Sooo we've decided to try for a baby..

GalwayDub2

Just decided last week, so I've come off the pill. I was on Yasmin for 8 years, I've kept a record of what date my last period was and what date I last took the pill. Has anyone any tips?

Nevyn

Start taking folic acid supplements now, look at improving your diet generally as in enough fruit and veg and less processed foods the better and have fun trying

Khannie

We found the pee on a stick ovulation kits useful.

happyposter

before you even get started, buy Toni Wechslers book 'taking charge of your fertility'.... wish i read it when I was a teenager, empowering stuff, and has every thing you could ever wish to know about your cycle and getting the conception business right!!! if you're gonna use ovulation predictor kits, buy in bulk online, you'll save a fortune!
Good luck

happyposter

oh, and since i'm sending you on a spending spree, the final addition to your kit should be a basal body thermometer.
You could be lucky and just hit the nail on the head without all this monitering, but after 4 months of trusting mother nature, i've taken matters into my own now empowered hands, and i'm delighted to be in the driving seat, and i'm feeling confident in all my new knowledge that i was actually just missing the boat here and there the other months!!
Best book ever! for all women no matter what they are trying to achieve fertilitywise!

Das Kitty

I came off Yasmin at the start of January after 9 years.

I knew my cycle would be all over the place but I wasn't prepared for the length of cycle. My first was 47 days, Second was 61, I got pregnant on my third (in May) but it would have been 60+ again.

Started tracking my basal temp, but really I found it giving me the spike some days after ovulation so too late (probably a pill thing).

What worked for me was checking my cervical mucus consistency.

Hope that helps a bit!

GalwayDub2

Thanks for all the info everyone.

The 1st day of my last period was Aug 17th, so doesnt that mean I would most likely ovulate on Monday 31st Aug?

I'm a bit confused as I've been on yasmin for so long, obviously my period used to come in the days I wasnt taking it, so I dont know what is meant by a 28 day/39 day etc period? I probably sound stupid, but its so long since I had a period without taking the pill.

Thanks for the suggestion of the book, I'll look out for that at the weekend, I'd love to buy pregnancy books, but I'm not going to drive myself demented reading about being pregnant it until it happens!

Oooh and I started taking folic acid the minute I came off the pill, I probably should have been taking it for longer really.

happyposter

dont count on a 14 day luteal phase, mine is 11... they vary, but the average is 14. Only a concern if its shorter than 10 days. Up to 16 i think is ok as well?
The book above also isn't about pregnancy...doesn't mention babies or pregnancy, which i think is nice... but a bible in terms of getting you in the know about your cycle and giving yourself the best chance of actually concieving.
Thats my hard sell over!!!
Let me know tho if you get it and if you agree?
Best of luck.
I've been trying since march but this is my first month that I've done all the proper monitering, and I'm sure now in retrospect after my big read, that we just missed the optimum times the other times, but we were exactly right this month, so fingers and toes crossed. cycles a little irregular after pill 28 -34 days and short luteal phase 11 days, but we were perfect this month (religiously monitering) so i'm hoping it all worked?!

matrixroyal

we found the kits useful and also the first month we tried doing it in the mornings ( rather than last thing at night ) we hit the jackpot.

good luck, do the right things and then try to stay relaxed about it,

GalwayDub2

I've my fingers, toes AND eyes crossed for you! When will you know? How long more till your period is due?

Is this your first baby youre trying for? Isnt it mental........we try for years NOT to get pregnant, then all of a sudden its a rush to get pregnant as quick as we can. I'm not the most patient person in the world, so in the back of my mind I'm expecting it to happen really quickly, but I dont want to think about it, in case it never happens.

happyposter

Got my period on the 13th, definitly know i ovulated on the 30th due to obsessive monitering, did the bold thing on all the few days before and on that day so we covered all bases
... so now based on a 11-14 day luteal phase, the earliest i'll know is wednesday week the 9th... maybe not until the 12th tho? (this is my first month really obsessing btw, have been leaving it to nature before now)

Of course, even if we got everything right, which i reckon we did, and everything is all right, i think there is only a 1 in 4 chance every cycle, so I'm not going to get worried any time soon if this month isn't the month --- trying to rationalise my optimism here, and actually find this getting to know my cycle quite interesting to be honest, wish i'd always known all this stuff!

Das Kitty

First month off the pill you could ovulate any time, literally, there's no way of knowing up front how long it will be. Cycle length is from the first day of your period to the day before your next one. I ovulated day 33 first cycle, 47 second cycle and 48 the third one.

It was really annoying the first cycle not knowing when I was ovulating or when my period would come. Testing when I assumed I was a week late for my period and getting a negative was hard. Turns out I hadn't even ovulated at that stage.

The next cycle was a bit better as I was temp monitoring and knew when I had ovulated (missed the window to concieve that time) so I knew when to expect my period and not get my hopes up.

Cervical fluid monitoring worked a treat the third cycle as it lets you know before ovulation that it's about to happen.

GalwayDub2

Can I get the ovulation kits and thermometer in boots?

What is cervical mucus monitoring.....................................:eek:

Nevyn

Pretty much what is says, the normal natural mucus which every woman secrets from her cervix changes over the course of your cycle, it is possible to learn where you are in your cycle by the changes in the mucus.

happyposter

got the bb thermometer, book, and opk and pregnancy tests online on amazon. bargain. All arrived within a week, and has saved me a fortune. Was getting sick of get 2 for 20 digi tests from the chemist every month.
Realised the simple strips are just as effective and also of the highly sensitive variety and a bargain price.
I got the whole lot ... a bit carried away of course, x50 opk and x25 preg tests with the rest i think for maybe 60 or 70.
God i'm a fanatic now i think about it...........

DetectivFoxtrot

GalwayDub2 wrote: »

.... so I dont know what is meant by a 28 day/39 day etc period? I probably sound stupid, but its so long since I had a period without taking the pill.

there's nothing stupid about your questions, ttc can be perplexing during the early stages

see linky below where you can get lot of info. I'd also recommend fertilityriend.com - it's brilliant for charting and forecasting ovulation.


http://www.ovulation-calculator.com/topics/predicting-ovulation

CathyMoran

It is easy to get obsessed with getting pregnant (I know I did at times) - remember sex is for fun also. I decided to use those ovulation predictors but only used one pack over a few months (wrong I know), by chance I found mu ovulation date and it was totally different to what I expected). I would agree in buying pregnancy tests cheeper in bulk, the urge to test is very strong. Best wishes.