Of course you don’t want to think you’re doing anything wrong when it comes to baby-making, but at least this mistake is fun to fix! You may think that cutting down on sex to “save” your guy’s sperm — or only getting busy when you’re ovulating — will make getting pregnant easier. But many days of not having sex can throw off conception.
“It’s easy to miss the fertile period if sex is limited only to when you think you’re ovulating because many women believe they’re ovulating when they actually aren’t,
“says Samuel Wood, M.D., medical director at The Reproductive Sciences Center in La Jolla, CA. So go ahead — have sex as often as you like, paying special attention to the few days before ovulation.
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Some couples think they have conception all figured out: The more sex you have, the easier and sooner you’ll conceive. But more isn’t always better. Although having sex frequently won’t decrease the potency of a man’s sperm, as many believe, it too often can potentially cause problems, says Dr. Wood.
“If it’s for reproductive purposes alone, having sex multiple times a day or even every single day could cause ‘burnout,’ and the couple may begin to view sex as little more than a pre-ovulatory chore,” he explains. Then, when that window of fertility is open, one or both of the partners may not be interested, resulting in a missed opportunity.
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You may have heard that missionary is the best position to get pregnant, or that you should keep your hips elevated after sex. Wrong. Whether you’re on top, your guy is on top,
or you’re doing a crazy new position you read about, the result is the same. “When a man ejaculates, sperm swims out, goes directly into the cervical mucus and into the fallopian tubes,
“says Serena Chen, M.D.,director of the division of reproductive endocrine and infertility at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Pennsylvania.
“This happens in a matter of seconds, regardless of the position during intercourse,” Dr. Chen says. So, instead of sticking with one particular thing, mix it up and have fun!
