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! 😂

Pleased you’re enjoying Couch to 5k @CookieMonster3001! I repeated a couple of weeks (I think week 5 and another one) as I thought there was a big jump, so it took me a bit longer than it should have done!

Are the testing strips that you’ve bought the ones from amazon that are about £5/6 for 30? If so they are the ones I have and they don’t come with a pot I’m afraid. It is important to dip them so you don’t get the wrong part of the test wet; I just use an old plastic cup and wash it out after every use. I will be testing twice a day from around day 9 onwards (I normally ovulate around day 14), at about 11am and 7pm. I hope that helps a bit, I know you weren’t asking me though!

Happy anniversary @Bells3032, I’m sorry it’s not what you were expecting. Hopefully the next one will be amazing!

@MsQueenInTheNorth no that's really useful! Thank you! I have noticed the last couple of months, my temp graph has been a bit wishy washy (I am more strict with timings now so should have evened out, but still quite spikey) which caused my app to change my ovulation date about 6 times, so testing it with OPKs I am hoping will really help to pinpoint when the best window actually will be.

@CookieMonster3001 no problem! This will only be my second month doing it recently, but I used natural cycles for a while a couple of years ago. That’s what I did then and it seemed to work OK, so fingers crossed things haven’t changed too much. I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to test twice a day, but it must make it a bit more accurate?

I’m going to avoid temperature tracking if possible as I worried about how accurately I was doing it (I wake up quite a lot in the night, etc) but I might end up going back to it!

@CookieMonster3001 @MsQueenInTheNorth has it spot on. I just used an old tupperwear pot that I now keep at the back of my underwear drawer but a lid from hair spray is a great idea. They are dip sticks rather than mid stream ones so a pot is deffo needed.
I did another OPK yesterday and there was LH spike line at all so I am pretty confident that I ovulated this month. Me and DP are still dtd without protection as I figured if it happened now it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. I am a bridesmaid twice next year so it could impact on that but I think there is never really a perfect time to try and get pregnant and if I stopped for every calendar event that being pregnant or having a young baby would be inconvenient for then we would never do it.
DP is convinced that his swimmers don't work. I have encouraged him previously to see his GP and get them checked but he is a typical man and refuses to go.......I guess time will tell if there is a problem. Just makes me feel relieved to know I am ovulating.
Let me know how you get on with the OPK's

that was supposed to say there was no LH spike line at all

My migraines have been awful this last week 3 a day! it's been miserable! Im convinced it's my pill! I'm making the leap to natural cycles- we are going to use condoms for now because I know it takes a while to sync and would rather be a bit closer to the planned start date incase of accidents but I hope it will benefit me for December when we start trying to understand my cycle and have the pill well and truly out the system!

Hi ladies :) happy to read that so many of you are trying to get fit 💪! I wish us strength ;)

@Bells3032 Happy anniversary. Sounds like a turbulent year. I have my fingers crossed for you to be 3 next year.

@CookieMonster3001 I know you didn’t ask me either but I thought maybe you ladies would like to see how I‘m trying - emphasis on trying :D - to track my cycle with temping and OPKs which is why I added a pic. Sorry if tmi. Maybe it‘s interesting for some of you. When I started I didn‘t know what I was doing but feel quite comfortable now :). I will (hopefully) keep the tracking up until a bfp in September/October maybe later who knows :). Anyway happy to share. :D You can see the date, cycle day, if I had my mens (x=no), my temperature and whether or not I had an LH-Rise/peak. Underneath each day is the used OPK (used anytime between 11-02 midday. :) So to cut it short I had a noticeable amount of LH for the last three days and a temperature drop and rise during this time which equals (hopefully) an egg :D

@JamesZebra how exciting that you guys are trying or at least just going for it :) I think you are right there is never the absolutely right time so why not do it as soon as you can imagine yourselves with kids :) lovely

@Nate1 I already have 2 teenagers, I must be a bit mad to be trying for another when I am nearly done with the other 2
I just don't feel like I have finished having babies and my DP doesn't have any kids of his own so I would like us to have one together.

@JamesZebra that's kinda the angle we have gone with, although we still go with the withdrawal method, we just figured if it happens we don't really mind! But just not actively TTC atm. Excited for the tests to arrive now. How boring my life must be to be excited to pee on a strip lol

@wrensandrobins I am so sorry you are not feeling good! I suffered from really bad migraines when I was on the pill. I hated the way it made me feel and eventually just decided to come off it and thought at least then I have almost a year pill free to get my cycles back on track before TTC. I was quite lucky because my cycles pretty much went back to normal and on time a month after coming off. I know for some people, it can take a lot longer.

@Nate1 great job with the tracking! Looks like you pretty much have it cracked. I think its a great idea doing this ahead of TTC just so we know what to expect. I remember joining mumsnet and reading about it and not having a clue what any of it meant, and I really don't want to waste my first month of TTC trying to figure it all out!

Hubby thinks ive gone barmy.

@Bells3032 It's really weird having your first anniversary during all of this, isn't it? Ours was one week after lockdown started - we were supposed to be on our final full day of a big holiday that day (we ended up flying back early because of FCA advice and the risk of border closures) so we were pretty blue to say the least. What made me feel marginally better was thinking how much worse I'd have felt if this had happened one year before! Here's hoping that both of our second anniversaries are better ones.

Hope everyone had good weekends? I have a bit of spotting today and a very achey left breast, so hopeful that this means I might get a withdrawal bleed soon and be one step closer to a return to my proper cycle!

I'm also glad to see I'm not the only person who has used an old hairspray lid as a pee pot!

@queenatom haha. it's about the right shape as size as a urine pot

Bought some of the ClearBlue Digital OPKs last week as wanted to try and get a sense of where things were with my cycle - had the empty circle for the past five days and then got this when I tested this afternoon, seem to have skipped the flashing smiley highs and gone straight to peak!

I hope this is accurate and not just some side effect of stopping my contraception (or something more sinister) - I guess my temp chart over the next few days will provide more clues?

@sunflowersaremyfav93
How are you doing? Did you decide to go ahead with the private consultation? Xx

Good Morning Ladies!!

@queenatom that looks promising! How exciting. Hoping you get your withdrawal bleed soon.

Turns out my app was slightly off and I ovulated this month 2 days later than I thought, which pushed my period back 2 days. Makes sense as to why I hadn't started yet, as I am rarely late! Will be glad to start using some OPKs so I have a more accurate picture.

Those of you taking Vitamin D supplements, what dosage are you taking? I purchased some high dose ones as I don't really eat a lot of high vit D foods (I hate fish), but now I am reading that higher doses might not be so good. The ones I got are 4000IU, but now wondering whether I should have got 1000IU?

They cost me a tenner so will still use them, but maybe have half a tablet a day rather than a full one.

@butterfly5291 Hello! I literally spent all weekend googling and worrying, I know I should stay away from Google 😩 I decided to cancel the private apt though and save the £220 and go through NHS for the time being. The doctors surgery called yesterday and said I'd been referred and it will initially be a telephone call for advice from the gynaecologist so once I know more I'll make a decision as to whether I want to go private. My healthcare would cover me if I was doing it to help with my periods rather than fertility so that's an option xx

@butterfly5291 Hello! I literally spent all weekend googling and worrying, I know I should stay away from Google 😩 I decided to cancel the private apt though and save the £220 and go through NHS for the time being. The doctors surgery called yesterday and said I'd been referred and it will initially be a telephone call for advice from the gynaecologist so once I know more I'll make a decision as to whether I want to go private. My healthcare would cover me if I was doing it to help with my periods rather than fertility so that's an option xx

oh @sunflowersaremyfav93 that sounds stressful. I think with lots of appointments being telephone ones things are moving a little bit quicker at the mo so hopefully you won't have a long wait.

My work colleague announced this morning that she is pregnant and I feel gutted I am really happy for her but i feel like it is never going to happen for me. I also feel really bad that if I do get pregnant then our team will be at half capacity as we are such a small team. Just want it to be my turn. It's really hard seeing people around you getting their turn. Loads of people on my wider team have announced pregnancies over the past few weeks. Need to focus on the positives in my life.

Hi ladies,

Just catching up on all the messages. I’m going to start the OPKs sooner rather than later, you make a very good point @cookiemonster3001 best to understand it all now rather than spending first month of TTC to try and crack it! I also take Vit D, it’s says 25mg on the front but I have no clue what they actually mean to be honest? I also hate fish so wonder if I should be taking more?

@queenatom the clear blue ones look easy and simple are they a lot pricier? I’m going to do our food shop later and according to my app I’m ovulating on Friday so I might pick some up and see if the app is accurate?

@bells3032 Happy anniversary! Hoping your next year of marriage is full of good luck, you def deserve it!

Also ladies - another qu - me and my bf both earn decent wages, we save every month, pay our mortgage and bills just fine and have money to treat ourselves, I’m very..what’s the word.. frugal with my money. How do you guys feel about money and mat leave, we’ll be fine but I’m a born worrier and always think about these kinda things.

I think it really depends on what mat leave pay you get. I am a civil servant. I get 6 months full pay, 3 months stat and 3 months no pay. We are looking to buy a house and get a part and part mortgage to keep costs down and I want to have some savings under my belt to pay for six months of bills before i go on mat leave. but that's easier said than done

@jameszebra Yeah I’ve really felt like rubbish, my bf is soo positive which is lovely but I just worry and fear the worst. I spoke to my mum about it and I’m def going private if the nhs wait for three miscarriages but we’ll see. I’ll def keep you all updated.

Oh I know EXACTLY how you feel. When other people announce their pregnancies, obviously we’re all happy for them but deep down it’s like..I just want it to be me 😢. It will happen for us but I know exactly what you mean! My brothers gf fell pregnant first month trying and I was over the moon to become an auntie for the first time but I cried for two days straight just kept thinking it’ll never be me. Gosh, even got a bit emotional typing that. Sending you love, like you said we should count our blessings and one day we’ll have our own baby in our arms. ❤️

@bells3032 That's really good mat pay package isn't it? How do you feel about it? I have 3 months full pay and the rest is 40% of my pay. Yeah I'm the same, trying to get as much saved as poss now.

@sunflowersaremyfav93 yeah I realise that isn't the norm and I am exceptionally lucky. We were also please my husband's firm has just changed their paternity pay policy - previous was two weeks unpaid but now it's one week full and one week 90% pay so very happy with that. Also hoping he will work from home a lot more in the future (and I will to) as would really help with child care.

But i do realise this isn't the same for everyone. I think you just need to work out monthly budgets and save enough to cover them for maternity and a bit extra. Which is crazy in this world.

@sunflowersaremyfav93 yes i think a positive mental attitude is so important. It's ok to feel sad- but then I need to pull myself together.

I am sort of still hoping that I will just fall pregnant whilst I am doing this prep work but if I don't then it's longer to lose weight, save money etc so there a positives on both sides. I am also in the middle of buying my house. I am doing it on my own without DP (its a council property and is in my name so they won't let him buy it with me)
So I have loads going on already. Just longing to have a little baby again.