Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility

Why I was looking for a fertility book: This book is EXACTLY what I've been looking for - a guide to getting as healthy as possible, and using a combination of Western and Eastern medicine to determine what healthy means for ME. Before my husband and I try anything major to conceive (iui, ivf, etc.), I wanted to make sure I'd exhausted all natural possibilities. We've been trying to conceive for one year, and initially I went to an ob-gyn when I new I was having problems after about 5 months (been charting, found my BBT dropped too quickly and my cycles were short). She ran blood tests, found that my progesterone was very low and that I probably have luteal phase defect. Fast-forward 4 months of hormone pills (letrozole) without much to show for it and my doctor says, without recommending ANY lifestyle changes or other possible paths, "I think you should consider IUI because I don't know if you'll ever get pregnant on your own." And that's when I decided I'd had enough of western medicine for a bit. I'm only 30, I have completely normal labs except for progesterone, and I don't want lab technicians involved in what's supposed to be a private experience unless it's absolutely necessary. Why I chose this book: So, I started acupuncture, which several friends/family members told me was a great thing to try for fertility issues, especially hormonal imbalances. After speaking with my acupuncturist a bit, I realized I was totally ignorant of anything besides western medicine and I wanted to learn more about other philosophies and practices, and how they might help me. I went on the hunt for books that would help me understand Eastern medicine in a western context, and that had a guide to follow for better nutrition, stress relief, and acupuncture/herbal components. This book is EXACTLY that. The book customizes its plans based on your fertility "type" which it identifies through a quiz. It's chock-full of totally understandable explanations about fertility, the whole baby-making process, hormones, and every infertility issue you can think of. And it provides you with real do-this, don't-do-that suggestions and a 3 month plan to get yourself nutritionally, emotionally, and physically ready to make a baby. Why you should choose this book: If you already know a bit about infertility, or are having problems that western medicine just can't seem to fix, this book is for you. If you're not ready for big interventions like IUI and IVF, or if you feel like your practitioners aren't telling you everything you should know, buy the book! If you just want to educate yourself more, get more in-tune with your body's cyclical changes, and prepare your body and your mind for a healthy pregnancy, I highly recommend this book. I've only just read this book and I'm starting to implement my plan now, but after a year of trying and failing, all it took was reading this book over one weekend to put me in a totally different frame of mind, feeling positive about our prospects, and confident that I know WAY more than I did 3 days ago.

I had a child at a young age and it was as easy as pie...and only wanted one due to hyperemesis gravidarum but had a change of heart later in life. I bought this book a year ago here on Amazon after a surprise pregnancy and then a devastating miscarriage but was too devastated to even open it. It sat under my coffee table this whole time until a month ago when I remembered I had it. I can't even believe what a great read I missed this whole past year! It is such an interesting book full of JUICY information on both western medicine (which, to me, has been extremely excruciating this past year) as well as the mystical traditional Chinese medicine. There are real life stories from both Sami David and herbalist/acupuncturist Jill Blakeway. They share their scientific and Chinese views of conditions as well as encounters and treatments/cures for couples trying to conceive after they have tried everything. It is a WEALTH of information. If you want to have a baby...do not even hesitate a second to buy this book. I was thinking that I would sell this book online after I was done with it and took great care not to bend pages, etc but no way!! I am keeping it! Three quarters of the way through it I started highlighting, writinh myself notes and bending pages with important highlights and questions I should be asking my doctor and now acupuncturist/herbalist! I started acupuncture and for the FIRST time (since the MC June 2014) I have gotten my FIRST positive OPK!! (I never checked it before that) I even have the $$$ fertility monitor that I never got a peak and finally I have ovulated! I asked my acupuncturist on the first visit to please help regulate my cycle (it was anywhere from 24 to 50 days!) and last month I had a 28 day cycle! And this month I found I ovulated early on day 10..which I never would have known. I do BBT charting now (swore I'd never ever do it but it is so easy and fun to see how your amazing the body works) and ferning (although they don't really talk about this in the book, I do it because it is fun to see the pattern of estrogen during the cycle and it is so easy!). I really hope that I conceive again. I feel very optimistic about it and with the help of this book I have changed up our daily vitamin/herb intake and my husband is also going to acupuncture to help with motility, count and stress as well (just started a few days ago). Lots of prayers and getting my Qi (pronounced chee) back in sync will be key. (also found out I was severely anemic with very low ferritin levels that my dr misdiagnosed so started weekly IV iron infusions - they speak about anemia in this book as well therefore my acupuncturist is working on that for me too). GET IT AND READ IT - YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY! And if you don't retain what you read due to distractions...backtrack and re-read it until it soaks in.

Recently married and with both my husband and myself approaching 40, I thought this book would be a helpful guide to trying to conceive our first baby. There were some really useful tips in the beginning few chapters that could apply to anyone seeking to become pregnant, and the timing of the whole conception process and when to BD corresponds directly to the ClearBlue Easy fertility monitor that I also purchased on Amazon to help me predict ovulation and time BD'ing a few days leading up to it. The rest of that book could be interesting if you were struggling with fertility issues, but I didn't go that far into it (the parts about what infertility type you are) because I got pregnant in my first month of trying to conceive. Some of the tips and anecdotes of the authors' patients' stories may seem a little bit like "TMI" at times, but I was glad to know those valuable lessons, and also to hear the positive stories of patients who had their issues resolved, sometimes in simple and unexpected ways. The authors' tone is very friendly, personal, and easy to read, without being condescending or "dummed down". Chapter summaries are excellent for quick reference later on. The real-life clinical experience provides not only credibility but also, as mentioned, a nice inside look at real life examples. They give practical, and sometimes unusual advice. The author who's an MD was one of the pioneering infertility treatment doctors in NYC and the other author is an expert in Chinese alternative medicine therapy. This book provides an integrated approach, combining the strengths of traditional western and Chinese medicine. You don't need to take on some kind of regimen, but take what tips you want from here. I would recommend this book not only to people with fertility issues, but to anyone trying to conceive who wants some great advice. If you're in the latter group, much of the book may not be of interest to you, but the beginning few chapters are more than worth the price of the book. But if you're in the latter group and want a long book to read, then much of this doesn't apply so maybe you won't feel like you read far enough into the book to be worth buying it. For me, I think these tips, along with the fertility monitor, made it possible for me to become pregnant at my age in the first cycle of trying. That was worth the price. Good luck.

So I have been trying to conceive for 16 months after losing 1 baby to an ectopic. We did have one early miscarriage during that time, but otherwise, no luck. I had used Ov-Watch, ovulation testing, supplements, etc without success and was feeling frustrated. I read Making Babies and implemented the program half-heartedly for a few weeks, then really dove into it on the first day of my last period. I have been taking most of the supplements they recommend for my type, exercising gently like they recommend, and most importantly, cutting out wheat, dairy, caffeine, sugar, most raw foods, anything cold or frozen, trans fats, and alcohol. I'd say the wheat and dairy were the hardest part, and I was only able to maintain about an 80% abstinence rate for those. However, when I do indulge, I now choose tiny portions compare to the past, so that is an improvement I guess. I have also been increasing my fluids and eating a serving or more of cruciferous vegetables a day. (They explain in the book how they contain a special chemical that is helpful for maintaining hormone balance.) Oh, and I have been wearing socks 24/7, wearing a hat when it is cold outside, drinking hot tea multiple times a day, and cuddling with my heating pad in the evenings before bed. I did not do accupunture or anything like that but that was next on my list if I didn't get preggers in the next few months. Anyway, my point is, it is still early days but I am now holding a positive pregnancy test after one month of this program! I did recently lose about 20 pounds, so I'm sure that had something to do with it, but the program helped me with that too. I mean, how much trouble food-wise can you get into without wheat, alcohol, sugar, or dairy? lol I can't believe we struggled for so long without knowing simple lifestyle changes could help so much! One thing I want to mention about this book: It can be kind of tough to figure out your "type." I mean, I had a LOT of symptoms for pretty much all of the types, and I honestly couldn't completely figure out what type I was. The "tired" type rang most true with me, so I used that as my base and kind of hand picked the recommendations that seemed to fit from the other types as well. I should mention that I had also read Angela Wu's Fertility Wisdom a few months before that (but wasn't ready to change my diet so drastically yet), so a lot of this stuff wasn't a new concept to me. I think Angela's book is a little more strict and "traditional" if that makes sense. It seems that the Making Babies authors tried to simplify/modernize the recommendations a bit more. So I would recommend reading both books to get a full concept of using Traditional Chinese Medicine to improve your fertility. They are both good books and together they are quite informative. I never leave reviews on ANYTHING, but this is a review I felt compelled to write. I want to go on all the fertility forums and tell everyone to read this! In the book they write that "healthy bodies get pregnant," and I fully believe that now. I plan on continuing the changes I have made through this pregnancy if it sticks. :) UPDATE: I just gave birth to a very healthy baby girl @ 36 weeks. She is wonderful. :)

My husband and I have been trying for over two years with no luck. I was diagnosed by my fertility specialist as "unexplained infertility," and she wanted to go directly to IUI and IVF if necessary. If nothing physically was wrong with me, then why wasn't she willing to do any further tests to see if I can't get pregnant naturally? I don't mean to knock western medicine, but I dumped my doctor when she wouldn't even examine whether or not I had hostile cervical mucous or endometriosis. I'm really glad I found this book. It was very thorough, informative, and easy to understand. It was a very quick read and even provides an online quiz to make identifying your "fertility type" easier. It's been three months since I purchased it and started following the recommended guidelines for my fertility type (stuck), which meant changing my diet and seeing an acupuncturist. I am not yet pregnant, but I have already had plenty of physical changes to know that this really does work. My body is changing for the better, and I know now that I never would have gotten pregnant through IUI or IVF had I not changed my daily routine. Turns out I was experiencing a perpetual state of gut inflammation and lack of blood flow to the uterus (blood stagnation) due to dairy, sugar, and not enough fruits/vegetables. Western medicine never would have identified this problem. After reading this book, I followed the recommendations for "stuck" types: - I started out with weekly acupuncture (she understood that the expenses add up, so now it's every three weeks) - I stopped drinking coffee cold turkey and began drinking green tea or raspberry leaf tea with a slice of lemon - On top of the prenatal vitamins, I took additional supplements as recommended, including herbs provided by my acupuncturist - I increased my daily intake of fruits and vegetables - I started eating organic meats, eggs, and produce (unfortunately this is expensive but I swear it's worth it) - I'm making a conscious effort to avoid processed foods (sometimes it's just unavoidable) - I cut refined sugar and stopped with the baking. No more candy, cookies, muffins, cakes, or pastries - I cut dairy completely (the acupuncturist saw that dairy was a problem immediately) - I stopped using tampons and now use pads (it sounds gross, but you'll also be able to evaluate your blood "quality" easily with pads) Since I've made these changes, I've lost 5 pounds, which I attribute to the cuts in dairy and sweets. In fact, now that I'm off dairy, I've noticed that I am almost never bloated or uncomfortable - a feeling I thought was normal for most women. My basal body temperature, which has been erratic for months, now looks almost textbook (see image below). I was able to predict my ovulation, but my body temperature would never rise to sufficient levels to ever sustain a pregnancy. Now, for the first time in years, I have hope again that I may actually become pregnant. I wish I could write this review and confirm that I really AM pregnant, but I still believe that the changes to my body are a sure sign that whatever I was doing before was putting my body under constant stress and definitely caused imbalances. I never would have thought to do any of this if it were not for this book, so please give it a chance! I've passed the book on to another friend who is having trouble getting preggers. I would highly recommend it to anyone, even husbands who are having a hard time understanding what is going on. The image below was taken using the Ovia app on an iPhone. On the left is a snapshot of the predicted peak fertility phase back in November. On the right is the same phase in December. Basal body temperature is depicted by the dark pink line. I blame Thanksgiving travel for the goofy ovulation temperatures in November, but this basically shows that my temperatures NEVER increased fast enough post-ovulation. It was very sporadic and saw-toothed and hardly ever went above 97.8 degrees. This past December is the first time I've ever seen my body temperature do that - and that is exactly how it's supposed to look!

I like many things about this book--it is friendly, hopeful, conversational, and has some good advice. However, please be careful--especially in following the authors' recommendations regarding tea. Yes, tea has good antioxidant properties and many health benefits in general. But, it seems when the authors discuss tea and recommend it during pregnancy--black, and especially green--the only thing they discuss as a potential danger is maintaining safe amounts of caffeine during pregnancy. So, they encourage tea drinking as long as the caffeine limits are maintained. I think it is a mistake to not alert women to other potential risks, the primary risk being the relationship between tea and folic acid. Tea blocks the absorbtion of folic acid. Folic acid is essential to neural tube development, especially within the very early stages of pregnancy. So, it scares me to read a book advocating tea as safe merely on the basis of caffeine content alone. I am not a medical expert, nor am I a traditional eastern herbalist, so I am not claiming to be the most knowledgable on this subject. However, in my personal search to establish a healthy pregnancy diet I have seen and read numerous articles referring to this relationship. So, I would personally not be willing to take a risk like consuming a few cups of green or black tea during a pregnancy. Check out the link below for more information on the link between tea and folic acid: http://natural-fertility-info.com/green-tea-folic-acid.html

We started TTC when I was 23 years old. We found out I had severe endometriosis. I had surgery and went on Depot Lupron for 3 months. After that, we tried the infertility process including 3 failed IUI's 3 failed IVF's, and ZERO pregnancies then we decided to adopt. (That was all over a 8-9 year period, then we adopted my daughter, I was 31) We picked up our 3 day old daughter and it changed our lives! I hadn't been on birth control for 10 years, but thought about the people that said "Just wait, after you adopt, you will get pregnant", So I went on birth control pills. I stayed on the "On" pill since I didn't want to deal with the horrible cramps, so I was on them for 6 months straight, then I missed 3 pills in a row, and said, oh well I guess I will have a period. So a month in a 1/2 later, my period still hadn't come. I felt yucky and wondered why. I didn't even exactly remember when my last period had started. I was on the phone with my friend and I told her how I was feeling and she told me "You are pregnant!!!!!" And I said there is NO way I am. I of course had a stash of pregnancy tests and I peed on the stick, and low and behold the digital test said "PREGNANT"!!!!! I was in shock. My daughter just turned 6 months old and now I am pregnant. I NEVER thought that this would happen to US, not after 9 years!! It was always the other people you hear about, but not US!!! I tell this story to shed hope. This book is the next hope and miracle. My daughter is 5 and my son is now 4 years old, and I hadn't been on any birth control since my son, I figured if it happens, it happens. My cycles have always been long in the follicular phase. But earlier this year, I felt that there was one more. I followed this book for 6 weeks and got pregnant!! I ovulated on day 13, which I normally ovulated on day 19 or 20, which now I know isn't the best for egg quality. And with my horomones so out of balance, no wonder I did NOT respond well to the fertility drugs years before. But, unfortunately I had a miscarriage. I was 8w 3d but was only showing 6w and no heartbeat. Jill, I am so sorry I didn't write this review earlier, I have just been trying to get over this, so I needed some time. Jill and Sami, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for writing this book and sharing this wonderful new HOPE for ALL of us that struggle with this demon of infertility. But as Jill states, we need to give our bodies 3 months to get balanced and fertile. So I will be going back on the supplements the next cycle and start drinking my raspberry leaf tea again. I was the stuck type, but now all the sudden I am getting hot flashes so I am becoming the dry + stuck type. But I know with the supplements, I will balance out again. Horomones are the key to our fertility and when they are not balanced we are not as well. My Mom went through early menopause at 36, and I am 37 now. But I am not going to have an FSH done right now, because I know that with this program, I may be able to get pregnant again, and I don't need to "stress" again like I did when I first went through treatments. I will let you all know what happens in the coming months. My "feeling" may be wrong that there is not another one, but my gut says there is. I know that even if there isn't another one, I have been blessed with 2 miracles in my life. Some people don't get any, and I just can't help but feel so bad for them. Good luck to you all!!!! It WORKS!!!!

I have endometriosis, to the point where I often need to take two or more days off work each month every time I ovulate and menstruate due to extreme pain. Unrelated to this, I have had four miscarriages and no children. In the past year and a half, I have been poked and prodded by a number of doctors, had 37 vials of blood drawn, had dye injected in my whoo-ha, felt alone and guilty and powerless. This book put me back in control. Using the quiz on the Making Babies Program website, I found I was the Tired and Stuck types. One week after changing my diet, starting acupressure and following some of the other guidelines in the book, I was no longer walking around in a mental fog from being exhausted all the time. That very same month, I was able to lengthen my luteal phase from 11 to 15 days and shorten my entire cycle (which prior to this ran like a Rolex) by 2 whole days. Not to mention the fact that I had more energy than I ever had in my life and was no longer struggling from the daily pain of endometriosis. My husband, by virtue of eating the same food as I, also gained more energy and lost weight. All from ONE month on the program. This month, ovulation again came early (as was my goal), and we are again expecting. Even if I lose this one as well, I finally feel like I've broken the cycle of despair and hopelessness. My favorite line of this book is that "80 percent is perfection." I appreciate that I don't have to follow the program religiously to make a difference in my health and fertility. Although I will never meet the authors, I feel like they have given me more emotional support and caring, helpful advice than any of my specialists. I'll never go to another book on the topic of recurrent miscarriage. Making Babies is the definitive reference on fertility and women's health.

This book is so thorough! Everything is well explained and laid out. It really covers all the bases and gives good recommendations for improving fertility

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Good Book, Gave lot of information. Must read for the couples.

I started following the tips for “stuck” women, after the book helped me to decipher where my problems lay. I changed my diet and exercise to fit my type, began charting as per the book’s instructions, and, erm, followed its guidance about having lots of baby making activity too. After 2 years of trying we conceived within 6 weeks of beginning the programme.

A very detailed and highly informative book. This book gave me so much hope and reveals so many natural ways to enhance fertility.