Preconception planning - anyone want to join?

[sunflowersaremyfav93]

Hello!

I've been reading loads on the importance of pre-conception nutrition and preparing your body. Some say 3 months before and I've seen some that say 6 months before.

I find myself trawling through threads on Mumsnet but wondered if there were any ladies planning to start TTC in the next few months and wanted a forum to chat about ways to prepare / excitement of it all etc.

I often find myself going on to my bf and mum and they're like ok ok! 😂

I like Sophia or Rae for a girl and Finn for a boy.

@sunflowersaremyfav93 my son has my dads name but as his middle name as it's not really a very current name, could that be an option for you? Oliver Nicholas or Lucas Nicholas both sound nice :)

@JamesZebra that's what I'm hoping for, I think it's lovely as a middle name and that way our baby has its own identity. Fingers crossed!

Aw all your baby names are so lovely!! I love seeing people's names.., I also have an iPhone note 😂😂

@Pebbleinthesand good luck with your weigh in, Im sure it will be ok and if it isn't you know a week or two of being good will get you back to target.

I need to stop googling "how soon can I take a pregnancy test"

I am supposed to be going out for drinks this weekend so I better not go too crazy just incase (literally crossing every finger and toe I have)
I keep seeing videos on FB of peoples babies and feeling desperation. Note to self - get a grip!

@butterfly5291 yay for AF arrival!! hope your MRI gets brought forward!

@JamesZebra well done on the jeans! your doing great, and I'm sure they will be feeling loose in a couple of weeks time!

@sunflowersaremyfav93 well done to your BF for the weight loss, 5lbs is amazing too! and it definitely is a nice feeling hearing OHs talking about TTC. Mines the same as JamesZebra, he cant take anything seriously. Although yesterday we went for a walk and I asked him how involved did he want to be in the process (i.e knowing when I am ovulating etc) and he goes even though he acts weird about it, he wants to be as involved as possible and he doesn't care if it feels regimented LOL (I don't think he will be saying that when he finds out the routine I have in mind for him!)

@queenatom 25lb loss!! you are amazing!! Well done.

Loving all the baby names! I am struggling with a few, but some of the names I had thought of were Lana, Alena, Sienna, Malia, Amara or Eva for a girl. And Niall, Neev, Jovan or Amey for a boy. (Were Indian so need indiany names without going all traditional)
I have definitely found it harder thinking of boys names then girls, but I kind of think that's because I desperately want a girl. I would be happy with either but everytime I think of my baby, I always picture a girl.

Anyone else sweating their tits off today. I have changed about 3 times. Didn't bother going for a run, felt out of breath just walking up the stairs. Instead I baked a triple layer lemon drizzle cake and my first ever vegan Victoria sponge. And I wonder why I'm not losing weight!!

Happy weekend everyone.

I'd forgotten how awful my periods are. Hope it doesn't last long! I got my scan rescheduled for Monday though.

Treated myself to a McDonald's for dinner too 😬

As for baby names...I've always wanted Amelia for a girl...my mum wanted to call me that. I like James for a boy but OH doesn't like it.

@CookieMonster3001 my cousin's little girls are called Sumari and Sienna and boy is Jaiden. Her husband is Sri Lankan I think so they wanted Indian sounding names...not sure Sienna is lol! They are the most beautiful children too.

Sumari is a lovely name. So is jaiden, but we already have one in the family.

What are ur guys thoughts on that? If you like a name but its already in the family? Or having a name and then someone else taking it before u get a chance?

@CookieMonster3001 i think the names you have listed are lovely. I love Amara and Jovan!

I ate pizza tonight with the kids.....they really wanted me to join in but instead of gorging myself until I was sick I have 1/2 a 10 inch pizza and now I feel satisfyingly full. It's nice to not eat until Im sick!

So I've learnt a new acronym today - NTNP! I can definitely relate to those of you hoping for your other halves to come round to the idea of TTC sooner. We are officially waiting until our wedding in October but I'm so impatient I'd start trying now if he was ready. I might suggest NTNP and see if he'll go for it!!

Well done for everyone with the weight loss, great achievements.

Also I love the baby name talk - I really like Ophelia which I saw on one of your lists and hadn't thought of before but it's gorgeous!!

@CookieMonster3001 I think it depends on how much you love the name. I've always loved my little girl's name and have mentioned it for years whenever the idea of future children was brought up with my family and close friends so I would have probably still used it even if a close family member had chosen it but I don't think I'd like her to have a first cousin with the same name and I'd be a bit put out if one of my cousins called their daughter the same name now since we are a close family and (usually) see each other on a regular basis.

@Amy929292 Ophelia's so beautiful isn't it. Might mention it to DH and see what he says but I have a feeling I've mentioned it before and he pulled a face. I'm desperately hoping NTNP works for us again this time. I don't think I could cope with all the tracking and measuring.

Also really random but does anyone else have to write their replies out in a note first and then copy them over so that you get everyone's names and what they asked right? Please tell me it's not just me 😂

@CookieMonster3001 I love those names!!
I know what you mean about already having a name in the family, I love the name Sophia and it's in our shortlist but my cousin has a little girl called Sofia.. it doesn't bother me loads but it does bother me a little bit.
And yesss to the schedule in mind!! I keep saying to my bf we'll be doing it every other night he's all like yeah bring it on!! I don't know if he'll be saying that when the time comes.

Is it recommended to have sex every day? I listened to a Instagram live video from Zita West, look her up in case you haven't heard of her...found it interesting that she said the sleek needs to basically rejuvenate so no point only have second during the fertile period and then not for the other three weeks because the first few ejaculates won't be good quality.

@sunflowersaremyfav93 Not an expert, obviously(!) but I’ve heard that, provided the man doesn’t have any specific issues with sperm quality, there’s no particular need to worry about doing it too much or too little - the sperm should be able to handle it either way. That said, for me I’m definitely keen to avoid sex becoming solely about trying to make a baby - we generally do it every second day (except during AF) so provided we stick to that sort of pattern I reckon we’ll be good.

Interesting one on using names already in the family - I think there are a lot of different factors to consider, like how close the relative is (both in terms of relationship and how often you see them) and how popular is the name generally.

Hi everyone, happy weekend! Just catching up as didn’t really go on my phone yesterday so won’t reply to everyone individually or I’ll be here all day 😂 (I hadn’t thought of the note idea!) Well done on the weight loss and so much lovely baby name chat! I think we would go with Ivy for a girl and Hugh for a boy, our surname has a lot of Ls in it so most longer names sound silly with it, and I’ve found most girls names have lots of Ls in! I would also like to use my maiden name for our son’s middle name (it’s Francis) and I think Hugh Francis sounds nice. Both of us had great-grandfathers called Hugh so it’s a nice way to remember them I think.

I had a text from my doctor last thing yesterday and guess what, I’m not immune to rubella! Makes it feel worth it waiting all that time for my blood test. So I need to phone the surgery first thing on Monday to book an MMR vaccine. One thing I’m not sure on though is whether I need one dose or 2, some websites say 2 a month apart and others say 1. It’ll affect when we can start TTC because you have to wait a month after getting the jab. Even if I got the jab next week it’d still maybe be a bit risky for Sept, and if I need 2 then we’ll defo need to wait until Oct. Oh well, I’m not really disappointed because I’m glad I’ve done the right thing for my future baby and at least this will decide for us in a way.

Has anyone else had the rubella blood test and not been immune? It’s weird as I’ve looked on my medical records on my doctors surgery app and I had an injection at school and then a booster at university.

How has everyones weekend been?

I am due on on Friday so I am wondering if it is too soon to do a test. I am desperate to know one way or another and trying to not get my hopes up!

@JamesZebra I think it's a little too soon, you are likely to either get a squinter which will leave you paranoid or potentially a false negative. Must be hard though! I know I would be tempted too!

Hold tight, @JamesZebra - almost certainly too early to get a result just yet!

I had a lovely weekend, we were away overnight on Saturday so spent the day lounging by a pool, drinking nice wine and eating delicious food on a sunny terrace. It was like a little mini-holiday, just what the doctor ordered!

@queenatom that sounds like bliss!!! I need something like that!

@wrensandrobins i am so impatient. I keep getting cramps and hoping its a good sign but I have Inflammatory bowel disease so its most likely that my brain is such a d**k for making me believe that I might be. Just keeping everything crossed, we have been without contraception for such a long time now that I just want it to happen. Would be lovely if it did happen this month, we had such a brilliant time together over my fertile period and would be nice to know it happened then when we were all loved up like giddy teenagers.

@Nate1 I used to be pretty active (dance classes and cycling) buuuut I DD happened  need to ride my bike more and I have more reason to now as I hate wearing a mask and using public transport atm. I tried to eat avocado, hated it, I always get people telling me to eat it and nuts too (allergic). Need to fine something good and fatty that I like, why isn't cake better for you?

@Lollipop87 when the person doing the blood test sees me start panicking they go run and find the most experienced person  still awful for me though. I guess I should ask them about testing for rubella immunity/check my maternity notes... good that you found out. I refused to have the whooping cough and flu vaccines offered while pregnant because I'm that bad with needles, trying to be better but it's like sticking you hand in a box with a spider for an arachnophobic

@wrensandrobins I'm very impressed about you sewing nappies! I meant to try but didn't get round to it and DD was out of nappies annoyingly early

Baby names wise we had a bit and a girl name so I'm kinda hoping we have a boy so we don't need to figure out another girl name! I love Cosima but DP vetoed it. Don't forget initials, DD and DP have the same initials (he's v happy about that) and DNiece has v similar too. DD has a double barrelled surname so we want shorter first names which is somewhat limiting.

Hi ladies,

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

I have a question about OPKs...

I recently got some cheap ones from amazon so I'm going to do one a day so I can see when I'm ovulating. Should I start on cycle day one?

Could somebody also give me a OPK for dummies run through please? I know I wee of them Bu the rest of it confuses the hell out me!

@sunflowersaremyfav93 i think they say to start from day 10-13

My understanding is that you do them daily, in the afternoon, when the test line is darker than the control line that is peak- which means you should ovulate in the next 24-48 hrs... so as you start to see it get darker do more tests eg in the morning too, the window can be about 5 hrs so you could miss your peak if you only use once a day.

Just to say that a peak doesn't show ovulation, it shows that the LH hormone has risen, which triggers ovulation so it is possible to have a peak lh test and not ovulate.

Also 'the bible' says that once you have ovulated the chances of getting pregnant are lower so for the best chance you want to be having sex in the 5 days prior to ovulating, which is where it is useful to have a few cycles under your belt to understand your cycle a bit more. Start having sex as soon as you get the EWM

If you are temping you should see the temp go up with your LH levels which will mean you definitely are ovulating.

I got a copy of 'taking charge of your fertility' second hand

Should keep me going for a while! It's huge!

Has anyone read it? I'm interested in natural contraception after this TTC, as I'm convinced that hormonal contraceptives are messing with me! My sex drive has shot up massively since coming off the pill only two weeks ago!

@sunflowersaremyfav93

I really recommend the Premom app, you can use it to scan your ovulation tests and it gives them a score!

As you can see mine are all over the place but low at the moment- but I have no idea where I am in my cycle due to coming off the pill two weeks ago and it being about 6 weeks since my last 'period'

@sunflowersaremyfav93 - I think @wrensandrobins has given a pretty good summary, only thing I’d add is that for the first cycle or two I might start testing a little earlier than CD10 if you have no idea when you ovulate. I have been testing since CD6 (just once a day for now!)

@wrens - I also bought a second hand copy, started reading and then put it away as it was just too much information, even for me! Very interesting but a lot to digest. I may come back to it in a month or two.

@wrensandrobins @queenatom thank you ladies!! I'll start from CD6.
I got that book too, at the start of lockdown when my mind was just all over the place and then lent it to my friend who is trying atm. But I should ask for it back at some point because it does include loads about OPKs.

@sunflowersaremyfav93 glad someone else has an iPhone note too for names :)

@butterfly5291 hope today’s scan went well?

@Pebbleinthesand I always write my replies in notes first as so difficult to catch up with everyone otherwise lol

@Lollipop87 sorry to hear you weren’t immune and this has now moved timings for ttc- did your gp suggest the blood test? I only ask as when I called to check they just checked my records and said I had the vaccine in the past now I’m wondering if I’m actually immune? Hope you managed to get it all booked in today?

@queenatom your weekend sounds amazing :)! Hope you had the best time :)

@JamesZebra I’m keeping everything crossed for you I would be exactly the same wanting to test really hope you get a positive result.

All the advice on opks is really good. Ideally going to try and do without initially but so interesting for if/ when we start using them. Good luck to everyone that is using that method :)

Thank god monday is over! I had a sudden panic today that technically we could be starting NPNT in 3 weeks and I totally freaked out! Now considering pushing back to end of September... I’m always either super impatient or terrified! X