My journey to pregnancy was anything but smooth. But I also can’t say that it was anywhere near as anxiety provoking as many others.

I am the type of person who likes to figure out my own path (not surprising being an entrepreneur) and my health is no exception.

So when my husband and I were only seeing negative pregnancy tests, I was determined to figure it out on my own.

Here is what I learned over the 2 years we were trying.

Conceiving is an art form that is based in science.

Nature has the beautiful design that protects you on a primal level. This is your sympathetic nervous system aka fight or flight response. When your body perceives any amount of stress or “threat” it creates an environment to protect you. This increases cortisol levels, tenses muscles and reduces blood flow to non vital organs.

All of these responses are not ideal when you are trying to conceive. Here’s why:

Elevated cortisol levels effects ovarian function and reproductive hormone levels.

Tense muscles can reduce proper blood flow, contribute to painful intercourse and impact organ positioning.

Blood flow is vital to remove toxins from the body, hormone communication and nutrient distribution.

Essentially, when your body feels it is in a period of stress it says, “this is not the time to have a baby.”

I didn’t realize how much stress effected my body until I started tracking my cycle and could see a pattern of when I was in a period of stress or not. The main sign for me, was regular periods turning irregular in the time of stress.

Conceiving is all about timing

Every month you have a 33% chance of conceiving. And that percentage is during a specific time frame, i.e ovulation. If you don’t know when you ovulate, you don’t know when to try.

This is a problem, especially if you have irregular periods, like I did when stressed.

I took an approach of diet, exercise and self body work to improve my stress responses and balance my hormones. This is the least invasive and most natural approach to optimizing my reproductive health.

My philosophy is your body knows how to conceive, but there may be interference that needs to be cleared away before it can happen. If you are able to remove the barriers without disrupting other systems and body functions the better. This includes using artificial hormones that force your body into regularity.

Conceiving is only the beginning, but sustaining is the long haul

Once you finally get the positive pregnancy test, the work is not done. Your body still needs to be able to sustain the pregnancy. This means proper hormone balance and blood flow.

I took a natural approach so that I was laying the foundation for a more sustainable health routine. My body had cleared out the excess toxins that could interfered with the hormone changes necessary for implantation and growth. I had a routine to manage the stress reactions in my body. I was creating a healthy womb for baby from the beginning.

It’s not too early to prepare for pregnancy

Pregnancy is no joke. Your body goes through an incredible transformation to grow another person. This requires a lot and can cause discomfort and other problems.

Going into pregnancy with the knowledge that I had made me see the importance of being proactive. However, it wasn’t until after I was pregnant that I fully understand why and how it impacts everything from mood to sleep to pain to birth outcome. It’s a lot easier to avoid problems than to treat problems.

Healing is not a one size fits all

I needed to heal my body before I would conceive. Did I have specific injuries, not that could be seen. But healing is more than from a wound. It’s about helping your body find homeostasis or balance. It’s about taking about what is not serving it and giving it what will. Healing is also supporting your body when it can’t do it on it’s own.

We all bring different healing properties to the table. And this means some of us may need extra external support to awaken the intrinsic healing powers.

My body responses well to body work and exercise.

You may response to acupuncture, steaming, or food modifications.

Or all of the above!

What is most important is finding what resonates with you and what feels right.

If you don’t enjoy weight lifting, but heard it’s good for PCOS, it still may not work for you because it’s more of a chore than enjoyable. If having needles stuck into you, creaps you out, then acupuncture isn’t going to be the way for you.

What I do know is that being mindful about your body regardless of what healing path you choose is the common thread.

I applied everything I learned from my first experience when we wanted to a second and I was pregnant in less than 2 months!

If you want to be proactive or you want a more natural approach to healing before trying to conceive I’d love to hear from you.

Head on over to my private Facebook group, Your Pelvic Health Explained, to join in the conversation, receive support, and extra guidance from me!