Preparing for TTC advice!

[swedengirl]

Hey All!

I have just jumped over from WTT as it seems a bit more active here and also you guys have been were I am now

I am 27 and not had any kids yet. My OH and I have decided we will start trying on March 1st 2017. I am SOOO happy to finally have a date as had a serious case of baby fever for the past 2 years but we were not in our ideal situation to have a baby and OH was not feeling ready! But now we have got everything sorted that we wanted to and he is feeling ready to try but just wants to wait for some crazy months travelling with work to be over- so March 2017 it is

But now we have a date my impatience seems to of ramped up. SO I am putting my energy into getting myself and my body in tip top shape for when we start TTC! Hopefully it will make the time quicker!

So I am starting on prenatals, will start a new exercise regime and will begin eating healthier. I am also thinking about starting to drink raspberry leaf tea as I have heard thats good?

Any other tips you guys can give me for preparing to TTC and also any ideas on if the raspberry tea is a good move or not?

Baby dust to all you lovely ladies here

 

[wintersocks1]

It sounds like you are doing everything right. I have heard good things about raspberry leaf but I have heard to get the medicinal effects you need to drink a quart of strong brewed tea a day. Just be careful if you do get pregnant, I think you are supposed to stop it once you get a positive pregnancy test. You can start again towards the end of your pregnancy to support labor.

The other nice thing to know is when you ovulate. Some people use OPK tests which test the hormone that pushes out the egg usually the day or two before you ovulate and the other thing you can do is test your waking temperature first thing in the morning. You will see a pattern of increased temperatures after you ovulate. Its may be nice to figure out in these next few months. It won't work if you are taking hormonal birth controls. Fertility Friend is a website that you can do this on. Feel free to ask questions on any of the boards, these ladies are pros.

Good luck to you!

 

[swedengirl]

Great! Thanks so much for the advice!

I actually stopped taking birth control in the summer and we switched to barrier methods. This was our first step in the getting ready process!

I actually temped for the first time last month and could see when I ovulated clearly. So it is nice to know I am ovulating! I think having a few charts of non-pregnancy charts might make it easier to deduce when I am ovulating so I do not need OPKs- or is there any other benefit to using them?

With the tea I am thinking of replacing my strong black tea with it- as then I am reducing caffeine and hopefully also boosting my uterus health! And I normally drink around 11 cups a day!

I want March to be here already- this is going to be a long wait!

 

[MindUtopia]

I would say try to be healthy and active and eat a good, nutritious diet, but otherwise, really my best advice would be to relax and enjoy life now while you're preparing, go away together, have late nights out, go eat at your favourite restaurants (you might not have the appetite once you are pregnant and you might not have the time again for a few years once you become parents), generally just relish your time together as a couple. That's what we did the first time around and it seemed to work for us.

I personally wouldn't bother with the tea. RLT is a uterine toner, so it's supposed to help you have more efficient contractions in labour. I've never heard of it being used to increase fertility. You do have to consume loads of it though to take it at medicinal levels (like a good or two pitcher a day of pure tea, not the stuff that's mixed with other things, when I was in 3rd tri with my daughter, I was taking probably 6 capsules of pure RLT and drinking about a pitcher of brewed tea a day, but that was only in preparation for labour). If you are healthy and know you are ovulating, I would assume you don't have any fertility issues, so I wouldn't mess with it in case it does happen to throw something off kilter when it's otherwise working fine.

 

[wintersocks1]

Great! Thanks so much for the advice!

I actually stopped taking birth control in the summer and we switched to barrier methods. This was our first step in the getting ready process!

I actually temped for the first time last month and could see when I ovulated clearly. So it is nice to know I am ovulating! I think having a few charts of non-pregnancy charts might make it easier to deduce when I am ovulating so I do not need OPKs- or is there any other benefit to using them?

With the tea I am thinking of replacing my strong black tea with it- as then I am reducing caffeine and hopefully also boosting my uterus health! And I normally drink around 11 cups a day!

I want March to be here already- this is going to be a long wait!

Sounds like you are doing great! Its also good to cut out most caffeine. It can reduce blood flow to your ovaries etc. Although, I have read studies that a moderate amount is ok (two cups of tea or a cup of coffee - If I remember). I have also read studies that show drinking some tea, especially green tea can increase your pregnancy rate. I know a lot of people drink green tea for ewcm.
We stopped TTC this last summer and the anticipation is hard. I agree that it can be a great time for all those adventures that you won't be able to do when baby comes. I told my husband we had to go camping 5 times before we could start ttc again- which I don't remember if we ever did get that many

 

[swedengirl]

I think that sounds like a great idea focusing on what we want to do. Maybe I'll write a list of things with the OH that we can do before we start. Hopefully that will help me enjoy the wait....

I think what you say is probably right MindUtopia- not point trying to fix something that is hopefully not broken. So maybe I'll switch my black tea to green tea instead of the raspberry leaf tea.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

 

[gwinnyblac]

good luck! as it really seems that you are ready to do everything for your future pregnancy, I suppose that there is no need to say that you should stop drinking soda and start eating healthy! and of course you should do a bit of an exercise! I am going to start doing so too before I stick with the clinic for my future treatment. Hopefully it will increase my chances.
regards

 

[swedengirl]

good luck! as it really seems that you are ready to do everything for your future pregnancy, I suppose that there is no need to say that you should stop drinking soda and start eating healthy! and of course you should do a bit of an exercise! I am going to start doing so too before I stick with the clinic for my future treatment. Hopefully it will increase my chances.
regards

Yes I don't drink soda anyway (just sparkling water- does that count?) and have started doing some more exercise!

Hope your treatment goes well and you get your BFP soon