Time to Take a Break
by Lori Ramsey

How much time should you spend trying to conceive? How much time before seeking professional help? How much time before taking a break? When you first started trying did you set a time limit in your mind? I know I did. It helps to set goals, especially when doing something as stressful as trying to conceive a baby.

First thing to take into consideration is your age. If you are in your twenties, I say time is definitely on your side. Because the reproductive system in a woman in her twenties is in optimal condition, you can be leisurely about setting the goals. It truly depends upon how desperately you wish to have a baby. Most physicians will require a woman in her twenties to wait at least 6 months before running fertility tests, some even a year.

If you are in your thirties, especially your latter thirties, you will want to seek professional help a little sooner. The rule of thumb again will be 6 months of trying with no success before most physicians will start testing. However the closer to 40 you are, the more likely your physician will run the tests perhaps after 3 months of trying unsuccessfully.

Most definitely if you are over 40 your physician may want to begin fertility testing right away – because time is not on your side. It will depend upon your physician and your determination to conceive. Because there are more complications after the age of 35, your physician will want to make sure you are in optimal health before conceiving.

After you’ve tried everything to conceive to no avail, and after your physician says that you and your partner check out healthy with no obvious fertility problems, it may be the time to take a break. Taking a break from trying to conceive when wanting a baby is probably one of the hardest things you can do. But it just may be the most necessary thing to do.

Trying to conceive a baby is extremely stressful. It can bring on obsessions that can take its toll on your relationship. This kind of stress can hinder ovulation, and can hinder conception itself. Tensing up, worrying, all these can cause your body to simply not allow conception to take place. It’s when your relationship begins to suffer that you need to step back and take a breather.

Is the basal body thermometer becoming the object you allow to dictate how your day goes? Is the week you have your menstrual period a particularly bad one? Do you judge your happiness by the reading on the thermometer? Do you drive your husband nuts with insisting on certain positions? Is the spontaneity gone from the relationship? Has lovemaking turned strictly into babymaking?

Before you compromise your relationship with trying to make a baby – step back and revaluate why you want a baby. And then simply quit trying. There again – set a goal – after all is said and done. Your physician finds absolutely nothing wrong with you or your husband – and you’ve tried and tried with no positive results it’s high time to take a break. Set a goal as to how long you take a break. Try for several months – if you simply can’t let it go that long – take a one-month break. Take the time during your break to be spontaneous. Put the thermometer away – don’t worry about positions or time of day – simply let nature lead the way. Put the LOVE back into lovemaking. And who knows, maybe it takes love to make a baby after all! It did with me all 3 times!

Lori Ramsey is a published author and mother of 6 who also runs many businesses. Read One Of Her Books On Kindle: How to Get Pregnant by Learning How to Increase Fertility
Reproduced with Permission