Practical tips for the over 40’s

[IDontLikeMondays88]

Anyone got any practical tips - I’m 43. Thanks

No tips but 39 so following 🤞

40.5 (every month older counts) and following.

Had a chemical our first try and bad timing ever since, currently in TWW.

Don’t know if these will have success or not but having read It Starts With the Egg and Yes You Can Get Pregnant, I’m taking:

Oil of evening primrose (daily until ovulation)
Fish oil omega-3 (daily)
Selenium (daily)
Ubiquinol (daily)
Folate rather than folic acid (daily, from a very expensive glass jar instead of the cheap Seven Seas packet, in the hope I can Gwyneth Paltrow GOOP myself pregnant)

If I don’t get knocked up this month, I’ve got a jar of Sainsbury’s menopause vitamins because they’ve got soy isoflavones in so I shall experiment. And perhaps give up Haribo (never) and eat vegetables (perhaps).

So is folate meant to be better than folic acid?

Interestingly I’m not taking any of these supplements. I’m taking pregnacare conception vitamins and DH taking the male equivalents. Also coenzyme q10 and extra vit D.

Was thinking of booking acupuncture

Ubiquinol is another name for Q10, which you’re taking!

Folate is the fancier version of folic acid, I think. It’s recommended by the woman who wrote Yes You Can Get Pregnant but she also has a website offering virtual womb healing circles for $45 so it’s probably snake oil.

I am not taking snake oil.

What I ought to be doing is having a lot more sex in my fertile window but DP, who had a low drive to begin with, is old and knackered from parenting small toddler. We manage once if I’m lucky

Snake oil 😂😂

Ah I think you do need to throw everything at it.

This month in our fertile week we managed once a day for 4 days then had 2 days off then did it again. However now have my period so think ovulation might have been in the two days off! I have said to DH it would be better to do it every other day so it is more evenly spaced out. It’s hard tho - we also have a toddler so are quite knackered.

I also need to make more use of ovulation sticks maybe

I did acupuncture when I was 38, mainly just to feel like I was doing something. I'm fairly sure it did nothing at all, and me getting pregnant was just a sort of placebo effect because it was all so reassuring. I only drank one cup of the disgusting tea she made me buy though!

Oh, yes, also, forget about absolutely everything in terms of random quackery (ahem, except I did like acupuncture), and just use the digital ovulation sticks. And don't knacker yourself out with it all, just get enough sleep and live your life.

My toddler currently sleeps on my head, sleep is definitely lacking!

Regular sex, not to a schedule, not worrying about the right time, just 3-4 times a week. You won't miss your ovulation window that way. That's all I did, along with digital ovulation sticks just to work out my cycle as I'd been on the pill for many years.

Tried without opks and I felt I was more stressed without knowing my approx ovulation date. Both not keen and no energy to DTD often so I have to rely on opks. Without them I would have had no clue about ovulation dates as what I thought didn’t match to what sticks show. Started Reflexology last week- just to relax, calm down and take my mind away for a while from thinking.

I definitely think it can be good to do something calming for sure whether than is acupuncture or reflexology or something else