MYTH: I eat right, exercise regularly, and generally take good care of myself. I’m healthy and in great shape. I won’t have any problem getting pregnant.
FACT: Being fit and healthy will certainly work to your advantage as you embark on the triathlon known as pregnancy, birth, and parenthood, but being in good shape doesn’t necessarily put you on the reproductive fast track. Your fitness level is just one of the pieces of the fertility puzzle, along with your gynecological health, your reproductive health, your lifestyle habits, your partner’s lifestyle habits, your partner’s reproductive health, and so on.
And, don’t forget, there’s the actual business of getting pregnant. According to Brad Imler, Ph.D., president of the Texas-based American Pregnancy Association, couples who are actively trying to conceive have, at best, a one-in-four chance of becoming pregnant during any given cycle. And that includes athletes and health-food fanatics. “Those couples who get pregnant during the first month of trying are the exception rather than the rule,” says Imler.
Being overly confident about your ability to conceive right away could just set you up for disappointment, even when everything is functioning normally. According to Imler, achieving pregnancy is not automatic, but that doesn’t mean couples don’t get frustrated when they don’t conceive quickly.
Bottom line? None of us have a reproductive crystal ball. Until the pregnancy test comes back positive, you simply can’t be sure how long it’s going to take you to conceive.
