What should we know before we start TTC?

Cuilean

To cut a long story short, 2015 would appear to be the start of the TTC era for me and DH. I'm excited, but terrified by the great unknown which is coming my way. I hope that's normal!

I've been covertly gathering pre-conception advice from friends for a while, but I've not dared inform them of our plans this early on, so instead I'm asking all you lovely people who've hopefully got words of wisdom to share - what should we know/do before starting this journey?

jackomdj

It could take a long time or it could happen on your first go! Our eldest I was on the pill, but just started the Atkins diet and fell pregnant. Our second was the first time of trying.

You may sail through your pregnancy or you may feel ill from day one.

You may want to wait until you are 12 weeks or you may want to tell people from early on. (A very close friend lost two babies fairly early on, she said it was harder telling people the first time because they hadn't told people she was pregnant, the second time she told people she was pregnant early on)

People WILL give you advice even if you don't ask for it.

Remember it is your body, your pregnancy, your baby. Do what is right for your family unit rather than having to fit in with others/extended family.

vroombroom

You don't 'glow' in pregnancy. You get fat, you get stretchmarks, you get horrendous heartburn, you get sick morning, noon and night, you get tired and can't sleep in any comfy position, your feet swell and you go to the shop and forget what you went in for. And cry. A lot - usually over the aforementioned problems.

(Obviously not everyone )

But you certainly don't glow. Whoever invented that saying has obviously never been pregnant.

splishsplash

Start taking folic acid now. The ideal is to be taking it for three months pre-conception and for at least the first twelve weeks of pregnancy to help prevent neural tube defects. The neural tube develops before you'll get a positive pregnancy test, hence the advice is to start your folic acid the minute you come off contraception.

Also, if you go for a multivitamin, avoid vitamin A from animal sources - retinol - it can cause birth defects. Instead choose one where vitamin A is in the form of beta-carotenes - the plant sourced type - it's pretty impossible to overdose on this type.
Even if you do, you'll only turn orange, and it won't harm your baby:cool:.

chanie

Newborn babies are fairly cheap, but its the longer term that becomes more expensive:

Will you return to work at the end of your maternity leave
Can you afford to work part time, will your employer let you
Will your partners employers let them work flexibly
Who will look after the baby if you go back to work
If family, are they reliable, do they understand the level of commitment

AngelOfTheNorth

As well as folic acid, vitamin D too. And iron levels often drop during pregnancy, so now might be a good time to get on the steak. The whole process takes a huge toll on the body so it's good to prepare yourself as well as possible beforehand. Most women experience at least a few weeks of pregnancy where they don't have a huge amount of control over what they eat, it's just a question of what stays down- so nutrition can go out of the window at that time.

Otherwise, what type of stuff are you asking- ways to maximise your chances, financing, rights at work? All of the above?

Kynthia

You might conceive the first month or it might take you more than a year. It can be quite stressful when you've spent years trying not to get pregnant and then you do the deed loads and it doesn't work. You can increase your chances by understanding your cycle length, when you ovulate and what days you are most fertile. I found the app Fertility Friend quite useful for this as well as the TTC thread on this board.



Start eating healthily now, as it's good to have a store of nutrients. Plus it's good to lose weight if you need to as it will minimise how much you'll want to lose after and not being overweight is better for conceiving.

Stop buying clothes for yourself now as you won't need them while pregnant, you might be heavier for a while after and then your body shape might be different long term. So they might be a waste of money and you'll need that cash to pay for maternity clothes, which add up as what you wear mid pregnancy is different from late pregnancy due to bump size. I tried buying maternity clothes cheap off ebay but I ended up getting stuff that didn't fit right or I didn't really need. So NCT nearly new sales and Mum2Mum markets are great for picking up clothes as you can see them in person, plus these sales are fantastic for getting baby bargains.

onlyroz

You might want to get your rubella immunity checked because the vaccination you probably got at school doesn't necessarily last forever. If not immune you can get the MMR but then I think it's advised that you wait a few months before trying for a baby.

cte1111

onlyroz wrote: »

You might want to get your rubella immunity checked because the vaccination you probably got at school doesn't necessarily last forever. If not immune you can get the MMR but then I think it's advised that you wait a few months before trying for a baby.

I'd definitely agree with this. When I was pregnant with my first child, I discovered that although I'd had the rubella jab at school, I was no longer immune. I then caught a bug which gave me a rash, fortunately it wasn't rubella but it was a great cause of anxiety.

Main advice - try not to obsess about TTC, keep enjoying the rest of your life but work on building up savings just in case. This gives you more options when the baby is here.

Lara44

I'd say get your teeth cleaned as pregnancy hormones can make gums really sore! Bad dental health is linked to prem birth weirdly.

Birdie85

All good points made above (especially the stuff about not glowing! ).

If you're on the pill, you may want to come off it a few months before you start TTC as it can take a while for your body to get back to normal. It took a good 6 months for my cycles to get into any reasonable pattern.

Oh, and enjoy yourselves now while you can! Book a fabulous holiday, eat loads of the food that you won't be allowed during pregnancy and generally just try to embrace this time rather than get stressed about it. Remember that the baby won't take anything from you for the first few weeks so if you do have a night out and get drunk the week before you find out you're pregnant, you won't have caused any harm.