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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

Original poster

Preparing my Body

35 replies

Lauren2105 · 30/04/2006 18:25

Would be grateful for some advice please - I would like to know what I can do to prepare my body for pregnancy and helping to concieve. My husband and I are starting to try for our first baby in 3-6 months time. I have started taking folic acid and have been off of the contraceptive pill for over a year.

I want to know if there is anything else I can do at this stage to prepare my body and mind for this exciting time. Also is there anything my husband can do?

Thanks

OP posts:
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jellyjelly · 09/05/2006 21:45

You put a pillow under to raise your hips for about 20 mins to bathe the cervix in sperm and leg gravity help. Dont think she means have her legs us as that wouldnt do anything.

Original poster
Lauren2105 · 09/05/2006 15:56

Thanks for all your messages. By the way Gem, you say about raising hips - do you mean with legs in the air or do you mean put a pillow under bottom??! Very interesting!

OP posts:
Original poster
Lauren2105 · 09/05/2006 15:56

Thanks for all your messages. By the way Gem, you say about raising hips - do you mean with legs in the air or do you mean put a pillow under bottom??! Very interesting!

OP posts:
Original poster
Lauren2105 · 09/05/2006 15:56

Thanks for all your messages. By the way Gem, you say about raising hips - do you mean with legs in the air or do you mean put a pillow under bottom??! Very interesting!

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Angsthase · 04/05/2006 15:00

Flipping 'ek Gem you must be fit if you can keep your hips in the air for 20 mins! Wink

Would agree with the posts about trying to have other projects to think about. Giving up caffeine is good, also cutting down alcohol and having regular exercise (possible project?).

Obsessing about ttc is very easy to slide into, especially the longer it takes. Plan stuff - i.e. w/e's away, holidays, fun stuff and assume that you won't be pg for it to "get in the way" i.e. carry on like you're not ttc (if that makes sense). If you have to re-arrange stuff later you won't care coz you're pg! IYSWIM?!

Good luck!

Gemmitygem · 04/05/2006 07:16

Hi Lauren,

I am 17 weeks preg with first, conceived straight away. Like you I was 8 stone and 5 foot 7. It is underweight according to charts but everyone's different and I've always been healthy, just skinny! But I have to say you'll get a bump quicker if you're anything like me.

For preparation, it sounds like you're doing all the right things. I really found the Yehudi Gordon book 'baby and beyond' very helpful for the psychological side, and think it is helpful to definitely eat well and keep fit, and to learn to relax and deal with stress, (as when Preg I've found that stress makes me feel awful).

Also, and this worked first time for me, lying down and raising your hips for 20 mins after sex seemed to do the trick! (we only did it once!)

Best of luck with conceiving and everything else

spinach · 03/05/2006 21:27

honestly... you'll find that there's so much potential for worry when you're expecting! I didn't fret much with my first pregnancy, now I'm pregnant again I'm far more worried this time around... relax, get pregnant and enjoy it.... the first time is so amazing and exciting... and thats coming from someone who had severe sickness for 20 weeks and seriously bad back pain!!

Original poster
Lauren2105 · 03/05/2006 21:24

Yeah all naturals. I shouldn't fret but its just so scary thinking the what ifs! Your right, I should just wait and see what happens.

Thanks spinach x

OP posts:
Original poster
Lauren2105 · 03/05/2006 21:24

Yeah all naturals. I shouldn't fret but its just so scary thinking the what ifs! Your right, I should just wait and see what happens.

Thanks spinach x

OP posts:
spinach · 03/05/2006 21:20

i dont know the answer to that lauren... can't imagine its that cut and dried to be honest.. there are so many genetic factors involved in determining twins/triplets... Are they natural twins/triplets in your family?

Also, your ability to carry multiples isnt entirely dependent on your frame and those decisions are always made with you, in consultantion with a consultant. don't fret too much about it... if it happens, you'll get extra care from the professionals who will help you through it.

Original poster
Lauren2105 · 03/05/2006 21:16

Sorry one other thing, I wrote in a previous message about how triplets run in my family and twins in dh. Is it true that the skinnier you are, the more less likely it is to have multiple births - does anyone know the answer to this? I've also been told that if you are to skinny then the docs will look at aborting either one or two of the babies and that is something that I would find extremely difficult to come to terms with - can anyone tell me if this is true?

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Original poster
Lauren2105 · 03/05/2006 21:14

Sorry everyone for not replying sooner - been tied up with work commitments and decorating - this website is so addictive!

I have taken everyone's comments on board and I appreciate all the tips! I gave up tea and fizzy drinks yesterday morning, and will let you know when dh and I are activly trying - as I originally said should be around 3 months but you never know if I should be blessed sooner. I will post any news and also if I need any further advice as I am sure I will!

Hope everything is alright between the upset on this thread Wink

OP posts:
BeckiF · 02/05/2006 22:16

Without exasperating matters Hattie this is Laurens thread. Take matters outside the forum if you are unhappy. And I will answer posts or add comments where I feel it is appropriate and not to pacify others.

Hattie05 · 02/05/2006 21:33

I know its a sensitive subject, but BeckiF has so kindly pointed out to me it is an open forum. And for you information i don't wish to have a 'private fall out', just thought a decent acknowledgement would have been nice.

Hattie05 · 02/05/2006 21:29

I didn't really expect apology, but just felt you were a bit rude not acknowledging my post at all. And i don't get why people say "don't take offence" when they quite obviously are going to be offended.

I said "i've had one of each" in my original post, implying that i struggled second time, but not wanting to dampen Lauren's hopes. Because i truely believe that it is far healthier to start out being relaxed and not get obsessed as you said yourself.
Sorry that you interpretted as smug but that is all i meant by it.

Look at the numbers of people that go through ivf for many years unsuccessfully, then when they give up completely on ttc, they fall pg unaided - (i know three people myself and have read about many more).

Lauren, sorry to have hijacked your thread a bit, and i wish you all the luck.

BeckiF · 02/05/2006 19:19

None required Hattie, other than what I put in my original post. I expressed an opinion and if you don't like that then maybe you shouldn't be on an open forum. However, this is not about you or I, it is about Lauren. It's not the done thing to have private fall outs in this manner.

Moomin · 02/05/2006 19:18

[poking nose in emoticon]
hattie05 - think it's a bit cheeky expecting beckif to apologise! you didn't actually mention it had taken you some time to get pg 2nd time round and i agree it did sound a bit smug. but there again if you haven't spent years ttc (as i did and i know beckif has been) it can all seem very simple and straightforward. i was one of the lucky ones but i know many more people on the boards who are still trying and it can be a very sensitive time.

btw, good luck lauren2105 (and continued good luck to you too beckif)

peachygirl · 02/05/2006 19:12

How bizarre toad stool we have slapped cheek going round at the school where I work at the moment. I hadn't been to my doc for immunity teats as I has my rubella checked a few years ago when I had a hep B jab but maybe I should go.
Sorry to hear about your loss.

toadstool · 02/05/2006 18:50

An addition - If possible, get checked for slapped cheek ('fifth disease' or parvovirus) immunity - 50 percent of us are immune anyway. GPs don't do the screening routinely but I suspect it's responsible for my recent mc (it increases risk of mc before week 20 by 10-15 percent). If you don't already have children it's a good idea to avoid toddlers and play groups until week 20, and to ask any friends with small children to let you know if they go down with it becasue you will need to keep away. Hard to avoid if you do have nursery age kids, though.

Hattie05 · 02/05/2006 17:53

No apology then!

BeckiF · 02/05/2006 17:53

That's another thing I did, cut the caffeine out in tea and coffee and fizzy drinks!

decafgirl · 02/05/2006 12:48

Hi, DH and I also planned quite far ahead so that we could move house before we started 'proper'. The only thing I did that hasn't been mentioned already is get tested (at the gp) for immunity to rubella. Even if you were vaccinated at school it's best to check. If you're not immune you will need to be vaccinated and because it's a live vaccine you will then need to wait three months before ttc. Rubella in pregnancy can be very serious so I would advise getting it checked just be on the safe side. Ooh, just as an after thought, I've also gone decaf (as the name suggests!) Good luck! xxx

Hattie05 · 01/05/2006 22:40

I didn't mean to sound smug at all! As i said in my first post, i have experienced both - falling pg immediately, and second time round had complications and need to make more of an effort in ttc.

I wasn't blessed with falling pg immediately. But for a first timer trying, i'd definitely recommend chilling out and hoping that nature does do its thing, before you need to get on an emotional rollercoaster of counting dates etc.

Your last comment shows that we are in agreement there - about not getting obsessed with ttc, which is all i tried to get accross.

I have taken offence i'm afraid Sad

BeckiF · 01/05/2006 09:56

Good luck Lauren! TTC can be a long and emotional path, or if you are lucky it will just happen. I disagree with Hatties post, which was almost, and please don't take offence Hattie, smug. Nature often needs a helping hand, we aren't all as blessed to just stop contraception and fall pregnant.

As for your cycle length, if it is regular and has always been ths way then don't worry about it. Why are so many obsessed with the text book 28 day cycle? We are all different and so have different cycles. However, I do agree that you shouldn't be obsessed with TTC! So, do what you can and just relax as much as possible.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 01/05/2006 08:13

Lauren,

I would also ask about your 38 day cycle. Although regularly 38 days it does seem slightly longer than it perhaps should be.

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