Pregnancy

[Melissamandy]

Hello everyone. I wrote a post about not getting my period in almost a year and a half a while ago and got really great feedback, and I actually just got my period four days ago. I know while you’re ovulating is the best time to really try and conceive, but I’m wondering if anyone knows about what time after your period is the best time to try and conceive? I know the best option would be to get tests but I can’t afford that right now. And if anyone could give me some tips on what they did to help conceiving, vitamins etc. I’ve been trying for almost 3 years. Thank you xx

[LKT1]

Hi Hun,

I am now pregnant through ivf. I’m no expert but I did a lot of research and had a lot of advice from fertility consultants so I’m just sharing with you what I have read or been advised.

Firstly all cycles and all women are different so an ovulation test is best. You can buy a pack of 30 strips for £4/£5 on Amazon. If you can afford that I recommend it maybe you borrow it off a mate? It really will help your chances. Also I downloaded the free app ‘Clue’ which helps you track your cycle so you can see your fertile window.

You are likely (but not guaranteed unless you test) ovulating sometime between days 10-16 of your cycle but you have a ‘fertile window’ starting five days before your ovulation date and another day after your ovulation date. So if you really can’t test then you could try having sex from day 5 and then every other day until day 18. Every other day allows sperm quality to be better than if you tried everyday.

There are signs to look out for to indicate you are ovulating such as higher temperature (you can record this daily to try and track ovulation if you have a thermometer) and stickier egg white like discharge.

To further improve your chances you should cut out smoking, alcohol and caffeine and any products containing ibruprofen As these are thought to reduce fertility and later on possibly cause miscarriage.

Obviously eating healthy, exccercising regularly and drinking lots of water is important. Try and get your BMI in a healthy range if it’s not already.

I also found some advice online that eating some core of a pineapple everyday and drinking a glass of pomegranate juice a day would help the embryo implant once fertilised.

I did all Of the above and I got pregnant obviously I also had ivf so circumstances are different. If your periods are still irregular and you are struggling to get pregnant then I recommend you see your gp to try and get a diagnosis or be referred to a specialist as this could affect your fertility.

Hope some of this is useful. Best of luck xx

[Melissamandy in reply to LKT1]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, everything you said was really helpful.

[Hidden]

It really depends how long your cycles are if they are irregular it will be tricky and you probably will need a lot of opk, ovulation is usually between 12-16 days before your period. As LKT1 said u can buy a bulk off amazon for a few £££ start after period ends. Have you seen dr or know why you weren’t having periods?

[Melissamandy in reply to Hidden]

What is opk? And yes, my doctor literally just told me to drink more water and eat healthier, although I’m not the healthiest person in the world, I’m not the unhealthiest. She wasn’t very helpful at all, and advised me to see a therapist because I seemed stressed out. Lol.

[Hidden]

Really? I would ask again it’s not normal more like a hormone imbalance or pcos. Opk = ovulation prediction kit

[Hidden]

Hi there, I’m 41 and was told last year (after a raft of tests) and 3 yrs trying to conceive that I had unexplained infertility and should pursue IVF as it would likely be my only option. The consultant then proceeded to list the unfavourable statistics re the likelihood of me getting pregnant- which I firmly I asked her not to and told her that knowing the stats wouldn’t change anything!!

3 months later (and 6 months after I’d started making fertility focussed diet and health changes) I found out I was pregnant (my baby is now 13 weeks old). I'm no expert, and i might just have been lucky, but thought I’d share what I did in the hope any of it might be helpful for you.

Books (I did a lot of research):

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

Supplements I took (the best quality ones you could afford) listed below: I pieced this info together from my reading, but it's worth considering going to a nutritionist so they can tailor it to your specific needs, particularly if you've had blood tests via the GP to check the various levels relevant to fertility as they'll be able to tell you what you can take to improve things (if needed).

CoQ10Ubiquinol

R-Alpha-lipoid acid

Zinc (glycinate)

Vitamin D

Omega 3 (not cod liver oil)

Omega 6 - day 1 of cycle to ovulation day only

B complex vitamin

Iodine

Folate (rather than folic acid)

Vitamin C

Magnesium bisglyncinate

Maca

Inositol powder (this was something recommended in relation to PCOS, so may not be relevant to you)

Ironically, having worked out the dates, I think I managed to conceive on or around the day I had my first appointment with a nutritionist, after I'd already been researching and following the self-created diet/supplement regime for 6 months so it is possible to do it yourself if finances are tight.

Foods to include in diet:

Spearmint or green or matcha tea

Full fat organic milk (if you're going to have milk at all - for some people dairy has an inflammatory effect in the same way sugar does)

Organic meat (limit red meat)

Sesame

Walnuts

Almonds

Brazil nuts

Pistachio

Liver

Artichoke

Scallops

Eggs

Other:

- 8 hrs sleep minimum

- Get outside as much as possible (helps with vitamin D and melatonin production)

- Exercise, but not excessively as it can stress your system

- Reduce stress (long term, constant stress is especially troublesome for fertility)

- Meditation/breathing - 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)

- Acupuncture

- Gut health is important - take a good probiotic

- Reduce unnecessary sugar intake (including refined sugars in white bread, pasta, rice etc - swap for wholewheat/whole grain)

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

- No perfume

- 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 adapted this by eating 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

- 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)

- It's worth both partners getting basic fertility tests done early, in case there's an easy 'fix'. After all, all the health improvements in the world won't work if there's some kind of blockage etc