your next child. Women who do not breast-feed often find that their menstrual cycles return four to ten weeks after childbirth. However, nursing mothers may not ovulate for a year or more, depending on the baby’s feeding patterns.
Each time your baby nurses, the brain suppresses the hormone that triggers ovulation. In most cases, ovulation will resume when the baby goes more than four hours between feedings during the day and more than six hours at night. Keep in mind that breastfeeding is not a reliable method of birth control. Ovulation can occur irregularly during nursing, and you may release one egg before experiencing your first menstrual period.
HIS
Wear an Athletic Cup During Sporting Events
Your testicles need to be handled with care. They contain a delicate collection of tiny tubes, ducts, and vessels that can be damaged or scarred by trauma. So, if you’re planning to engage in sports that can lead to accident or injury, be sure to wear a protective cup.
Get Off Your Bike
Cycling may be great for physical conditioning, but it’s not so great for babymaking. Researchers at the University of Southern California School of Medicine found that cyclists who pedaled one hundred miles a week or more often suffered from “biker’s impotence,” a condition characterized by difficulty in getting and maintaining an erection for a day or two after biking. The thrustingand banging of the groin against the bicycle seat while pedaling can damage the nerves and arteries in the genital area. To avoid this problem, rise from your bike and support your weight with your legs periodically, or scale back on your riding during the times you are trying to get pregnant.
Keep Your Testicles Cool
The human body is designed to keep the testicles cool. In fact, the scrotal sac is housed outside the body so that the testicles can remain about two degrees cooler than the core body temperature. (The scrotal sac normally keeps the testes at between 94 and 96 degrees F.) Evidence suggests that if the temperature of the testicles rises above 96 degrees F, sperm production and motility is impaired.
In some cases, lowering the scrotal temperature can help make an infertile man into a father. To keep things cool, try the following:
Avoid hot tubs and saunas.
Wear boxers rather than briefs or tight bikini underwear. Tight undergarments may heat things up—and not in a way that will enhance your chances of getting pregnant.
Avoid wearing synthetic fibers during exercise.Lycra shorts can trap the heat, especially during a workout.
Exercise, but avoid workouts that heat the testicles. Rowing machines, cross-country ski machines, treadmills, and jogging are the worst culprits when it comes to overheating. Swimming and yoga are good alternatives. After exercise, allow your testicles to hang free and cool off.
If possible, avoid occupations that keep you in the heat. For example, welding or boiler maintenance operators can work in environments that routinely reach a sperm-killing 120 degrees F.
Try a cold water treatment. One study found that spraying the scrotum with cool water for two minutes in the morning and evening improved sperm counts in half the men studied.
Give Yourself Time to Recover from Illness
Your body produces about 50 million sperm each day, but it takes about three months for those sperm to be ready for action. It takes about seventy-eight days for sperm to be produced and twelve days more for them to mature. Any kind of viral illness with a fever—even a bad cold—can lower sperm counts for the full three months. The medications you take to treat an illness can also interfere with sperm production. If you have a normalor high sperm count, illness may not lower your sperm count enough to interfere with conception. But if your sperm count is more modest, it may be enough to cause temporary infertility. So be patient; give your sperm time to bounce back after an illness.
Take Steps to Manage Diabetes
Diabetes can wreak havoc on
Each time your baby nurses, the brain suppresses the hormone that triggers ovulation. In most cases, ovulation will resume when the baby goes more than four hours between feedings during the day and more than six hours at night. Keep in mind that breastfeeding is not a reliable method of birth control. Ovulation can occur irregularly during nursing, and you may release one egg before experiencing your first menstrual period.
HIS
Wear an Athletic Cup During Sporting Events
Your testicles need to be handled with care. They contain a delicate collection of tiny tubes, ducts, and vessels that can be damaged or scarred by trauma. So, if you’re planning to engage in sports that can lead to accident or injury, be sure to wear a protective cup.
Get Off Your Bike
Cycling may be great for physical conditioning, but it’s not so great for babymaking. Researchers at the University of Southern California School of Medicine found that cyclists who pedaled one hundred miles a week or more often suffered from “biker’s impotence,” a condition characterized by difficulty in getting and maintaining an erection for a day or two after biking. The thrustingand banging of the groin against the bicycle seat while pedaling can damage the nerves and arteries in the genital area. To avoid this problem, rise from your bike and support your weight with your legs periodically, or scale back on your riding during the times you are trying to get pregnant.
Keep Your Testicles Cool
The human body is designed to keep the testicles cool. In fact, the scrotal sac is housed outside the body so that the testicles can remain about two degrees cooler than the core body temperature. (The scrotal sac normally keeps the testes at between 94 and 96 degrees F.) Evidence suggests that if the temperature of the testicles rises above 96 degrees F, sperm production and motility is impaired.
In some cases, lowering the scrotal temperature can help make an infertile man into a father. To keep things cool, try the following:
Avoid hot tubs and saunas.
Wear boxers rather than briefs or tight bikini underwear. Tight undergarments may heat things up—and not in a way that will enhance your chances of getting pregnant.
Avoid wearing synthetic fibers during exercise.Lycra shorts can trap the heat, especially during a workout.
Exercise, but avoid workouts that heat the testicles. Rowing machines, cross-country ski machines, treadmills, and jogging are the worst culprits when it comes to overheating. Swimming and yoga are good alternatives. After exercise, allow your testicles to hang free and cool off.
If possible, avoid occupations that keep you in the heat. For example, welding or boiler maintenance operators can work in environments that routinely reach a sperm-killing 120 degrees F.
Try a cold water treatment. One study found that spraying the scrotum with cool water for two minutes in the morning and evening improved sperm counts in half the men studied.
Give Yourself Time to Recover from Illness
Your body produces about 50 million sperm each day, but it takes about three months for those sperm to be ready for action. It takes about seventy-eight days for sperm to be produced and twelve days more for them to mature. Any kind of viral illness with a fever—even a bad cold—can lower sperm counts for the full three months. The medications you take to treat an illness can also interfere with sperm production. If you have a normalor high sperm count, illness may not lower your sperm count enough to interfere with conception. But if your sperm count is more modest, it may be enough to cause temporary infertility. So be patient; give your sperm time to bounce back after an illness.
Take Steps to Manage Diabetes
Diabetes can wreak havoc on
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