pregnancy and over weight

[kayholder18]

i am 20 years old and i weigh 271lbs. i used to be on meth. back last year in february when i was using me an my husband concieved a baby and i lost it at 2 months and i have been trying every since then. me and him were away for 5 months and we have been trying for the past month. what can we do to increase the chances of having a baby????

[Debbie Miller, RN]

Hello,
There is no question that being obese can make conception more difficult so losing some excess weight would make sense. If you are still using drugs, get off them now! No good can come of recreational drug use when trying to conceive or when pregnant or breastfeeding. It would also make sense to schedule a pre-conception visit with your doctor to have a general check up to see if there are any other areas of your body that needs attention prior to pregnancy. By reducing risk factors now you can help insure a healthy baby later. Also, take a multivitamin daily which contains at least 400 mcg folate, eat a healthy diet, and stop any other bad health habits such as smoking and alcohol.

Once you are trying to conceive you could monitor your periods and if you have a regular cycle, you can usually plan on being fertile somewhere between day 8 and day 19 of your cycle. Those would be the days to plan on having sexual intercourse at least every other day. Then let nature take its course. It is considered normal for it to take up to a year for pregnancy to occur. After that time, you may need to see a doctor to be sure there are no problems.

Best of luck to you.