Getting pregnant after 40

[Buba_]

Hello lovelies!

I had a miscarriage three weeks ago and decided to give things a good go for the next 6 months to a year. I am 41 and I am feeling time closing on me FAST! I am researching a lot at the moment and trying to improve my diet and lifestyle. If you guys have anything to share, please do, I would love to hear some success stories.

So far, this is a list of what I am trying to do, hopefully some of you will find it useful) I though that I was eating well, but I had no idea... The new regime extends to my lovely husband for more energetic swimmers.

Eating little but often is the way to keep the sugar levels balanced, every 3 hours with the last meal at 8pm.

Love to you all xx

Supplements

- Water - 8 glasses a day

- Warm water with a slice of lemon in the morning

- Multivitamin

- Maca

- Coenzyme Q10

- Melatonin

- Greens powder

- Ultimate omega (fish oils) but not cod liver oil

- Iron (floradix)

- Vitamin C

- Pomegranate extract

- Good probiotic

- Liquid vitamin D

Activities

- Yoga

- Fertility massage

- Fertility meditation

- Acupuncture

- Reducing stress

- Sleeping 8 hours

- Spending time outdoors (vitamin D and melatonin)

Avoid:

- No sugar

- No caffeine - coffee, tea, green tea and chocolate is a NO

- No alcohol

- Little milk

- Only organic chicken, no more than 3 times a week

- No white flour, sweets, cakes and pastry, soft drinks

- No plastic in contact with food especially heated

- No more than 1 serving a week of red meat, best to avoid completely

- No ready-meals, avoid burgers, pates, sausages, deep fried food

- Reduce dairy food (but good in full fat yogurt)

- No trans fats (e.g. fast foods) - hydrogenated fats in products

Eat:

- Dark green leaves

- 5 vegetable/fruits a day

- Wholegrain, wholemeal - wholegrain rice, breads and oats

- Unsaturated fats (e.g. mackerel, nuts)

- Pumpkin seeds/pumpkin

- Humus

- Nuts - handful everyday

- Sugar free cereals, wholegrain

- Avocados

- Tomatoes, peppers

- Berries

- Lentils, beans, chick peas, soy beans (but not soy dairy)

- Pomegranates

- Eggs

- Salomon (wild caught) every week

- Carrots

- Bone broth

- Fruits with yoghurt and nuts

- Yoghurt needs to be ‘live’ and organic (bio) without added fruits (these will have lots of sugar added too)

- Fruit juice but diluted

- Quinoa, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds (good protein sources)

- 5 x free range eggs a week

- Oily organic fish - grill rather than fry

- Flaxseed (linseed oil), olive oil, sesame oil

- Nut butters, butter (unhydrinated!)

- Warm salty food on ovulation day (chips)

Snacks:

- Raw, cut veggies with hummus

- Nuts accompanied by fruit

- Whole wheat, rye, spelt or oat crackers

- Plain organic yogurt with nuts and seeds

[Lizzielizzielizzie]

I would be careful about maca. I decided not to take it after it made my breasts sore all month. It’s an untested herbal supplement so you don’t really know what it’s doing to you.

[Nbmac]

Hi

I have spent the last 23 years thinking I would never have children due to complications such as PCOS. I was in long term relationships and not using contraception for 20 of those years and had just accepted that it wouldn’t happen. Just over a year ago I was shocked to find I was pregnant, but I miscarried on 5th November. I accepted that, but it gave me some hope that I could conceive. I fell pregnant again at the end of December (but didn’t realise until early March so was drinking until that point, not taking vitamins and even had an x-ray) and I gave birth to my beautiful, healthy LG in September. I’m 41.

I spoke to my midwife about it all - why I would suddenly be so fertile and she said that happens for some people late in their fertility and you are more fertile after miscarriage.

It sounds like you are making a real effort. Don’t give up hope, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I wish you the best of luck.

[JojoWash]

Erm.. can’t suggest a thing I think you have it covered! Wow! I’d never be able to keep up with all that! Good like, I’m 40 too and have has 2 mmc’s this year. Will be plucking some of your info to use though for sure.

Don’t your vitamins clash with each other? I end up with.m upset stomach if I take them together

Goodluck in your journey x

[Buba_]

Hello All, thank you so much for your replies! Hearing the positive stories always feels good.

Re vitamins - I just used this list to check if my multivitamins have it covered - the ones we’re taking have a small amount of Maca but for the male, not the female (my husband is not complaining)

These are the ones that seem to have a good balance:

Fertility Plus

Omega 3 Plus

Vitamin C Plus

I am only starting but reading few books on fertility/improving eggs quality made me thing a lot about what and how we’re eating. It’s a good start and a solid foundation, let’s see how it goes. I feel like I don’t have a massive amount of time, so if it’s now or never, i want to give it the best xxx

Books that I found useful:

Boost Your Fertility- Marilyn Grenville

Conceivability - Elizabeth Katkin

It Starts With the Egg - Rebecca Fett

It’s so great to talk, talking about my miscarriage to some of the people I know made me realise how common it is, and a lot of these people have lovely babies now and can give some amazing advice xx

[Hidden]

Hi there, I’m just 41 now 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 (now have a 15 week old baby boy). 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. Some of it is similar to what you’ve done so hopefully that means you’ll have the same outcome I’ve had.

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 can afford). 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).

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

[Buba_ in reply to Hidden]

Thank you! It was you, who originally inspired me to look into the diet and read ‘Conceivability’!

I came home from my appointment crying, because my doctor was very dark about our geriatric reproduction age

I have a friend, who tried for 9 years (including IVF) and then read Boost Your Fertility, adjusted her and husbands diet, followed other advice from the book and got pregnant 6 months later.

Fingers crossed and thank you so much for your advice xx

P.S. Did you take all the supplements separately?

[Hidden in reply to Buba_]

Awww that’s lovely to hear 🥰 You’ve been very proactive, now it’s a case of letting nature take its course.

I did take the supplements individually, I divided them into morning, noon and evening so I didn’t feel quite so much like I was rattling!

I bought them here: naturaldispensary.co.uk/. Not the cheapest but good quality and certainly cheaper than paying for IVF which was our only other option.

Wishing you all the luck in the world! X

[Buba_ in reply to Hidden]

Thank you!!! x

[Hidden]

Yeah and the geriatric tag is irritating 🙄 So outdated these days

[jowalk6]

Don't give up hope hun. I had my little boy at the age of 42. He was gorgeous and perfect. My rainbow baby. It will happen. Good luck and take care x

[Kat9lives]

Hi lovely, it seems you've got a comprehensive list there! I would add to read emma cannon's books which advise on diet and acupressure according to your body's constitution. If you're having acupuncture you'll be advised about this anyway but worth looking into. Also, it might be worth speaking to your GP about being referred to a fertility doctor who can carry out the necessary tests. 41 is by no means old but the medical route can take up to a year so you might want to get the ball rolling in the meantime, incase you decide you want to go down that route. Speaking as an IVF mum with experience from both sides!

Good luck! X

[Buba_ in reply to Kat9lives]

Thank you, Kat, I am having my bloods done on Thursday and I will get referred to a fertility specialist but the waiting list is 10months at the moment (there is literally just one lady on the island I live)

Thanks for your book recommendation, I will have a read.

What amazes me with all this is how common the miscarriages and fertility issues are, just not a lot of people seem to be talking about it. I told 4 of my work college and they all had a miscarriage. It is mind blowing xx

[Hidden]

I’ve had 3 mc at 37&38 I’m 39 now no pregnancies since jan before my 3rd I took heaps of supplements like 20 a day I ate good drank pomegranate juice and water cut caffeine I hardly drink. But we still mc at 12w. I’m having a following up with the fertility clinic a week on mon I want tests now see where were at, see if we’re wasting our time. I don’t have a success story yet hopefully we can have one naturally but we are considering self funding ivf now, I have 2 children already.