Reasons For not getting pregnant when everything is normal

Have you been wondering about the reasons for not getting pregnant when everything is normal? 

Why aren’t you getting pregnant when you are ovulating, your hormone levels and labs look normal, and you have no significant medical history standing in your way? It’s frustrating, right?

So let’s break down a few reasons why this might be happening and how you can improve your chances of getting pregnant this year.

This post may contain affiliate links meaning I make a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Why am I not getting pregnant when everything is normal?

Because you are a unique and delicate flower, my dear. Your story is YOUR story. You are not a cookie cutter or copy of anyone else so that means what YOUR body needs in order to get pregnant can take a little digging and trial and error. 

I will say though that the very first two things I like to look at with all my clients when they are not getting pregnant are:

1. Are you actually ovulating?

One of the main reasons women are not getting pregnant is because they aren’t actually ovulating OR they aren’t actually catching their fertility window. 

Did you know that you can have a period without actually ovulating? Seems kind of crazy I know, but it can happen. 

Confirming ovulation at home can be more simple than you think. Try observing and charting these three things

• Basal body temp: make sure you take it first thing in the morning before you even move or get out of bed. You should see a slight increase around ovulation. 

• Cervical fluid: you should note through your cycle that you go through all the phases of cervical fluid. It should go from thick and creamy to water and to egg white consistency. If you aren’t having any or not getting to the egg white consistency range then it’s likely you aren’t actually ovulating. 

• Ovulation strips or monitor: now this one is tricky because the ovulation strips aren’t actually confirming that you ovulated. They are only confirming that you are having an LH surge which lets you know that ovulation is likely coming in 24-48 hours. 

 (PRO TIP: try doing your ovulation strips at 2 in the afternoon as opposed to first thing in the morning. I know the box says first thing in the morning, but give this a try and see if it changes your fertile window. )

 The only way to know you ACTUALLY ovulated is by going to the doctor for an ultrasound or blood testing to confirm Pdg or progesterone. Well, we don’t really want to do that do we? So the easiest way is to grab an Inito Fertility Monitor so that it can confirm your progesterone spike with a urine sample!

I don’t like to recommend any gadgets or items that are unnecessary to my patients because 1) that’s just more stuff to overwhelm you and stress you out 2) fertility support is expensive and we want to keep it as affordable as possible. BUUUT Inito is the fertility monitor that I think is worth every single penny especially when you are looking for reasons for not getting pregnant when everything is normal. This is because it confirms ovulation and helps you really narrow in on those fertile days.

If you need a free and easy way to get started with cycle charting, snag my free Cycle Charting Guide with Printable!

2. Number two is to make sure you have no physical obstructions. This could be uterine polyps or fibroids or even constriction to your fallopian tubes. Most likely you’ve already had a yearly exam and an HSG to confirm that you have no physical obstructions at this point. If not, it’s time to make that appointment with your OB. 
3. Are your partner’s sperm counts optimal? As women we tend to unfairly get pinned as the “problem”, but in all actuality, sperm issues account for a large percentage of fertility cases. ( And just to be clear- no one is the “problem”)

If you have confirmed there are no physical obstructions, your husband’s sperm counts are good, and you are ovulating then we can move on to why it’s not happening easily. 

Why am I not getting pregnant easily?

So if you’ve got those three main things taken care of, let’s move on to reasons for not getting pregnant when everything is normal and specifically why it’s not happening easily.

This can be different for everyone, but here are a few options I consider with my patients:

1. It’s not happening because your hormone levels are “normal” but not optimal. 

A lot of times our doctor will take our labs and they are technically in the normal range, but sometimes on the very low side of normal. Optimizing these levels with lifestyle changes can then produce OPTIMAL ranges that make it easier for our body to conceive. This goes for women’s hormones as well as men’s sperm health. 

To improve-  start with focusing on proper nutrition, exercise (check out this cycle syncing article to help you know what kind of exercise to do, and  7-9 hours of sleep. Those are 3 very good starting points for improving your overall health and lab values. 

2. You are too stressed. 

Ugh, that’s an annoying one right? Of course, you are stressed! You work and try to be healthy and you’ve been trying to get pregnant for a long time. Stress is just a normal part of the routine. But we’ve got to adopt good stress management techniques. This ties back to number 1 above. If we are stressed out too much and too often, then we are making more cortisol and our other hormone levels are being neglected- i.e. they are not optimal for pregnancy. 

To improve: learn to set boundaries on how much you do and who you tolerate in your life. SAY NO! Also, work on acute stress with things like breathing exercises.

3. Mobility! 

I want you to think about how being flexible and having mobility makes almost everybody function or action work better. A baseball pitcher’s arm and shoulder, a pianist’s fingers, etc.  These are very different things but rely on the mobility of their parts to operate efficiently. 

The same goes for your womb space. Your reproductive organs need to be flexible and mobile to be able to move to carry out their functions properly. 

To improve: look into Mercier Therapy. This practice is specifically designed to improve and restore mobility to your womb. 

(Pro tip and hint: I’m a Mercier Therapist and would be happy to help you! (Non-local clients can travel and we will create a personalized plan- just shoot me an email at tori@simplywomanandwomb.com) You can also check this list or a provider closer to you by using the Mericer Therapy Providers list. )

Other reasons for not getting pregnant when everything is normal

So let’s review a little here. Some reasons for not getting pregnant when everything is normal might be:

• Anovulation
• Incorrect fertile window 
• Physical obstruction
• Normal but not optimal levels
• Stress
• Mobility 

And let’s be honest, there are more possibilities. But I don’t want to overwhelm you with ALL the ideas and things because the truth is that if you work on the items we listed above, it could go a looooong way to improve your fertility and increase your chances of getting pregnant.

I’m always happy to help you dig deeper into other possible causes and all you have to do is set up a free 20-minute chat with me and we will find the best plan for you!