Pregnancy is definitely a miracle. When you look at all of the factors that have to be just so for a pregnancy to occur, it's even more amazing. In fact, sometimes you may wonder how everything ever comes together.

First, you must be reasonably healthy so that you are ovulating and building a good lining in your uterus. Your partner must be reasonably healthy enough to make viable, motile sperm. He must be sexually functioning enough to have erections and ejaculate inside the vagina. Your body must be making just the right amount and quality of cervical fluid to aid the sperm in finding the egg.

Second, you must be ovulating. The release of this precious egg must be timed with sexual intercourse so that the sperm is still alive and well and the egg is still ready. This means that you've got about twelve hours from when you ovulate for the egg to be fertilized. This fertilization can be from hours prior to ovulation to days before, as long as the sperm is still viable.

Third, conception occurs in the outer third of the fallopian tube. This means that the tubes must also be clear enough for the sperm to travel upward to meet the egg. The fallopian tubes must also be clear for the joined egg and sperm to travel toward the uterus for implantation.

And finally, once at the uterus, the uterus needs to have a healthy lining. There also can be no obstruction to implantation (for example, a cyst or fibroid).

As you can see, there are many chances for something to change or alter the path to conception. By learning how pregnancy occurs and what you can do to help achieve a pregnancy you can boost your odds of conceiving a healthy baby.