First time TTC - help please!! Any one else TTC for their first time?

[BeeR2009]

Hi everyone,

Me and my husband have made the decision to try for a baby - we had a talk last month after I thought I might be pregnant (we weren't actively trying) and after 12 years together feel that now is the right time.

I'm feeling really excited and a little nervous - I know it may take a while and I just want to be as prepared as possible and be doing as many of the right things as I can.

What do people recommend for trying to get pregnant? Is anyone else in the same boat and would like to keep in touch/progress?

I'm due to finish AF in around 2 days and due to ovulate around 28th according to my tracker app - I've got folic acid and vitamin D arriving tomorrow that I can start taking, what else can I be doing to prepare as much as possible? I know it sounds silly, but do we just start 'trying' as soon as my period is over?

Look forward to speaking to you all soon!

Thanks,

Bee x

@RaspberryToupee I hope so too. Unfortunately the future economy isn't certain but we will get through it. I live near the cotswolds (literally 10 minutes down the road and we are in there). I hope you get to go, it's beautiful! Xxx

@Peach1204 I’m hoping we get to go too! It’ll be so nice to have a little break, especially as all other plans this year have been cancelled. We’ve got a dog friendly room too so we need some dog friendly places to be open by then too. I’m a bit worried as pubs and restaurants are literally due to open and that could be delayed if infection rates increase. I also don’t want to go if the locals are hostile to out of towners, not that I’ve seen the Cotswolds post that. I live near Norfolk and Norfolk are trying very hard to keep people off their beaches at the minute. It’s not very welcoming, even though I’m 40 minutes away from the beach.

@RaspberryToupee I heard of one village which asked people to stay away and they kept their car parks closed. I'm not sure if they are still (it's Bourton on the Water) but a lot of places are now having to open public toilets so villages should expect visitors. Not sure what places will be open but Cotswold Wildlife Park really nice and is dog friendly, Bourton is stunning and Broadway and the tower there is lovely. Xxx

@Peach1204 thanks for the recommendations. I’ll start having a look in the hope we can still go. We’re staying in Stow on the Wold. Bit idea where that is in relation to the attractions but we’re not adverse to a bit of driving

@RaspberryToupee Stow is in the middle of those so good location! Xxx

Wow I really need to check in more often! 😃

Hello to the ones who have joined! 😃

Totally feeling the holiday woes... I've had three holidays cancelled this year, so currently having a headache trying to get money back! We've got a family cruise booked for October - kind of hoping it'll be the last one before a hopeful arrival. Not sure if it's going ahead though or if I want to be on a cruise ship given everything that's happened... 😳 I've been trying to hold off on anything past that point in the hope that some baby luck comes our way! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Hi all, my husband I decided to start TTC... Yesterday, lol. I told him it probably isn't going to happen this cycle, and even if we timed it right, it could still take months, up to a year even if we're both in working order. Not sure he quite understands how it all works, but I'm not going to say no to trying while he seems totally on board and ready to go.

We have no idea what we're doing, though. I ordered some folic acid supplements, have already cut back on caffeine thanks to quarantine which has completely cut off my twice a day coffee shop runs, which I don't even miss.

I guess we'll just give it a go for awhile and see how it goes. I will order some of the ovulation tests, but I will have to learn how to use them. I'm pretty good at noticing my cervical mucus changes, but I wasn't always 100% sure what each stage meant, but I think I know now. I notice the changes very regularly with each cycle, so hopefully that helps us down the line.

@M4v3r1ck I hope you get on your cruise! I've always wanted to do one but DH isn't convinced. Xxx

@kimchimama welcome and good luck with your journey! I'm using Flo app which I assume to be accurate as when I compare it to a google search the fertility windows match up. So you might want to download an app so you can track things. I'm trying seven seas trying for a baby and going into month 3 of TTC. Hope this thread helps you, it's certainly helped me. Xxx

Morning ladies! Welcome @kimchimama

Finally in my fertile window this week! That first week passed by so slowly. Does anyone have any opinions on whether it's best to DTD everyday or every other day?

@M4v3r1ck I know what you mean... my parents were supposed to visit last month and had to cancel.. I haven't seen them in over 6 months at this point and it's looking like my summer trip home will be cancelled too. I booked the summer flight going and return on different airlines and only one of thems been cancelled so far. Not sure what I'll do if the other one goes ahead haha still no sign of my refund either.

@SaraVB my FW is due to start tomorrow although AF has pretty much finished today (like no need to use anything as not enough coming out - hopefully not TMI!) so I'm thinking of getting on him today! 😂 I've heard every other day gives better quality sperm so that's my plan. Xxx

@Peach1204 @SaraVB I've heard every day is best if you can, but every other day is enough if every day is too much! I read somewhere (sorry I keep being vague with my 'I read somewhere's but I read so much that I can't remember where I read it!) that you have something like 25% chance of conceiving if you dtd every day, and 22% if every other day. Ive also heard that the sperm quality thing is a myth, but then what do I know?!

www.avawomen.com/avaworld/how-often-should-you-have-sex-to-get-pregnant/

I'm a bit bitter about Ava in general, having bought one of the bracelets when I was getting desperate (absolutely would not recommend btw!) but they do 'fact check' their articles

Hey girls ☺️ Wondering if some of you might be able to shed some light on this this morning - this is my first cycle TTC and first month using OPKs.

I've been testing everyday with OPKs since CD6 as I'm not too sure on my cycle as only came off the pill in April and had first natural AF 30 days later. According to my app ovulation is predicted for in three days, and yesterday I got EWCM. Figured I best test twice yesterday as expected my surge to be here soon, but I'm still getting really faint lines on my OPKs, the exact same as I've got pretty much every day and no increase at all.

Does anyone know what this could mean? Is it normal to get EWCM before a LH surge? My plan was to DTD every other day and then every day when in my fertile week, and we have done so far (but only two days into fertile week) and now I'm not sure if this even is my fertile week. Obviously EWCM is a good sign, but nothing in on OPKs. Think we should just keep DTD everyday to be on the safe side?

Any options/experiences would be great ☺️ X

Interesting article thanks @Daffodil21

What cd are you today @MintGreenLife? I think just keep having sex and testing. Some women do get ewcm before they actually ovulate so I'd say this is normal, but interested to know what cd you are today if your expected ov is 3 days away. Can you remember the length of your cycles before you were on the pill?

@Peach1204 nothing is TMI here haha! I usually take it a little easier first week cos I've got longer cycles so I think chances of ovulation are pretty low in those first days..

@Daffodil21 I think if it's close to the same chances every day or every other day then I'll just see what I feel like on the day. Don't want to drive OH crazy (he's very busy and tired with work at the moment).
What is this Ava bracelet supposed to do? The article seems to make sense though and is super helpful!

Thanks for your reply @notyetamumbuttrying ☺️ I'm CD14 today and app has estimated ovulation for CD17. Unfortunately I have no clue how long my cycles were before the pill. I went on it when I was 18 and was on it for 13 years. I didn't pay much attention to my cycles as a teenager, but seem to remember my period coming monthly and being fairly regular. At a guess I would say cycle was 28-30 days, and first cycle off the pill was 30 days. We are DTD regularly like I said. It sounds silly but I just don't want to mess up and miss an opportunity, even though I know sex every day isn't much better than sex every other day anyway. Would just really like to pin point when I'm ovulating and make the most of the fertile window, but have been surprised not to see any kind of rise on OPKs x

@Daffodil21 wow! My partners in for a treat then! 😂 thank you for finding this and sharing. Xxx

@MintGreenLife I had ewcm 2days before I got positive opk, I think it's probably on its way so I suggest just keep DTD and testing maybe twice a day, I seemed to catch my positive earlier in the morning so maybe try then and afternoon and I'm sure another in evening wouldn't hurt 😆 good luck x

Ah brilliant, glad it's quite normal then. Oh really. I read a book that said it was highly unlikely to get a positive on OPKs in the morning, so I've been testing around 2pm everyday and then tested at 11pm last night too. Maybe I will add in testing in the morning as well until I find my surge just to help me get to grips with this cycle. Thanks so much for your reply, makes me feel better to know it's quite normal to get EWCM a few days before positive OPK, will keep testing and DTD 😆

@SaraVB you wear it every night in bed and it's supposed to use your skin temperature/heart rate/breathing rate etc to chart when you are ovulating. You sync the data every morning. However it's not suitable for people with PCOS, and I feel like it actually just does the same thing as other apps like Flo do, but you get to wear a bracelet while you sleep and see lots data every morning which makes you think it's reliable. I bought it when I was getting desperate and I used Flo and OPKs at the same, which the Ava never tied up with. I bought it on offer at £150 but I think it's normally £250-300 or so. I ended up selling it, and I genuinely felt a little guilty selling it to another woman who was TTC (but figured she may as well save a few £££ if she was buying it anyway!)

@Peach1204 I will do, well looks like my period has finished one day early after starting 2 days late so that is a bonus ( I am usually 26 days consistently).

Thanks @SaraVB @BeeR2009

Welcome @kimchimama and good luck with your Journey you seem to be well prepared already :).

In terms of DTD everyday I don't think I would be up to it, so will have to make do with every other day, I work long days and am usually knackered on those days.

@MintGreenLife Welcome, Egg white mucus is a good sign am not sure about OPKs as I don't use them, but am sure your surge will come soon :).

@Summertime1992 time to have some fun then now! Xxx