If you were going skiing next month, would you start TTC now?

[applesauce1]

My period came last night. It was earlier than I expected as my last cycle was 39 days (I know I have a long cycle but only just started tracking it since I came off the pill).

We go skiing on 18th Feb.

If by some kind of miracle we conceive in the first instance of trying (unlikely), will I feel too ill to ski?

I'm a teacher so an October baby would be pretty ideal.

Looking at these dates (blue days are high chances of conceiving), what would you do if you were us?

Ttc can take much longer than you expect and it’s not very common to fall pregnant in the first month of trying. Honestly I would just go skiing. In the likely event you won’t conceive straight away, you wouldn’t want to miss out based on what if’s :)

Yes I would go also. You can’t put your life on hold.

As an aside, what app is that which indicates 11 high fertility days (if I am reading it properly...)? You only have max 5 days per cycle when it’s possible to conceive...

I got pregnant with DS1 the day I returned from skiing, the one and only time I've been. Go for it 🎿

Not to put a downer on it and really hope you are lucky but even thought an October baby would be ideal as a teacher it might not happen that quickly. I am also a teacher and started with the 'ideal time' idea and 14 months later and nothing! I sincerely hope you are more fortunate than me.

I also ski and would say it depends what time of skiing you were doing. If you're off piste and high intensity personally I would hang off one more month so I could have a great ski trip. But again it's a very personal decision. Sister is currently 28 weeks and has thrown up pretty much every day since about 3 weeks in 🙁 and has been rough as. My sister in law however is 19 weeks and has felt great the whole way through and no sickness!

I realise none of that helps! Hope you ARE lucky and have an awesome ski trip!

It's definitely not a case of whether to go skiing or not. It cost a fortune! It's whether to start trying this month or not.

One of the people were going with us very observant and very gossipy so I do worry that it would be picked up on if I wasn't drinking. I can be rather thirsty in the school holidays.

My mum conceived first time with my siblings and me (none of us were completely planned but definitely wanted!). She's been telling me how fertile our family are all my life, but then, I'm a lot older than she was when she had me!

I'm overthinking this, aren't I?!

Yes I’d go. It’s unlikely you’ll feel any grotty symptoms straight away even if you do conceive.

Yes. You'd hardly know you were pregnant if you were fortunate enough to conceive straightaway. I doubt you'd have any significant symptoms that early on. The only possibly downer for a holiday is not drinking, if that's something you'd normally do.

Go skiing. If your cycle stays the same and you are lucky enough to conceive (chances are around 20-30%) then the pregnancy will have barely implanted by the time you go and you’re highly unlikely to have any symptoms.

Why don’t you enjoy one final holiday where you don’t have to worry about not drinking etc. I think I would!

@Mrsjones17 oh I do hope you are successful soon. How are you feeling with your sister being pregnant?

RE putting my life on hold, I'm feeling really trapped in my job and desperate to escape. I am about done with the 14 hour days with no breaks and no appreciation. I know I can't leave and start a new job (either new school or back into the private sector) because it would be unfair on the new employer and I'd get no maternity entitlement. I'm staying in a job that is breaking me just in case we get pregnant.

Bring on the ski trip!l

I say go for it too, I don't think most people get symptoms until their missed period anyway.

Yes I would.

Yes you are over thinking haha! My mum concieved me and my sister on first two months and my sister's baby was a one hit wonder!!! Me on the other hand.....see above! I don't think family fertility has a lot to do with it.

Enjoy skiing have an awesome time and get down to it when you get back x

I'm in a bit of a similar situation. I've decided to just go for it but to approach it very casually/ relaxed this month. I figure if it happens then hopefully it would be too early to feel really bad. I'm not a big drinker so I've got a ready-made excuse there but you could always use the 'anti-botics' excuse or something? Depends how long the trip is! Good luck OP.

@Pibbee
I also found the fertile window ridiculous. What kind of GM crazy sperm would be able to hang around THAT long for ovulation? My husband is really awesome but I don't think he's a magician...

I'd leave it a month and start TTC whilst skiing. I can wholeheartedly recommend mountain babies

My mum has three children and conceived us all very easily. I’ve been ttc for 15 months with no luck. Fertility isn’t necessarily hereditary unfortunately. In terms of whether you should ttc, maybe start after you come back from skiing? It’s not likely you would get pregnant straight away so an October baby is just as unlikely (if only we could plan getting pregnant like that!) so if it was me, I would just hold off another month and then start after you get home. Have a lovely trip!

I would wait, But then I got pregnant first time trying with both and was pretty much a useless vomiting mess even before I got a pregnancy test. Everyone’s different but I would go enjoy a last childfree skiing !!

If you've only just come off the pill and your cycles are irregular, how accurate are those dates going to be anyway? Are they based on a 39 day cycle or a shorter one? Chances are that cycles will get shorter towards 28 days as your hormones readjust. Thinking about i, maybe that's why they've given you a big window of 11 days.
I was in a similar dilemma 14 years ago. Had been ttc for about a year with no luck. Decided to book a ski holiday to cheer myself up and we used contraception for the month before as I didn't want to risk spoiling my holiday. Resumed our activity when we got back and a couple of months later I was pg!

Personally, i would take precautions if you've already booked the holiday. I had nausea starting from 5.5 weeks so if you ovulated early, that could fall within your holiday. Also, learning to recognise your fertile signs by cm is helpful.

@Pibbee that last is like the Flo app. I used it for a couple of months. It pretty much treats the entire follicular phase as a fertile period!

You’re only going to be about four weeks? I didn’t test till 5 weeks. First symptoms at six weeks.
You can probably even drink too as you won’t have formed a placenta yet.

Start trying this month and enjoy skiing.

Start trying this month and enjoy your skiing. If it happens you are literally going to conceive the week before you go so you're very unlikely to have any symptoms that early on, even drinking isn't a big deal because the egg will only just be implanting so no shared blood supply with you and baby at that time. The only thing is you will be due to test or for af to arrive when you're away? If you think this is going to be stressful or ruin your trip thinking about it maybe you should hold off until after your trip to start trying.
I'm curious., why would an October baby be ideal if you're a teacher?

Both my DC were conceived 1st month of trying. My morning sickness began 3 days after conception. Everyone is different.

This has all been so helpful! Thank you!

@Merrz It would be ideal for a few reasons: I don't want to disrupt my class - it can be really difficult for primary aged children (I teach KS1) to have multiple teachers in a year.
Another reason is that I am finding the direction that my school is taking is conflicting with my ethics as a teacher, and my methods as an experienced professional (I don't want to go into too much detail about that, though). For reasons stated above, I can't hand my notice in yet, but if we weren't about to TTC, I'd be looking for new schools at the end of this year anyway. If we aren't successful in making a baby, that will have to be something I do anyway.

RE drinking. My husband and I are both going to reduce how much we drink while TTC, but it would be good to drink a little bit on the ski trip, if only to throw Mr McGossipypants off the scent!