Baby Aspirin

After my miscarriage I started reading everything I could on fertility and TTC. Time after time I saw people mention baby aspirin, but as usual I didn't know why. So, I did some research and here is what I found.

Note: I want to preface all of this by saying that if you are interested in starting a daily aspirin you should consult your doctor.

What are the benefits of a low-dose aspirin regime?

I've found many sites that claim that a daily low dose of asprin can have multiple beneficial effects on women who are trying to conceive.

The Center for Reproduction & Women's Healthcare in Houston, TX recommends that all women who are trying to conceive take a daily low dose of aspirin, or "baby aspirin." According to their website a daily low dose of aspirin is associate with:

1. a significant reduction in preeclampsia in pregnancy
2. less fetal growth restriction
3. a higher birth weight
4. a reduction in preterm delivery
5. a reduction in the rate of miscarriage. 

A study from 1997 performed at  Infertility Clinic of National Cheng Kung University Hospital found that a 100mg per day dose of aspirin improved uterine blood flow. The common theory is that with improved uterine blood flow comes a thicker uterine lining which in turn will aid with implantation and give the egg more to "hold on to."

Cervical Mucus: How to check & what it means

Before I started TTC I never gave any thought to my cervical mucus (CM). To be honest, I never really noticed it. I mean, I knew that from time to time I would have some sort of discharge, but I guess I knew it was normal and never really thought about it. It wasn't until one day when my sister who was TTC at the time told me about egg white cervical mucus (EWCM), thought I didn't know the term for it at the time, she basically said that when you have lots of discharge and it looks like egg whites it means you are fertile. I never put any more thought into it until I started TTC.

I never realized there was so much to know about CM. There are different types of CM and they can help you figure out where you are in your cycle and how fertile you are.

Vitamin D

I've noticed a lot of the women on BabyandBump asking for information on Vitamin D. So, I did a little diffing and quite honestly was shocked at what I found. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know the impact of these things first hand, but this is what I am found.

Do you get enough Vitamin D?

An article in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that up to 77% of all Americans have lower levels of Vitamin D consistent with increased risk for deficiency. Given these stats one might expect Canadians would have a higher rate of deficiency, as it is physically impossible to get enough sunlight between October and March in Canadian due to their distance from the equator. Surprisingly according to The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) in 2007-2009 approximately one-third or 37% of Canadians had lowered levels of Vitamin D.