Trying to conceive tips

[snorkelsummer]

Hi all,
Looking for some real, tried, tested and success tips for conceiving. I find medical articles conflicting and overwhelming and figure its best to speak to the real deal-mothers! This is my first time trying and I'm 37 so I already know that's not in my favor (didn't want kids before but changed my mind) We've been trying for the last year, granted not consistently due to family issues/stress. I use the OPK strips and find tracking my ovulation not to be a problem (if its as accurate as I hope) But other than that I don't wanna throw money at gimmicks or waste time doing head stands after sex if I don't have to. Any tips that worked for you I would greatly appreciate, thanks!

Sex every other day throughout the month. That way, you won't miss ovulation if it happens early or late

I honestly think so much is chance/luck. Lifestyle improvements can help and will only benefit your health, so not smoking or drinking alcohol, exercise, healthy weight, balanced and varied diet, lower stress (both of you, not just you!). The easy @home strips and Premon app have worked for me twice, starting to DTD regularly once the strips darken, i.e, don't wait for your 'peak' as mine always came very fast. A lot of people here seem to have anecdotal success with fertility cups and acupuncture. At your age, if it's been a year, you could speak to your GP for tests. But also remember what worked for others, there's no reason it'll work for you!

Sadly there's no magic bullet and it can take months or years even if you're doing all the right things (just as people can get pregnant on their first go, after missing a few pills or whilst thinking they're not in their fertile period).

Tracking your cycle will really help though. OPKs are good as reassurance that you're hitting the right window (I think research suggests that O-1 is the "key" day, but your best fertile window is between 3 days before ovulation and the day after predicted ovulation, as actual O can be anything between 12 and 36ish hours after a LH surge), but BBT will confirm whether it's actually happened - you'll see a sustained temperature shift of 0.3 o'C after ovulation.

There are various supplements you can take in different circumstances. When I was TTC DD1 with thyroid issues that were causing a super long cycle I started taking agnus castus just before I was diagnosed and I finally got a positive OPK before I'd started on Levothyroxine, so the AC possibly helped there (and between that and the Levothyroxine I had sensible cycles and conceived 6 months later).

There are various lifestyle/diet choices you can make, e.g. reducing coffee and alcohol, but I don't know how much difference they really make.

Sorry if I sound quite jaded but I'm currently cycle 30 or something TTC #DC3 despite having done many of the "right" things throughout (not including cutting caffeine and alcohol though 😂). Sometimes it's luck of the draw. But if you're 38 and trying for your first you can start asking for tests after 6 months. Good luck!

*37 I meant! Over 35 in any case!

@curliegirlie Thank you so much for your detailed response, it is appreciated. It is quite an ambiguous area and each person is different. Sometimes it just makes you feel better to hear that from real life people and use it to keep motivated to keep going

I'm sorry you're feeling this way. It really is just luck. I've been pregnant a few times from IVF and natural, but with natural it's very rare due to low sperm count (36 million per ejaculate, 11 million per ml of ejaculate) and I've lost each one very early on. I'm going for recurrent miscarriage investigations soon. I don't know what to tell you to help you to feel better, but it really is just luck. Some couples have it easy, some couples don't. I think it's been nearly 3 years now, but I've lost track now. Don't give up.

@VolvoFan Thank you for your honesty, its really refreshing chatting to real-life people and not just reading articles that don't actually reflect real life. I hope all the luck for you!

I got pregnant at 36 on the 3rd cycle, things I did different that cycle were sperm meets egg plan (I have friends this also worked for who are a similar age) and also used the clear blue Fertility monitor, approx £80 on Amazon. Month 1 and 2 I didn't do either if those things.

Goggle the sperm meets egg plan and it explains how to do it.

DD was however my second child so not sure if that makes a difference xx

@Tryingtoconceivenumber2 oh my gosh, i have gone down many rabbit holes of research and never come across this method. I will certainly give this a go, thanks!

My best advice would be, do the baby dance every other day. Do not get up after doing the deed I know you’re meant to go for a wee but don’t). Legs up, hips tilted back.

Worked twice for me. Conceived in 2 months doing the above.

Good luck and don’t be downhearted! X

Don't forget to beets and take vitamin