Using a Diaphragm vs. using an Instead Cup or SoftCup to Get Pregnant

What's better to use as a conception aid... a Diaphragm, or a Softcup (aka Instead Cup)?

(Please note that I sometimes use the term "Instead cup" because that was what it used to be called... it's now the SoftCup, but I may refer to it by either name).

I decided to take a side by side photo of my instead cup, next to my diaphragm (which I hadn't used in so long it literally had a layer of dust on it... I would put it back in it's case but can't find the darn thing).

I got a diaphragm back in 2008 for birth control purposes and used it a total of like, two times, when my now-husband was "just my boyfriend." I'd somehow managed to convince my favorite doctor, at the clinic I went to for birth control, to give me one. I'd always wanted to try it, and was at a point where I didn't want to go back on the pill.

Although I didn't really like it as a method of birth control (partly because I didn't want to use ANY birth control) I am really glad I didn't throw it out. Because I want to start using it again as a conception aid.

I've used both the instead cup and my diaphragm, to "keep the sperm in," and I have to say - I actually prefer my diaphragm over the instead cup, for a few reasons:

1) For me personally, it feels a little more comfortable. I think it's because the "ring" around the edge of the diaphragm is thinner, and a little more flexible than the softcup.

2) It's easier for me to pee with a diaphragm in, than a softcup. I don't know what it is about the softcup, but somehow it always manages to position itself over my bladder and then when I have to pee, I feel like it takes forever... and can't help wondering if some of the pee is going INTO the softcup! That can't be good for sperm.

3) A diaphragm is generally considered safe to re-use, whereas you're supposed to throw away an instead cup after one use. For the record, I do want to state that I have re-used instead cups, after washing them thoroughly - without a problem. But I don't think you're "supposed to" do that, so I'm not recommending it.

4) Because a diaphragm has "less room" to it, the sperm are closer to your cervix and therefore, can reach the egg faster than with a SoftCup. It's true that if you "roll up" an instead cup, you can give the sperm less space to travel (you can read my prior blog post about this, and view pictures of what I'm talking about, by clicking here: http://knockknockbaby.blogspot.com/2009/10/using-instead-cup-rolled-up.html). But when I do roll it up, I can't help wondering if it's "too tight" for my cervix?

I still would DEFINITELY recommend the SoftCup for women who are trying to conceive (if you don't already have a diaphragm), but I am just saying that a diaphragm is my preferred method... when I can actually find the darn thing. I got my diaphragm practically free, from a low-cost clinic, partially because I have the best "clinic doctor" ever (I actually kept seeing her, even after I got health insurance and could see a "regular" doctor). If you don't have a way to get ahold of a diaphragm for a low cost, I'd say keep using the SoftCups.

I just spent the last hour trying to find an article I'd seen online, about some female doctor who had a huge success rate, helping her clients get pregnant, using a diaphragm (instead of a SoftCup). I know I'd seen it within the last year, but didn't save it or bookmark it, and now I'm going nuts trying to find it again.  This is driving me crazy, as it seemed to just pop right up on the first page in a google search when I looked for an article on the topic several months ago, but now that I'm trying to find it so I can add it to this blog... it's nowhere to be found. And I'm usually really good about being able to find stuff on Google, quickly. I've tried dozens of different google searches, with AND without quotes, and still... no dice. I'm not kidding, I've been looking for an hour and a half.

There is another woman who did an online post, who seemed to be talking about the same Doctor / article. She said that the doctor said it would never catch on, because the fertility docs would never make any money using this method... her success rate was about 50 percent! (maybe the fertility doctors found a way to remove it!!!). Here is her post: http://www.inspire.com/buch4/journal/using-a-diaphragm-to-get-pregnant/

So I just want to tell you that I know people have used this method with a high success rate, because I did see that article (btw if you happen to find it, please email me at knockknockbaby@gmail.com and I will add it to this post!!!). I think I just need to lay off the google searching for tonight, and hopefully the right combination of keywords will come to me in a day or two, and it will magically re-appear again.

Some articles I did find about using a diaphragm to get pregnant (though it's not the one I was looking for):
http://www.inspire.com/buch4/journal/using-a-diaphragm-to-get-pregnant/
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/artificial-insemination-at-home.html
http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/homeinsem.html

I'll keep looking for that other one, and will be sure to post it if I ever find it!!!

Ellebelle

How to Save Money on PreSeed Lubricant

The other day I FINALLY was able to find some Pre-Seed  in a drugstore - Walgreen's, of all places (they do not have it at Target or CVS - at least not in my neighborhood - though they used to carry it at CVS).

This stuff is NOT CHEAP.  The total for one (1) 1.4 ounce tube, with tax included, was $27.05.  Which is equivalent to about $1.93 for every tenth of an ounce (less than one application), when you include the tax.

First of all, I want to say - although the stuff is expensive, I know it's worth it, and I'm very grateful to Dr. Joanna Ellington for coming up with this stuff, and for figuring out that a substance called Arabinogalactan can actually help sperm survive longer than they normally would. She's a genius!

That being said, however, there are people like me who are in our 40's, who have been trying to have a baby for several years, and have gone through a couple dozen tubes of this stuff.  So in my opinion, some of us deserve a break in the price!!!  Sadly, though, the baby gods don't really care about our poor TTC dilemmas - just like Aunty Flo doesn't really care about the fact that we chicks have to cough up extra money to buy feminine products every month, just because we're women. Men traditionally have to cough up money to pay for a first date. Who said that's fair? Life just isn't fair, period.

So it's up to us to figure out our own ways to save money.


My biggest Pre-Seed  tip on how to save money: I mentioned this in an earlier post, but am going to mention it again in case you missed it.  You can actually save money on Pre-Seed  by combining it with Astroglide NATURAL.  (you can get a free sample of Astroglide Natural by clicking here: http://www.astroglide.com/FreeSample.asp... just be sure to click the dropdown to select Astroglide natural, as the default is the regular Astroglide). If you want to buy a whole tube, you can find it here on Amazon.

Yes, this really works. At least, it really worked for me (for anyone who has never read any of my other blog posts, I got pregnant at age 43, for the first time, after 5 years of TTC). I didn't use PreSeed in it's full-strength. I used a combination of half Pre-Seed , and half Astroglide NATURAL. Basically, I just dumped a tube of Pre-Seed  into about half a bottle of Astroglide natural (It's true, I was doing a lot of other things to maximize my fertility, but wanted to mention again that I did not use Pre-Seed  at its full strength). You can read about the other things I did, to get pregnant, by clicking HERE.

I also want to note that, you can save even more money by ordering the 2.5 oz. tube of Pre-Seed  (aka Pre') instead of the small (1.4 oz) tube.  The larger tube is marked "for external use" but I found out the ingredients are the same, and the "external" Pre-Seed has the same concentration of arabinogalactan (the antioxidant that prolongs sperm life), as the small tube does! The smaller tube just costs more because  you are getting the plastic applicators, but I have plenty of those and would rather have more product instead. You may have to order this product online, though. Walgreens only carried the smaller tube.

UPDATE 10/11/14: Sorry ladies, it looks like they no longer carry the Pre'.... I think it's been discontinued. Bummer!

When I combined the Pre-Seed  with the Astroglide natural, it turned a kind of milky color, and stayed that way (I don't really understand why it did that, since both are clear when they come out of their respective bottle / tube). I did created more of the mixture the other day (photos below) and for some reason, it didn't stay that "milky color." But whatever the case - that's the stuff I used when I got pregnant. And I used a decent amount of it.

I decided to take pictures when I combined the Pre-Seed  with the Astroglide natural. It helps if you are working with a half a bottle.  I had one almost-empty bottle, so I poured half the contents of  my new bottle, into the old bottle, and then poured the pre-seed equally into both bottles, then shook them up. At first, you will see the "top layer" is milky looking, but when you shake it up, it turns clear. The first time I did this, it stayed a milky color, but this time it went back to clear.

 Pouring the astroglide into both bottles (you can see they changed the packaging, slightly, but it's the same stuff)...

 You can see the top layer looks "milky"...

 Just after shaking.... there were big bubbles at first...

 (eventually even the tiny bubbles - in this photo - disappeared, and it now looks clear). 

I also took a photo of the ingredients, which you can read  here. 

Pre-Seed  Ingredients:   Purified water, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Pluronic, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Phosphate, Carbomer, Methylparaben, Sodium Hydroxide, Arabinogalactan, Potassium Phosphate, Propylparaben.

Astroglide Natural Ingredients:  Xylitol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Potassium ascorbyl tocopheryl phosphate (Vitamins C & E), Pectin, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract (Chamomile), Hydroxyethylcellulose, Phenoxyethanol.

Here are the ingredients listed again, side by side, so you can compare  (as you can see, Purified water and Hydroxyethylcellulose are the only 2 common ingredients).  I'm no scientist, but most of the ingredients do sound pretty safe.

Astroglide Natural Ingredients:  Purified Water, Xylitol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Potassium ascorbyl tocopheryl phosphate (Vitamins C & E), Pectin, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract (Chamomile), Hydroxyethylcellulose, Phenoxyethanol.

Preseed Ingredients:   Purified water, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Pluronic, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Phosphate, Carbomer, Methylparaben, Sodium Hydroxide, Arabinogalactan, Potassium Phosphate, Propylparaben.

WHERE TO BUY:

I went online to find the cheapest places to buy PreSeed.

If you have Amazon Prime, that is the cheapest way to get it. If you get a 2 pack, that makes it about $16.50 per tube (shipping included... though I am not sure if there is tax). You can find the 2-Pack on Amazon HERE 

You can get one box through Amazon Prime (sold by the PreSeed company) HERE.

Other places you can get Pre-Seed online (please note pricing may be subject to change):

Walgreens.com: $22.99 (free shipping over $25)  http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/pre-seed-fertility-friendly-personal-lubricant/ID=prod6052640-product

CVS.com: $20.99 (free shipping if your order is over $49 and weighs less than 10 pounds)  http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/shop_product_detail.jsp?filterBy=&skuId=794443&productId=794443&navAction=jump&navCount=3 

Early-Pregnancy-Tests.com $21.50 (love these guys... they used to have the best pricing, but I just learned if you have Amazon Prime that is slightly cheaper): They do have FREE SHIPPING for this product in the US and Canada, even if all you're getting is this one box, PLUS they give you two free pregnancy tests with your order. http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com/preseed-multi-use.html   You can also buy the much larger tube - the pre-seed external type, for much the same price (it's twice as much product for about the same price: http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com/preseed-external.html).

Ebay (Variable) (There are several different sellers listing this product, and some pretty decent deals, some with free shipping. You can see them by clicking this link):
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=preseed&_sacat=0&_odkw=presed&_osacat=0

I'm seriously thinking about selling this stuff myself... will let you know if I do! (I used to make my living selling on ebay, but took a break).  Please check the main page for this blog site, and if I do start selling it, I will be sure to mention it on the main page.  Maybe I could even throw in a sample of Visalus!

Ellebelle

The POSITIVE side of a Miscarriage

Today I did a Google search to see if anyone else had written anything, on the positive side of a miscarriage. I know that may sound insane to some people, but I have always been a big believer that for every bad thing, there is a good thing that comes out of it. Even if it doesn't seem possible at the time. To my surprise, I couldn't find a single post on the subject. You can usually find just about anything on google, but I didn't find anything about there being a single positive effect of having a miscarriage. I guess I do understand it, but... it just seems like a shame, because if you can't look at the positive side of the situation, then it's like, that poor little baby died completely in vain, and I don't want to see it like that.

I want to look at it like, that baby - small as it was, and as short-lived as it's life was -  helped me in some way.  It did not die in vain. It just had a tiny chance to be here on earth, and it made the world a better place in the short time that it was here.

Several years ago, a friend of mine had a miscarriage, in her second trimester, and was pretty traumatized. My sister pointed out to her that, that tiny baby boy did a lot of good for her, during its short life. That baby boy, that never got the chance to walk or talk, actually got his mother to quit smoking. He got his mother to eat healthier. And he brought his mother and father closer together. I was really touched and inspired by my sister's perspective on the whole situation, and it helped our girl friend, too.  She now has two beautiful, healthy kids and is a very proud mom!

It's been about 2 months since my miscarriage, and I am feeling great. My body feels really good, I feel healthy and strong and ready to try to get pregnant again. My last period was actually a really "good one." I bled a lot, but I was happy about it, because I haven't had a period like that since my 20's or early 30's, and it made me feel young again. It was kind of a strange period... there was a lot of slipper stuff that came out during the first week. I think I was actually ovulating. I had very noticeable sharp pains in my ovaries - just like I get when I ovulate, only these were a little stronger than usual - and it was while I was in the middle of my period. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that my period arrived today.  Yes, I was a little disappointed. I had still been hoping for some sort of miracle, that I could get pregnant right away after the miscarriage, and even have a baby born in the year of the Dragon. But it just wasn't meant to be.

My last period lasted for about 8-10 days - maybe even a week - honestly, I can't remember the exact number of days it was, but I remember telling my husband it was unusually long, and heavy. I remember answering the door at my workplace and escorting a guest to the person they were supposed to meet, and feeling myself bleeding heavily and praying that the pantyliner I was wearing, would be enough for me to make it from the front of the building to the middle, where I was escorting the guests. I didn't expect it to be so heavy.  But I was glad. Because I knew it was my body's way of getting rid of some of the "extra" stuff I'd been carrying around, since I opted not to have a D & C.

The doctor at Planned Parenthood was very much against me skipping the D & C. She took a look at my ultrasound and said I have a lot of stuff left in my uterus, and said there's a very high chance of infection, which I refused to believe. Seriously? Women have been having miscarriages for millions of years - do you really expect me to believe that there's over a 50% chance I'm going to have some kind of life threatening infection by me having just one? I decided to let mother nature take her course. Yes, I was a little concerned, but not that concerned. Especially after talking to my granola hippie sister, who opted to have her two births without any kind of medical intervention. She doesn't trust doctors or their intentions, and I usually tend to agree with her.

Anyway, a few days ago I was starting to think I might be pregnant. I didn't feel pregnant, but I was having pretty heavy white discharges, as I did when I was pregnant in January. And also, the thing I really noticed was that I didn't have any pain with orgasm, even though I seemed to be due for my period (as it was around day 30 of my cycle). Which is very unusual for me. For the last three years, I've had to endure intensive cramping almost every time I have an orgasm, if it's within a few days of me getting my period. I just had an orgasm a couple of days ago, but there was no pain whatsoever. And I just started my period today. The thing that made me realize I was pregnant, 3 months ago, was the fact that I didn't have any pain with orgasm. Something must be up!

So, I can't help but believe that there is something positive that has come out of this pregnancy. I'm not sure if my past "orgasm pain" was caused by a fibroid, or polyp, or excess old tissue, or what, but somehow, I feel like, my uterus is now healthier than ever. I feel like my periods are getting back to how they used to be, and I want to thank my last baby - tiny as it was - for that.

I am also feeling very grateful that, at the very least, I know what it's like to get pregnant. For the longest time, I had no idea, and it was just this thing that everyone else talked about and knew about, except me. Well, now I know.  And although I never got to know the joys of delivering a full term baby, I feel like I have an understanding that I never used to before.

This past month has been a hard one for me. I am no longer working at the temp assignment I was before - but I am feeling more positive than ever. I have a completely different career that I am pursuing, and I feel GREAT about it.  Good things are happening for me right now, and I am starting to train for a marathon again. I just bought a ton of healthy food the other day, from Costco, and am back to drinking my veggie shakes. Things are looking good.

For anyone who's been through a miscarriage - I really feel your pain. It just sucks, there's no way around it. But if you can find it in you to look for anything positive that's come from it - even if it's just that you have more of an appreciation now, for the fact that you were able to get pregnant at all (which some people can't, no matter how hard they try), you will surely be a better person for it.

Trying Again...

Time to get back on the saddle.

I took an ovulation test this morning and it was positive.

Unfortunately, I'm not so positive, about a few things:

a) I'm still a little scared to get pregnant, because I still don't have health insurance. But I'm working on it. I'm at a temp job and am hopeful that they will bring me on as a permanent employee.

b) Even though the test strip says I'm ovulating, I don't know if there are any viable eggs ready for the sperm right now. For some weird reason, I had miettelshmerz (I know I must have spelled that wrong) DURING my period (which was very heavy), about 2 weeks ago. And the pain was pretty strong, so I'm guessing I released some pretty good eggs... only it was way too early. I think this must be a symptom of still getting over a miscarriage. My body is still out of whack. I haven't experienced any ovulation pain (like I did with the cycle before I got pregnant) so I am guessing that my system may still be a little "off" and it might be several months before things are back to normal. I'm not sure what it is that causes the ovulation test strips to darken, but... the cynical side of me says this could be a false alarm.

c) The quality of my eggs may not be as great as they could be. I've probably been drinking a little too much caffeine this month (just decaf mochas at work, and a coke here and there...but still...). And I'm not taking my visalus vitamins as regularly as I should be. I have been pretty decent about taking coenzyme q10, vitamin d and pycnogenol. But the problem is, the vi-paks don't fit into my pill minder, and then I forget to take them - or I can't take the day paks because I forgot to grab them, rushing out the house in the morning, on my way to work. I'd say I've been taking the Visalus about 70% of the times when i should (the ones I tend to forget are the night packs). But, hopefully, I would think the amount of Visalus pills and shakes I have taken consumed over the last 6 month has helped to improve my overall health and egg quality.

As for the hubby... I think even he was getting a little forgetful about taking his vitamins in the last month. He's usually pretty good about the Visalus, because it's easy and the box is right in his bathroom, and he's a man of method. My hubby is the most methodical dude ever. But if I don't fill up his "pill minder" in the bathroom with the vitamin D and CoEnzyme Q10, he just won't take it. I'm not going to complain about this much because I am just so grateful that he's willing to take them at ALL!!!

So, regardless of whether I'm ovulating or not, we had some really great sex this morning. TWICE. And it's been over a week, so my DH had a good amount of sperm built up. I was really happily surprised to see he was willing to go a second time. I thought he was joking when he suggested it, but nope! I was seriously impressed!

I had decided to take the day off because I was planning to go to an animal rights protest (my first day I've ever requested off work). My boss was really cool with it. But I decided not to go because I couldn't get anyone else on board and it would be a 4 hour drive. I decided to take the day off anyway since I was seriously sleep deprived and had a ton of housecleaning, but then I got caught up on my laptop and haven't gotten out of bed, and it's already 5:30 pm (I woke up at 12:30 pm!). I'd normally be irritated with myself, but I look at it overall like a good thing.

I remember that when I did get pregnant in January, I stayed in bed for a LONG time, just resting and letting the sperm do their thing. I went and bought more Astroglide Natural yesterday, and when I was applying it with my fingers, I could tell my cervix was definitely in the "open" position... it's just a question of, is there a viable egg up there to fertilize? I guess I'll find out. I didn't even use the type of astroglide with Pre-seed in it, because a) I was too tired to hunt down an applicator tube or instead cup and insert it, and b) it seemed like I had a decent amount of lubrication without it. Usually that's NOT the case... especially if we are in the doggie position. But I didn't need any extra this morning. And I also had an orgasm, so things were pretty wet down there.

Again... I am not really expecting to get pregnant this cycle, because I just haven't been doing all the things I was doing the first time I got pregnant. I'm not excercising, not avoiding caffeine entirely (I'd say I consume about 300-500 mg per week), not taking Fertil Plus regularly (I've taken about 5 pills total in this last month) - and I figure I probably will need that stuff in order to get pregnant again.

But it can't hurt to try, right?

The thing that makes me want to go for it now, is... I'm embarrassed to admit this, knowing how stupid it will sound.... but if I got pregnant in this cycle, then my baby would be born in the Year of the Dragon. Which just sounds SO much cooler than the Year Of The Snake, which is the next cycle. I know, pretty silly, right? But I can't help it. My good friend, whom I'll call Jessie, brought it up when I told her I was pregnant. She said, "Oh, the baby will be born in the year of the dragon!" and it sounded so cool... and I was really psyched about it. It doesn't help that I gotta keep seeing pictures of Zena and her damn Dragon Baby all over Facebook!

To console myself, I looked up celebrities born in the Year of the Snake, and the people seem exceptionally beautiful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FejIm4y7DAE. So there! Take that, Zena and your little Dragon baby (you watch now that I've said that, she's gonna have a THIRD baby in the year of the snake).

I'll be happy with any baby, born in any year. Dragon, snake, or whatever comes after it.

That is all for now.

Is it just me or is everybody else pregnant right now?

I just saw a headline on AOL, that Megan Fox is pregnant.  And when I clicked on the article, all these other links about pregnant celebrities popped up under the article.

I'm wondering if this is a normal thing that happens when you've had a miscarriage. It suddenly seems like EVERYONE ELSE is having a normal, healthy pregnancy! As if I don't have enough real life friends with babies, whose pictures I see daily on Facebook. Oh and I forgot to mention, all the baby photos that are being posted on our online "employee social network" at work. There are only about 100 employees at work, but it seems like a good 10 percent of them have newborns!

I am very happy for Drew Barrymore - though I'm also pretty envious. We would have been pregnant at the same time, if I was able to stay pregnant. But I guess it just wasn't meant to be. It's ok though - I'm planning to try again! And I can't wait to see pics of Drew Barrymore and her baby, because I know she's going to make a fantastic mother!

Can CoEnzyme Q10 help you get pregnant?

Found an interesting article on CoEnzyme Q10, and how it can help some women get pregnant.

The part of the article most worth noting:

"Half the mice in the experiment got a placebo, while half got coenzyme Q10; the animals that got the vitamin produced more egg follicles, and more and healthier eggs."

On the downside, the mice were treated with the supplement for the equivalent of a decade in human years.

Still, you never know...

http://www.conceiveonline.com/articles/could-coenzyme-q10-help-you-get-pregnant

CoEnzyme Q10 and Fertility

I've been reading a lot about fertility and the positive effects of taking CoEnzyme Q10, prior to getting pregnant. Pretty amazing stuff!!!

Not only does it help a man produce "better" sperm, but it also seems to improve egg quality in women, and helps them develop more follicles.

Here is an article I found... I'm copying and pasting it here, but you can find the original on THIS PAGE.

Coenzyme Q10: Fertility Energy for Older Eggs and Sperm

by Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, Dec. 28, 2009

For years, doctors have been proscribing Co-enzyme Q10, a supplement that helps to better produce energy in the mitochondria of cells, to patients with congestive heart failure and diabetes, and athletes have been taking it to improve their performance. Ninety-five percent of the body’s energy is generated with Co-enzyme Q10, and therefore, the organs with the highest energy requirements like the heart and the liver have the highest concentrations. Now some fertility doctors believe that the supplement may also improve female and male fertility.

Dr. Yaakov Bentov, an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto's Center for Advanced Reproductive Technology, says that as a woman ages, her eggs become less efficient during fertilization because the chromosomes don’t replicate as well. “The egg needs to complete a demanding process and often when a women reaches her late 30s and early 40s, there is not enough energy in the cells,” he says.

In a 2009 study published in The Journal of Fertility and Sterility, Bentov and his colleagues found that taking up to 600 milligrams a day of Co-enzyme Q10 -- which can be purchased at any drug store -- actually helped to improve egg quality in older women and improved fertilization rates.

“It may improve the quality of eggs by correcting their energy which improves the division of chromosome during fertilization,” Bentov claims.

Studies have also found that Co-enzyme Q10 may also improve male infertility. A July 2009 study in The Journal of Urology looked at 212 infertile men who took the 300 mg of the supplement for 30 weeks, and found that it improved both sperm density and motility.

You may want to ask your doctor what she thinks about this supplement.

Read more about "rejuvenating" aging eggs in Fertility Authority's Aging Eggs: Exciting Research Is on the Horizon article

Here is the other article I read:

http://www.conceiveonline.com/articles/could-coenzyme-q10-help-you-get-pregnant

Loved this part:  "Half the mice in the experiment got a placebo, while half got coenzyme Q10; the animals that got the vitamin produced more egg follicles, and more and healthier eggs."

I should probably mention that the mice were treated with the supplement for the equivalent of a decade in human years.  Still, you never know...

Whatever the case, I plan to be taking CoQ10 regularly for the next year!

EB

UPDATE 10/11/14:  I just wanted to make a comment that although I have "sort of" taken a break from TTC, I have been taking this Coenzyme Q10 (300-400 mg/day)  for the last few months (I started, then stopped for about a year) to improve the quality of my eggs, so that if and when I am ready to TTC again, I will be in better shape. If I "actively" try to conceive I will increase the Coenzyme Q10 to 600mg/day.

I've also been taking this brand of  Astragalus (6 pills a day), which is known in Chinese medicine to reverse the effects of aging. And I have definitely noticed a difference. I am producing a lot more cervical mucus (to the point where sometimes it feels like I peed in my pants), my skin texture is a lot clearer, I am looking younger, and I can feel when I am ovulating (I get pangs in my ovaries, which had stopped for a while since for the last year I've taken a serious break from TTC).

I have also been using a PEMF Machine, which is shown to help improve the energy production from your mitochondria, which can improve the quality of your eggs. You can read more about that by clicking HERE. Since I've been doing these three things I've noticed an improvement in my menstrual cycle. It's longer and my blood looks better (more of the bright red kind).



Another thing I noticed is, my hair gets oily a lot faster. I used to be able to go a whole week without washing it, and now that I have added these 2 supplements, my hair actually starts to smell after 2 days! I wouldn't necessarily say this is a great side effect, but it makes me feel good because oily hair is something I experienced when taking DHEA, which is known to produce better quality eggs. If my body is going back to doing things it used to do when it was younger... I'm all for it. I used to have really oily hair in my 20's... couldn't go more than 2 days without washing it.

I did a little more research on Coenzyme Q10 and fertility, and discovered this discussion online.. it seems that there are a good amount of women out there, who feel that it helped them:

These are the brands I've been taking:
Coenzyme Q10
Astragalus

Have a great day!

EB