The right diet and nutrition choices can mean wonderful benefits for your overall health, such as disease prevention, a stronger immune system, and weight management. But did you know that there are certain foods that may actually boost fertility? If you’re beginning a North Houston IVF journey, consider the information in this article and begin adding certain foods to your diet that could increase your chances of a successful pregnancy and eliminate those that may be hindering your fertility.

Our North Houston Fertility Clinic Specialists Recommend The Following Foods

Our Kingwood fertility clinic and The Woodlands fertility clinic specialists recommend a diet rich in antioxidants, whole grains, and healthy fats for their North Houston IVF patients. The following foods may be especially helpful for those looking to optimize their fertility diet:

• Citrus fruits: vitamin C has been touted to improve the health of semen and ova. Squeeze some lemon or lime juice into your ice water or slice some oranges in the morning to snack on throughout the day.
• Full-fat dairy: Full-fat dairy is rich in saturated fats, which can boost fertility and reduce the likelihood of ovulation problems. Swap your skim milk for whole milk and reach for full-fat yogurt and cheese options instead of those labeled low-fat or fat-free.
• Oysters: Oysters contain a plethora of fertility-boosting nutrients such as vitamin B12, zinc, and iron. Raw oysters should only be consumed before the embryo transfer, but fully-cooked oysters are safe to eat at any time in the IVF process. 
• Eggs: Eggs, especially the yolks, are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A and E, and are a great source of protein. Scramble a few for breakfast or keep some hard-boiled eggs in the fridge for a healthy afternoon snack.
• Pineapple: Pineapples are rich in bromelain, which reduces inflammation and boosts your immune system. Since chronic inflammation has been suggested to suppress ovulation, bromelain is a good addition to your fertility diet. Many grocery stores carry freshly-sliced pineapple in their produce sections, making it even easier to enjoy.

Foods to Avoid During Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF Treatment

Some foods can impede ovulation, increase inflammation, and raise insulin levels, all of which can affect your chances for a successful IVF pregnancy. Which means that what you don’t eat can be just as important as what you do. Our North Houston fertility clinic specialists recommend avoiding the following:

• Refined carbohydrates: White bread, pasta, and sugary foods and drinks all cause your blood-sugar to spike quickly, affecting insulin levels in the body. Elevated insulin can negatively impact reproductive hormones and stunt egg maturation.
• Trans fats: Like refined carbohydrates, trans fats can also affect your insulin levels, so stay away from fried foods and overly processed products that contain hydrogenated vegetable oil.
• Alcohol: High alcohol consumption has long been associated with infertility, and even moderate alcohol consumption should be avoided during your North Houston IVF process, especially following embryo transfer.

Our North Houston Fertility Clinic Can Help You Plan a Healthy Diet

We want to help you make the types of healthy choices that will support your North Houston IVF journey. We encourage you to schedule an appointment to meet with one of our Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF specialists so that we can answer your questions, suggest ways to promote a healthy lifestyle, and offer you the support you need during this important time.

Our North Houston fertility clinic, which has two locations that provide Kingwood IVF and The Woodlands IVF treatments, offers multiple options for those hoping to become parents. Many of our patients are specifically curious about egg freezing and embryo freezing and want to know how these treatments compare in order to take the right path for their fertility journey.

Egg Freezing At Our Kingwood Fertility Clinic and The Woodlands Fertility Clinic

Women choose to freeze their eggs for a number of reasons, usually to give them more flexibility in their reproductive options and allow them to begin the North Houston IVF process at a time that best suits their plans. Eggs freezing begins with hormonal injections that stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs at ovulation before we retrieve them through a painless procedure known as transvaginal ultrasound-guided needle aspiration. Upon retrieval, we will immediately dehydrate the eggs–which prevents the formation of ice crystals, protecting them from destruction–and freeze them to be used at a later date. 

Embryo Freezing At Our North Houston Fertility Clinic

Embryo freezing is similar to egg freezing with one key difference. In egg freezing, eggs are retrieved and then frozen until you are ready to get pregnant in the future. When ready, we’ll fertilize the egg through the North Houston IVF process. In the case of embryo freezing, however, we’ll retrieve the eggs and then immediately fertilize them with sperm at Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF clinic, then freeze them once an embryo develops.

Which Method Is Right for Me?

Choosing between egg and embryo freezing is largely based upon preference. Egg freezing can be beneficial, offering flexibility for the following reasons:

• You can wait to begin North Houston IVF until you meet the right partner
• If you’re a single woman, you can always opt for donor sperm when you’re ready
• If you get pregnant before needing your frozen eggs, you can discard them.

Embryo freezing can be unfavorable due to the following limitations:

• Because the egg must be fertilized immediately following retrieval, your preferred sperm source must be available at that time. 
• Discarding embryos can have ethical implications for specific faiths and moral beliefs, making it a difficult or even impossible decision.

Our Kingwood Fertility Clinic and The Woodlands Fertility Clinic Specialists Are Here To Support Your Decision

If you want to discuss which method may be best for you to preserve your fertility, schedule an appointment at one of our North Houston IVF clinics. Regardless of your decision, our IVF doctors can help you understand your options and guide you along your way.    

For couples struggling to conceive, waiting to become parents can feel interminable. When our patients arrive for their first appointment at our North Houston fertility clinic, they often want to know exactly how quickly they can get pregnant through Kingwood IVF and The Woodlands IVF procedures. While each woman’s fertility journey is unique, the average North Houston IVF cycle takes around 6-8 weeks, from initial consultation in our North Houston fertility clinic to embryo transfer. After transfer, it can take another 4-6. In order to answer how long the whole process takes, we have provided an overview of the process below: 

Before the North Houston IVF Procedure:

This is what you can expect prior to beginning IVF:

Consultation With Your North Houston Fertility Specialist

Your first appointment at our Kingwood IVF clinic or The Woodlands IVF clinic will be a discussion between you and the doctor regarding your medical and reproductive history, as well as your hope for North Houston IVF. This is also a good time to determine if you plan to freeze your embryos, if you plan to receive genetic testing, and whether or not you would be open to using an egg or sperm donor, if deemed necessary. 

Pre-Procedure Testing

Before the North Houston IVF procedure can actually begin, a series of blood tests will allow our North Houston fertility specialists to determine hormone levels and test for infectious and genetic diseases, as well as a uterine exam to assess the health of the uterus. If applicable, a semen analysis will also be ordered to determine which type of insemination method is to be used later. 

The North Houston IVF Process at Our Kingwood Fertility Clinic or The Woodlands Fertility Clinic

The process is as follows:

Step One: Fertility Medication

Because not all eggs a woman’s body produces will fertilize or develop normally, multiple eggs are needed for the IVF process, so you’ll receive synthetic hormones to stimulate your ovaries to produce multiple eggs each month. This process usually takes between 1-2 weeks.

Step Two: Egg Retrieval

Your eggs are collected during a minor medical procedure in our office. Our North Houston IVF doctor will use ultrasound imaging to guide a hollow needle through the pelvic cavity to retrieve the eggs. Medication will be administered to lessen discomfort.

Step Three: Sperm Sample Collected

The sperm sample is procured in our North Houston fertility clinic for introduction with the egg for fertilization. If a donor’s sample is used, there will be no need for this step.

Step Four: Fertilization

The egg and sperm are introduced in a sterile environment and incubated to encourage fertilization. Once cell division has been confirmed, fertilization has taken place and the fertilized eggs are now called embryos.

Step Five: Embryo Transfer

Approximately 3-5 days after fertilization has occurred, the embryos are transferred to the uterus using a catheter. This simple procedure does not require sedation and is performed in our Kingwood IVF clinic or The Woodlands IVF clinic.

Following the IVF Procedure: 

About two weeks after embryo transfer, you will return to our Kingwood fertility clinic or The Woodlands fertility clinic to take a pregnancy test. If it is positive, we will encourage you to begin prenatal care as soon as possible. If it is negative, you will stop taking all hormonal medications and discuss the next possible steps with your North Houston fertility specialists.

Trust Our North Houston Fertility Clinic On Your Journey to Fertility

If you’ve been having trouble getting pregnant on your own, schedule an appointment at either our Kingwood IVF clinic or The Woodlands IVF clinic to see what procedures may be beneficial for you. 

The road to parenthood can be fraught with challenges and unexpected detours, but like any important journey, the destination is no less rewarding. Many hopeful parents visit our North Houston fertility clinic seeking help for their fertility issues in a comfortable environment with a number of options to suit their family planning process. No two women are alike, which means there are a variety of reasons for each woman’s possible infertility. Our North Houston IVF clinic is here to guide you as you choose the option that’s best for you and your family.

What Causes Infertility?

If you’ve been struggling to get pregnant without intervention, you may be wondering if you’re suffering from infertility. Lots of couples have trouble with this process, but if you’ve been trying to get pregnant for over year and still haven’t, it may be time to schedule an appointment at our Kingwood fertility clinic or our The Woodlands fertility clinic to determine what could be preventing successful conception. 

Infertility could stem from issues with one partner or both, so your greatest chance for a successful pregnancy begins with identifying what could be causing your struggles with fertility. These are the most common causes of infertility for men and women, respectively, as seen by our North Houston fertility clinic doctors:

Causes of Male Infertility:

• Low sperm production
• Exposure to environmental toxins
• Issues in sperm delivery
• Damage caused by disease, such as cancer

Causes of Female Infertility:

• Ovulation problems
• Fallopian tube damage
• Uterine abnormalities
• Advanced maternal age
• Damage caused by disease, like cancer

One or more of these issues present in either parent could lead to infertility and require intervention in order to reach a successful pregnancy.

North Houston IVF at Our Kingwood Fertility Clinic or The Woodlands Fertility Clinic

Many parents turn to Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF when facing issues of fertility, and our team of compassionate, knowledgeable experts are here to guide you in your next step towards parenthood. IVF, or in vitro fertilization, is a popular option for those struggling to get pregnant, as it allows a woman’s egg to be fertilized outside the body in a controlled environment, thereby bypassing the aforementioned challenges to a successful pregnancy. In the North Houston IVF process, a woman’s eggs are collected after being prescribed a hormonal medication that will increase the number of eggs a woman releases at ovulation. This provides more chances for fertilization with the man’s sperm, which is collected and then introduced to the eggs in our lab. If fertilization occurs, the embryo(s) will then be placed inside the woman’s uterus, where they will ideally implant and lead to a successful pregnancy.

Is Kingwood IVF or The Woodlands IVF Right For Me?

Not everyone is an ideal candidate for North Houston IVF, but many of our patients find that IVF is the right next step in their journey to parenthood. If you’ve been unsuccessful with other fertility treatments (including fertility medications), have healthy eggs or are willing to use donor eggs, or whose issues are a result of endometrial scarring or polycystic ovarian syndrome. The best way to determine if you’re an ideal candidate for North Houston IVF is to schedule an appointment at our Kingwood fertility clinic or The Woodlands fertility clinic, where our fertility specialists will perform a thorough exam to identify your needs and walk you through your options.

Our North Houston Fertility Clinic Is Here For You

While infertility can be disappointing, modern medicine makes it possible for those who have been struggling to get pregnant to identify another path to parenthood. We pride ourselves on compassionate, knowledgeable care in a comfortable environment. Call our North Houston fertility clinic today to schedule a consultation with our team and see what options are available for you.