Baby Dust

If you were going to run a marathon, you'd train for it, right? If you were going to take a test, you'd study for it. Well, if you're going to make a baby, why not prepare your body, your mind, and your partner?

Here are a few of the things you can do, right now, that can improve your fertility and help make a healthier baby.

• Know what the optimum time is during your cycle to have sex. Every woman's body is different, so having sex on the right days will help increase your chances of conception.

• Make sure your partner is doing his part. 30% of all infertility is male related. There are a number of things your partner can do to improve the quality and quantity of his sperm.

• Stop Smoking, and get your partner to stop smoking. Smoking, and even second hand smoke, can make it more difficult for a woman to become pregnant.

• Stop drinking caffeine. Although there are mixed opinions on how much caffeine is too much, experts agree that cutting back or cutting caffeine consumption entirely can be of benefit.

• Stop doing drugs. Really? Do I even need to explain this one?

• Stop strenuous exercise. There is a fine line between exercising enough to stay healthy, and exercising too much. Too much will actually make it harder to get pregnant, and put you at risk for miscarriage.

• Take prenatal vitamins. By the time you find out you are pregnant, your little embryo will be at least two weeks old. Some of the vitamins and minerals in a prenatal are extremely important to a developing fetus, so you'll want to be in the habit of taking them before you get pregnant.

• Take additional supplements. There are many herbs that are outside of the range of regular vitamins that can help improve your fertility.

• Maintain a healthy BMI. Ever heard the saying "You can never be too thin?" Well, you can if you are trying to get pregnant. And if you're overweight, start a healthy diet and start an exercise routine to get yourself in better condition before pregnancy.

• De-Stress. The link between stress and difficulty becoming pregnant is not fully understood, but there is a growing body of evidence that stress can interfere with fertility.

I'll be taking each of these individually, and going into greater detail on each one over the next few weeks. These things might seem small, but they add up to a healthier body and a healthier baby, and can cut down the time it takes you to get pregnant.