Are you currently waiting for fertility treatment? If so, you’re not alone. Waitlists in the UK can range between 4 and 6 months and the pandemic has only exacerbated this issue. This can be a frustrating and stressful time, but there are plenty of things you can do whilst you wait to support your physical and mental health, as well as your fertility.
Adopt healthy habits
If you’re waiting for fertility treatment, this can be a great time to make sure your physical – and sperm – health is at optimum levels. Even if you are having IVF or ICSI, making sure your swimmers are of the best quality could help improve your chances of conceiving. Sperm regenerates around every 72 days, so use this time to adopt healthy habits that will help them be ready when game time comes. Improving your sleep hygiene, reaching or maintaining a healthy weight and increasing your exercise routine are all healthy habits that could help improve your sperm quality.
Drop bad ones
Now is also a great time to address some unhealthy habits you might have. Smoking (cigarettes or weed) is one of the biggest enemies of sperm quality, so using this opportunity to stub out for good is a great use of your time. This might also be a chance to take a look at your relationship with alcohol. Whilst it’s not necessary to completely stop drinking whilst trying to conceive, reducing your weekly intake and curbing binge drinking habits can definitely give your swimmers a boost. There are some great alcohol-free beers out there that make cutting down really easy.
Dropping these bad habits won’t only help to improve your sperm quality, but they will also set you up to be the healthiest, happiest parent you can be.
Nutrition
Your diet is one of the biggest factors that can impact fertility. Many guys attempt an overnight overhaul of their eating habits if they find out they are struggling to conceive, but making slow sustainable changes is a much healthier approach. If you are waiting for fertility treatment, use this as a chance to have fun and experiment with healthy eating. Try out recipes that are full of sperm superfoods, cut down on processed foods and foods containing lots of trans fats and start taking your supplements. This process can also be an enjoyable thing for you and your partner to do together!
Nurture your relationship
If you’re embarking on an assisted fertility treatment, it’s likely this has become an all-consuming (and pretty stressful!) part of your life and relationship. When waiting for fertility treatment it’s easy for it to become the sole thing you and your partner are focused on – but take this time to really nurture your relationship and bond as a couple.
Sure, there are things you can do together that could directly improve your fertility – such as cooking healthy meals or doing exercise classes together – but don’t forget to make time for non-fertility-related fun and romance too. Go on that date night, take that holiday, savour every moment of it being just the two of you – as hopefully, that could all change very soon!
Keep trying!
As well as keeping the romance alive, make sure that you’re keeping your sex life active too. There are a few reasons for this (not that we think you’ll need much convincing to prioritise more sex!) Firstly, it’s yet another thing that will increase the intimacy and strengthen the bond between you and your partner – which is incredibly important as you embark on this journey. Secondly, regular ejaculations will keep your sperm fresh and active, which can help improve the overall quality. Sperm cells that stay in your balls too long can become damaged and lethargic – and that’s not what you want once treatment starts.
And lastly – you could potentially get pregnant! Whilst this won’t happen for everyone, you hear many stories of couples who conceived naturally even when they thought they were destined for assisted fertility treatment. Unprotected sex is not always advised once you are in treatment – but whilst you’re on the waitlist? There’s nothing stopping you!
Self-care
As well as looking after the relationship with your partner, now is a great time to reconnect with yourself through a bit of self-care. You are probably going through a million complex feelings right now – so looking after your emotional and mental well-being is paramount. Make sure you are taking time to do the things that light you up and reduce stress. Once treatment kicks off you might find it difficult to prioritise yourself, and you might even be faced with new stresses and challenges – so take this opportunity whilst you can. You might even find that your swimmers appreciate the TLC too! Here are a few ways that self-care could improve your sperm health.
Get your sperm tested
If you are going down the assisted fertility treatment route, you might have already had your sperm tested. However, we find that many guys are not offered testing until further down the line – especially if there is an obvious female factor fertility issue at play. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to get to know your swimmer.s Our test lets you do it in the comfort of your own home and you’ll have the results in minutes – you can easily fit it around your self-care routine and pre-treatment date nights,
Check out more about our test right here!
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