Getting ready for pregnancy

Bear_family

Hi,

I hope I'm posting this in the right section.

My husband and I (late 20s) have decided to try for our 1st baby at the beginning of next year and I was just wondering if there was anything I could do to increase my chances of conceiving and just be ready for getting pregnant?

Perhaps some mums could give me some advice please.

I've heard folic acid is suppose to be good - when should I take this?

Thanks in advance.

Bfx

scruffy96uk

I suppose the obvious eat healthy and the most important thing in conceiving is having sex :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: . Another very important thing is don't get stressed if it doesn't happen 1st, 2nd or even 3rd time round. It'll happen when it's meant to be.
Folic acid I would advise you start taking whenever you start trying!!
Remember to join the Trying to conceive thread once you start

Good luck and enjoy trying!!!!

betterlife

hi you start taking folic acid as soon as you start trying to concieve, you can get it from any chemist at about £1 for 100 tablets you continue to take until you are 12wks into your pregnancy. although this does not help you concieve. things that can help are not smoking or drinking, not being overweight, being healthy, also relax people find it harder to concieve when that is all they thing about, so many people that start having firtility treatment concieve naturally because they eventually start to relax. also if you are taking the contraceptive pill it can sometimes take a few weeks to get out of you system same as the injection so if you are on either of theses you may want to come of them early, it took me 8mths after having the contraceptive injection to concieve, with the pill it varied . anyway good luck i have 4 children aged btween 11wks and 7 yrs and they are the best thing that ever happened to me.x

betterlife

yes i forgot to say ENJOY trying once you have kids thats it! lol, well it feels like it with 4 kids anyway.lol x

Loopy_Girl

3 bottles of Rose wine seemed to do it for me!!!!!!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Squirreler

I'm in the same boat although a couple of years older! Folic acid is to help protect against spina bifida, not to help you get pregnant.

Rosie_Bud

Hi Bear Family,

You should start taking the folic acid 3 months before you get pregnant so if you start trying beginning of 2009 you should think about starting soon and then stop when you are 12 weeks pregnant. This doesn't help get pregnant but helps prevent spina bifida. Look after yourself i.e. eat healthily, don't smoke, not too much alcohol, etc. There is a ttc thread that you can join, everyone is really nice on there and you will find some good advice. Maybe worth starting to read through the thread now because you will find a lot of questions you may have will already have been asked and answered over there.

Good luck (and don't forget to have fun trying!)

Rosie xx

ladybirdintheuk

And to keep it moneysaving, start putting away some money now/paying off those last few debts to take the pressure off And having a play with the uswitch website to make sure you're not paying more than necessary for any of your bills is always a good plan.

Good luck

ginvzt

I would suggest visiting your GP/nurse. We did that. We discussed what should we do and they did blood tests for both or us to confirm/find out that we have immunity to rubella. It is important to get vaccinated against rubella if you don't have immunity before you get pregnant, so I would suggest that if you are not sure, get the blood test.

You should start taking folic acid 3 months before you get pregnant, so that you body has a healthy stock of it to prevent spina bifida, as others said. Don't wait till the month you are trying for a baby, start taking it now.

It is a wise idea to start saving for the time when baby arrives as soon as you start thinking of trying for one. It will give you a good cushion for when you are on maternity leave and have to survive on the miserable SMP.

And as for the rest - enjoy the experience and good luck!

scruffy96uk

I took the pregnacare folic acid and continued taking it when I first started breastfeeding, just for that little boost in essential vitamins etc
This is the one I took
http://www.vitabiotics.com/pregnacare/pertablets.aspx
There are cheaper ones out there that probably do exactly the same thing so if ur being a true MSEr I would look for alternatives!!
Although boots quite often do 3 for 2 on these!!

Welshlassie

Along with the folic acid etc everyone else has mentioned and loosing and weight you need to, cutting back on alcohol, giving up smoking etc. If you are on the pill, consider coming off it now and getting to know your cycle. Whats normal for you, how long is your cycle, what does your vaginal discharge do over the course of the month, do you know when you ovulate (ovulation pain) etc?

This will help you when you do start to try as it can help you identify your most fertile time and target your sex more apporpriately.

Have a look at this website as this has an online course that you can complete that will explain to you what to look for.

It took me 4 months to get pregnant, but I fell the first month I started charting from using that site.

Good luck and enjoy.