Trying for a baby!

[babygirl26]

Me and my OH are going to start trying for a baby in July 2019. I came off the pill in April and have been taking folic acid ever since. Is there anything else I should be doing to encourage a healthy baby before we start officially trying? Thanks!

[Hidden]

Just make sure you got a healthy life style and dont stress your self out if it dont happen straight away good luck x

[babygirl26 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you I'm going to try to not put any pressure on myself. You hear so many people say they get pregnant on the first try but I'm not going to let my hopes get up!! x

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to babygirl26]

The stats are that one in six couples will get pregnant the first month but that leaves 5 in 6 who won’t x

[Lizzielizzielizzie]

Take vitamin d as well x

[babygirl26 in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

Thanks for the tip! Apparently the liquid form is good? x

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to babygirl26]

I’m not sure if there’s any real difference, i would take whichever suits you x

[ChrisWest1983 in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

Yeah - liquid is easier absorbed (D3)

However, best form of a vitD is the sun ☀️ x

[Hidden]

Hi there,

I’m guessing I’m probably a bit older than you (i’m 40) and I started trying to conceive at 37 and i’m currently 35 weeks pregnant - it took a while for a bunch of different reasons that won’t necessarily apply to you. But from what i’ve read ‘they’ reckon it takes the average healthy couple up to a year to conceive, so most importantly try not to get too stressed and fixated on it as that will be counter productive. If things aren’t happening after a year you can go to the gp to ask for basic fertility tests.

But there’s lots you can do as part of your everyday routine, without stressing yourself out, to prepare your body and create optimal circumstances to get pregnant. Most of it is common sense tbh - just be as healthy as you can. Also, bear in mind your other half can be doing similar things too...it takes both of you to make a baby after all but us ladies often take the lead/take on all the responsibility 😉

Main things you can do:

1) a healthy, balanced diet - whole foods (whole grains), fruit, veg, good quality meat (organic is better as has less hormones in it) and limit red meat, if you’re ok with milk organic whole milk is meant to be best, but for me (because of PCOS) dairy was inflammatory so I cut it out. Also, cut out or limit refined sugars (white bread, pasta, sweets). Drink plenty of water. The books I read also made lots of recommendations around fertility friendly foods and supplements that you can add in to your diet every day so you’re getting the best nutrients. In reality you can be as strict or not as you want with your diet, it depends how good or bad it is now I guess and how many changes you want to make...for me the clock was ticking so I went all out and managed to conceive within 6 months of making changes, after 3 yrs of trying. There’s also lots to be said for losing a little weight IF that’s something that’s already an issue for you individually or as a couple.

2) The usual- stop smoking and limit alcohol intake. You don’t have to be a saint but be honest with yourself about whether this is an area that needs changing

3) Light exercise to improve general fitness, but not excessively as it can stress out your system

Other stuff:

- 8 hrs sleep minimum as often as possible

- Get outside as much as possible (helps with vitamin D and melatonin production - yes, liquid vitamin D as a supplement is better in terms of how your body metabolises it)

- folic acid is good, folate is said to be better. It’s a non synthesised version of folic acid and so more easily metabolised by your body

- Reduce stress (long term, constant stress is especially troublesome for fertility). To help with this I did meditation/breathing exercises daily - I did yogic breathing (youtu.be/oFR_zlbLnY4)(Not working as expected?) and downloaded 'Female fertility' app (image of a stork carrying a baby) and listened to three of the meditations/hypnosis tracks (Boost your fertility, Conceive with ease and Fertile womb meditation). This may not be your thing though, so anything that helps you relax/feel less stressed

- Gut health is important - take a good probiotic

- Cut out BPAs (found in plastic) and avoid foods served in plastic containers/heating food in plastic containers (includes take out coffee cups) as this releases toxins

- Reduce toxins: No perfume (or spray on clothes rather than your skin) and Cut phthalates out of all skin care products

- A friend who successfully had ivf was advised to eat warm, salty foods (chips/fries) on egg transfer day and to keep stomach and back areas warm. As I wasn’t pursuing IVF I adapted this by eating salty chips on the day of ovulation (I knew when I ovulated because it was painful) and two days after and used a warm bottle in the evening and heated car seat in the morning to mimic this advice. Who knows if this helped, but I enjoyed the excuse to eat chips 😉

- Remember, the egg that eventually becomes fertilised has been in production (so to speak) for 3 months before it reaches the front of the queue to be released. The more good stuff you do to improve the quality of the egg can both improve the chances of it being fertilised and the over all quality (relevant to natural and assisted conception)

When I was looking at improving my fertility I did a lot of research. The stuff I read could be applied to anyone, so i’ll post below the books I read. Key thing to know = when you ovulate. If you’re not having sex at your most fertile time it just won’t happen. If your cycle is regular this is a bit easier to work out and then there’s like a 3 day window during which your chances of conceiving are best....OR just make sure you having sex every 2-3 days and that should have you covered.

Books:

Period repair manual

amazon.co.uk/Period-Repair-...

It starts with the egg

amazon.co.uk/Starts-Egg-Sec...

Expecting better

amazon.co.uk/s?k=expecting+...

Conceivability

amazon.co.uk/s?k=conceivabi...

Website:

Fertility.org

Enjoy the trying part 😉

Good luck!

[babygirl26 in reply to Hidden]

wow thank you so much!! lots of tips to follow up on! x

[looploopy709]

The first one is to look after you and your OH. Make sure you are taking vitamins. Pregnacare do one called Conception and it has everything in it your body needs x

[Hidden]

I had a funny reaction to pregnacare’s preconception multivitamins; they consistently interrupted my period until I stopped taking them. It won’t effect everyone the same, but just to be aware. When I did a search on line quite a few other women reported a similar experience