Which are the best days to conceive?

Patient's Query

Hello doctor,

I am a 25 year old female, and I am trying to conceive for the last 1.5 years. My husband works for a month in another country and has 15 days of leave. So, when he goes to work, I do not accompany him. We have tried conceiving many times, but we did not have any luck. My menstrual cycle is regular, and it is of 28 days. I also got a Humog injection last month, but it did not help. Can you please explain in which days should we try to conceive? Thank you.

Answered by Dr. R Balakrishnan Menon

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

How are you doing? Let me start on a positive note that, you are at the right age for pregnancy (19 to 35 years), so never lose hope.

You need to improve your health first. Your BMI is 14, and your expected weight is 55 to 59 kg. I will not ask you to start eating a lot and become obese. But with such low energy reserve, your hormonal balance and support to the baby in pregnancy will not be good.

Have lots of fruits and vegetables. Have low fat but high-protein food. Do not eat junk food. Have lots of sprouts, dates, egg white, milk, and chicken flesh only (without oil). Go for regular walks.

Ovulation day is determined based on your period's duration. For a lady with 28 days cycle, ovulation will be on day 14, that is 14 days before periods. So if your cycle is regularly 30 days, ovulation is on day 16, so on. The first day of bleeding is the day 1 of the cycle. Now, if your cycle is irregular, the calculation is as follows:

Longest cycle minus 8 and longest cycle minus 11 is the duration of ovulation. For example, your longest cycle is 34 days, and the shortest cycle is 27 days, then 34-8= 26, 27-11 = 16. So, the days between 16 to 26 will be your ovulation.

When you try to get pregnant, start having sex daily or on alternate days, once the bleeding stops till day 10 of periods. This is not for pregnancy, but it is to throw out the older sperms. Then no sex for three days, now young sperms accumulate. Then from Day 13, have sex daily at least once for five days, later is optional. So, now young and healthy sperms are more. Older the sperms, the pregnancy chances are low and such pregnancy has abortion rates too.

If still not successful, just go through the following investigations to rule out any problems:

Husband's semen analysis at least four weeks apart, preferably in an infertility center. And blood sugars.
Your blood sugars and thyroid profile.
Ultrasound scans to evaluate the uterus, ovaries, and adnexa.
Confirm tubal patency. It is the connection between the uterus and ovaries (the bridge where sperm meets the egg and forms a baby). This is the size of a hair follicle and cannot be seen on scans. Being such a small opening, this tube can get blocked easily, so check with HSG (hysterosalpingogram) or SSG (sonosalpingography) or laparoscopy.