How I Got Pregnant (Naturally!) after 2 1/2 Years of Unexplained Infertility

[Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical practitioner. Any medical information is strictly my opinion based on research and personal experience, and not to be taken as advice. Always seek the advice of a licensed physician for your medical needs. Read my full disclaimer here.]

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I really have mixed feelings about writing a post titled “how to get pregnant naturally after unexplained infertility.”

When I was going through infertility, I always clicked on these posts. What secret is out there that I don’t even know about? What could be the cause of what the doctors are calling “unexplained infertility”?

And then, sometimes reading posts like this one really made me mad. Sometimes it was because the solution seemed to be doing all the 1,586 things (is my infertility really from the parabens…or because of the one time I accidentally heated up my lunch in a styrofoam container?). And sometimes it was because the solution was something painfully obvious like tracking your ovulation (really, you think I haven’t tried that yet?). And sometimes the solution seemed like a totally random, pie-in-the-sky shot-in-the-dark idea with zero research base whatsoever (there is no way eating pineapple core could really cure my 2 1/2 years of infertility).

The reality, though, is that — despite clicking on those posts — I knew (just like you do) that there wasn’t a quick fix to get pregnant naturally after years of unexplained infertility. (Although of course I was still desperate to find one.)

That said, despite my clickbait-y title, I’m just going to flat-out tell you that this post isn’t going to give you the quick fix to years of infertility that honestly doesn’t exist. (But keep reading to find out how I personally got pregnant, and what I believe to be your best bet too.)

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First…

But first: I can’t write this post without acknowledging the other reason I have mixed feelings about this post. There’s really a fine line between the two mantras I seem to preach regularly on this blog: 1. Take control of your health! and 2. You really have no control over your life at all!

Know what I mean? God is in control, but at the same time He gives us free will and options. I’m a big fan of “prayer and action.” And so I think we need to take the time to make informed, prayerful decisions without blindly following whatever path the first doctor recommends. At the same time, a baby is a miracle, and although I can do everything in my power to get pregnant, it’s really God who makes it happen.

And we cannot forget that, lest we get caught up in the lie that a blessing like a baby (or any blessing, for that matter) is created by our own doing, rather than given from above.

Rachel

One last thing before I give this a rest: In re-reading and studying the story of Rachel and her infertility recently (in Genesis 30), I was surprised that I never realized that Rachel did try something to fix her infertility: eating mandrakes (v. 14-15), something that was believed to help with fertility. We don’t know exactly how long it took before she got pregnant after that, but she did.

It makes me wonder if she thought she helped the process along a little bit. Was she telling people her “secret” to getting pregnant after unexplained infertility, like I’m about to do?

But in reality, it was God who remembered Rachel and opened her womb (v. 22). It had nothing to do with the mandrakes.

So I have to acknowledge that maybe my “solution” to getting pregnant was just God all along. Even if I hadn’t done anything differently, maybe God would’ve allowed me to become pregnant regardless.

And so ultimately, this post won’t give you a quick fix, and I hope this post doesn’t mislead you to think that I found a miraculous way to get pregnant. God is the one who does miracles.

But if you’re looking for advice, a success story, hope for pregnancy in the midst of despair, an alternative to IUI or IVF that has some validity and promise, or, still, the answer to how I got pregnant (because who knows, your solution could actually be the same as mine), stick around for the reason you clicked on this post in the first place.

My infertility story

I don’t want to go too in-depth here (you can read more in detail about my infertility story here), but it’s worth giving a brief background before I begin: I was told after a year and a half of TTC — including blood work, an HSG test, and a workup on my husband — that I simply had unexplained infertility. I can’t remember the tiny percentage she gave me, but it was something like a 1% chance that I would conceive on any given cycle unless I had some type of intervention.

From there it was on to a fertility specialist, a prescription of Clomid, and instructions to schedule an IUI. And if that didn’t work, move to IVF.

Maybe one of those options would’ve worked for me, but my gut was telling me no. Not to mention, it felt so sudden, like I would’ve been making a rash decision. (Not saying that’s the case for you if you choose IUI or IVF, but only that I recognized that if I had chosen IUI or IVF at that moment, it would’ve been out of fear and panic.)

So I didn’t take the fertility specialist’s advice and did none of the above. We decided to keep trying and keep waiting. But a year and a half quickly turned into 2, and just one pink line told me month after month that I was definitively not pregnant.

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Next steps

I honestly cannot remember now how I found this doctor. I’m sure I read about the idea of functional medicine on some blog somewhere (I wish I remembered which one, so I could thank this person), just like you’re doing now. I had never heard of it before.

So I searched functional medicine doctors in my area, and and as soon as I clicked on the first website, I was sold. After three doctors, I had finally found someone who I knew immediately was exactly who I was looking for. Address the root cause of your symptoms. Create a customized wellness plan to treat the root cause. And better yet: A doctor whose specialties included infertility.

Functional medicine

After years of trying to get pregnant, I came to realize that I didn’t want to take stabs in the dark, trying one-size-fits-all solutions to try to cure my unexplained infertility when I didn’t even know what was causing it. How can you attempt to treat something you don’t even know the cause of? It just didn’t feel right.

Wouldn’t you just be hoping the solution is curing a problem you may or may not have?

I wanted someone to help me figure out what was going on with my body. I didn’t want a “get pregnant quick” scheme.

Still, I remember wondering if this was a weird idea, and being nervous to broach the idea of this “holistic doctor” with my husband. (Was this some kind of weird incense-y, dark basement, natural herbs and remedies type of deal?) It just sounded a little “out there.” But my husband was up for me trying it too.

And so began the first steps I took to actually find out why I wasn’t getting pregnant at the drop of a hat like all my friends. Unlike the fertility specialist appointment, which I dreaded and walked away from frustrated and almost in tears, I looked forward to this doctor’s appointment and walked away from it with a renewed sense of hope.

The root cause

That’s really my advice for you here, because the other thing that frustrates me about posts like this one is that sometimes a person will try to tell you what worked for them, assuming it will work for you too. It may; it may not. You may not have the same issues as I did.

So in a vague, broad sense, as it applies to everyone, this is how I got pregnant with unexplained infertility:

I found and treated the root cause of my infertility.

After all of this, almost 3 years later, I’m convinced that Clomid, IUI, and IVF would not have worked for me anyway. I suppose I can’t say that for sure, but ultimately, it turns out they would have been correcting a problem I never had.

The “problem” I didn’t know I had (aka the specifics of how I actually got pregnant)

I put problem in quotes here. Because if you asked any doctor before this one, my bloodwork was all normal.

But my thyroid (TSH) levels were not optimal…and after testing and retesting them, they actually ended up getting high enough to be just outside the range that was considered “normal.” I was now diagnosed with hypothyroidism.

This one little piece of the puzzle — amongst other supplements my doctor suggested for me personally based on dozens of tests — turned out to be (most likely) the key. When she gave me the thyroid medication, she actually told me she’d be surprised if I wasn’t pregnant within a couple months. I believed her.

About TSH (thyroid levels)

Thyroid levels are a weird and somewhat controversial topic in the fertility community.

I wrote a whole post about it here if you’re curious, but to give you the short version:

In the span of about a year, my TSH level went from 2.5 to 3.3 to 5.2. Many doctors and researchers (not all) believe that the optimal TSH level to get pregnant is under 2.5. However, anything under 5 is considered “normal” and wouldn’t be a cause for a red flag at the doctor’s office. Even your OB might not flinch at a higher-than-average level if it’s under 5.

When I first started TTC, mine was 2.5. When I first went to the functional doctor, it was 3.3. My doctor put me on a natural supplement to try to fix it, but when she retested my level again two months later, it came back at 5.2. That’s when she put me on a synthetic thyroid medication. (Most recently, my level is at 1.5.)

A month into taking this new medication, I got pregnant. Although my first pregnancy ended in miscarriage (my theory is my levels had not quite stabilized yet, even though I know there could be lots of reasons), I got pregnant on the next cycle again right after.

As I said, TSH levels are debated in the fertility world, but to me, there’s just no denying that there has to be a connection. After almost 3 years of infertility, and getting pregnant just a month into taking thyroid medication, it is hard to ignore the “coincidence” of it all.

Other things worth mentioning

A thyroid supplement wasn’t the only thing my functional doctor recommended. So while I do believe that was indeed the final (and perhaps most important) puzzle piece, there were other things I changed throughout the several months before I got pregnant. So I think they’re worth mentioning here.

(And no, the changes I made had nothing to do with going on vacation, not thinking about getting pregnant anymore, or stressing about it less.)

Here are some other changes I made to get pregnant after unexplained infertility:

–I began taking a prenatal vitamin with folate, rather than folic acid. Although I don’t have the MTHFR gene mutation, my doctor still favored vitamins with folate rather than folic acid. (Read more on the possibility that a MTHFR gene mutation could be causing your infertility here.)

–I started taking this Omega-3 supplement, CoQ10, a B vitamin, and some extra supplements called NAC and HPA adapt. (Besides the Omega-3 and CoQ10, I don’t necessarily recommend the others…my doctor only put me on them because of the results of my intensive bloodwork. Read about the tests she ran here.)

–I began taking this Ovasitol powder. Although this is typically given to women with PCOS, my doctor recommended it because it can promote egg quality and hormone health in all women.

–I added a choline supplement. I really had no idea how important choline was for getting pregnant, but since she put me on it I have read several things that have confirmed the importance of choline.

–Choline is found in eggs, so I started eating more of them too. In general, I tried to make my diet as fertility-friendly as possible. I already eat relatively healthily, but I came to realize I was making some mistakes when it came to fertility. Read more about that here.

–Lastly, I began taking L-Arginine and this collagen peptides powder. I believe this is the other piece of the puzzle that helped me the most. I have Raynaud’s disease, and some people believe there is a connection between L-Arginine and Raynaud’s. (Even if you don’t have Raynaud’s, I’ve read some other studies arguing that L-Arginine helps with fertility.) Collagen peptides have arginine and other important amino acids in them. Read more on Arginine and Raynaud’s/fertility here.

My conclusions + advice

Again, please do not be misled: I am not suggesting that you immediately go out and try to get yourself a prescription for thyroid mediation and start taking all of these supplements because you’re not getting pregnant. But I am suggesting you take a closer look at all of your blood levels, especially if you are trying to get pregnant naturally with “unexplained infertility.” Perhaps there is something your doctor is overlooking.

And I’ll repeat the advice I gave earlier, too: Do everything you can to try to find and treat the root cause of your infertility. Prayerfully consider your options. Find the balance of taking control over your health and knowing at the same time that God is always in control.

For more, check out:

The balance between trying everything and knowing God is in control

3 Questions to ask yourself as a Christian pursuing fertility treatments

What options do you have before IUI or IVF?

The ultimate guide to surviving infertility

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