When you're ready to start a family, you want it to happen immediately — but unfortunately, that's not always the case. According to the World Health Organization, one in six couples experience infertility worldwide.
But you're not alone in your infertility journey. Dr. Darin L. Weyhrich, our experienced OB/GYN in Boise, Idaho, provides women's health services, including infertility treatments. He also offers tips to assist with treatments, including ovulation journals.
Tracking your cycle is an essential aspect of pregnancy preparation; there are apps and many other tools to help. However, one of the simplest ways to track your cycle and prepare for pregnancy is through an ovulation journal.
The journal is a place to track the start dates of your periods and other information related to ovulation. Writing down symptoms and information like basal body temperature or cervical mucus helps us determine when you're likely to ovulate.
Transcribing symptoms you experience around the fertile window is crucial to the success of fertility treatments and ovulatory predictions. It's also critical to write down when you have intercourse to determine if you're within the fertile window.
Infertility treatments are challenging, especially when more than one hasn't worked. An ovulation journal is a tool we recommend to help us help you conceive.
There are many benefits to using an ovulation journal, primarily through your infertility journey, and they include:
The ovulation journal allows us to see how your menstrual cycle tracks to determine when ovulation is most likely. If you're using ovulation-stimulating drugs and timed intercourse to try to get pregnant, it's an excellent tool to determine your fertile window.
Your menstrual cycle says a lot about ovulation, specifically when it's most likely. A woman with a 26-day cycle is likely to ovulate around day 13, while a woman with a 30-day cycle is more likely to ovulate on day 15.
The journal allows us to track your cycle by looking at the beginning and end of each cycle. That determines when we can start treatments for optimal success.
The fertile window is the five days before and the day of ovulation. It's the best time to get pregnant and the optimal environment for the sperm to reach an egg for fertilization.
The ovulation journal provides the information we need to begin fertility treatments around the fertile window.
Infertility treatments are emotionally and physically draining, and it's tough to go through when you feel alone. An ovulation journal not only tracks your menstrual cycle, but it also provides an outlet for you to write down your feelings about each round of fertility treatment.
We utilize the data within the ovulation journal to see how fertility treatments are working, especially for women with irregular periods. The changes within your symptoms and cycle tell us how to proceed with infertility treatments and what is or isn't working.
An ovulation journal isn't the only way to achieve pregnancy through infertility treatments. Certain lifestyle modifications also prepare your body for a healthy pregnancy, and they include the following:
We help you through every step of the infertility process by offering various treatments, tips, and support groups to give you the family you want. You may require medications, surgery, or assisted reproductive technologies like IVF to achieve a healthy pregnancy.
Call our office in Boise, Idaho, today to discuss infertility treatments, or book an appointment online to see Darin L. Wehyrich, MD.
