Contents
PREFACE:
Getting Pregnant in the New Millennium: Dear Mother-to-Be
INTRODUCTION:
The Really Good News About Getting Pregnant
Part I
New Discoveries: What Affects Fertility Most
CHAPTER ONE
HOW YOUR BODY WORKS: THE LATEST NEWS
• The New Conception Chemistry • The Hormones That Help You Get Pregnant • Getting Ready to Get Pregnant • How Your Life Cycles Function • Why You Get a Menstrual Period • How Your Personal Biology Affects Your Fertility n You Can Prevent Infertility
CHAPTER TWO
SEVEN SUPER FERTILITY THREATS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
• Surgical Adhesions (Scar Tissue) • Pelvic Inflammatory Disease • Fibroid Tumors • Ovarian Cysts and PCOD • PMS • Abortions • Ectopic Pregnancy • A Final Thought About Your Fertility
CHAPTER THREE
YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND YOUR FERTILITY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ENDOMETRIOSIS, THYROID DISORDER, AND MORE
• The Secret Immune Disorder That Destroys Fertility • Endometriosis, Immunity, and Fertility • A Final Thought
CHAPTER FOUR
FINALLY! THE TRUTH ABOUT MALE FERTILITY
• Problem Within a Problem • Understanding Male Fertility: What Every Woman Needs to Know • Seven Super Male Fertility Threats and How to Avoid Them • The Male Fertility Protection Exam • A Final Word About Male Fertility
CHAPTER FIVE
SEX AND INFERTILITY: WHAT EVERY COUPLE NEEDS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
• STDs: What Are They? Who's at Risk? • How STDs Are Spread • How STDs Can Affect a Woman's Fertility • How STDs Can Affect a Man's Fertility • An STD Primer: The Most Common Sexually Transmitted Diseases and How to Treat Them • HIV, AIDS, and Your Fertility • STDs: Are You at Risk • A Final Word: Safe Sex, Not Fearful Sex
CHAPTER SIX
YOUR FERTILITY FROM NINE TO FIVE: REPRODUCTIVE HAZARDS OF THE WORKPLACE AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
• The Workplace and Your Fertility • The Reproductive Hazards: Who Is at Risk n Computers and Your Fertility n Workplace Cautions • Workplace Fertility Protection Guide • Seven Steps to a Safer Workplace • You Are Not Alone!
CHAPTER SEVEN
FERTILITY PROTECTION 2000: A COUPLE'S GUIDE TO A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
• The Lifestyle Fertility Quiz • The Fertility Protection Update 2000 • Drug Abuse and Your Fertility • How Climate Affects Fertility • The Time to Protect Your Fertility Is Now!
Part II
The Fastest, Easiest Ways to a Safe, Natural Conception
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE PRE-CONCEPTION EXAM 2000: GETTING READY TO GET PREGNANT
• How Pre-Conception Counseling Works • The Personal Facts Your Doctor Needs to Know • The T.H.E. 2000 Physical Exam n The Newest Diagnostic Tests • Testing for Genetic Diseases • The Final Evaluation • Some Final Advice
CHAPTER NINE
BODY FAT, DIETING, AND FERTILITY: HOW YOUR WEIGHT AFFECTS CONCEPTION
• Too Thin to Get Pregnant? • How Your Body Fat Affects Your Fertility • Overweight and Infertile? The New Links n Finding Your Ideal Fertility Weight • Achieving Your Fertility Weight Goals • Enhancing Your Fertility
CHAPTER TEN
FITNESS, STRESS, AND GETTING PREGNANT
• The Body-Fat Connection • Working Out: The Silent Dangers • The Workouts That Can Encourage Your Fertility • How Yoga Can Help You Get Pregnant • Stress, Anxiety, and Infertility
CHAPTER ELEVEN
FERTILITY DIET 2000: THE FOODS THAT ENHANCE YOUR FERTILITY AND PROTECT YOUR PREGNANCY
• The Fertility Power Boost • The Antifertility Foods • Food Additives and Fertility • Caffeine and Infertility • Vegetarian Diets and Your Fertility • A Food Strategy for Getting Pregnant • Fertility Food Plan 2000
CHAPTER TWELVE
MOTHER NATURE'S BOUNTY: ALL-NATURAL WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR FERTILITY
• The Vitamin You Need Most • More Fertility Nutrients • The Fertility Vitamin-Mineral Support Guide • The Fertility Plants • The Herbal "Cocktail" to Boost Fertility • The Helpful Herbs That May Harm Fertility • All-Natural Male Fertility Boosters • Taking the Natural Approach
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MAKING LOVE AND MAKING BABIES: HOW TO GET PREGNANT FAST
• Predicting Ovulation • Love, Sex, and Getting Pregnant • Sex and Conception • One Dozen New and Time-Tested Ways to Encourage Conception • A Final Word About Getting Pregnant
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
BOY OR GIRL...IS THERE A CHOICE? THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT GENDER SELECTION
• How Gender Selection Works • Tried and True: The Shettles Method of Gender Selection • Sex and Your Baby's Gender • Do Opposites Attract? The Whelan Method • Eat Chocolate -- and Give Birth to a Baby Boy! • The Electricity of Love • High-Tech Gender Selection • Gender Selection
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
PREVENTING MISCARRIAGE: NOW YOU CAN!
• Understanding Pregnancy Loss • Your Immune System and Miscarriage • Four Powerful Immune Boosters to Save Your Pregnancy • Men, Immunity, and Pregnancy • Preventing Pregnancy Loss • Five Medical Breakthroughs That Can Save Your Pregnancy • Dry-Cleaning, Nail Polish Remover, and Miscarriage • Stress and Pregnancy Loss • Exercise and Miscarriage • Orgasm and Pregnancy Loss • How Water Beds Can Cause a Miscarriage • The Skin Treatment That Threatens Your Pregnancy • Miscarriages and Men • Twenty-One Super Easy Ways to Decrease Your Risk of Miscarriage Before and After You Conceive • You Can Stop a Miscarriage • Getting Pregnant Again
Part III
If You Don't Get Pregnant Right Away:
How Science Can Help
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CAN I HAVE A BABY? HOW TO TELL
• How to Test Your Own Fertility • How Your Family History Can Predict Your Fertility • Take Charge of Your Fertility • Your Basic Fertility Exam • The Fertility Blood Tests • If You Don't Get a Period • Reading Your Body Signals • The Postcoital Test for Fertility Rhythm • Visualizing Your Fertility • Under the Microscope • Looking Inside Your Body • Underwater Vision • Where Do We Go from Here? • Seeing a Fertility Expert
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THE NEW FERTILITY SURGERIES: NATURAL CONCEPTION MADE FAST AND EASY
• Can Fertility Surgery Help You? • The Procedures -- and How They Can Help • The Nonsurgical Way to Save Your Fallopian Tubes • The Fibroid Surgery That Preserves Your Fertility • The Surgery That Saves Your Fertility -- Even After Cancer • If You Decide on Fertility Surgery • Some Final Advice
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
WHEN HE'S THE REASON YOU CAN'T CONCEIVE: THE NEWEST TREATMENTS FOR MALE INFERTILITY
• Understanding Male Fertility • Good Sperm - Bad Sperm • The Male Fertility Exam • Can He Make a Baby ? How to Find Out Fast • The Fertility Blood Tests • Hot Testicles and Infertility • From Zero Sperm Count to Fatherhood in Less Than Sixty Minutes • When Sperm Can't Leave a Man's Body • Restoring His Sperm Flow • The New Testicle Biopsy • Zero Sperm Count -- and You Can Still Get Pregnant • Love on Ice • Restoring Male Fertility by Reversing a Vasectomy • Overcoming Impotence • A Final Word
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SUPER OVULATION AND OTHER NEW WAYS TO A FASTER, EASIER CONCEPTION
• Super Ovulation • The Most Common Fertility Drugs and How They Work • Lupron and Other "Agonizing" Treatments That Help You Conceive • Growth Hormone • Progesterone • Are Fertility Drugs Safe? What You Need to Know • Fertility Drugs and You
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE NEW ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION: NOTHING ARTIFICIAL AT ALL
• Can Artificial Insemination Help You? • Not All Inseminations Are Alike • How Your Body Helps Your Partner's Sperm • Getting Your Body Ready for Insemination • The Insemination Process • Donor Sperm • A Final Word About Insemination
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE A.R.T. OF CONCEPTION: THE NEW IN VITRO FERTILIZATION AND HOW IT CAN HELP YOU CONCEIVE
• The A.R.T. of Conception • How In Vitro Fertilization Works • Preparing Your Body for IVF • Preparing Your Partner for IVF • Making Your Baby • When Science Plays Mother Hen • Giving Your Baby Back to You • Confirming Your Pregnancy • Improving Your Pregnancy Rate • The Natural Cycle • Will Your IVF Be Successful? • Ensuring the Health of Your IVF Baby • Improving the Odds of Your IVF • A Final Word
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THE GIFT OF LIFE -- AND OTHER NEW TECHNOLOGIES
• What Is the GIFT Procedure -- and What Makes It Special • Increasing Your Pregnancy Success Odds • Natural Pregnancy After GIFT • More Conception Options • ICSI • Improving Your Pregnancy Odds • Ensuring Your ICSI Baby • A Final Thought
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE SCIENCE OF MOTHERHOOD: DONOR EGGS, FROZEN EMBRYOS, AND MORE NEW WAYS TO HAVE A BABY
• Stopping Your Biological Clock • Your Donor Pregnancy • Selecting a Donor • Getting Pregnant • Bonding to Your Donor Baby • Egg Freezing • Good Eggs -- No Pregnancy • More Pregnancy Options n The New Surrogacy • Motherhood
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE MIDLIFE PREGNANCY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• A Woman's Body • You're Only as Old as Your Eggs • Preserving Your Good Health • Your Fertility Exam • Getting Pregnant • IVF After Forty • The GIFT for Women Over Forty • Increasing Your Pregnancy Odds Even More • Protecting Your Pregnancy • Preventing Birth Defects • The Older New Mom
Part IV
Your Personal Pregnancy Planner:
A Six-Month Guide to a Safe and Healthy Conception
PLANNING YOUR PREGNANCY STEP-BY-STEP
RESOURCES
INDEX
