infertility – Blue Lotus Fertility

Ovulation – Hormones Explained

January 20, 2012December 26, 2015Leave a comment

So what exactly is ovulation?

Ovulation is the release of a ripe fertile egg from the ovary, it is a womans peak time of fertility in the month.

The physiological journey that a womans body goes through every cycle to achieve ovulation is the product of a series of hormones that lead into one another. This article is intended to shed light on the hormones behind ovulation in a way that any of us could understand.

The information in this article will first cover the full function of the glands and organs involved in ovulation so there is groundwork for understanding the overall sequence of events which will be covered at the bottom of this article. If you already have an understanding of anatomy and physiology feel free to skip to the bottom of these writings.

The act of ovulation and menstruation are the result of a hormonal dance between the Hypothalamus (master gland), the pituitary gland, ovaries, and uterus.

A fresh cycle begins with the first day of a womans bleed. The bleed causes estrogen and progesterone levels to fall and the Hypothalamus begins to work.

The Hypothalamus is a gland and portion of the brain located above the pituitary gland.

* It controls many physiologic mechanisms including: appetite, thirst, emotional reactions, and temperature.

* At menarche (first period) and throughout the reproductive life of the woman, the hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary to produce both follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), which in turn causes the menstrual cycle to occur.

* Hormones are chemical messengers that are produced in one part of the body, travel through the blood stream, and affect other parts of the body.

* The hypothalamus is influenced by our environment and emotional state and acts as a major computer in our body analyzing signals from other areas of the brain as well as hormonal signals.

The Pituitary is a gland is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighs less than 0.02oz. It is a protrusion off of the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain.

* The anterior lobe of the pituitary gland secrets FSH and LH that in turn stimulate the ovaries to mature and release ova (egg(s)). There is a feed back mechanism between the ovaries and the hypothalamus which increases or decreases the amount of FSH and LH produced in the pituitary. The pituitary gland also secretes prolactin to stimulate the production of breast milk.

Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH): is stimulated into production at the beginning of the cycle, because of the decrease in the ovarian hormones, estrogen and progesterone production at the end of the previous cycle. FSH stimulates several of the most sensitive follicles in the ovary to begin growing.

* The level of FSH fluctuates and must reach a threshold level before any follicular growth takes place.

* Several days of follicle growth are required before the follicles secrete enough estrogen into the blood stream to signal the hypothalamus/pituitary that the threshold for FSH has been reached.

* There is an intermediate level of FSH which must be exceeded before the dominate follicle is boosted into its full ovulatory response.

* There is also a maximum level of FSH, only 20-30% above the threshold which must not be exceeded, otherwise too many follicles would develop and multiple ovulations would occur.

* The drop in FSH after the intermediate level is reached causes the follicle to be receptive to the secondary pituitary hormone, LH which will surge before ovulation.

* Usually only one follicle is boosted to ovulation.

Luteinizing Hormone (LH) Stimulates certain cells that line the follicle (theca interna cells) to produce progesterone. The LH levels surge prior to ovulation and cause the egg to be ruptured from the follicle. Luteinization causes formation of corpus luteum from the ruptured follicle. Progesterone and estrogen are secreted by the corpus luteum.

The corpus luteum (yellow body) is formed from the ruptured follicle and functions for 11-16 days in the absence of pregnancy.

*The corpus luteum produces progesterone and estrogen.

Ovaries: Under the influence of FSH and LH the ova mature and are released from a cyst like structure called the follicle. Usually only one follicle reaches maturity and releases an ovum at ovulation. Following ovulation, the ruptured follicle collapses and becomes the corpus luteum. At birth, the ovaries contain about 500,000 eggs but during a womans reproductive life only about 500 ova will ever come to maturity.

* Folliculogenesis (maturation of the ova) takes 85 days.

Estrogen

* FSH and LH, act as synergistis – cause the growth and development of follicles containing the ova and stimulate the production of estrogen.

* Is the predominant ovarian hormone before ovulation.

* Stimulate the growth and development of the reproductive organs prior to menarche (first period).

* Stimulates the cervical crypts to produce mucus

* Causes the endometrium to proliferate in preparation for implantation

* Causes the cervix to soften, open and rise.

Progesterone: with the rupture of the follicle and subsequent ovulation, the follicle collapses and is now known as the corpus luteum which functions of 11-16 days

* Through the influence of LH certain (granulose) cells in the collapsed follicle now begin to produce progesterone and estrogen.

* Progesterone is the dominate ovarian hormone after ovulation.

* Progesterone acts on the endometrium to stimulate the glands to produce fluids, which will nutritionally support a new human being.

With that groundwork laid we can now understand the sequence of events that take place to make ovulation occur.

1) Estrogen and Progesterone levels fall

2) Suppression of FSH(follicle stimulating hormone) and LH(luteinizing hormone) lifted, a new cycle commences

3) The hypothalamus produces GnRH (hormone which triggers the pituitary)

4) Pituitary produces FSH

5) The ovary grows follicles (a cluster of 6-7)

6) Which produce estrogen

7) Which causes growth of the endometrium and the cervix produces mucus

8) Estrogen feeds back to the hypothalamus which turns off FSH and sends out LH

9) which releases the ovum from the follicle

10) stimulating formation of the corpus luteum

11) which produces progesterone and estrogen

12) The progesterone changes the endometrium which affects the cervical mucus

13) If fertilization has not occurred, corpus luteum regresses after 6-7 days

14) Estrogen and progesterone levels fall

15) Suppression of FSH and LH lifted

16) Menstruation commences 10-16 days after ovulation, and a new cycle begins

Credit for the research goes to WOOMB (World Organization of the Ovulation Method – Billings).

Achieving Pregnancy

December 31, 2011February 17, 2012Leave a comment

Achieving Pregnancy

Have you been trying to conceive but are unable to become pregnant?

Did you know that a woman ovulates once a month and that peak moment of fertility can occur on a different day from cycle to cycle?

Did you know that it is possible to bleed every 28-35 days and not have ovulated?

It is not the bleeding that is the sign of fertility but rather the ovulation. Ovulation can be determined through sensations felt at the vulva (opening of the vagina) throughout the day and visual confirmation of cervical mucus discharged. A simple charting of the days observations provide a record for women to look back over and get acquainted with the patters of their fertility. No temperature taking or internal checking needs to occur to correctly identify peak fertility each cycle.

Through proper charting a woman can identify prime time for love making to encourage conception of a child. Proper charting gives women an understanding of what their hormones are doing throughout the cycle and provides clues to understand if not conceiving is due to lack of ovulation each month. If we find that a woman is not ovulating we can then counsel on gentle lifestyle adjustments to bring her body into natural alignment so she can conceive.

Avoiding Pregnancy

December 31, 2011January 4, 2012Leave a comment

Avoiding Pregnancy

Are you looking for a method of birth control that is chemical and device free? Charting your fertility is a great solution. This is not the rhythm method, it does not involve temperature taking, day counting or internal checking.

Fertility is determined each cycle by the sensation felt throughout the day at the vulva (lowest opening of the vagina) and mucus discharged which you can see when you wipe with toilet paper. A quick recording of what you felt/saw throughout the day is added to a chart and soon you will begin to see your natural patterns of fertility. Once you can correctly identify your pattern of fertility through the help of your teacher you can begin to use that information to have sex on the days that you are infertile without fear of becoming pregnant.

Women are only fertile during one time in a cycle; during this time sperm can live inside of our bodies for up to five days. When we are infertile, sperm can only survive inside of us for three hours. The time we are fertile is when we ovulate, there are a few days leading up to ovulation and a few days after that you should avoid having sex to keep yourself from becoming pregnant. Once you have correctly identified your peak time in the month (ovulation) you can have sex any time of the day without fear of pregnancy until your next bleed when you start looking for signs of fertility again.

The few days that we are fertile can be different every cycle; the only reliable way of knowing when those days are is through the correct observations of your fertility that you and your teacher will discover through charting. The rhythm method (assuming that you ovulate on the 14^th day of your cycle) is incorrect and puts you at risk for pregnancy because every cycle is different, even if you bleed every 28 days.

It is possible to be fertile during the last few days you are bleeding and it is only through understanding your signs of fertility that you could prevent pregnancy should early ovulation occur and you have unprotected sex on the last few days of your bleed.

Our bodies are actually remarkably simple and give us multiple clues as to when we are fertile so we can make educated decisions every month about whether or not we want to get pregnant. There is no need to be taking hormones, chemicals or inserting IUDs once we know how our bodies operate.

What is Fertility?

December 31, 2011December 26, 2015Leave a comment

What is Fertility?

There is an unconscious story being told in our society that our fertility is a burden and liability. We are told that our fertility is something that we should suppress because having children before we want them can derail our life plans and end possible opportunities.

We are not properly taught about our bodies. Doctors and clinics do not have time to teach us so we take the prescribed methods of birth control such as hormone oral contraceptives, nuva rings, IUDs etc.

While these methods of controlling our fertility effectively prevent pregnancy they come at two major costs. The first cost comes in the form of women being robbed of the chance to fully understand their cycles. Women are only fertile during one time in their cycle and that time is easy to identify with proper training. The second cost comes from the high doses of chemicals that we now see related to increased rates of breast cancer and infertility in later years of life when women are ready to try and conceive.

If you are currently on a chemical form of birth control I invite you to ask your doctor or look online at the risks involved with using them, the list of contraindications is often longer than risks associated with smoking but no one seems to think twice about it. Why is this? I believe that people accept what is given because we think there are no other answers to harnessing our fertility. I am here to tell you that answers are available and they are simple, clear and more user friendly than you might imagine.

Lets start to reshape the way we think about our fertility.

Websters dictionary defines fertility as:

A) Producing or bearing fruit in great quantities <productive>

B) Characterized by great resourcefulness of thought or imagination

<inventive> a fertile mind

C) Capable of sustaining abundant plant growth <fertile soil>

D) Affording abundant possibilities for growth or development

E) Capable of growing or developing

When looking at fertility in it’s original definition it becomes less of something to push away and more of something to encourage.

Here at Blue Lotus Holistic Fertility and Contraception we are offering a new way of thinking about womens bodies. Holistic Fertility is a movement of being fertile with your mind, body and spirit working as one. Managing our fertility through daily awareness and observations puts us back into power because we are the ones knowing where we are in our cycles. When we put ourselves on hormones, chemicals or devices we become divorced from our innate cycle of fertility and loose touch with ourselves. How can we be whole beings when we are uneducated about such a large part of our bodies natural process? Many of us take the chemical route because we do not have access to any other information but I am here to tell you that there is a better way to prevent or encourage pregnancy.