Preconception planners - still planning

[Bells3032]

Hi all. thought i'd make a new thread as the old one getting close to a thousand. Don't forget to rejoin!!

@butterfly5291 just using the flo app I haven’t used any opks or anything else like that so I don’t know exact ovulation just an approximate week :) but think I’m just kidding myself really haha. Dh is ntnp I’m ttc lmfao! So I just need to accept it may take longer as he doesn’t want to make deposits on demand lol.

@Pebbleinthesand. My DH and I work fairly long hours in finance so think he is also worried about being spread too thinly. Obviously it will be fine when I’m on maternity leave but think it’s longer term that he is worried about. My career is important but not as important as completing my family so agreed that adjustments might be needed but we will cross that bridge when it comes to it! He over thinks everything 😬

@mackjm20 I know I keep banging on about this but honestly if you want to give yourself the best chance and narrow that fertile window down use OPKs and BBT and the Fertility friend app.
I've heard so many other women say Flo is always moving their date and it's not as accurate as Fertility friend.

@RandyGiles06. I like that forward approach. If I waited on DH bringing up the subject of children I’d never have had my DD!

@mackjm20. I’m sorry to say that when we were TTC our first that DTD was definitely a chore! At times it was romantic but it always had a purpose if you know what I mean....think most people are exactly the same to be honest!

Hi all
It’s been a couple of weeks since I last dropped in. Went for a smear last week, it was not in any way embarrassing but it was incredible uncomfortable and she had me contorting in all sorts of shapes - hope this isn’t a sign of what is to come!

Morning all, still awaiting AF here and it's CD 39..... my cycles are usually a little long but not this long. It's sods law because I'm desperate to start charting a full cycle 😂

I did take a pg test just in case (we're still using condoms atm but you never know) but BFN (thankfully, as I drank a lot this cycle given last period was right before wedding/honeymoon lol)

Starting to think the period I got at the wedding might have been anovulatory bleeding as it was way lighter than normal and I was stressed and dieting hard in the run up so that might have prohibited ovulation. Does anyone know if a cycle after an anovulatory cycle can be wonky? I've had weird cm this month, patchy ewcm on and off. Wish I had been charting this cycle as then I'd know! I have been temping for the last week and there was a bit of a drop today compared to last few so hoping that means AF is coming, even if she's taking her sweet time about it! So frustrating! 🤬

@butterfly5291 I've just downloaded fertility friend from your advice above so I'm going to give it a go! Looks really good so far! Only first month ttc so don't want to go too overboard with opk's etc just yet lol. Thank you!

How are you @bells3032? And how is your partner? I’m with Butterfly, knowledge is power!

@mybobowler I know the feeling, a girl I went to school with posted her pregnancy announcement yesterday and I’m
So happy for her but I’m now just like OMG I can’t wait any longer!!! Are you ladies cutting out caffeine completely or having one a day? @mackjm20, I have one coffee in the morning then decaf coffee or tea rest of the day. I forget it’s in choc too so I should curb the choc!! I find that I’m just so so much more tired in the evening and am sleeping so much better (which is key for fertility apparently).

@thenewmrsw wow that is so interesting, thank you for sharing! I think I’ll be downloading the e-book! Do you have tips on how you’ve been cutting out plastic etc? My bf keeps drinking bottled water and I’m like noooo it’s so bad!!!

• -

I think I'm getting the hang of these OPKs but I haven't had a peak, today is day 14 and I do have some EWCM but the number is still quite low?! I'm just so confused? I'll do another OPK in an hour or so but it's worries me a little bit.

Aw this group is just so loving and caring it's so nice to be part of. Thank you for the concern.

Doing a bit better this afternoon. After a lot of tears etc last night and some talking to my family i decided to speak to a local infertility charity this morning. They were very reassuring and reccomended freezing my eggs asap so whenever DH is ready my eggs will be there and I don't have to stress. I have booked an appointment with an IVF clinic for next week.

I also called a close friend of mine who is pregnant after IVF now and we spoke for an hour this morning and it really calmed me down. She had much lower figures than me and is a decade older.

So feeling a bit more positive this afternoon. Just trying to focus on other things atm like diet!!!

@sunflowersaremyfav93 I used OPK's this cycle (my first cycle)

The first one is Sunday, second is lastnight and third is today. Seems I peaked and it dropped significantly today! Those little strip tests I didn't get a peak on so a dark line I would assume as peak for me.

@Bells3032 That's so good that you're talking about it and you have friends that have been in a similar position to you. You're on the right track and doing all you can, just think how sweeter it's going to be when you do get your baby. I'm a big believer in the power of positive thinking.

@HeyDW96 ooh could you tell me what opks they are please? Maybe I'm just not going to get a dark line with the ones I'm using? I have ovulation cramps and I have EWCM so I must be ovulating but the strips are saying no. So frustrating?!

@sunflowersaremyfav93 they're from home bargains and I got a pack of 5. I had ewcm on Saturday and just got my peak lastnight.

I used the home bargains and sainsburys little ones but they never showed a peak. These are them both, same sample of urine. The line is dark but not what I'd perceive as a peak. Now today, both have much much fainter lines.

@sunflowersaremyfav93 we've done things like

• making our own cleaning products using lemon & vinegar (saves on the plastic bottles and the nasties in the product itself) smells much nicer and cleans great! If you don't want to go that far brands like Method & Ecover are made from more natural products and you can get refills do not constantly buying plastic bottles.

• switched from bottled shower gel and hand wash to bars of soap (not been brave enough to try shampoo bars yet lol)

• we mostly cook from scratch anyway but that's a biggie if you buy a lot of processed food

• swapping out kitchen stuff like utensils for metal upgrades

It really depends what appetite you have for using less plastic and what your budget is. Unfortunately it can be more expensive to go plastic free 😢 unless you go down the road of making everything yourself. It shouldn't be that way but it is. It can be time consuming too. I know we could do a lot better but only so much any of us can do without more widespread change.

You could get your OH a glass water filter for tap water and a metal water bottle if you want to get rid of his bottled water habit!

@HeyDW96 thank you, I'll pop to home bargains and get some of those!

@TheNewMrsW wow that's so helpful! I'll give the cleaning products thing a try, I like to use lemon and bicarbonate on my sink as well if you haven't done that yet?
I used to use a shampoo bar from lush actually and it was really good, lasted ages and came in a nice little tin... you've inspired me! We each have a metal bottle but he likes to have those big plastic ones in the fridge which irritates me.. I'll look into a glass water filter. Thank you!!

@Bells3032 its good you have people irl to talk to. I hope it works out for you without too much waiting.

@TheNewMrsW that's really interesting. Especially the bit about an egg being prepped 2-3 months before ovulating.
I presume that means if you're on the pill it can take 2-3 months after stopping before being fertile.

Are you all just using condoms while waiting to ttc? I'm currently on the pill, was only planning on stopping it in May when I'm ready to ttc but maybe that isn't the best option.

@sunflowersaremyfav93 do you remember which shampoo bar you used? Do you have oily or dry hair? I'm quite tempted to change to bars actually

@Cupcakecafe I def wouldn't leave it till you are ready to ttc to stop the pill. They tell you you can go back to normal straightaway and for some women that's no doubt true but I have heard loads of stories of people taking months and months to have normal cycles again. There are loads of threads on here about it. I had my implant out two years ago and haven't looked back, yes condoms are a bit off a faff but I feel much better knowing my body is doing its natural thing 😊

Oh good lord! I haven’t been on the original thread for a week or so, I had no idea it was so full!
Will read the first 8 pages () in a bit, but I just wanted to place mark!

Hey! Can I join in?

@Cupcakecafe I used this one here > uk.lush.com/products/shampoo/new
Not sure if that link has worked but it's called 'New'.. my hair used to get greasy every other day so quite oily, this was great though and lasted absolutely ages. I was just looking at their shower stuff too to avoid plastic, might start using their stuff more and avoid the plastic where I can. We're using condoms, I cake off the pill a few years ago and we've just been using condoms since, I didn't like the idea of putting something unnatural in my body But I'd been on it for a few years before that...something just changed overnight.

@Mommabear20 welcome! Everyone is welcome, tell us a bit about yourself.

@cupcakecafe I came off the pill 4 months ago and I've been using condoms since, it took about 8 weeks for my first period (didn't get a withdrawal bleed) so I'm glad I came off them when I did. This is gonna be our first cycle ttc. Condoms were a bit of a pain but I'm glad I did it now

@sunflowersaremyfav93 thanks! 😊

I had DD1 in June this year, we're hoping to start TTC baby#2 around Christmas time as we want them close in age.

In hindsight I was extremely unprepared going into my first pregnancy, no vitamins and drank far too much caffeine (never smoked or drank) but want to be more prepared for this one as feel my body will need a little extra TLC second time round and so close together. Does anyone have any recommendations of vitamins to take? And when to start them?

@Mommabear20. With my DD I took seven seas pre conception vitamins. They included folic acid, vitamin D and iron. They are a little pricey compared with others but I’ll be taking them again when TTC#2 later this year/early next year.

@Mommabear20. Sorry I meant to add that I started taking them around 3 months before TTC. Kinda tied in to when I stopped taking my pill.

@Cupcakecafe definitely come off the pill ASAP, with my first it took me about 2.5 months to get a period (thankfully I wasn’t TTC until around the time that period came so was using condoms) and I conceived the next cycle. We are using just condoms at the moment. If I accidentally became pregnant it wouldn’t be a huge problem, just an inconvenience haha. Can’t wait to get started in December though, anything time anything annoying or stressful happens at work I think ffs who cares lol.

That’s so interesting about plastic! I suppose it is good for the environment too. We are eating less processed food at the moment because of my toddler but there’s always more I can do there, I store anything I’ve batch cooked in those little plastic tubs you get from a Chinese takeaway too