Few people start a new life experience looking for relationship advice. And deciding to start a family with your partner is probably one of the most exciting moments you’ll experience as a couple. While conceiving may not be difficult for some couples, that won’t be the case for many. Getting pregnant normally takes between six months to a year. In fact, according to HHS.gov, about 10 in 100 (6.1 million) women in the United States ages 15–44 have difficulty becoming pregnant or staying pregnant.

This can cause a lot of stress in the relationship and might make conceiving that much harder. It’s easy to lose sight of what you love about your relationship when going through rough times.  But with the right amount of time and effort, your relationship will prevail. Continue reading for relationship advice on how to keep intimacy alive when trying to conceive.

Communicate With Your Partner

There’s a reason why good communication is one of the most important aspects of having a healthy relationship overall. Keeping your thoughts and feelings bottled up isn’t good for anyone. It usually leads to exploding your emotions on someone else and causing hurt to one or both parties.

Letting your partner know what’s going on with you is the only way for them to properly help you through the emotions you’re feeling. Frustration, sadness, and even depression are common in couples who are having trouble conceiving; so leaning on each other during this time is crucial.

Make sure you’re also asking your significant other how they’re feeling; so it’s not one-sided. You never know what they may be going through if you don’t ask. They may have concerns you never thought they did, before hearing what they had to say.

Talking through your emotions with your partner about fertility issues creates a connection and intimacy that is unmatched, as you two are the only ones who will fully understand your specific situation. It also will help to create a deeper mental bond between the two of you, which is crucial when trying to get pregnant.

Set Aside Time for Self-Care

Occasionally, you and your significant other need a break from the stressors of trying to conceive. Engaging in self-care days together can be the perfect way to not only relax your stress addled minds but bring you closer together.

Taking care of your mental and physical well-being before conceiving is crucial because you want to be at optimal health for your pregnancy. Create healthy habits now so they will carry on throughout the duration of your pregnancy and afterward too.

Self-care can be anything that makes you feel happy. Whether that be a couples massage or a leisurely walk around the park, do what makes you and your partner feel great. The activity you and your significant other choose does not have to be expensive. Quick and simple things that you can do together can help your relationship, even if it’s only for ten minutes.

A great activity to try as a couple is meditation. It doesn’t require much, all you need is a quiet and clutter-free environment because a chaotic space can prevent you from relaxing. Couples’ mediation can improve a relationship by making it easier to resolve conflict, decrease stress, and much more.

Make Room for Spontaneity

When trying to get pregnant it can be easy to get swept up in ovulation charts and trackers of all kinds but try to set those aside occasionally. Scheduling out the exact time for when you’re going to be intimate with your significant other can kill some of the passion in your relationship.

Instead of scheduling your intimate times down to the minute, if it’s okay with your physician, switch it up every now and then. As long as you’re comfortable, do something that you wouldn’t normally do to keep excitement and passion alive. Don’t let the tediousness of charts and trackers be the reason for feeling down.

Timed sex can also lead to stress and anxiety from the pressure to perform. Feeling these sorts of negative emotions during intercourse can actually make conceiving that much harder.

For women, it can cause a lack of sexual pleasure and arousal as their minds are elsewhere making intercourse difficult. If this occurs in the bedroom, first try to calm your mind and release any tension you’re feeling by taking deep breaths. Consider using personal lubricant to make things easier and more pleasurable for you.

For men, problems such as erectile dysfunction (ED) can happen if there is too much stress and pressure surrounding the situation. This is why spontaneous sex is important because the lack of obligation will make it easier for both parties to have a pleasurable time. If you are experiencing mild erectile dysfunction symptoms, you should see your primary care physician or a urologist. There are online options for men to obtain ED treatments like Sildenafil, which can help you maintain an erection long enough to have enjoyable sex. Allow this newly founded intimacy to bring you both closer together.

Try Couples Counseling

Couples counseling often comes with the negative connotation that a relationship is failing if they go to therapy. That’s completely false. Acknowledging that you need outside help shouldn’t be a source of shame for couples, especially if it’s taking you longer to get pregnant.

The goal of counseling is to work through whatever concerns you and your partner are facing together. Talking out loud to a medical professional can help improve your mental state. Seeking relationship advice helps to bring couples together by keeping them informed of each other’s thoughts and feelings. This allows for more intimate conversations and a closer connection between people.

If you’re having trouble deciding how to bring up to your partner that you want to go to counseling and want some tips on convincing your significant other to try couples counseling, read this article.

No matter how far along you are in your journey, just remember the love you have for your partner. Stress, sadness, and anxiety can take a toll on even the strongest relationships. But have faith that you will make it through the rough patch together.