Vitamins, lubes, magic spells and fertility chants - gimme everything.

[Ladameauxyeuxbruns]

AF arrived yesterday, so it's officially our 8th month of TTC and I'm ready to try all the gimmicks, pills, potions, anything really.

I've already asked pharmacists and my doctor but no one is interested in giving me any info. Everyone's response has been "you don't need to take anything, just don't stress about it!", which is, of course, making me stress out about it.

I'm already taking folic acid and a multi-vitamin, will get vitamin D ASAP and have a conception-friendly lube on the way. What else should I be taking? Foods I should be eating? Songs I should be singing?

1/2 aspirin tablet every day when you're ovulating. Might be an old wives tale....

We overhauled our diet - no alcohol, caffeine, lots of fruit and veg, avoiding processed foods as much as possible, cut out refined sugar and tried to weight my diet with more protein and less carbs.

Also changed to natural rather than chemical cleaning products and toiletries. Mainly switched to phthalate free items.

Take ubiquinol for egg quality and additional vitamin D.

It's really easy to stress yourself out with all this though so I think you need some balance.

I have fallen pregnant a few times after 5 years of trying since making the above changes but my pregnancies have unfortunately ended in loss (I'm late 30s).

Honestly for me, it would appear not getting up for a post-sex wee did the job. Gravity and all that.

Are you tracking temperature/opks etc?

Someone recommended me Angus cactus I will try next cycle if this one is not successful again

We’d been trying for 10 months when I got pregnant. The month we conceived my husband started taking the Wellman Conception vitamins. Could just be a fluke but he thinks it had something to do with it!

i’m jumping on the thread here. Gave me a good giggle ‘any songs to sing’ 😂

i’m CD 9 - and this month we’re making so many changes
Pre-Seed Lube
Myo-Inisitol for me with high strength Vit D & High Strength Omega 3
Fertiliy cup (should arrive tomorrow)

my partner is taking well man conception

these are all new things we’re trying this month. 🙈

Thank you!! Already much better answers than the rabbit hole that is Google. I had a look on tiktok too and loads of people recommended CoQ10 for good eggs, but they were all american so not sure if we can get that in the UK/EU? I also then saw that simply eating more eggs can help 🤷🏻‍♀️ So I'll be trying that as I enjoy them anyway, and making sure my diet is even better than it is!

@Nmmck93 I considered the fertilily cup but I'm not sure what it actually does??

@Ladameauxyeuxbruns you basically insert it up inside after baby dancing to keep the sperm as close to the cervix as possible. It says you can get up straight after it's inserted without worrying of any falling out but I'll still be laying for about 20 minutes after lol.

I don’t know if this will help. We tried everything, and because I am older we went to see the fertility clinic too (they said all was ‘normal’, so nothing they could recommend). I was peeing on ovulation strips every month and I got pregnant after 8 months of trying, but pretty much after one month of giving up.

That month we went to see family abroad, we came back and I went on a crash diet for three weeks because of all the weight I put on stress eating. We kept trying during the ovulation period, but not as much as before, and I wasn’t really keeping my fingers crossed anymore (so to speak). Was a bit of a shock when it finally happened.

I would recommend the ovulations strips, just to find out if you are ovulating early or later in the month. That might have helped. We also used the sperm-friendly gel too.

• Don't use Angus castus and Soya Isoflavones at the same time.
• Eat dietary folate, not just folic acid, which apparently isn’t well absorbed
• Switch to whole milk
• For men: vit D, vit C, ascorbic acid, coQ10, fenugreek, ashwaghanda
• For me: soya (only take it early in cycle eg CD5-9), coQ10, B vitamins, multivits
• Smep method
• BBT/OPKs
• No smoking, and no alcohol in luteal phase
• Cut down meat but be wary of tofu/soy alternatives
• No polyester for men below the waist
• No saunas etc for men
• No weed killers etc
• Only Pre-Seed has been shown not to hinder sperm
• Seed cycling
• Being a decent BMI
• Get STI check

I am also on cycle 8 of TTC. I don’t do all of the above! But this is everything I could think of from following MN conception threads. Sorry, I’ve probably forgotten some.

Good luck to you! ✨✨

Pre-seed and Agnus castus.

We were TTC for 18 months with DC1 (pcos) and conceived after starting both of these.
Dc2 we used them from the start (well started Agnus castus a bit before) and conceived first month.

Coq10 does exist in the U.K. - you can buy it in lots of shops. I know Holland and Barrett sell it for example.

Ubiquinol is the pure form of Coq10. It's more expensive but apparently your body can digest it more easily.

Oh and also, the best position is ‘doggy’ apparently for the deepest ‘deposit’ 😂

And I’ve seen some ladies swear by fertility acupuncture

It might have been coincidence but using a fertilily was the only thing I did differently during the month I got pregnant (in my 27th month trying)

It's a silly one -

I stumbled across a doctors blog online saying eat plenty of bread and butter (good quality) the food of conception in his words.

I had been trying for 2 years with 2 MMC. I was desperate and decided to add this to my list of conception rituals. That month I coincidentally fell pregnant and now have my 6mo DS next to me. What's weird is I've never been able to find that blog since...spooky!

Read "it starts with an egg"'it has guided fertility supplements age dependent having done ivf twice the consultant really rated the supplements I was already on and only added one thing to be taken just before egg retrieval. Good luck!

Fertility acupuncture .. fantastic

We used proceive vitamins, pre seed, and clear blue OPKs (and followed sperm meets egg). So lucky to have our little girl.

@suz2285 I have been for a few months but had a break last month. I'm back to testing now and am using the Easy@Home kit.

@QueenFree Hahahah, I can get on board with that one. I'm in France and there's nothing like a fresh baguette with salted butter!

Right, I have bought pre-seed, another fertility-friendly lube, vitamins C and D and will stop at the pharmacy to see if I can get my hands on any CoQ10 and speak with the pharmacist about anything else. I'll continue taking my folic acid (I'm on 400mg, is that a good amount or should I double it?) and daily multivitamin. I'll overhaul my diet a bit, drink lots of water etc etc. If all else fails, at least I'll be healthier!

I'm suspicious that the lube we usually use is affecting things. No clue if I'm right or wrong, but I'm hopeful.

@Ladameauxyeuxbruns other lines for affect sperm if they aren’t fertility friendly unfortunately.
I’ve been using pre seed this week and a small amount goes a long way lol, I over done it the first time 😂 also, your daily multivitamin- is it just a normal one? If it contains vitamin A stop taking it as Vitamin A isn’t advised when TTC’ing for the female. I found that pregnacare conception has everything you need including coq10 - I just take omega 3 fish oil with that now and it’s less pills to take lol.
keep updated.

I think I peaked yesterday at CD10 and ovulated through the night so hoping and praying I done enough if this was ovulation - I’m going to just keep testing for the next week as I usually don’t ovulate until CD16/17 🙈

I've never used Pre-seed, the box I've got arriving has 9 vials in it, so I assume I use it during my fertile week? I'll try not to use too much and turn myself into a slip n' slide 😂

Ooh thanks for the advice, I'm not sure if it has vitamin A in it, I'll check when I get home. I chose these ones just because I really struggle to swallow pills and these are gummies, but I'll look into Pregnacare and see if I could manage them.

You know, it stupidly never occurred to me that I could ovulate at night! I'll cross my fingers for you. CD10 does seem early, but honestly if going down the rabbit hole of TTC has taught me anything, it's that everything is possible! I'd also keep testing, I ended up ovulating far later than usual a couple of months ago and would've missed it entirely if I had stopped. Are you an early tester or do you manage to hold on until the recommended time?

@Ladameauxyeuxbruns yeah thats the same one I got, it comes with 9 vials but you can also use it on your finger for round the outside etc, it seems like you’d deffs get more than 9 goes out of it if you don’t use a lot.
yeah the slip and slide would be the exact words I would have used 😂
oh the pregnacare ones are big tablets in fairness, I take them and my partner takes well man conception aswell.

yeah CD10 is super early I never have strong tests until a round CD 14 / 15 when they start to rise. Just very unusual.

oh I’m such an early tester, but I don’t have any tests at home except cleavage early detection digital and have ordered some easy @ home ones to arrive next week lol. I’m going to try hold out and myself and my partner can both be there for me testing on our day off next Friday 🤞🏻

baby dust to you ✨

@Ladameauxyeuxbruns easy @ home are what I used and they're good but the temperature is what tells you when you've actually ovulated and after a few months you'll see a pattern, it's 12-48 ish hours after a positive opk for the egg to release then 12 ish hours after that to fertilise

Also if you scan the easy @ home strips into the Premom app it'll read the darkness and give you a 'peak' when the readings are high enough as sometimes you think it's dark but then it gets darker later in the cycle, it's easy to miss a fertile day if you're not testing at least 2 x a day right over the sort of 2 weeks after your period! It's a lot of data!

I also read somewhere that actually it is the days before the ovulation when women are most likely to get pregnant -

‘Still, studies show that it’s the days leading up to ovulation that are the most likely to result in a pregnancy. So whether your positive LH test occurred at the beginning of the rise, or after the LH peak, it’s time to get busy!’

https://proovtest.com/blogs/blog/when-is-the-best-time-for-intercourse-after-lh-surge

Also,

https://premom.com/blogs/how-to-use-ovulation-tests/surges-and-peaks-gradual-onset

I did so much research…. It kind of kills the mood though!