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Baby Steps
A 5-point Plan to Help You Conceive
By Teri Brown
It's time. You have discussed it, and you and your significant other have come to the conclusion that it is time to start your family. Now for the sex, right? Not necessarily.
There are a few things you should consider before jumping into bed – and into pregnancy. Women should take the time to evaluate their overall physical health, their birth control method, learn a little bit about their cycle and educate themselves on reproductive sex. These 5 "baby" steps will help.
When 36-year-old Joanna Strong-Millsap of Redlands, Calif., chose to start her family she was concerned about her age and the synthetic hormones she had been taking as birth control.
"I had been told by my doctor that it could easily take six months for all of the residual effects of the synthetic hormones to work their way out of my system and for my period to become 'normal,'" says Millsap. "I quit taking birth control pills in February and didn't have a period in March. I had a period in April and then two weeks later, I had one day of cramps and spotting."
The up and down of her periods confused Millsap and her husband, but persistence paid off and she was soon able to conceive their first child.
There is conflicting information regarding how long you should wait to conceive after birth control pills are stopped. Dr. Kenneth Burry, vice-chair of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Oregon Health & Sciences University in Portland, Ore., believes the commonsense approach is best.
"There is some concern that the miscarriage rate may be higher the first cycle after stopping the birth control pill, but you should not be overly concerned if pregnancy occurs immediately, since most will continue without problems," says Dr. Burry.
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