How did you prepare/are you preparing?

[HolyShmoly]

DH and I have recently bought a house so savings are down to feck all, but we are talking about starting to ttc. I had implant removed recently as it was due to come out. I'm taking a multivit that doesn't include vit a and does include folic acid. I'm monitoring cycle through Clue. And we're starting to try to build up our savings again. I've done some quick maths and it looks like mat leave alone will cost around £4k in terms of loss of earnings. Ideally we'll have this saved early on in the pregnancy but I don't want to wait until we have it before we start trying.

Basically, what did you consider before you started TTC? Or did you just go for it? Or just find out and went with it? I just really want to be pregnant and starting our family, but we're pretty risk-averse (esp DH) so it also feels crazy to jump into it without doing the ground work!

[physicskate]

It might take years to conceive. Just go for it. There is only so much you can plan/ control about this. I didn't expect to be sitting here after two chemical pregnancies 16 months later... no baby and not pregnant with a sticky one yet!

[OhTheRoses]

Well my eldest is 22 but Drs back then weren't necessarily even advising folic acid. But I cleared the pill from my system for three months to get into a regular cycle and gave up smoking. There were no ovulation kits or of tests that worked before you were 5-7 days late and they cost about £12.95 for two.

However we had a nice house and a big mortgage but with enough equity to have downsized and moved out a bit. At the time DH's salary alone only just about covered our outgoings but it was important to me to have that security. It was a good thing because our first baby had chronic asthma (6ft rugby player now) and a lot of hospital admissions in the first year and I didn't go back to work after SIX MONTHS maternity.

I think a lot depends how old you are.

Good luck.

[Peregrane]

You sound very well prepared. Go for it!

We ended up hosting a pregnant couple once for a few weeks because their house was undergoing massive renovation well past their due date. One of them was a part time charity worker and the other an independent artist and part time handyman... baby is now here and they are managing.

[MouseLove]

I've been with my DH for 13 years. Married for 8. We've been TTC on and off since 2013 with this last stint since August 2016. (Stopped for various things like jobs, zika holiday ffs & health issues) and we own our own house.

We basically fell pregnant Nov/Dec and had a MMC in February. Just got back from a week in Menorca where we blew the baby fund we had saved and we've just booked a city break to Madrid. Life is for living and if you can save the 4K while you're pregnant, do so. I think I calculated we could save around 10k while pregnant so what will be will be. I've learnt that this TTC journey is a marathon not a sprint and it has lots of massive f'in potholes so my advice is just to go for it. Good luck!! X

[CoconutGal]

DH & I recently got married & we've had a rough start to the year with employment, I lost my job but have just started a new one & he's being made redundant in a few months. There is no way of properly preparing financially. We're lucky because we have friends who have babies so they're giving away or selling things which brings the cost of items down. We've been TTC for 6 months & so far nothing but this will be our 2nd child. With our DD we wanted everything brand spanking new, this time around we're happy to go with 2nd hand. We are saving up anyway just because we generally do save every year incase of emergencies.

[TakingTheLeap]

DH and I have recently decided to start TTC in a couple of months. We're both academics and I've just got my first job that offers maternity leave - fixed-term though (and any posts in the years immediately after are likely to be too short-term to offer leave) so we're going for it. In spite of the fact that we're also hoping to buy a house in the next year and so will have very few savings / be in the middle of moving with an infant! But our logic is that there'll never be a perfect time.

I've been weaning myself off citalopram, going to be stopping the Pill a few months before we aim to start TTC, and will of course be taking folic acid and, once it's past September, definitely some vitamin D. I'm also trying to exercise more and drink less alcohol!

[HolyShmoly]

Thanks, I think we just need to crack on with it! Just rather scary really! And incredibly exciting!