Hi happynappies! The best advice I would give to you is to think about charting your temperatures and observing your fertile signs. As you're not thinking of actually ttc until April?may, it would be ideal to start charting now as you'll have a couple of cycles to build up a picture of when your fertile phase is and when is the best time to ttc. We're all different and every woman's cycle and ovulation date can vary widely - this is why it's good to chart because you can find out how your own body works.
There is an excellent site called fertilityfriend.com where you can find out loads about charting and use their software to compile your charts - the software even works out your ovulation date for you and can show you when you are most likely to be fertilew. There's even an online course you can do to ehlp you learn more about charting and how to detect when you're fertile. best of all, this is all free! You only have to pay for a membership if you want to join their forums (which you won't need to because you can come here).
If you can't be faffed with charting and temperature taking, you can always try just monitoring your CM (cervical mucous)- it's easy enough to do; just take a peep at your undies whenever you go to the loo, for example! Some women like to check their cervix for both mucous and it's position but you don't have to do this particularly. Basically, CM should go like this (I say 'should' because everyone's different); you start off dry after your period, then you start to feel a little sticky. Following that, you'll find your CM has become creamy (looks a lot like hand lotion). Then you should begin to notice watery and/or egg white CM - this kind of CM is the most fertile and signals when you have entered your fertile phase. Some women just get watery CM, others just egg white and some both. Also, some women can have as many as four or five days of fertile CM, wheras others just have a day or two. So, you should start having sex as soon as you notice the fertile CM, as this is the best sign that ovulation is approaching - your fertile CM will dry up pretty much the day after ovulation.
If you do decide to take your temperatures and chart them, it's wise to note that temperatures alone won't tell you when you're going to ovulate - only when you have ovulated. This is because you'll get a rise in your temperatuyres (a thermal shift) following ovulation. As your egg only has a life span of up to 24 hours, you really need to be aware of when you're going to ovulate so that you can make sure there are lots of sperm waiting to meet the egg on its release! If you wait until your temperatures have gone up, the 24 hours could have passed already and it might be too late for the sperms to make it to the egg.
I hope this helps and isn't too lengthy or bamboozling a reply! The fertilityfriend.com site is really, really useful and has LOADS of info on it that will help you. You should also post here with any questions because there are lots of people in the same boat as you who can help with advice or sharing their experiences.
Good luck to you - fingers crossed that a BFP won't take long to arrive!