Going to start trying, what is the first step.

[user1474968530]

Myself and my partner have decided to start trying for a baby early next year. I don't want to ask my mam for advice as she cannot keep her mouth shut. (The whole family and friends knew my sister was going to X uni before she had even applied never mind got in!!) so I need advice from you lovely ladies.

I know to start taking folic acid (going to go pick it up today), but is there anything else I should be doing or taking?

I am still on the pill and I will be until after my holiday at the end of January, how long did it take you to get pregnant after coming off it?

I am excited / nervous all at the same time.

Thanks in advance!

Not really much else you need to do other than make sure you have a healthy environment for your baby. Cutting down alcohol and caffeine helps and some say gentle exercise. I hope it happens straight away for you. We've been trying for around 9 months now and not a bean!! Hopefully this is our month (she says every month) lol everyone is different though so you could fall the first month you never know.

Good luck xx

Depends on a few things. If you're young and not in a huge rush, just have lots of sex! And stay reasonably healthy.
If you're older and feel time isnt on your side or want to go in for timing of sex for whatever other reason, look up things like 'sperm meets egg'. Once you stop taking the pill, start tracking your ovulation with cheap test strips from Amazon/ eBay and look up other signs of ovulation.

When you'll start ovulating again after stopping the pill could be anything from next cycle to 6 months or more- I've heard of a huge range on here over the years. Generally though, your cycles should tend to settle within a few months.

Good luck x

Sorry- you also said how long to get pregnant after coming off the pill. Very roughly the average healthy couple have a 1 in 5 chance of getting pregnant each cycle (So 20% chance). Then there's also the chance of chemical pregnant or early miscarriage- which is around 10- 20% of known pregnancies.

So the average healthy couple should get pregnant within a year- anything more than that could be considered reason to investigate fertility issues.

You'll hear so many differences- some will tell you they got pregnant as soon as they come off pill, others might still be trying years later- with lots more sitting between. It depends on so many factors- often luck being the main one.

@thejollytrolleydolly We have a dog so I walk about 5km a day currently with him, that should be enough? Alcohol isn't a problem as I don't drink that often, caffeine will be but I will work on cutting it down over Christmas when I am off work.
Hopefully it happens for you soon, might be a lovely Christmas present for the two of you!!

@Podemos we are 29 (me) and 35 so we have time. The lots of sex is not an issue. One of my friends has ovalation strips that she offered to me (they have to go IVF) but I don't want to start that from the start as I feel it will take some of the fun out of it. But if it is not happening after a year I may start that then.

Is there anything he should be doing? Again he doesn't drink a lot, he smokes but the deal is when I go off the pill he is going off them.

Thank you both so much for your advice!

@user1474968530 I know I would love that! I have a good feeling about this month but I might just be playing tricks on myself again 😂😂

Yep it sounds like you're doing everything right so you shouldn't have any problems! Good luck to you hun! If you need any line eyes for your tests give me a shout 😉 I love to see a BFP ❤️❤️

I took seven seas trying for a baby supplements, I know some people will say don't bother with those and pregnacare but I can't see any downside to some extra vitamins! Both times I fell pregnant I did so when I overhauled my diet to include more vegetables - first time it took 8 months from coming off the pill. Second time was my second cycle after coming off pill - I stopped taking them in November and fell pregnant in January (had also started slimming world at that stage too so was eating a lot of veg!!) Just relax, take it a cycle at a time and don't stress yourself out too much x

For me it took a while for my contraception to get out of my system and my "proper" regular periods to return. You might want to consider coming off the pill now and using condoms until you're ready to start trying?

It took about 16 months for my cycle to even regulate after coming off the pill. For the first year a 'cycle' was anything from 2-8 weeks, then it gradually evened out. We used condoms during that time as I felt TTC would be too stressful when I had no idea what was going on with my body. Once my cycle settled I kept half an eye on signs of ovulation but didn't worry too much about trying to "time" sex, and fell pregnant after just over a year.
I know people who've fallen pregnant the month they came off the pill, people who took 13 years, and people it never happened for.

@thejollytrolleydolly hopefully it will happen for you soon. As I always say "What's for you will not pass you" thank you!! I will keep that in mind, hopefully it will not be too long. Sorry but what does BFP stand for? Not good with the aul abbreviations yet! lol

@DwangelaForever Thanks, I was never a very bad eater, but I have started to get better already. I know Christmas will affect that but I will get back on to it after Christmas. I don't plan to stress about it, we have a holiday booked for April and originally I was going to stay on the pill until then but we changed our minds as I am on it so long. If it doesn't happen straight away I am ok with that.

@tattychicken I am going skiing at the end of Jan and my cycles are like clock work so I would have my period when I am away. Waiting until I come back to come off it as I want to use the pill to delay it by a few days!

@AHeartAPenny Thanks for your response, as himself is away working during the week we only have Wednesday evenings or the weekends, so even if I tried timing sex it wouldn't work. I don't want to go that route, especially not at the start as I don't want to take the fun out of it!!

Hi, just on the folic acid, start that now because ideally you should take it for 12 weeks before conception. My GP advised that if partner smoked or cycled he should stop both because they’re a killer on the sperm count, and that he should take zinc.

@GabbyGal thanks. Yes he needs to stop smoking. I have bought him a vape for Christmas to help him along. It is the deal that he has to quit so hopefully by the time my cycle has regulated he is fully off them and his swimmers are back to normal, if not normal at this stage! lol I will say it to him about the Zinc! Thanks for the tip. I am on folic acid myself at the min! Exciting times ahead for us!!

You're doing a great thing by starting folic acid.
Pre-conception vitamins are great as they have folic acid and vitamin d.

Eat healthy, cut down on alcohol and quit smoking (if you do), and relax xx