Understanding Difficulty Conceiving: A Guide for Women

Question
I am 32 years old, no children, first day of last menstrual period was 11/19/05.

I have been pregnant twice this year and both have terminated early on. The first one was spontaneous at 6 1/2 weeks and the second one we had to terminate at 8 1/2 weeks because there was not hearbeat. Both times it only took one to two months to get pregnant. Now it's been almost 6 months since we received the okay to start trying again after the 2nd pregnancy was terminated and we have not been able to get pregnant. After the 2nd pregnancy, my doctor had some blood work done to see if there were any potential problems but everything came back normal. I've been charting as well as using ovulation kits and have hit the target dates but nothing is happening. What could be the problem?

Answer
Unless you have intercourse around the time of ovulation, you will not become pregnant. Remember that you only ovulate one day per month, so, if you have been trying for6 months, that is only 6 days of ovulation. We do not start a workup until you have been actively trying to conceive for a full 12 months. Even though you may think you hit the target dates of ovulation, it is not 100% guarantee of conception. I would suggest that you continue trying. We know that you can become pregnant because you had two pregnancies, even though they were unsuccessful. Miscarriage occurs in 15-20% of every pregnancy. There is nothing you can do to cause a miscarriage and there is nothing you can do to prevent a miscarriage. You had one spontaneous abortion and one missed abortion. If all the tests that the doctor did were normal, I would just continue trying. Good Luck.