Tips to get pregnant please

[chefswife]

I finished taking the pill last December after being on it for 20 years. My husband and I have decided to try for babies. I eat quite healthy, predominately organic, no processed food, drink moderately and exercise regularly. Can anyone give me ideas of what I can do to enhance the chances of getting pregnant outside of the obvious? lots of sex.

Nothing else- you've said it- just lots of sex at the right time ie when you ovulate. and relax about it all, don't put pressure on yourself. I'm now 29 weeks pregnant after 20 yrs on the pill. It took 2 mths after the pill to get a period, then I was pregnant 1 month later(and that's with not much sex!)
If you want to be medical about it you could try a home ovulation kit but why not try 'naturally' for a while first?

Make sure it's the right time of the month ie; When you are ovulating !!
Also, top tip (not sure if it's true) but afterwards, lie on your back and stick your legs in the air....this doesn't do much on the romance front..

seeing as how you're on MN, maybe an online site like fertilityfriend would suit you. I found it to be helpful, even addictive! Best tool I've ever seen for charting your cycles (it's dead easy), tracking ovulation, chatting to others and reading about conception and pregnancy, oh it's fab. www.fertilityfriend.com. Worth paying the £20 for superduper membership IMHO.

Good luck!

the fee isn't required btw. free surfing of their site is possible. extras available though with membership, which are worth it, as i was saying.

as you were

Rear entry positions. Trust me.

And find a method that reliably tells you when you are ovulating so you know which days to really go for it (eg CM, Persona, OPKs etc). Often later in your cycle than you would think.

But for now, chill, early days. Don't get stressed, counter-productive.

check out 'sperm meets egg' programme (google it) it recommends a certain cough mixture- worked straight away for a friend who had previously struggled to conceive! good luck x

I came off the pill 8 months ago and took folic acid, made my partner eat tinned cooked tomatoes apparently that does wonders and plenty of fruit, my partner also took folic acid as crazy as it sounds...i became pg 7 months ago but had mc in jan but we wanted to try again str8 away so continued with tomatoes etc and i became pg the month after xxx

Drink plenty of water. Sounds odd but I have read that dehydration can be a big problem (presumably as it limits the amount of sperm-friendly mucus you will produce).

Me and DH tried for a year, and finally got pregnant after adopting the method of me, after sex, lying back with my bottom raised on lots of pillows and my legs up the wall. Maintain for at least 10 minutes. It may not have really made any difference, but I am convinced it did! It also gives you both something to chuckle about as well!

No hot baths or tight pants for dh (sperm are killed off by being too hot) and both of you should cut down on caffeine and alcohol. Read Toni Wechsler's book 'Taking Charge of your Fertility' - tells you about the signs of ovulation and how to chart your cycle etc (a lot of women think they ovulate at day 14 of their cycle as that is the commonly received wisdom amongst medics but actually everyone is different and has different cycle lengths plus you don't always ovulate at the same time each month). You only have a window of a few days each month when you can actually get pregnant so don't get despondent if it doesn't happen straight away - from memory I think sperm can survive max 5 days but the egg dies 24 hours (or it might be 48) after being popped out if it isn't fertilised. Being on the pill for 20 years should make no difference whatsoever (I was on it for 17 years and got pregnant after 6, 4 and 2 months respectively and am in my 30s - although was a bit scientific about the whole thing I must admit...) Good luck and sorry for the essay!

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We?re not stressing about it? well I?m trying not to. I think I?ve been lucky not to skip a beat in coming off the pill and the regularity of periods? still exactly 28 days. My doctor said that was unusual and getting pregnant will prove difficult after being on the pill for so long and my age. Freaked me out a little but have decided not to listen to her. Love the butt in the air? will try it next time. I saw a program with Gordon Ramsay and how he had his Chef?s sperm count tested and the results didn?t prove promising, DH has been a Chef for 15 years and we are both 35. I will definitely check out Toni Wechsler's book 'Taking Charge of your Fertility' and fertilityfriend website.

I took:

1. pre-natal vitamins
2. omega 3's
3. B12
4. low dose aspirin - this is a bit controversial but it is supposed to increase blood flow to the uterus and prevent early miscarriage.
5. evening primrose oil
6. 6 days before ovulation - cough syrup (the expectorant only kind)

And finally, get very, very good at knowing when your cm is at its peak. This is that "egg white" stage.

It could be that I am just extremely fertile but I did the above routine and got pg in 2 months at age 41!

Good luck and happy baby dancing

Wow jabberwocky, that?s quite a recipe. Cough syrup? Really? I?ve started today to take the Wellness brand of pre-natal vitamins, high in folic acid. I hope to be very fertile as we want to hammer out at least 4 kids soon after each other. After that I?ll be asking who is the best plastic surgeon in London.

Go on holiday, relax, have sex for fun not babies. hey presto (worked for me!)

I know the cough syrup sounds weird but has good science behind it.

Just a word of advice - I got a bit hooked on those ovulation predictor tests and was disappointed when it seemed as though I wasn't ovulating.

However, I obviously was (got pg two months after coming off the pill ) - apparently they don't work for quite a lot of women.

Find out what fertile cervical mucus (nice) looks like and monitor it. If you don't have much try pre-seed, it's expensive but the first month I used it (after 8 months of trying) I was pg.

Chefswife Just have the one and then see how you feel about having four! Easy tiger!

Ignore your dr on the pill and your age. As I said didn't make a blind bit of difference in my case (I'm 35 and will be 36 when ds2 is born)

I suspect the chef's sperm thing is to do with heat in the kitchen and how hot your man's bits get. Make sure he has boxers so the air can circulate!

defo do the raised bum and legs in the air thing- I was on the pill for twenty years as well, but with stressful jobs etc. it did take longer than planned-the main problem we endured was me, getting slightly obsessed after a while. I promised myself I wouldn't but couldn't help it. It was only when I gave up hoping that it happened. Definitely take the advice from above and just enjoy yourselves. Make the most of your time together as a couple- despite having waited a while I am now 15 weeks pregnant and thinking 'Eek, we should have done such and such, should have gone to so and so' etc. I like to think naively that our lives won't change much after baby born (stop laughing, you horrid lot!!) but in reality I am making sure we have lots of lazy weekend lie ins, lovely nights out etc. before everything is turned upside down (I can't wait!)
Wishing you lots and lots of fun trying (and don't forget the pillows under bum!

I started temping and charting my cycles which explained so much and showed me when I ovulate - really important as I don't ovulate until about Day 18 or so.

Take a prenatal or folic acid. The month I conceived I also ate lots of carrot batons and took cough syrup - both are meant to help with your CM - I had tons that month, so it seemed to have worked.

And then just relax and have fun. Enjoy date nights and drink nights and eat lots of smelly cheese!

Don't cough after having sex.

belgo LOL!!!!! Good advice!

I'm sure that's why some months I didn't become pregnant