Womens Things

During a pre-natal LaLeche class, I raised a concern about trying to
breast-feed while working. The instructor warned me that my job would
put me at risk for breast-feeding failure.

Then she concluded: "But that's your choice."

Fast forward to more than a decade later. A debate rages about the
"choice" of many professional women with children to stay home (For
example, see "The Opt-Out Revolution" by Lisa Belkin and "Opt Out: The
Press Discovers the Mommy Wars, Again" by Cathy Young.). Media
attention to these women raised fears that their actions would feed old
stereotypes that said women didn't really want to work.

Oh, if only it were that simple!

Few of us have the luxury of free "choice" as we strive to balance career
and family. Many of us find our "choices" severely limited.

My LaLeche instructor didn't ask if I had a spouse (swollen fingers
prevented me from wearing my wedding ring). How much of a "choice"
is it to work when you're a single parent? Or when your partner's job
lacks health insurance or enough income to support the family in decent
living conditions?

Many, many moms -- and dads -- work out of necessity rather than
choice.

At the same time, many professional women are abandoning the
workplace because of the poor choices available there.

A recent survey of 43 white professional women who had left the fast
track highlighted the scarcity of attractive workplace choices (Pamela
Stone and Meg Lovejoy in "Mommies and Daddies on the Fast Track:
Success of Parents in Demanding Professions," Sage Publications
2004).

About 90 percent of the women in the survey had struggled with the
decision to quit. A former manager at a public utilities company said:

"What...was so hard was it was like a loss of identity. Ironically, that
Sunday, after I made the decision, the sermon at church was 'Loss of
Identity because of Loss of Job or Loss of Spouse.' That kind of clicked
with me."

Moms who'd left demanding professions -- in most cases, male-
dominated professions -- cited such concerns as:

*60+ hour weeks with 24/7 responsibility.

*Inflexible schedules.

*Part-time arrangements that ended up being full time.

*"Mommy tracks" that lacked interesting work or chances for promotion.

*Downsizing and restructuring resulting in speed-up and a more
"corporate" culture less supportive of parenting.

Meanwhile, fast-track husbands and a lack of high-quality child care
added pressure from home.

Five women in the survey quit their jobs for "traditional" reasons. These
women had no ambivalence about quitting their jobs and placed a high
value on being with their children full time.

But many of us are working -- or not working -- because of factors that
have little to do with our values or "choice." A failure to recognize the
limits on "choice" all too easily leads to false blame or guilt.

Does it make any sense, then, EVER to use the word "choice" when
talking about work/family balance?

Yes -- with care.

The key is to be clear about what's under our control and what isn't.

This is going to sound strange, not being a mommy but having a "mommy moment"; it sounds strange to me too! So, let me take you back a few years so I can explain.

When my nephew was 2 years old (he's now 10), I offered to babysit him one day a week so I could develop a relationship with him. I'd missed out on doing this with the previous 5 nieces and nephews to a large extent so I didn't want to miss out on this one. This little boy had already captured my heart but I wanted more. Well, I'll tell you, I got more! He has always been very intelligent, not to mention that he was TWO. You mommies all know what that means, right?

You moms are all going to laugh, because although I'm the eldest of six children and very capable of diaper changing and feeding, I had no idea what to actually "do" with him all day. I kept thinking how do women get anything done when they have children around? That first day I was wiped out tired when his parents picked him up because I just assumed that a toddler needed constant entertaining.

We played with his toys which took up about 10 minutes, went outside to look at plants and tell him the names of flowers, and my golden retriever joined in but that took maybe another 15 minutes. I had only 6 ½ hours to go! The diaper changing took up a bit of time (I was rusty), and meal time was interesting trying to understand what he did and didn't like - I was fooled. Then I decided, well I need a moment to rest, I'll play some music! That was the key to a very enjoyable summer of learning to interact with my nephew and develop our own special relationship.

One of the first things I did was shorten the hours I had him with me! I wanted to get to know him, NOT become a surrogate mom. We finally got a routine down where we listened to music and danced together. It was such great fun and we both laughed and enjoyed that. I participated with his parents in the potty training phase - something I don't feel the need to do again but was a good lesson for me to learn. I learned he liked "macky cheese" for lunch and of course, since I am auntie, he got special chocolate snacks too. That made nap time even more difficult since he wasn't ever and still isn't the napping sort. How could anyone nap with all that sugar in them anyway??

Our relationship grew and grew as that wonderful summer progressed. He was a great little helper, and even helped me clean my refrigerator one day. My dog was used to being my baby and he was jealous but ever the tolerant golden. I taught my nephew how to dance, which was fun and we played lots of boy tumbling games - I'm a tomboy myself so it worked. Since it was summer I joined him at my mom's one day a week too. He always wanted to swim with mostly me, much to his parents chagrin. To this day, Thursdays are my swimming days with him and now his sister too. I guess he brought out the kid in me! You may be wondering where is that "mommy moment", so here it comes.

On one of our "days" together, my husband and I were in the kitchen talking. My husband was working a swing type shift for the US Postal Service back then and hadn't left for work yet. "Macky cheese" was cooking on the stove, not yet ready for my nephew to do his part of adding the cheese and stirring, the stereo was blaring in the background, my dog was trucking around keeping an eye on my nephew. My nephew was skipping around in a circle nearby making toddler noises.

Then it happened - the "mommy moment". I stopped talking to my husband to look at my nephew and sort of chuckle at his toddler singing noises, and looked around in a sort of daze, thinking, "This is a mommy moment!" This is what moms do all day and never think twice about it in order to keep their sanity and their selves intact. My nephew had blended into my life almost so seamlessly, that I had become comfortable with the routine and noises while keeping an ever vigilant eye open for him and yet continuing on in my daily chores.

This is what all you moms do daily, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week! All I can say is, with much ado, you are all phenomenal women, all of you! God has gifted you with such a tremendous gift of motherhood and with that gift comes a tremendous responsibility.
You fix the "boo boos", change the diapers, are chauffeur, chef, arbitration expert, financial wizard, stain masters, and so much, much more! Moms, you have all the skills required to run conglomerates just by what is required to be a mom. Remember that during the struggles that inevitably ensue, and grab one of those "mommy moments" from your treasure box to get you through. I do, and I'm not even a mom.

"Listen my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold onto instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life."
Let's not forget Proverbs 31 either!

Many couples plan to bear children when they are settled, but most of them are not lucky enough to do so due to health complications. It may result in miscarriages in the woman that further increases the chances of danger to life. For solving this problem, it is advisable to seek the best Gynecologist, who can provide suitable solutions. There are many treatments carried out by the doctors, which include IVF, Blastocyst, ICSI and Embryo Transfer. The couples may choose a suitable treatment for them with the advice of their doctor.

Fertility Treatments - An Answer to One's Infertility

The infertility problem can be related to both men and women. There are separate treatments done by the doctors in the fertility centers. Few treatments may pose a risk to the couples, but some other can prove successful for them. It solely depends on the doctor about which fertility treatments will bring 100% success. IVF treatment proves successful in most of the cases. However, there are few cases where Embryo Transfer retrieves the best results.

The patients must prefer reputed doctors after taking recommendations, searching online for good Gynecologists, best fertility centers in and around the town, etc. Here are few pointers that will help people to get an insight about the fertility treatment:

    Look out for Varied Fertility Treatment Options: Before opting for a fertility treatment, the patients must watch out for versatile options. They can choose the best fertility treatment options after looking forward to the availability of a particular technique, cost involved, an experience of other patients, and advice from the renowned doctors, etc.
    Use of Advanced Techniques: The fertility center that the patients are choosing must use the latest techniques for treating the patients. They must possess high-quality treatment tools, best infrastructure, one-of-its-kind IVF or ICSI technique, and embryo transfer by the experienced doctors using advanced tools.
    Choose the Right Doctor: The couples must choose a right doctor for the fertility treatment. It would be good if people select the best fertility center that has experienced Embryologist, Gynecologist, Urologist, Surgeon and in most cases, a good psychologist. They will guide men and women to opt for a perfect treatment that will not put any ill effect on their health.
    Evaluates the Status of Patients: The patients need to see the doctor who evaluates their general health. This will help the doctors in acknowledging any infection, prior diseases if any, miscarriages of the women, mental and physical health of the patients, etc. This vital information will help the specialists to administer a right kind of fertility treatment and medicines to their patients.

Lastly, it is necessary for both men and women to search thoroughly by keeping every parameter in mind in relation to the fertility treatment. These treatments are quite costly so one needs to look out for the hospitals or fertility centers that provide affordable treatment.

There are several reasons why women wear hair extensions, but while they can make your hair longer and fuller and overall achieve the effect of making you look more glamorous (what's the point, otherwise?) they don't come without their own set of problems.

Some people wear extensions because they are unable to grow their own hair long, or as quickly as they would like to. Some people genetically cannot grow their hair past a certain point. Others might be able to, but realise that growing your hair long is a slow process: the average growth rate of hair is about 1 cm a month, so getting your hair from, say, shoulder length to mid-back is going to take some time. You could have an important date coming up, such as a wedding or your husband's company dinner and there simply isn't time to grow your hair long enough.

Some people have thinning hair or bald patches. There isn't much you can do about that except cover them up. Hair extensions can completely cover bald spots and they can provide a lot of extra volume to thinning hair.

Add Highlights

You might want to add highlights to your own hair without the risk of using chemicals or dyes, and carefully selected hair extensions can enable you to do this. You can also enjoy many different types of styles for your hair when you have extensions which you can't do if your hair is shorter.

However, wearing hair extensions may not be all sweetness and light and they can come with their own set of problems. Whatever type of hair extensions you use, they will take a little getting used to. There is no doubt that you get a feeling of having something extra in amongst your hair, and they do, of course, add some extra weight, albeit not a lot.

Unless you use clip-in hair extensions, which you can put in yourself in five or ten minutes once you have got the hang of it, you are going to have to spend some time in the stylist's chair. Even something as straightforward as tape-in hair extensions can take the best part of an hour, while weave or sew-in extensions will have you sitting there for several hours. The longer you sit, the more it costs. Furthermore, you are going to have to go back every few weeks to have the extensions removed and replaced, as your own hair grows out. On top of that, some types of hair extension are only good for one or two uses and then have to be replaced, so that is an additional cost. This last point is a very good reason for using top quality human hair extensions which, given some tlc, can last for up to 12 months.

It Costs Money

Overall, using hair extensions is going to cost money, unless you opt for very cheap synthetic extensions. However, although they are cheap these simply do not have the look and feel of real hair and you are very restricted in what you can do with them. You can't apply any sort of heat because they are made of plastic (yes, really!) and you will melt them if you do. So you can't use curling tongs, straighteners, or even blow them dry. You can't dye them, either.

You have to be very careful how you brush your hair, because if you get it stuck you can pull out your extensions, or even your own hair. So you no longer can brush from roots to ends, which is the "correct" way to do things. You have to brush up from the ends to the roots, but of course this means that you are no longer brushing oils from the roots to the ends so you have to add oil on to your ends manually so that they don't dry out and become brittle.

If you have any type of glue on your extensions you will need to wear a shower cap and try to make the gap between shampoos longer so that the shampoo doesn't start to break down the glue.

However, if all of this is putting you off, it shouldn't. Google "hair extension specialist near me" and you will find one who can answer all your queries and advise you as to the best type of extensions for your particular hair.

Highlighting and contouring originated from male to female drag queens to use makeup artistry as a way to soften their jawlines and conceal their facial hair and brow ridge. This style of makeup was known to be heavy on the highlight and contour and very expressive. However, to non-professionals, the art of contouring and highlighting can seem like a daunting task as there can be confusion in the correct way to apply it.

Highlighting and contouring is a corrective technique, used to create the ideal face shape, meaning it isn't the same for every person. For women, while highlighting and contouring there's a fine line between enhancing your best features and painting on an entirely new face. Women already have soft and feminine features. When applying makeup, the overuse of products can otherwise completely exaggerate and create unflattering features.

Here's the thing, the makeup industry has made a killing off of the "beat face" trend and made the over usage of highlighting and contouring the new norm. The goal now is to give yourself features you don't actually possess: Brighter, bigger eyes. A narrower, daintier nose. Using 20 products to achieve a "natural" look or more. The tips, tricks, and techniques have come from beauty guru's and YouTubers, not professional makeup artists.

This isn't the case if you know how to do makeup properly. You'd find that by following techniques other than that of a professional you may end up incorporating unnecessary steps just to look "natural."

While professional makeup artists take similar steps using highlighting and contouring flawlessly to enhance- not hide your beautiful features, they understand that successful highlighting and contouring is to use as little product as possible so the end result is believably natural, to blend it in well and to add more color gradually.

Good makeup is makeup that looks good in person and in photos, and that accentuates features instead of hiding everything. There's an art to this. Heavy foundation, then heavy concealing, followed by heavy cream highlight/contour can look great at night, on stage, or on camera, but in person, it is quite extreme. Heavy makeup instead just draws attention to large pores, pimples, and other and other facial flaws.

A light natural highlight and contour for the average woman on a daily basis is a gorgeous thing to learn and practice. Some important tips to know before incorporating highlighting and contouring into your makeup application is that:

• Less is more

• Contouring is subtly defining one's features and for it to appear flawless, it should be barely noticeable.

• Mixing concealer with foundation can create a more seamless and natural highlight

• Practice makes perfect facial flaws.

Who’ll Throw the Shower?
There’s an ongoing debate – that can actually become quite emotional and vocal – that tried to determine whether or not a relative should throw the baby shower. Traditionally, the view has been that a relative should not throw a baby shower, because it can appear that the relative is requesting
gifts. Yet traditions change, and there are times when a sibling, or a cousin, or an aunt might be the ideal and somewhat convenient choice.

So what should you do? To answer this, we can respond with the best, and sometimes most unsatisfying answer of them all: it depends.

Sorry, but it really does depend. If you hail from a rather traditional or conventional background, it may be wise to see that a non-relative is in charge of the baby shower. In addition, even if you, personally, are comfortable with a relative throwing the baby shower, some of your guests – who may be less comfortable with it than you – may object (or just whisper about it behind your back).

Use your judgment here. Perhaps the most practical advice is this: if you can conveniently and pleasantly not have a relative run things, then that will likely be the best route to go. However, if that’s just not possible, plausible, or preferred, then don’t feel like you’re someone from outer
space because you’re related to the mother-to-be. More and more people are breaking with tradition; especially since they feel that the perception of a relative “asking for gifts”
arguably doesn’t exist anymore.

Gifts (which we talk about further on in this book) are rather integral to baby showers; it’s quite hard to imagine one without gifts. Since that is the case, whether a relative requests them from those attending the baby shower, or a non-relative requests them, arguably isn’t important to those attending. They’re likely focused on what the baby shower should focus on: the mother-to-be, and a wonderful opportunity to share in her joy.

Now, there’s an amusing (at least from our current detached perspective) on this that you should know about. Some people may not want to run the baby shower. It’s assumed that if you’re reading this, that you’re quite happy with the assignment, and you’d like to do some quality – and easy! –
research so that everything goes off without a hitch.

Yet if you aren’t the one whose holding the baby shower, but perhaps the mother-to-be who is about to hand over this book to a relative or friend who will hold the shower, then we should take a little time-out to talk about something important.

A baby shower is a wonderful event that is filled with laughter, love, and perhaps a few tears (of happiness). Yet putting one together can require an investment of time. Not a lot of time; not compared to, say, planning a wedding or for some people, planning a vacation.

Yet it’s fair to simply note that putting together a baby shower does require some focus, and some time. If you’re about to nominate someone to take on this task, then please bear this in mind; that person should understand that they’ll need to do a little bit of work (but it’s fun work, of course).
And if you’ve been asked to put together a baby shower – or if it’s just been assumed that you’ll do it – and you’re a little worried about your own lack of time available, then don’t worry. This book will help you immensely. Furthermore, nothing is stopping you from recruiting a deputy or two to help you with the details, such as preparing food, refreshments, and helping with decorations and games.

When Should the Shower Happen?
This is an important question to ask, and of course, to answer. And as usual, there are a few different viewpoints on when to hold the baby shower. Fortunately, however, these views aren’t as debatable as they sometimes are when it comes to whether a relative or non-relative should hold the baby shower (as we discussed above). So don’t worry; this is a rather easy and straightforward challenge to solve.
Now, the real problem here is simply that there isn’t a clear answer to the question: when should the shower happen? The answer to this will almost always depend on factors that are specific to the mother-to-be, the guests, and other issues.

So rather than providing a “one-size-fits-all” answer here – which is something that we can’t do without knowing the details of your particular baby shower – let’s just look at the variables. Once you know these, you’ll easily be able to determine when the baby shower should be held.

The Mother-to-Be
Let’s start with mother-to-be. She may have a preference about when the shower should be held; and this preference should be heeded. The father-to-be might also provide input here, which is wonderful and should be part of the overall decision-making process (we take a closer look at “couples” baby-showers later on in this book).

What kinds of things might influence a mother-to-be’s preference on when the shower should be held? Some of them prefer to have the shower when they’re showing; they may feel that there’s something more appropriate (for lack of a better word) about holding a shower when people can
actually see that a baby is on the way.

In practical terms, this means that a shower might be held well into the second trimester, or into the third.

The Guests
As we all know, December is a season for parties and events; both business, and personal. As a result, it may be polite to not hold the baby shower during “party season”, as it may influence whether people would be able to attend (or be able to relax when they attend, because they don’t have
three more “get togethers” to go to after the baby shower!).Furthermore, if you live in a wintry climate, it may be a pleasant idea to not have the baby shower in the dead of winter. True, life does go on in the middle of January and people go to work and do many of the things that they want to do (go shopping, go to restaurants, and so on), but if it makes absolutely no difference to you and the mother-to-be (and/or the father-to-be) whether the baby shower is held in late January or late April, then it may be advisable to choose the latter; simply for climate concerns.

The Gifts
This is one that most people don’t think about until someone brings it up, and then they say to themselves: ohhhh, yes, that makes sense! Fortunately for you, you’re getting a sneak-peak at that thought well before someone at the baby shower asks it! As we all know, some people prefer to give gender-specific gifts. While, indeed, times have changed and makers of baby-related items are creating more gender-neutral items, there’s still a large contingent of people who want to give baby blue gifts to an impending son, or pink gifts to an impending daughter.In light of this, if the parents-to-be have decided to learn the baby’s gender via ultrasound, and further decided to share that information with the world-at-large, then it may be very appreciated by the baby shower guests if you hold  the shower after the baby’s gender information has widely disseminated. In other words: some people will be grateful that they know whether a boy or girl is on the way before they buy their gift.

Ultrasound gender diagnostic tests typically happen around the 9 week mark of gestation (though it can be later in some cases), and so this factor may influence whether you hold the shower early on, or wait until this information is known (assuming, of course, that the parents-to-be want to
know!).

Post-Birth Baby Showers
Some people are surprised to learn that many baby showers happen after the baby has been born. Actually, this is quite common because, in addition to having the shower itself, this timing affords guests the wonderful opportunity to actually see the baby (and make all kinds of goo goo gaa
gaa noises that we all love to make!). Holding a post-birth shower may also work out better in light
of other factors noted above, such as climate, and preferences of the parents-to-be.

Sending out Invitations
Okay, here’s where things can be a little bit awkward.Scratch that; here’s where some people dread being in charge of a baby shower, because at issue is: who to invite?

A good rule of thumb here is to work with the mother (and ideally, the father) to-be in order to decide who should attend, and who should be left off the list. This is a delicate scenario and can cause a number of minor headaches (even some major ones).
The problem is, simply, that while it would be ideal to invite everyone who would want to attend, that’s just not practical; either economically, or simply in terms of planning. Ultimately, decisions will have to be made, and if you can work with the parents-to-be to make these decisions, the chances of making wise ones will increase. Once you’ve figured out who to invite – and this process can take a few days of thinking and re-thinking – the next step is to send out the invitations. Ensure that you do this well in advance of the baby shower. There are two major reasons for this.

Firstly, you want to give your invitees enough lead time to that if they do have something planned on the baby shower date that they can, if they wish, move those plans in order to attend. If you don’t provide them with enough notice,even if they want to change their existing plans, they might
not be able to.

Secondly, you want to give people enough time to RSVP (i.e. confirm their attendance). Some people are not the most organized people in the world, and as such they might not RSVP right away. As such, you want to give them a bit of time to get to this on their ever-growing TO-DO list. Now, there’s another issue here that we should discuss. Some people think, or just assume really, that if you don’t RSVP, that means you aren’t attending. That’s actually not technically correct. RSVP doesn’t mean (even in the French language from where it comes) that someone is going to attend. It simply means: please get back to me on this. So what’s the issue? It’s that it can be a little disastrous to assume that if you don’t get an RSVP, that people won’t attend. Because some people will simply show up, and when you say that you assumed they weren’t coming because they didn’t “RSVP”, they may frown and say what we’re pointing out here: RSVP, itself, doesn’t mean yes or
no. It just means: please respond. Naturally, of course, people should RSVP and let you know if they’re going to attend. It’s the polite thing to do, without question. But polite is one of those eye of the beholder terms; and people who haven’t invested several days of their life to putting a memorable baby shower together may not realize how impolite they are being by just showing up, unannounced.

So how do you solve this problem? Well, like all good solutions: you head it off before it becomes a problem! While you want to have all of your invitees RSVP, you should make it utterly clear that you’d like a response regardless of whether they will attend. To that end, depending on the size of your baby shower guest list, you should include a self-addressed stamped envelope and a self-typed note with each invitation that says something like this:

Dear Mary,

You are warmly invited to attend a baby shower forour friend Darla! The shower will be held on April 15th at 1:30pm. It will be held at my home, which is at 123 Main Street. It’s just one block east of Main and 8th Avenue, and ample parking is available on the street. If you need directions, please call me at 555-1234. We’d like to have a sense of how many of Darla’s friends will be able to attend. Could you please fill out this form below by checking in the appropriate box,and then mail it to me in the self-addressed stamped envelope provided? Please Send it to me by March 28th. Thank you so much!

(please check one)
I will be attending Jane’s baby shower on April 15th at 1:30pm.
I regretfully will not be able to attend the baby shower.
*** Remember: Please mail before March 28th in the self-addressed stamped envelope provided.

THANK YOU! ***


You can create any variation of this as you want. This is just a simple little sample that highlights the things that you should ask: whether an invitee is attending, or whether an invitee isn’t. In other words, you don’t want any grey area here; you don’t want any default that says: I didn’t reply, so I’m not coming. A little note like the one above obliges, in a polite and tasteful way, your invitee to actively let you know whether they’ll show up or not. Now, if your baby shower guest list is smaller and it’s
feasible to do so, you may want to skip the mailing campaign and just phone people up and ask them to attend.If you have the time and the ability to do so (e.g. the guest list is small enough for you to manage), this is the preferred method. It gives your invitees the opportunity to ask pertinent questions, such as whether the mother-to-be is in any gift registry. Let’s talk about this right now.
To Gift Registry or Not to Gift Registry This is another one of those fun decisions that involve the
mother-to-be, and probably the father-to-be, as well. Gift registries are, generally speaking, wonderful inventions because the conveniently solve a lot of potentially confusing problems, such as:

 What will the parents-to-be want as a gift?
 What gift items have already been purchased by other invitees?
 What price range is appropriate?

So with all of this evidence in favor of gift registries, why might someone not use one? Well, there are few reasons. The simplest reason is one of preference. Some people simply don’t want to limit the range of things that guests might buy; especially if some gifts aren’t typically found in stores that offer registries. For example, some artistic guests may want to create something for the baby; perhaps
wooden mobile, or a beautiful picture to hang in the baby’s room. These kinds of items, by definition, can’t appear on a gift registry; and so parents-to-be might wish to avoid using one. Another reason is one of cost. Depending on the number of people invited to the baby shower, and presuming that those
that have been invited attend, there may be a slight awkwardness if the registry contains gift possibilities that might frankly be outside of a person’s price range. This can indeed be awkward.
For example, if 20% of the gifts in the registry are below,say, $30, there is some possibility that these ones will be snatched up first; thus leaving a latecomer to buy something more expensive, or risk buying something that isn’t on the registry at all and therefore might not be wanted by the
parents.
To help deal with this situation, it’s possible for you (as the organizer) for informally recommend that people band together to buy certain bigger ticket items, like a crib or a stroller. In this way, people can still stay within their budget limitations, yet purchase something that the parents want, and indeed, need (since babies can be very expensive!). Remember, of course, that if you choose the registry route, that you provide all the necessary details. It may also be wise to include your phone number if anyone has any questions about gifts or the registry.

Like a woman, a man has several important organs needed to create a new life – your baby. Without healthy male reproductive organs even a woman who can easily conceive will not. Now, let’s look at some of the things that can affect a man’s ability to impregnate his wife:

The Penis
Does size really matter when it comes to getting your gal pregnant? No, not really, as long as the penis is big enough to get the sperm into the vagina and up toward the cervix. However, function is very important in regards to a male’s fertility. Impotence or an inability to either have or sustain an erection can make it difficult to create a pregnancy.
Other problems can occur when the penis is not formed correctly. It is important that the opening that lets the sperm out of the penis be at the center of the penis’ tip. There are two main variations that can cause problems getting pregnant: Hypospadias – affects about one in 300 men. It is caused when the opening is on the underside of the penis.Epispadias is caused by the opening at the top of the penis, and is much rarer (only affecting one in 100,000 men).
Both of these conditions are associated with an unusual curvature of the erect penis -- it curves up in epispadias and down in hypospadias – and can prevent the sperm from getting where it’s needed in order to fertilize the woman’s egg.

The Testicles
A man’s testicles both produce and store sperm. It is vitally important for the testicles to be kept a few degrees cooler than 98 degrees for sperm to develop properly. That’s why it is so important for men with one testicle larger than the other to be checked for both hydrocele, a collection of fluid inside the scrotum; and varicose, varicose veins in the testicle, which can both raise testicle temperature and cause infertility.Unlike a woman’s eggs, which are present at birth, a man continues to produce sperm throughout adulthood.Although produced every day, it does take about two months for a man’s sperm to fully mature. The process begins in the testes, where FSH and LH hormones
begin making sperm and testosterone. Once the sperm mature in the epididymis, they travel through the vas deferens up to the seminal vesicle and the prostate, where they are submerged in semen and finally ejaculated through the urethra and into the woman’s vagina during intercourse.

The Sperm
Without sperm there would be no babies. Without enough of them your chances of becoming pregnant lessen. Every time a man ejaculates, about - 200 million sperm are released. That should certainly be enough to fertilize one little egg now shouldn’t it? Maybe not! Within a few hours that 200 million has dwindled to a paltry 100 million. Their job has just gotten harder. The journey to the egg is long and difficult. First, the sperm needs to know in which direction to swim (statistics show that almost half go in the wrong direction – maybe they should stop and ask for directions!).Next, they actually have to get moving. Many lag behind. Meanwhile, the woman’s body isn’t necessarily friendly, killing off thousands of others along the way. For the lucky few, success can be found, but only if they are strong enough and persistent enough to make it through the long arduous journey.