Oct 5, 2020

These blog posts titled “What a BFF (Best Fertility Friend) Would Say” are a hodge-podge of random tips to give you strength and assurance as you try to get pregnant.  I hope they help!

With appreciation for inviting me on your journey,

Julie

Why you need to focus inward…

What do expect to feel when you hold your baby in your arms?

Take a piece of paper and write all the emotions down.

They may include love, joy, appreciation, excitement, serenity, fulfillment, ….

Don’t read further until you have your list!

So now look at that list.

How many of those feelings do you experience consistently in your life right now, even without baby?

If you already experience those emotions, congratulations! You’re on the right path. Keep the momentum going and trust in the process.

If you can’t experience those feelings now and need the condition of a baby to get there emotionally, it’s going to be very difficult to attract a baby from a state of neediness.

Do the internal work now so that your external environment will eventually reflect back to you what is already in your heart.

How much protein you need when TTC

When trying to get pregnant, women need to ensure that they are eating enough protein on a daily basis.

A baby needs lots of protein as raw material for its physical structure. Just as you need truckloads of wood to build a house, a baby needs protein to build its body.

The limiting factor about protein is that it isn’t stored in the body so you need to eat what you and your baby needs every day.

To calculate how much you need, divide your weight in pounds by 2. That number will be the approximate amount of protein in grams you need every day.

The best sources of protein when you’re trying to get pregnant are grass-fed red meats (beef, lamb, bison), wild fatty fish like salmon, and at least two pasture-raised eggs a day.

Vegetarian protein sources such as beans and legumes should not be your primary sources of protein because they are less nutrient-dense than animal sources.

1% improvements are enough

You are constantly changing which means you’re either improving or declining.

There is no such thing as things remaining the same. That’s where we fool ourselves into thinking that non-action means things are status quo.

Nope!

Time will take care of that as you are well aware of when it comes to egg quality.

Rather…make it a daily practice to evaluate whether what you’ve done has moved you forward or backward on your fertility journey.

Even barely noticeable, tiny improvements will accumulate big gains over time.

Apply the 1% rule (thanks to author and entrepeneur James Altucher): “Improve a little each day. It compounds. When 1% compounds every day, it doubles every 72 days, not every 100 days. Compounding tiny excellence is what creates big excellence.”

You can’t improve your egg quality in one day. You probably won’t get pregnant tomorrow.

But you CAN improve your eggs and increase your chance of getting pregnant every day with 1% actions.

What are these actions? You know the drill by now…make better food choices, move your body more, meditate, be present, connect with your partner, practice self-care.

1% up or 1% down seems trivial. But it sneaks up. Make it delight you with the results rather than having that “Holy Strawberries. I’m in a jam. Where has the time gone?” panic.

How to stay centered when you feel like the world is against you

Your job is to figure out the path of least resistance to your vision of a future with your baby…regardless of what your doctors, friends, family, or the media say.

Take the responsibility of creating your own path and invite the people you want along it.

If someone can’t support you in the name of “keeping it real”, know that it’s about them, not you. Park them on the side of the road and continue on your fertility journey without them, as you wave to them in your rearview mirror.

This is not an easy path. You need all the support you can get.

Cultivating the mind/body/spirit connection with meditation allows you to stay centered when you feel like the world is against you.

Start with a simple practice of mindful breathing for 15-20 minutes.