The Essential Fertility Log
An Organizer And Record Keeper To Help You Get Pregnant

By Suzanne Schlosberg

• About the book • See a sample log page • Read an excerpt from the introduction • Buy it at Powell's or Amazon

All The Tools (OK, Some Of The Tools) To Help You Get Pregnant

When it comes to getting pregnant, timing and accuracy are everything. Well, except if you're Britney "It just kind of happened" Spears, who managed to give birth twice in one year. For most of us, getting knocked up takes a wee bit more effort. In fact, keeping of all the relevant details can sometimes require the organizational bent of a bookkeeper. Enter . . . The Essential Fertility Log.

This easy-to-use log is designed for anyone who is trying to conceive, whether you tossed aside your diaphragm yesterday or you’re in the throes of an IVF protocol. The log will serve as a source of daily encouragement as well as a tool for effective communication and collaboration with your doctor. Features include:

Sample Log Pages

Click to view two log pages (Acrobat required).

Excerpt From The Introduction

So, you're trying to get pregnant. Welcome to the club!

Chances are, your membership will be blissfully short-lived. If you're like most people, the procreation process will go something like this: Pinpoint ovulation, get it on with darling husband, break out home pregnancy test, order adorable capri pants from Gap Maternity. If you’re in your twenties, you have an 86 percent to 97 percent chance of conception within one year! In your thirties, the chances are 65 percent to 72 percent. The odds are solidly on your side.

And yet, there's always that chance that your conception experience might proceed more along these lines: Read Us Weekly while darling husband to produces sperm in plastic cup, assume the insemination position, schedule appointment with reproductive endocrinologist, store fertility drugs in fridge next to nonfat yogurt, peruse online donor-egg database featuring "cheerful law student, enjoys snowboarding."

This last scenario? That’s me, more or less.

After 18 months, lots of scheduled sex, four intra-uterine inseminations (IUIs), and two cancelled IVF cycles, I’ve learned this much: There’s more than one way to make a baby. I’ve also found it pays to be proactive — to closely monitor your monthly cycle, to do research online, to ask your doctor and your friends plenty of questions, to develop contingency plans and coping strategies in case your dream scenario doesn’t materialize.

It's highly likely you’ll get pregnant without much rigamarole. But it's also possible that "Please provide semen sample at 8 a.m." will become part of your procreation process. Either way — whether you’re a Fertile Myrtle or a bit of a tough case — you're likely to get knocked up faster if you’re healthy, relaxed, and well-informed about how your body operates.

That's where this book comes in handy. Think of it as your portable fertility headquarters, one central place to track all the particulars — details about your cycle, signs of ovulation or pregnancy, test results and appointments, medication protocols, workouts and relaxation exercises, thoughts and feelings. Keep the log on your nightstand, toss it in your purse when you visit the doctor or acupuncturist, or whip it out for reference when you search the Internet. Before long, your notes will reveal patterns and clues about your body that could save you months, if not years, of frustration. What's more, the log will encourage you to stay active and eat well, to unwind and be kind to yourself, to remember what, and whom, you’re grateful for in life.

The details you track here will prove especially useful if you end up seeking help from an ob/gyn, reproductive endocrinologist, fertility acupuncturist, or other health-care professional. Chances are, you'll be asked more questions than a witness on Law & Order: How long is your cycle? Do you know if you ovulate? Do you have post-ovulatory bleeding? How heavy is your flow and what color is it? How often are you having sex and when? Instead of relying on your memory, you can flip open your log and say, "Well, as a matter of fact . . . "