Not pregnant yet but looking for tips

[2020mission]

Sorry for joining the pregnancy board while not pregnant, but I'm just here to ask all of you lovely ladies who've had success in conceiving if there's anything you did that you think helped you successfully get pregnant?

I naively assumed since I'd never been in any hormonal contraceptives in my life (only ever condoms) that I'd have no trouble with conceiving and I had years worth of cycle tracking already in an app so know my cycles inside out and what's normal PMS symptoms. 6 months down the line from starting I'm still failing to conceive though. DTD every day during my fertile weeks and every other day the rest of the month.

Just feel like now I'm 32 I'm getting close to reaching the mid 30s where fertility will start declining more rapidly.

Any tips appreciated, and of course all the best on your pregnancies! 👶 🎉

Don't trust the app's. When I started to use ovulation kits the app was about a week out, i avoided ovulation kits for a year because I didn't want to get obsessed - but when I started to use them I found I was more relaxed as I knew when to DTD for fun and when to DTD to try for a baby. You can pick them up cheap from amazon. I conceived first month of using them and I'm now waiting patiently for baba to arrive (currently overdue)

@Undomesticgodde55 I was thinking that might be the issue! My husband didn't want me to become obsessive about ovulation but you're right I will buy a pack of cheap ovulation strips tonight on amazon and get on those next cycle. AF just arrived so will start using those next week and see if that makes a difference 🤞

@Undomesticgodde55 thanks for replying and hopefully your little one will make an appearance soon 😃

I didn't track my cycle for a long time like you have, however when I did, coupled with ovulation kit, I found that the predicted 'fertile window' in the apps were off by 4 days. So my LH surge actually happened 4 days after the app's predicted ovulation day, which in the app was considered 'low fertile' days.

Good luck

Got pregnant second time, third month, the month we missed the "fertile week" completely and had sex a few days earlier. Also used a moon cup afterwards. No idea which one worked (previously got pregnant first month so might just be a coincidence.)

’tget the cheap amazon kits. I have used the app and i think clear blue ovulation kit, and like everyone else, the app was out by about 4-5 days. So after 2.5 years of trying, I started to get acupuncture around ovulation days and used the kit together; conceived in 2 months.

I've never used ovulation kits or apps myself but I have heard a lot about apps being off, in line with what others have said. I also know obsessing over them can lead to unnecessarily stressing yourself out, which can make it more difficult to conceive. I know it's probably far from the easiest thing to do but taking a breath and stepping back a little, focusing on enjoying the perks of this last little bit of time before pregnancy, may help as well. Good luck

Thanks all. I'm going to use those cheap ovulation sticks but otherwise I'll just try and chill. I actually think using the sticks will make it less work as we won't have to have sex as much knowing when the ovulation peak is.

Hey, when we were trying and I thought it made science to dtd everyday in my fertile window but this never worked for us, so after a few months of being unsuccessful we decided to dtd every other day in my fertile window and it worked... could be a coincidence but I'm now 37wks pregnant. Good luck

Ovulation tests and preseed worked for us we were pregnant within 6 weeks.

Another vote for Preseed, I was also doing the whole legs up for few mins afterwards, DTD every 2-3 days throughout the cycle. Got pregnant first cycle, not sure if luck or all above worked.

Try pre-seed lube, it might have been a total coincidence but it worked for me! Wouldn’t hurt to try, it’s not expensive.
Get to know your body physically, don’t just rely on the data your app comes up with. I found physical examinations of my cervix much more helpful, as you can spot subtle changes that may make you realise you’re at a different point in your cycle than what your app says. And you’ll start to notice anything that’s unique to you and your body, as we’re not all the same!
And finally, don’t believe that you HAVE to have specific symptoms in the TWW. Every month I’d be checking myself constantly during TWW like ‘well I don’t have any of the right CM/sore boobs/cervical position, so it hasn’t worked this month!’ And then I’d make myself upset. Turns out that when I actually conceived I had ZERO of the signs the internet told me I’d have.

Lots of great tips here !

I wouldn’t worry about your age ! You would be surprised to hear how little your fertility actually drops after 35. Its not a sudden drop is what I mean , It’s gradual. It took me 7 months to conceive my first baby at 33 years old and 1 month to conceive my second at 35.

Good luck !!!!!

Have unprotected sex!😂

We decided to be careful for a few months as I had a big family holiday to Florida booked for July. I’m now 20 weeks so conceived on our first month of being careful 😂
One thing I do wonder for us is I was on steroids at the end of December for a really bad persistent chest infection. I was a bit worried about using them while trying but when I googled it, it said they were sometimes used for people struggling to conceive naturally so I do wonder if that helped!

My GP came from a fertility clinic background and said his strongest advice was lots of unprotected sex! It sounds obvious, but you’re only fertile for a few days out of the month so it’s easy to miss.

We were on month 6 of trying with our second child and we tried Preseed. We got pregnant that cycle! It could be a complete coincidence, who knows, but there does seem to be a reasonable amount of anecdotal evidence for it. If you haven’t got pregnant after a few months, might be worth trying.

Also agree with tracking your ovulation with sticks rather than an app’s best guess.

Just to add....

DON’T wait for a positive ovulation test THEN have sex. You can easily miss the window that way. You really want to be making sure you have sex a day or two before ovulation, as well as during it. Sperm can take a day to reach the Fallopian tubes but can live for 5-7 days. An egg only lasts 12-24 hours.

Use the ovulation tests to understand your cycle in advance of trying to conscience and to confirm ovulation, but don’t wait for a positive ovulation test then have sex. Once you know your cycle, your mostly fertile days are the five days running up to ovulation and ovulation day itself.

My friends told me that day 10 Zia the magic day! It worked for her and a few of her friends and it worked for us too! Very random but you could try that?! Nothing ventured nothing gained!!

I have always had a 28 day cycle. I always ovulate on day 9. I would never have known that if I hadn't used ovulation strips. An app would have been totally wrong. Buy the cheapest ovulation tests you can find and test twice daily. That's my best tip.

I would go to the doctors and say you have been trying for over a year

@redribbons99 that's unethical. There is a reason why those rules are in place, and not merely there for sole purpose of inconvenience.

@2020mission I was lucky 1st and 2nd time to get pregnant straight away, but took me nearly 6 months the third time. I started using ovulation kits and realised i ovulated about a week later than what my app was predicting, followed the smp and took certain vitamins.

@redribbons99 that's a crappy idea

If you lie to your GP about how long you're trying, you're just jumping ahead of women who have been trying longer, seems harsh?

We stopped officially trying after 6 months as I had a job offer which would mean a big move across the country... Only went and caught that month!! Had to decline the job offer, I'm still a bit gutted about that part! DD is now 3 🙂

I have really irregular periods so we just went with frequent unprotected sex but I honestly think the not worrying about TTC did the trick. My friend conceived in similar circumstances too, when they stopped actively trying!