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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

Original poster

What helped get you pregnant?

95 replies

Superstorefan123 · 26/12/2022 11:28

Hi all,

Ive been TTC my first for 8 months following an ectopic pregnancy with no luck. Just had another unsuccessful month and feeling really motivated going into the New Year.

I’d love anyone’s tips for what has helped in the past/what you are doing to help you get pregnant.

Currently doing the following;

  • taking pregnacare pre conception (any tips for better prenatal vitamins?)
  • taking optibac for women (doctor recommended)
  • have had a HSG/blood testing done and all looks normal
  • tracking ovulation and hitting my fertile window (I have PCOS and a slightly irregular cycle so this is essential for me)

My doctor has prescribed me clomid but I am holding off on taking it - not sure why but will start in a month or two if nothing works!

OP posts:
rattlinbog · 27/12/2022 07:55

Sorry to hear you're having difficulty 😞 I swear by pre seed!

primeoflife · 27/12/2022 07:57

1000yellowdaisies · 26/12/2022 11:35

After I had my last miscarriage the nurse in hospital told me to take baby aspirin. I did this and got pregnant with DD in 2015 and was a successful pregnancy.
Also after everytime DH and I had sex I would immediately lie with my legs up in the air against the headboard. I mean thats probably stupid of me but made me feel like I was doing something to help the process! But im adamant the aspirin helped (lost 2 babies prior to DD)

@1000yellowdaisies I laid on the bed with my legs in the air!

In fact a few years ago a friend was struggling to conceive and I asked if she was laying with her legs in the air. She wasn't, next month she had her BFP.

Fearnecuptea · 27/12/2022 07:59

Stopped drinking alcohol completely for a few months prior, pregnancy vitamins (yep, took them whilst ttc), and acupuncture.

Thelongwayround · 27/12/2022 08:00

The last two times I’ve got pregnant, the only thing I did different was put in my menstrual cup after dtd. Could obviously be coincidence but I would def do it if I were ttc again!

Sleepyquest · 27/12/2022 08:01

I used pre seed. I don't know if it had an effect or not as we were very lucky and conceived straight away. It might have been why!

Fearnecuptea · 27/12/2022 08:01

Oh yes I forgot, 75mg aspirin as I had a prior miscarriage and read it can help 🤷‍♀️good luck xx

herbaltea21 · 27/12/2022 08:02

Have you looked into taking soy isoflavones supplements to help with your cycles?
I have pcos and remember them being recommended to me by a number of people on here!

FoxtrotSkarloey · 27/12/2022 08:03

Changed assignments at work to one which was less stressful. Used a Clearblue ovulation tracker.

YesitsJacqueline · 27/12/2022 08:04

Gave up alcohol completely, ate a super healthy diet and lost almost a stone. It was totally coincidental- I was actually focused on looking good for an upcoming holiday!
I was eating fresh unprocessed foods only , less meat more fish, much less carbs

Porridgeislife · 27/12/2022 08:06

How old are you? If you’re 35+, I’d book in to see your GP as you should only wait 6 months before seeking investigations.

Unfortunately only IVF worked for me! No amount of relaxing would have regenerated my blocked Fallopian tubes. Anyone who suggests relaxing as a strategy should really just do one.

Porridgeislife · 27/12/2022 08:08

I also ate healthily, took 10 different supplements, lost weight, did exercise, and had acupuncture to no success.

My perfect daughter resulted from the cycle in which we sold our house and moved and corespondingly ate rubbish, slept poorly and were very stressed!

TheBirdintheCave · 27/12/2022 08:14

Lemonade1990 · 27/12/2022 07:34

Just got pregnant on 7th cycle. Had sex every other day instead of everyday- was sure I missed ovulation day. didn’t put any pressure on it- carried on as normal didn’t early test. Didn’t obsess- pregnant. The same happened with my 1st pregnancy too- got pregnant the month we took a ‘break’. I think I must be (along with others) very sensitive to stress so I’m sorry but I honestly think there’s something to the whole ‘relax and it will happen’ as patronising and infuriating as it sounds!!

Please tell me how relaxing can cure someone with PCOS or Endo or male factor fertility issues etc etc 🤦🏻‍♀️

Lemonade1990 · 27/12/2022 08:21

Good morning 😊 where did I say that relaxing would ‘cure’ fertility issues? That’s silly.

There is however a direct link between stress and fertility and if someone (like myself) is more prone to stress related illness then I think it’s plausible to mention that our mental state can definitely have an impact on our health. I do think this is the case for myself as some other women have also mentioned on this post. It’s nearly 2023 and I think people are still struggling with the concept of mental health and physical health being so closely linked…but yes of course having a bubble bath and doing some meditation won’t cure endo 🤦🏻‍♀️

RambamThankyouMam · 27/12/2022 08:46

minipie · 26/12/2022 11:39

And anyone who says relax about it can do one. If I’d relaxed and not got tests I’d still be TTCing or have had multiple mcs by now

The "relax" advice is fine unless there are underlying issues.

pippabg · 27/12/2022 09:06

I agree with DTD every other night - this is what our fertility clinic suggested. Get your DP to take supplements too, there could be male factor issues as well - there was for us. My DH also read about DTD in the morning, something to do with speem quality. We did on the cycle we got pregnant (but we also did it the cycle before, so can't say it's a definite fix), but worth a try!

TheBirdintheCave · 27/12/2022 09:12

@Lemonade1990 Sorry I'm autistic and often I type first and think later. I know that's not what you said so I apologise.

To clarify, I suffer from anxiety, depression and OCD as co-morbidities and have been told in the past that those conditions were preventing me from getting pregnant. As in, I've been told it's my fault. The blame has been heaped on me whether the people saying 'just relax' are aware of that or not.

I think everyone needs to be aware that comments about relaxing, even if they're well meant, could end up being very harmful, especially to those with mental health issues. Personally, they drove me into a hole of self loathing.

Stress can affect menstrual cycles, that is true. But the levels of stress we're talking about are not day-to-day anxieties but things like relatives dying, job loss, house moves etc etc. They're huge life upheavals and not things like focussing on taking your temperature each morning to pinpoint ovulation or obsessively taking ovulation tests. Those things won't delay ovulation or cause a missed period.

Does that get my point across a little clearer? :)

PinkButtercups · 27/12/2022 09:16

I got pregnant first time with DS by tracking ovulation.
Tracked ovulation second time TTC but had two negative cycles so decided to try folic acid on the 3rd cycle I got my positive and had twins.

Timpani · 27/12/2022 09:19

IVF...

MillenialAvocado · 27/12/2022 09:21

We were trying everything in the book until we found out DH was firing blanks. So sperm extraction and IVF for us.

MajorCarolDanvers · 27/12/2022 09:23

I have PCOS and had 2 mcs.
After that I could only get pregnant with Clomid. Took 3 rounds for baby #1. And then a few years later same again for baby #2.

You can also try weight loss as that helps with the PCOS.

loopyloutoo · 27/12/2022 09:25

I took this for four months or so as I have had hormone imbalance/cysts and while I wasn't diagnosed PCOS something was definitely off.
I heard about it from a course called "Get Pregnant with PCOS" that I subscribed to during lockdown as I'm in late 30s and wanted to start trying soon. It's run by a US dietitian and I didn't do it fully but I adopted some of the concepts including inositol.
I can't tell you for sure if it worked as I wasn't TTC prior to this but I got pregnant one month after I came off the pill. I hope it works out for you!

What helped get you pregnant?
justwantobeamum · 27/12/2022 09:28

I got pregnant quite quickly on a “stop contraception and see what happens” but then had a mmc so was desperate to be pg, tracking ovulation, symptom spotting, so upset for 7 months then we went on holiday, I thought ffs my fertile window is when we get home how annoying (obviously would have more sex on holiday), got drunk, had frequent and dirty sex, got home and about 3 days later threw up - yup pregnant. 8 month old ds asleep on me now. I HATED people saying “relax forget about it” in those 7 long months, how could I forget about the only thing I wanted in life?! I hate to say but there is some truth in it. And I wouldn’t be able to relax and forget here so I’d definitely say go on holiday. We’re now TTC no2. goes to look up holidays

Milamight · 27/12/2022 09:30

I have slight PCOS and was ovulating infrequently but started taking conceive plus ovulation support support and have fallen pregnant twice this year (one sadly ended at 14w).
I really think the tablets are the thing that helped me conceive.

X

dindot · 27/12/2022 09:39

I took prenatal vitamins, DH took CoQ10, we DTD every 2-3 days in fertile window and used Preseed.

TheBirdintheCave · 27/12/2022 09:48

@justwantobeamum Glad it happened on holiday for you though, sounds like you had a great time :D

Sorry for your MMC loss too. They're really horrible :(

Can I ask though, what truth do you think is in 'just relax'? What do you think it was preventing pregnancy before? Tracking your cycle can't affect your biology, surely?

My MMC was in April and it took me seven months to get pregnant again. All of that time I was obsessing over it and doing everything I could to help myself and my husband. I didn't relax or forget about it but it still happened.