Pregnancy is a hard thing to obtain! You’re not the only one who struggles with fertility. Even a person famous for having 19 kids can have problems with this. Hopefully, this blog can help ease your mind and help you realize that it isn’t just you who has trouble getting pregnant. Even someone who already has a child can have problems with fertility.
Kelly Jo Bates is a mother, as well as the star of “Bringing up Bates” and “United Bates of America” and “19 Kids and Counting”. These TV shows follow a family with 19 kids and offers a glimpse of an average day in the Bates home. Kelly Jo Callaham and Gil Bates met at Anderson University, where Kelly Jo tutored Gil in chemistry class. After transferring to Carson Newman University, Gil proposed to Kelly in December 1987. Gil and Kelly didn’t expect to have children. Originally they said would they would only have 2, not until 5 years of marriage, but that didn’t pan out as Kelly got pregnant after only a few months after being married. Since then Gil and Kelly have been constantly having children.
While Kelly Jo Bates does have 19 children that don’t mean she hasn’t had her troubles with pregnancy. Even a mother of 19 can experience issues with infertility within her own family. Many mothers with struggle with pregnancy as they get older. While many think pregnancy would be easier after the first child it isn’t necessarily true.
Kelly likes to advise families trying to conceive, to make healthy choices. Here are a few healthy choices to improve your chances of fertility.
Many women in their mid-thirties and older are much more likely to experience problems with getting pregnant because eggs are lost as women age. Some of the reasons behind this are changes in hormones and high risks of disease that can impact your fertility.
If you are in your mid-thirties, don’t fret! Just because it is harder doesn’t mean you can’t get pregnant again, it just means that you will have less time to work with the issues.
Women aren’t the only ones that have trouble with infertility as they age, Men are just as susceptible. As men age their sperm quality and count can lower. There are some things that men do that can lower sperm production, including taking testosterone supplements and exposing the testes to heat. Tight clothing and even the use of electronics can also lower the sperm count and quality.
When learning you may be infertile, it is bound to make you emotional. Your emotions are completely valid! Learning this is difficult, but you're strong and you can always try and improve your odds. There are many different treatments to help you conceive. A good place to start is an oral fertility medication combined with an intrauterine insemination procedure also known as an IUI. This procedure involves putting sperm into a woman’s uterus to increase the number of sperm that reach the fallopian tube and boost the chance of fertilization. Another procedure to try is In Vitro Fertilization or IVF. IVF involves extracting eggs and retrieving sperm samples and then manually combining the egg and sperm.
When dealing with the stress of infertility it is very important to give yourself mental breaks. Remember that this isn’t your fault. Try and focus on the positives, it’s very important to do this. Many women do not get pregnant in the first month of trying to conceive, don’t worry! It’s quite normal to take up to 12 months to conceive. If you've been trying to get pregnant without success, don't view it as a failure. It can be a long process. Everyone is different and some conceive easier and earlier than others.
Staying busy can also do wonders for you in trying to conceive. Focus your mind on preparing your body for pregnancy. Be kind to yourself.
When in doubt look for support online. There are so many others suffering from infertility and there are plenty of forums to consult and share your experience.
Kelly Jo Bates isn’t pregnant at the moment. After 19 children and numerous grandchildren, she might be taking a break for adding to her family. Having a family isn’t always easy, even one child is a handful left alone 19 children.
Just because someone like Kelly Jo Bates is constantly pregnant, though she isn’t right now, doesn't mean it’s an easy thing to do. Hopefully, some of these tips helped you to realize that it’s harder than most people think. Take some advice from Kelly Jo Bates herself and be healthy, this can not only benefit you but also your journey in trying to conceive.