Mistakes That Could Be Sabotaging Conception

If you’re struggling to conceive, you’re not alone. In fact, somewhere around one in five couples is unable to conceive after a year of having unprotected sex. Fortunately, there are treatments that can help boost your fertility and allow you to have a child. First, though, make sure you’re not accidentally making these mistakes that could be sabotaging your odds of conception.

• Putting the wrong things into your body: Smoking, drinking, and doing drugs can impede your fertility, and so can too much caffeine. There’s also evidence to suggest that women struggling with fertility issues can benefit from modifying their diet to include more fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and plant-based protein, and fewer sugary, processed foods. There’s also research that shows a link between fast food consumption and delay in conception. And while fish can be a good source of protein, eating high-mercury fish can increase your risk of miscarriage and can negatively impact your baby’s brain should you be able to retain the pregnancy. While you’re watching what you eat, watch how you prepare and store food, too. Bisphenol-A, found in many common household items, can negatively affect fertility. Eat fresh food instead of packaged, store things in glass instead of plastic, choose glass containers over cans, and drink water out of glass or stainless steel bottles rather than plastic.
• Gaining or losing too much weight: You might know that obesity is one of the primary causes of infertility, but did you know that underweight women can also have trouble conceiving? A healthy BMI, between 18.5 and 24.9, is your best bet for successful conception and a healthy pregnancy.
• Using the wrong lubricant. Obviously, you’ll want to steer clear of lubricants that contain spermicide. However, there are often other ingredients that can negatively affect sperm motility. Look for a fertility-friendly lubricant designed with a pH balance that mimics your body’s natural state.
• Having sex too little or too much. When you’re trying to conceive, it’s important to know when you actually ovulate. Knowing your cycle can give you a general idea, as long as you count back 14 days from the beginning of your cycle. However, ovulation test kits can help you achieve greater accuracy. However, it’s a mistake to have sex only on the day you ovulate. Your fertility window is actually about six days; it starts four days before you ovulate and ends two days after. Should you just go ahead and have sex every day, to increase your chances of hitting the right one? No, this is also a bad idea, because the man’s sperm count will be depleted and need time to rebound. Your best bet is to determine your window of fertility and have sex every other day during that time.
• Doing too much or too little exercise. A sedentary lifestyle can keep you from conceiving as quickly as you’d like. On the other hand, women who participate in extreme exercise can disrupt their hormones and reduce their chances for conception. Your best bet is to shoot for 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week, starting slowly and increasing your pace gradually as you become comfortable with it.
• Thinking this all only applies to the would-be mom. The health of the man in the relationship matters, too. Men trying to become fathers should follow the same guidelines about smoking, drinking, drugs, and diet, and maintain a healthy weight. It’s also wise to have a check-up, to make sure you’re healthy and ready to father a child.

If you are struggling to conceive, we are ready to help. At the Center for Vasectomy Reversal, we love making the world better by helping people grow their families. We pride ourselves on helping men improve their fertility through uncompromising, concierge-level patient care. Under the direction of Dr. Joshua Green, our team provides state-of-the-art treatment for men who need a reversal of their vasectomy or have other fertility concerns. To learn more, contact us through our website or call 941-894-6428.

What to Expect After a Vasectomy Reversal

After your vasectomy, you probably didn’t need much down time to recover. A vasectomy is a simple, outpatient procedure, and most men are able to go back to work about two days after they’ve had it done. But what about vasectomy reversal? While a vasectomy reversal is also an outpatient procedure, it’s much more complex. Does that make recovery more intense? Here’s what you can expect after a vasectomy reversal.

• After your surgery, expect some pain. In fact, you may have pain in your groin for one to three weeks. There may also be bruising and swelling, and you’ll need to wear tight-fitting underwear or compression shorts for about a week to support the area and prevent any stitches from coming out. Your stitches should dissolve in about seven to 10 days. Fortunately, the pain probably won’t be severe and should start to improve over the course of several days.
• Take it easy for that first week. For the first 24 hours, rest whenever you feel tired. Lie down as much as possible and remember that sleep is important for your recovery. After the first day, gradually increase your activity, walking a little bit daily and trying to go a little further each day. This is important for increasing your blood flow, and it can prevent constipation and pneumonia. Don’t do anything that could be hard on your groin, or anything that involves lifting heavy things. Don’t ride a bike, jog, do aerobic exercise, or lift weights until your doctor says it’s ok, usually anywhere from four to eight weeks after the procedure. Don’t lift anything as heavy as a milk jug, and certainly don’t lift a child. Let someone else do the driving, until your doctor gives you the go-ahead to drive again.
• Keep the area dry. You can shower, but your doctor may advise you to wear an athletic supporter when you do so. Don’t take a bath or do anything else that would get your testicles wet.
• Ask your doctor when you can resume your daily activities. If you have a desk job, you may be able to return to work as soon as one week after your surgery. However, if your job involves any kind of strenuous activity or heavy lifting, it could take a few more weeks before you’re ready to go back. Your doctor can advise you on this and will also give you instruction on when you can resume having sex. Typically, men are advised to wait at least four weeks.
• Your doctor will also give you instructions about medication and diet. IF you are prescribed pain medication, be careful to take it only as directed. If your doctor prescribed antibiotics, make sure to take the full course, and don’t stop just because you feel better. Ask for instructions about restarting any medication you had been taking before the procedure. Most of the time, you can return to your normal diet. However, if your medication is making you feel sick to your stomach, a bland diet may be best. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated, unless your doctor advises you otherwise.

At the Center for Vasectomy Reversal, we are well-versed in providing effective vasectomy reversals. We pride ourselves on helping men improve their fertility through uncompromising, concierge-level patient care. Under the direction of Dr. Joshua Green, our team provides state-of-the-art treatment for men who need a reversal of their vasectomy or have other fertility concerns. To learn more, contact us through our website or call 941-894-6428.

Why You Should Have Your Kids Do Chores

When you were growing up, you probably did chores. It’s a time honored tradition to have kids help around the house, and in the past, most families had some sort of chore system in place. Today, though, there’s some debate. Many parents feel that it’s their responsibility to manage the house and that children should be allowed to be carefree for as long as possible. What’s more, it can sometimes feel more efficient to just do a chore yourself, rather than waiting or, worse, nagging until a child gets it done. However, there are many benefits to having children pitch in and help with the family chore list.

• Chores help kids learn responsibility. When you assign children regular chores, particularly chores that pertain to their own belongings, you are teaching them responsibility and self-reliance. They’ll also gain confidence, because they’ll have a sense of accomplishment when they successfully complete their chores. Being responsible for chores can also help kids develop a good work ethic.
• Children learn life skills from doing chores. Eventually, everyone needs to know basic skills like laundry, cooking, and keeping house. By the time they move out of your home, kids will also need to know how to do things like creating a budget and maintaining an automobile. These are things they won’t learn in school, but you can assign chores that help teach these skills at home. Kids who balance chores with school, homework, and extracurricular activities also learn valuable time management skills.
• Chores make children feel like part of a team. Being a productive member of the family makes a child feel grounded and secure. What’s more, home is a great place to learn teamwork skills they’ll use at school and in the workforce.
• By doing chores, kids gain some perspective that reinforces respect. They won’t fully appreciate all you do for them until they move out and try to navigate the world on their own. When they do chores, though, children get a glimpse of the parental workload, and this actually might make them more aware of the impact of the messes they make.
• Families can bond over doing chores. When you share tasks, it gives you the opportunity to spend time together, working towards a common goal. You may find that your little ones are thrilled to be useful, and your teens open up during the parallel interaction of working on something together.

So, which chores are age appropriate? Toddlers can pick up their toys, hang their clothes on hooks, and put placemats on the table. Pre-schoolers can set the whole table and can even help prepare meals, with close supervision. They can help you sort clean laundry into piles for different family members, and help with grocery shopping and putting groceries away. By the time they’re in school, kids can water the plants, feed the pets, help fold laundry, take out the trash, help with meal planning and preparation, vacuum, sweep, and mop, and put away clean dishes. Teenagers should be able to do laundry, clean the bathroom, mow the lawn, load the dishwasher, and prepare meals. A good way to determine the best chores to assign is to think about things you want your kids to learn how to do

This is all well and good, but how can you actually get your kids to do their chores? For little children, a sticker chart can be very motivational. Older kids are often motivated by receiving and allowance, and you can set up a token economy in which kids are rewarded for doing specific tasks.

By giving your children the opportunity to be responsible when they’re young, you’re preparing them to be independent, confident people, ready to find their place in the world. At the Center for Vasectomy Reversal, we love making the world better by helping people grow their families. We pride ourselves on helping men improve their fertility through uncompromising, concierge-level patient care. Under the direction of Dr. Joshua Green, our team provides state-of-the-art treatment for men who need a reversal of their vasectomy or have other fertility concerns. To learn more, contact us through our website or call 941-894-6428.

How to Teach Your Kids the Importance of Dental Hygiene

As parents, we have so much to teach our children. From the moment they’re born, we’re helping them learn and grow, keeping them safe and secure. It’s easy to let some things fall by the wayside, because there’s always so much to do when you’re raising kids. One thing that should never be missed, though, is dental hygiene. From their earliest days, it’s important that children know that a healthy mouth is a big part of a person’s overall health. How can you convey this? We’ve got some tips to help.

• Don’t think of baby teeth as disposable. Baby teeth do fall out, but that doesn’t mean they’re not important. Small teeth lay the foundation for bigger teeth in the future, and bacteria from decaying baby teeth can cause damage to permanent teeth before they even erupt from the gums. What’s more, problems with baby teeth can be painful, embarrassing, and prevent kids from getting the right nutrition.
• Start when they’re very small. Before they even have teeth, you can wipe babies’ gums with a moist washcloth or soft gauze after each meal to remove bacteria and get them into a routine of oral hygiene. When they move to solid food, use a finger brush or infant toothbrush to brush along the gum line and start brushing the teeth themselves as soon as they begin to erupt. When they get old enough to want to brush their teeth themselves, let them, but keep supervising closely until they’re 7 or 8 years old and can do it properly. With flossing, start as soon as your child has more than one tooth, and keep doing it until he or she is old enough to do it well, around age 10.
• Teach them to eat a nutritious diet. Talk about healthy foods and the importance of eating crunchy fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water to help keep the teeth clean. Teach little ones how calcium-rich foods like milk and cheese can strengthen teeth, and limit their consumption of sugary snacks. Sodas and other sugary drinks, candy, gummies, and dried fruits, and even popcorn, crackers, and chips can promote bacterial growth that leads to tooth decay.
• Model good practices. Let your kids see that dental hygiene is important to you, too! Kids love to copy what their parents do, so make brushing a family affair, brushing together and showing them the right techniques to do the job well.
• Prioritize dentist visits. Baby’s first pediatric dentist appointment should be scheduled before the first birthday. You want your children to be comfortable with the dentist and the dental office, and a dentist can track the development of your child’s teeth to make sure it’s on track.
• Make brushing fun! Let them pick their own toothbrushes, and choose a fluoride toothpaste in a flavor your kids find appealing. Set a timer for two minutes, perhaps a two-minute hourglass or a timer that plays a tune. Use songs, games, books, toys, and activities to help them learn more about healthy teeth in a fun way.

We enjoy watching healthy families thrive and whenever you’re ready to enlarge your family, we are ready to help. At the Center for Vasectomy Reversal, we love making the world better by helping people grow their families. We pride ourselves on helping men improve their fertility through uncompromising, concierge-level patient care. Under the direction of Dr. Joshua Green, our team provides state-of-the-art treatment for men who need a reversal of their vasectomy or have other fertility concerns. To learn more, contact us through our website or call 941-894-6428.