Planning ahead - where to start?

[batfish]

My husband and I have recently had 'the talk' and have decided that we would like to start a family soon-ish. However selfishly I would like to enjoy the rest of this year and go on a skiing holiday early next year before we do, maybe not quite ready to give it all up!

So that will be happening in February next year and we plan to start trying after that. However I have been on the pill for 14 years! And I know it can take a long time for your body to return to normal so I was thinking I should think about coming off the pill a while before that and take other precautions. I am just interested to hear other people's experiences of how long it took them after coming off the pill. Obviously it can vary hugely from person to person so I would still not assume anything but I just don't want to leave it until then to come off the pill and find that it is then another year before my body is ready.

This is all so new and quite daunting!

depneds on the pill, when i stopped taking the pill it took 6 months for periods to return then i caught after 2 months, on the minipill my period returned after 1 month and i caught in 1 month.
take folic acid as soon as you start trying.
depending on your age, consider that some people can take years to get pregnant so dont put it off forever, there is always one more ski hol etc but family hols are lovely too.

I am 30 so no spring chicken I guess so yes that is very true that maybe I shouldn't put things off for the sake of a holiday, I guess the whole idea scares me a little and I feel better for having the safety blanket of a bit more time! I definitely do want children but just feel a bit more comfortable with pushing it back a tiny bit. And I suppose that if I really didn't fancy the idea then I would be waiting until then to come off the pill to delay it even further so at least I want to get cracking as soon as possible after February :)

I am on Yasmin so the 'normal' pill - it sounds like it may be sensible to think about coming off it in a couple of months and taking other precautions until Feb.

Thanks for the reply!

what we did was start trying feb and if i wasnt pregnant by aug we would book a hol for sept and try again after. i fell pregnant feb and in sept when i was 7 months pregnant, me and dp both agreed we were glad we didnt put it off.

oh and if you want more than1 leave yourself time to get 2nd one before fertility drops.

That's a good point too - we would ideally like 2 children and being new to all of this I have no idea about ideal age for fertility etc. So that is something I need to consider also, thanks for the tip :)

I think your plan is very sensible - but then I would say that as we have just done pretty much exactly that! DH and I just got back from our big pre TTC trip and it was wonderful! I came off the pill some time ago, we've used various methods of contraception since, including FAM, and while waiting I have familiarised myself with my cycle, got my dental checks, had an all clear smear, had my rubella antibodies checked, eaten a healthy diet and exercised and taken lots of folic acid. You are only 30, you have plenty of time so don't worry.

I would definitely have a 'selfish' period if I had my time again! I agree with maybe three months off the pill before ttc to let things settle down. In that time it's wise to start on decent multivitamins for both of you. You should be taking folic acid ideally for three months before you start ttc and get him something with zinc and selenium for his swimmers!