the body forty-eight hours to reach the maximum amount of sperm in the ejaculate.
• Time intercourse with ovulation. Ovulation occurs approximately 14 days before menstruation, and is important because women cannot become pregnant unless they ovulate.
• Conception is more likely to occur during intercourse when the woman is on the bottom.  After intercourse, the woman should elevate her hips and relax.  (While this position increases the chances – I am a bigger advocate of simply having fun during sex and engaging in any type of position that is fun.  The more fun sex is, the more likely you will be to have it again.  Besides practices makes perfect!
• Stop trying to get pregnant. Often, the very act of trying to get pregnant causes stress. Stress has been known to make the act of becoming pregnant more difficult.  The body, busy coping with the stress, channels it’s energy in that direction as opposed to conception.
• Heat can decrease the sperm count, thus men should minimize the use of wearing restrictive clothing, long hot bathes, hot tubs and extreme exercise.
• The man should remove his tighty-whiteys and replace them with non-restrictive underwear, like boxers. This facilitates the testes' ability to self-regulate their temperature (again, heat decreases sperm count).
• Engage in a healthy lifestyle.  Exercise and eat well.  Quit smoking. Stop all use of alcohol, or illegal drugs. 
• Check with your doctor about how the medicines you are taking may impact getting / maintaining a pregnancy.   
• Take prenatal vitamins.
• Exercise & eat right.
• Have fun with sex.  All timed intercourse and no play – makes for a boring, sterile sex life. If you know that you want to be on a schedule for sex, at the very least DO NOT tell your partner. Simply create the space for sex to “just happen.” Wear sexy clothes, light some candles, introduce handcuffs, give a longer than usual blow-job. Try out a new sexual technique.  The more creative you can get, the more enjoyable the sex will be. And if you are lucky enough to conceive you will have a better story to tell your child J

• At a certain point, the above suggestions are not enough. Medical intervention may be required.  Thus, the general guidelines are the following: if you have been trying to get pregnant for a year or more (or if you are a woman over the age of 35, and have been trying to get pregnant for more than 6 months), both parties should consider seeing a fertility specialist.  There could be something wrong with either the sperm or the egg. With the help of some medically prescribed tests, some common problems could be identified and treated. Check with your OB/GYN. If needed, you will be referred to a fertility speciailist
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written by Alex Caroline Robboy, CAS, MSW, LCSW

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