Dear Dr. Love,My husband and I have been married for five years and we are thinking of having kids. My job gives me summers off and I would like to time it so that I have the baby in June so that I can stay home with the baby over the summer and then return to work in the fall. When should we begin trying to get pregnant?
If you want to become pregnant and deliver according to your tight schedule, then, the first step is to keep accurate records of your menstrual cycles, Basal Body Temperature (BBT), and cervical mucus changes. You can also try using the home test kits that measure the LH surge before ovulation. These are the only ways that you can predict that days that you are most likely to be fertile 266 days before you wish to have the baby (average time between conception and birth).Keep in mind that BBT charts and cervical mucus changes can be easily misinterpreted because these subtle markers can be easily altered by other factors (fever, infections, etc. ). Also know that even if your menstrual cycles are perfectly regular, and you and your husband are in perfect health, the chance of conception on the first try is only 20 percent. Also, the pressure to perform on the days that you are fertile can really leave your husband limper than a noodle. Likewise, if you pressure yourself to become pregnant at a given time, the appearance of your period may make you feel like a failure.While you can try to be scientific in your approach to becoming pregnant, realize that mother nature always has the upper hand in such matters. So, have a plan, but be flexible. If you aren’t flexible, your husband will be. . . and it won’t be the kind of flexible that you had in mind. Lot’s of luck. Let me know the baby’s name.
