Now that you are ready to have a baby, there are so many questions to answer. What are the odds of getting pregnant, when should we have sex, and how can we improve our chances? You've come to the right place: our Beginner's Guide to Getting Pregnant. Scroll down and learn all you need to know to begin your exciting journey to parenthood!

What are your odds of getting pregnant?

Your chances of getting pregnant depend on many factors including your and his age, his sperm count and quality of his sperms, whether your eggs have a good or bad quality, if and when you ovulate and have sex in relation to ovulation, whether your fallopian tubes are functioning, and many other factors.

With regular sex, about 15-25% of couples who try to conceive get pregnant in each ovulatory cycle. Approximately 50% of couples will conceive during the first 5-6 months, and 85% in their first year. About 15% take longer than one year to get pregnant, and about 50% will get pregnant in the second year. The probability of getting pregnant decreases with the quality of your eggs which get worse with age starting around 30-35 years. 

These are some factors affecting your chances of getting pregnant:

• Age, especially a woman's age
• Ovulation issues: egg quality is important, and while irregular menstrual periods are usually the first sign, even women with regular cycles can have ovulatory issues
• Other problems like past infections, or being overweight

Your fifth vital sign: the menstrual cycle and your periods

Your menstrual cycles and your fertility as well as your menstrual periods and bleeding can help tell you not only about your present health but they are also a window into your future health.  Measuring your cycle lengths and regularity as well as checking if your periods are too light or too heavy should be an essential part of every woman's vital signs and could help you with improving your health. Read more about your menstrual cycle.

Sex and getting pregnant

Couples spend a lot of time trying to figure out when and how to have sex when getting pregnant. You hear so many do's and don'ts about sex when you are trying to conceive. You only have six days to have sex when trying to get pregnant, the day of ovulation and the 5 days before that day. Should you have sex every day? Or only during your fertile window? And how often? Every day or every other day?  All good questions, and here are some of your answers:

• Timing Sex: The Best Days
• Sex: Every Day vs. Every Other Day
• Your Fertile Window
• Orgasm And TTC

Where do we start?

The babyMed top 20 'Getting Pregnant' FAQs answers your most important fertility and getting pregnant questions.

1. How can we get pregnant faster?
2. When are my fertile days?
3. Early pregnancy symptoms
4. Am I and could I be pregnant?
5. Earliest early pregnancy signs and symptoms
6. Implantation bleeding and spotting symptoms
7. Negative HPT pregnancy test and still pregnant?
8. How often should we have intercourse?
9. Is it normal for sperm to leak out of the vagina?
10. When does the pregnancy test become positive?
11. What are the best days for sex?
12. Sex: every day vs. every other day?
13. When is my fertile window?
14. Getting pregnant after the pill
15. Am I ovulating?
16. Am I fertile and when?
17. Is he fertile?
18. Am I pregnant? How can I find out?
19. What are my chances of getting pregnant?

Learn how to boost your fertility and get pregnant faster!