Getting Pregnant

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and educated throughout the capitols of Europe as an obstetrician/gynecologist and fertility expert, Dr. Niels Lauersen has dedicated more than four decades to treating and educating women about their health, in both US and abroad. He is the author of over 100 medical papers published in journals worldwide and he is the founder of The New York Medical Society for Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Lauersen is the author of eight books on women's health including his groundbreaking gynecology guide It's Your Body and his international bestselling guide to fertility Getting Pregnant: What You Need to Know. Dr. Lauersen is also the medical director of GettingPregnantNow.org, the premier online site for pregnancy and fertility information. Coauthor of the bestselling Getting Pregnant, Colette Bouchez is the former senior medical writer for the New York Daily News. Her award-winning work has been honored by the American Cancer Society, The Medill School of journalism, and the American College of dermatology. Her reporting on women's health care issues has received an Emmy award.

Contents

PREFACE:

Getting Pregnant in the New Millennium: Dear Mother-to-Be

INTRODUCTION:

The Really Good News About Getting Pregnant

Part I

New Discoveries: What Affects Fertility Most

CHAPTER ONE

HOW YOUR BODY WORKS: THE LATEST NEWS


• The New Conception Chemistry • The Hormones That Help You Get Pregnant • Getting Ready to Get Pregnant • How Your Life Cycles Function • Why You Get a Menstrual Period • How Your Personal Biology Affects Your Fertility n You Can Prevent Infertility

CHAPTER TWO

SEVEN SUPER FERTILITY THREATS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM


• Surgical Adhesions (Scar Tissue) • Pelvic Inflammatory Disease • Fibroid Tumors • Ovarian Cysts and PCOD • PMS • Abortions • Ectopic Pregnancy • A Final Thought About Your Fertility

CHAPTER THREE

YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND YOUR FERTILITY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ENDOMETRIOSIS, THYROID DISORDER, AND MORE


• The Secret Immune Disorder That Destroys Fertility • Endometriosis, Immunity, and Fertility • A Final Thought

CHAPTER FOUR

FINALLY! THE TRUTH ABOUT MALE FERTILITY


• Problem Within a Problem • Understanding Male Fertility: What Every Woman Needs to Know • Seven Super Male Fertility Threats and How to Avoid Them • The Male Fertility Protection Exam • A Final Word About Male Fertility

CHAPTER FIVE

SEX AND INFERTILITY: WHAT EVERY COUPLE NEEDS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW


• STDs: What Are They? Who's at Risk? • How STDs Are Spread • How STDs Can Affect a Woman's Fertility • How STDs Can Affect a Man's Fertility • An STD Primer: The Most Common Sexually Transmitted Diseases and How to Treat Them • HIV, AIDS, and Your Fertility • STDs: Are You at Risk • A Final Word: Safe Sex, Not Fearful Sex

CHAPTER SIX

YOUR FERTILITY FROM NINE TO FIVE: REPRODUCTIVE HAZARDS OF THE WORKPLACE AND HOW TO AVOID THEM


• The Workplace and Your Fertility • The Reproductive Hazards: Who Is at Risk n Computers and Your Fertility n Workplace Cautions • Workplace Fertility Protection Guide • Seven Steps to a Safer Workplace • You Are Not Alone!

CHAPTER SEVEN

FERTILITY PROTECTION 2000: A COUPLE'S GUIDE TO A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE


• The Lifestyle Fertility Quiz • The Fertility Protection Update 2000 • Drug Abuse and Your Fertility • How Climate Affects Fertility • The Time to Protect Your Fertility Is Now!

Part II

The Fastest, Easiest Ways to a Safe, Natural Conception

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE PRE-CONCEPTION EXAM 2000: GETTING READY TO GET PREGNANT


• How Pre-Conception Counseling Works • The Personal Facts Your Doctor Needs to Know • The T.H.E. 2000 Physical Exam n The Newest Diagnostic Tests • Testing for Genetic Diseases • The Final Evaluation • Some Final Advice

CHAPTER NINE

BODY FAT, DIETING, AND FERTILITY: HOW YOUR WEIGHT AFFECTS CONCEPTION


• Too Thin to Get Pregnant? • How Your Body Fat Affects Your Fertility • Overweight and Infertile? The New Links n Finding Your Ideal Fertility Weight • Achieving Your Fertility Weight Goals • Enhancing Your Fertility

CHAPTER TEN

FITNESS, STRESS, AND GETTING PREGNANT


• The Body-Fat Connection • Working Out: The Silent Dangers • The Workouts That Can Encourage Your Fertility • How Yoga Can Help You Get Pregnant • Stress, Anxiety, and Infertility

CHAPTER ELEVEN

FERTILITY DIET 2000: THE FOODS THAT ENHANCE YOUR FERTILITY AND PROTECT YOUR PREGNANCY


• The Fertility Power Boost • The Antifertility Foods • Food Additives and Fertility • Caffeine and Infertility • Vegetarian Diets and Your Fertility • A Food Strategy for Getting Pregnant • Fertility Food Plan 2000

CHAPTER TWELVE

MOTHER NATURE'S BOUNTY: ALL-NATURAL WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR FERTILITY


• The Vitamin You Need Most • More Fertility Nutrients • The Fertility Vitamin-Mineral Support Guide • The Fertility Plants • The Herbal "Cocktail" to Boost Fertility • The Helpful Herbs That May Harm Fertility • All-Natural Male Fertility Boosters • Taking the Natural Approach

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

MAKING LOVE AND MAKING BABIES: HOW TO GET PREGNANT FAST


• Predicting Ovulation • Love, Sex, and Getting Pregnant • Sex and Conception • One Dozen New and Time-Tested Ways to Encourage Conception • A Final Word About Getting Pregnant

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

BOY OR GIRL...IS THERE A CHOICE? THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT GENDER SELECTION


• How Gender Selection Works • Tried and True: The Shettles Method of Gender Selection • Sex and Your Baby's Gender • Do Opposites Attract? The Whelan Method • Eat Chocolate -- and Give Birth to a Baby Boy! • The Electricity of Love • High-Tech Gender Selection • Gender Selection

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

PREVENTING MISCARRIAGE: NOW YOU CAN!


• Understanding Pregnancy Loss • Your Immune System and Miscarriage • Four Powerful Immune Boosters to Save Your Pregnancy • Men, Immunity, and Pregnancy • Preventing Pregnancy Loss • Five Medical Breakthroughs That Can Save Your Pregnancy • Dry-Cleaning, Nail Polish Remover, and Miscarriage • Stress and Pregnancy Loss • Exercise and Miscarriage • Orgasm and Pregnancy Loss • How Water Beds Can Cause a Miscarriage • The Skin Treatment That Threatens Your Pregnancy • Miscarriages and Men • Twenty-One Super Easy Ways to Decrease Your Risk of Miscarriage Before and After You Conceive • You Can Stop a Miscarriage • Getting Pregnant Again

Part III

If You Don't Get Pregnant Right Away:

How Science Can Help

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CAN I HAVE A BABY? HOW TO TELL


• How to Test Your Own Fertility • How Your Family History Can Predict Your Fertility • Take Charge of Your Fertility • Your Basic Fertility Exam • The Fertility Blood Tests • If You Don't Get a Period • Reading Your Body Signals • The Postcoital Test for Fertility Rhythm • Visualizing Your Fertility • Under the Microscope • Looking Inside Your Body • Underwater Vision • Where Do We Go from Here? • Seeing a Fertility Expert

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

THE NEW FERTILITY SURGERIES: NATURAL CONCEPTION MADE FAST AND EASY


• Can Fertility Surgery Help You? • The Procedures -- and How They Can Help • The Nonsurgical Way to Save Your Fallopian Tubes • The Fibroid Surgery That Preserves Your Fertility • The Surgery That Saves Your Fertility -- Even After Cancer • If You Decide on Fertility Surgery • Some Final Advice

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

WHEN HE'S THE REASON YOU CAN'T CONCEIVE: THE NEWEST TREATMENTS FOR MALE INFERTILITY


• Understanding Male Fertility • Good Sperm - Bad Sperm • The Male Fertility Exam • Can He Make a Baby ? How to Find Out Fast • The Fertility Blood Tests • Hot Testicles and Infertility • From Zero Sperm Count to Fatherhood in Less Than Sixty Minutes • When Sperm Can't Leave a Man's Body • Restoring His Sperm Flow • The New Testicle Biopsy • Zero Sperm Count -- and You Can Still Get Pregnant • Love on Ice • Restoring Male Fertility by Reversing a Vasectomy • Overcoming Impotence • A Final Word

CHAPTER NINETEEN

SUPER OVULATION AND OTHER NEW WAYS TO A FASTER, EASIER CONCEPTION


• Super Ovulation • The Most Common Fertility Drugs and How They Work • Lupron and Other "Agonizing" Treatments That Help You Conceive • Growth Hormone • Progesterone • Are Fertility Drugs Safe? What You Need to Know • Fertility Drugs and You

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE NEW ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION: NOTHING ARTIFICIAL AT ALL


• Can Artificial Insemination Help You? • Not All Inseminations Are Alike • How Your Body Helps Your Partner's Sperm • Getting Your Body Ready for Insemination • The Insemination Process • Donor Sperm • A Final Word About Insemination

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

THE A.R.T. OF CONCEPTION: THE NEW IN VITRO FERTILIZATION AND HOW IT CAN HELP YOU CONCEIVE


• The A.R.T. of Conception • How In Vitro Fertilization Works • Preparing Your Body for IVF • Preparing Your Partner for IVF • Making Your Baby • When Science Plays Mother Hen • Giving Your Baby Back to You • Confirming Your Pregnancy • Improving Your Pregnancy Rate • The Natural Cycle • Will Your IVF Be Successful? • Ensuring the Health of Your IVF Baby • Improving the Odds of Your IVF • A Final Word

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE GIFT OF LIFE -- AND OTHER NEW TECHNOLOGIES


• What Is the GIFT Procedure -- and What Makes It Special • Increasing Your Pregnancy Success Odds • Natural Pregnancy After GIFT • More Conception Options • ICSI • Improving Your Pregnancy Odds • Ensuring Your ICSI Baby • A Final Thought

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

THE SCIENCE OF MOTHERHOOD: DONOR EGGS, FROZEN EMBRYOS, AND MORE NEW WAYS TO HAVE A BABY


• Stopping Your Biological Clock • Your Donor Pregnancy • Selecting a Donor • Getting Pregnant • Bonding to Your Donor Baby • Egg Freezing • Good Eggs -- No Pregnancy • More Pregnancy Options n The New Surrogacy • Motherhood

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THE MIDLIFE PREGNANCY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW


• A Woman's Body • You're Only as Old as Your Eggs • Preserving Your Good Health • Your Fertility Exam • Getting Pregnant • IVF After Forty • The GIFT for Women Over Forty • Increasing Your Pregnancy Odds Even More • Protecting Your Pregnancy • Preventing Birth Defects • The Older New Mom

Part IV

Your Personal Pregnancy Planner:

A Six-Month Guide to a Safe and Healthy Conception

PLANNING YOUR PREGNANCY STEP-BY-STEP

RESOURCES

INDEX