Stress & infertility (dd mentioned)

[molly777]

I know that this is a touchy subject b/c of the many ignorant comments of "just relax" but I have to wonder if there is some correlation especially for the unexplained. My dd came in the 1st month of ttc and since ttc#2 there has been nothing. My FP doc actually said she thinks mine is due to stress. I am a high stress person anyways and my realtionships with family have not been the best lately and I have to wonder if stress not just from ttc but from life is preventing me from getting there. I was just curious if any of you have any thoughts on the matter.

[3 ladybugs]

I think stress may have something to do with it but it isn't the whole thing. I know I have moved 2 times since I have got married. I started ttc when we got married. Anyway the first time I was too busy to worry about ttc so we tried but not hard. BFN. The second time wasn't that big of a move (just across town and not out of state) and we were cycling at the time (with an RE's help). The result? BFP. Now we are in a period of potential flux. I am doing IVF right now. If I am successful then I will think that it is the flux that helps with things. After all right now my mind is about where it was the last time I got pregnant.

So I think you may have some truth to your statement but I think it is we stress about getting pregnant as opposed to stressing about life's stressors. I also think that there are some people that just need help. (I am one of them.) So it could be both in some cases.

Good luck to you!
Jennifer

[BC-Tabithalyn]

molly,
I think if your stress is preventing proper hormonal level/balances, disrupting your thyroid function or potentially preventing ovulation then YES, unexplained c/d be due to Stress.

That said, I don't really believe it is the big source of unexplained that the docs would like to think it is. I got prg. one month after getting kicked out of my fertility clinic (for crying and getting upset over timing to start a cycle and the doc told me I needed a Hiatus! ) and then losing my job and having just bought and moved into a new home!! --it was NOT a good time to become prg. -mind you I did lose the prg. but that was due to immune issues that were undetected and untreated at the time.

I think mentally it helps with the whole trying to conceive (ie., the sex, the positive state and wanting to be happy in conceiving) but overall I don't believe that stress really plays that big a role. There is likely something that a doctor could be overlooking that could be the main culprit.

Take care, and hoping for a BFP soon for you!
Ally

[baby#2]

I think that stress played a big role for me in getting pregnant. Although I have been diagnosed with unexplained IF. Every test we have both been through is always normal and no one can give us an answer as to why I cannot get pregnant without help! My DH's semen analysis came back too numerous to count one time!! We tried for our son for over 2 years, many of those were failed IF treatments. I slept ate and breathed getting pregnant. I was obsessed with it and could think of nothing else I wanted more in the world. Finally I just gave up that I would get pregnant and I was looking into adopting a baby from China. Even when AF was late I refused to go in for the beta because I was sure my body was just messing with me again. But I was actually pregnant! I am now doing treatments again to have a second child and this time around it is more trouble than the first. They already canceled my first cycle due to poor follicle maturity. I am trying not to get back into that obsessed freaking out mode again because I know it will not make things any easier. The last thing I need to do is make something hard, even harder.

[molly777]

I have to say in my case I honestly believe that stress was preventing me from my BFP. The day I started this thread I had just gotten back from the hospital where my sis had just had a baby and the day before we kind of "buried the hatchet" on some things. She was quite insensitive to my plight of ttc and I had a difficult time calling just to chat about what she was going through. (She went thru 2 yrs of IF before finding her solution and now she pops them out every 15 months. Crude description I know) Anywho I myself decided that day that I was done with the drama of wondering who was saying what in my family and we had actually decided to stop ttc for the summer b/c we had an appt with an RE in August. Little did I know that I conceived that day and will be 9 weeks tomorrow. After 1 1/2 yrs of ttc, 4 perfect rounds of Clomid, every test saying everything was fine I finally decided I am gonna eat & drink what I want when I want. But I also have to say that my prayer changed from "Lord please give me a baby" to "Lord please give me peace with Your Will". Because I realized that above everything else I just wanted to have peace and contentment with my life. I know that in most cases of IF it isn't a case of relaxing but I do believe it is the case in some.

[Girlygirl1313]

Hi All, I too think that stress might have a little to do with infertility. I was trying to conceive for many years even did a couple of cycles of clomid/IUI but always came up with BFN I hated when family members and friends would tell me to relax and not stress. How can you not...as much as you try to tell yourself whatever happens your ok...YOU STILL WANT A BABY .

I was stress out about failed iui's , a car that was always breaking down, money issues, my weight, etc. One day I decided to work out and guess what I lost 30 pounds, i was in a minor car accident and ended up buying a brand new car with the insurance money, my husbands mom help out and paid off all our debts (a loan anyway...better than paying interest and not going anywhere) besides the weight which took me a good 5 months, It all happened on the same month Sept 2008.....October 2008 FINALLY BFP . I think that since I had so much other stuff on my mind I forgot to think of trying to have a baby. Prayer always helps to. Did you know that the Patron Saint of Unexpected mothers is "ST. GERARD".

I wish you all the best..