Camel Yes, that was my original plan. I never wanted to be the woman who was 'trying for a baby' - still loathe that phrase - because I don't want to be the sort of person who has to keep trying for bloody months. I want to do it, or not, and keep any actual effort to myself. The more you try, the more you feel you're failing when it doesn't work out, when it shouldn't actually be like that at all; you can't draw a parallel with other times in your life when you 'try', viz, exams, diets, Tomb Raider, because then there is a direct corrolation between effort and result. That doesn't apply with conception. It's like TRYING to win the National Lottery by buying a million tickets - shagging all night every night for a month will not GUARANTEE you a baby. You could get a ticket on the off chance with your milk, and hit the jackpot, so to speak.
But I would recommend getting a dog. I love ours to distraction as does DB. Dog ownership teaches you a lot about getting up when you don't really want to, trying to communicate with a creature who cannot explain their 'sad eyes', cleaning up poo and then obsessing about the texture and consistency of said poo. Is also insight into motherhood: puppies did terrible things to our dog's nipples, and she's still not got her figure back after pups, and her coat's falling out for the next month or so before it grows back. Plus, even though she's the most placid example of a v placid breed, she went ballistic at some random visitor who smelled of Bernese Mountain Dogs, the moody bitch (literally).
Don't know how I'd cope with horse mummydom, ski. Horses make me cry, they're so noble and lovely.