TTC soon, what do I need to know / advice?

[pambeesley]

Hi, I am 35 years old and me and my partner (aged 42) have tried to start TTC our first baby from September - the reason for that time is we are going on a big holiday early September so if it did happen quickly the holiday would be difficult.

I came off my contraception (evra patch) six months ago, partly due to migraines and partly due to wanting to see what was going on with my periods - I had not had a period in years as I rarely had a gap week!

They seem fine, very regular 28 days now.

I also need to come off some medication (statins) which I take long term for family hypercholesterolemia.

I am slightly overweight (BMI of 26) and am looking to get that shifted ASAP.

Is there anything else I need to do or know? I feel like its a world I have no idea about, I stumbled on a thread about lube and read about preseed for the first time and it freaked me out how little I know.

So does anyone have any advice for me please? Bit nervous because of my age

Hi,

It's recommend to start taking folic acid 3 months prior to ttc, so you could start that if you haven't already. Trying to think of other useful stuff I've picked up. You are most fertile a few days before yoy ovulate (sperm xan live 5 days in your body and be ready and waiting for the egg). Having sex too often can lower sperm quality, best to do the deed every 2-3 days during fertile time. And expect it to take a while 6 months is average so don't get too disapointed if it doesn't happen straight away.

Good luck and have fun 😉

Folic acid (boots or any pharmacy will have it), get a blood test before TTC to check your rubella immunity, and ovulation strips from pound land (5 for £1!) are brilliant - cheapie basic strips bo fancy packaging but they work really well and are so cheap you could test every plausible day to accurately pinpoint ovulation if you wanted to.

And good luck

Thanks guys. All really handy.

Hadn't thought about rubella jab. Know I had it when I was 11 but not sure about since.

Download Ovia and start keeping track of when to have sex.

If you go mental, which you probably will lol, come to mumsnet for some straight talking

Just lots of dtd! Second using a tracker app like Ovia as can help you time dtd to optimum effect haha. You will probably go crazy... but that's what mn is for! Some people use ovulation tests to check when ovulation is (ovulation usually somewhere around 2 weeks after first day of last period), some people chart their temperature every day (spike in temp when ovulating I think, I've never actually done this though) some people also watch their cervical mucus (egg white consistency means ov!) and some people also track their cervix position (don't ask me about that one, no clue)

Good luck!

I have been using Ovia to track my periods (god how sad am I when we aren't even trying haha) and yes will be on here most days from when we are dtd :D

Take pre-natal vitamins and get DP to do the same as well as high dose vitamin C.

Don't drink too much caffine (2 cups of coffee a day max) as it reduces fertility.

DTD at least ever 2-3 days. More if you want- every other day give you virtually the same odds as every day unless your partner has sperm count issues.

If you are going to monitor I'd suggest just temping. You don't have to track it but you'll know that you've already ovulated once your temp has gone up. Eventually you'll see a pattern to it and know when to DTD.

The main thing is you need to shag a lot.

Thanks. We will get on the vitamins

DH drinks quite a lot of beer, can that have any effect?

Yes-- see the NHS link below. Drinking excessive alcohol can cause fertility problems for both men and women.

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Infertility/Pages/Causes.aspx