Starting to TTC

Snarling Fox · September 2010

Hi. MH and I have been talking about this for a while and we've officially started. I'm already feeling overwhelmed without even doing much.

Had an appointment with the OB/GYN yesterday. She confirmed I'm old but healthy so I should be okay I'm 35 and just months away from 36 - just doesn't seem that old. I'm supposed to chart temperatures and/or use OPKs or just do it every other day for a month. And start taking prenatal vitamins. If nothing happens in 6 months, then come back.

I dare not bring this up to my family, they'd be supportive but if I had to hear any cracks about being old (both sisters are younger each with a kid) or anything about having to make a baby in a dish because I'm old, I might crack emotionally. Soooo, I hope you ladies don't mind if I come here for questions

- Do you have any recommendations for small sized prenatal vitamins? I bought some for the drugstore yesterday and when I opened them it looked like a bottle of baby hippos. I have no idea how I'm going to choke one of them down. (cutting them just looks like twice the torture with jagged edges)

- I've been reading TCOYF, any other book/reading recommendations?

- and please please tell me that 35 is not too old

Thank you

redshoegirl · September 2010

How exciting!

Yeah, prenatals are pretty big - I don't know if there are any out there that are smaller than usual? If you can't find any, you could always take a combination of other pills (like a multivitamin + folic acid) to simulate a prenatal - there would be more pills, but they'd be smaller.

TCOYF is definitely the best book for conceiving, and I found using Fertility Friend to chart with super helpful (much better than a paper and pen). They have a free account which gives you everything you need, but I got sucked in by the upgraded account - it's not that expensive and I liked the little extras it gave. Oh, and for other reading recommendations, Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy is one of the absolute best books for when you do get pregnant.

35 isn't too old! I believe Lori (Married2MrWright) was 35 when she got pregnant with Libby. Smile

lelekay · September 2010

I don't have much advice except TCOYF, which you already have. And.....we actually tried every night (as opposed to every other) for about 2 weeks the month we conceived. The other months we were unsuccessful it was every other, then I figured, why not try every night, and it worked!

Anyway, I just wanted to say that 35 is totally not too old. I'm 33, and will probably be 36 when we try again, so I hope not anyway!

SanHawaii08 · September 2010

+1 to what lisa said - TCOYF and FF were great! Mayo Clinic book is really good. I'm starting a few others too, will let you know how those go. and 35 is definitely not too old Smile my mom got pg with my sister at 35 too - and I'm pretty sure she wasn't even charting Smile

for prenatals, i take these - nature made prenatal + dha - b/c while they're not small, they're not huge either, and they're softgels, which go down a bit more smoothly. they also include some omega-3 (which reminds me, i still need to look into robbi's note about dha...)

gl, and have fun!! let us know if you have any other questions Smile

mrspresley · September 2010

you are not old! they just have you try for 6 months before coming back instead of making you wait a full year... TCOYF is the best book i could recommend. i used fertilityfriend.com (free) for my charting and it was very helpful. i'd chart and use OPKs if you want the best odds of conceiving. all of this can be very stressful and nerve wracking, so know that what you are feeling is normal. for prenatals, they are all pretty big but i found that prenate DHA (avail by rx only from your ob) are smooth capsules that are easier to swallow than the others and they don't leave an after taste of fish or make your burps taste fishy!! you should ask your ob for samples of prenatals if she didn't give them to you already

feel free to ask all the Q's you want, that's what we are here for

GL!

Snarling Fox · September 2010

Thank you all for the info and encouragement. I'm just feeling a little late to the game especially since everytime I look at one of the national boards and there are lots saying, they MUST have their babies before 35.

I'll definitely check out the Mayo book and FF. MH is a huge spreadsheet nerd so I think I'll let him create something for me while using FF for the charting so I can compare. Thermometer in the mouth and peeing in a cup in the morning is going to take some getting used to.

And redshoegirl... multivitamin plus folic acid - thank you, that was exactly what I was hoping to hear. I was totally eyeballing the gummy multivitamins for adults and with the exception of folic acid, they seem similar. I just didn't know if there was something special in the prenatal vitamins. Sadly, after taking the first one today, I am now looking for anything else with food coloring and fragrance - it was pretty nasty smelling.

redshoegirl · September 2010

Snarling Fox:
And redshoegirl... multivitamin plus folic acid - thank you, that was exactly what I was hoping to hear. I was totally eyeballing the gummy multivitamins for adults and with the exception of folic acid, they seem similar. I just didn't know if there was something special in the prenatal vitamins. Sadly, after taking the first one today, I am now looking for anything else with food coloring and fragrance - it was pretty nasty smelling.

In my book on having multiples, the doctor who wrote it actually recommends taking separate vitamins and minerals instead of a regular prenatal (can't remember why - I think she thought the dosages were better or something).

I didn't because I'm lazy lol - just took a prenatal and extra iron tablets - but it's absolutely fine if that's what you want to do. Smile Just read the back of the prenatals and make sure that you're getting everything that's in them - especially enough folic acid. I think most prenatals are basically multivitamins with extra fish oil and folic acid anyway - someone correct me if I'm wrong!

MrsNicole&Brian808 · September 2010

How exciting!

I take the same prenatal as Sandra, which was recommended by my OB/GYN. I haven't had any issues with them, whatsoever. IMO, they don't have a nasty taste or smell and, like Sandra said, they go down pretty easy because they're softgels.

I also recommend TCOYF and FF. OPKs were a huge help for me because I wasn't experiencing "textbook" CM patterns. In fact, I have a coupon code for https://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com that's good for the month of September if you're interested. Just let me know and I'll dig it up for you.

inamra · September 2010

SanHawaii08:
for prenatals, i take these - nature made prenatal + dha - b/c while they're not small, they're not huge either, and they're softgels, which go down a bit more smoothly. they also include some omega-3 (which reminds me, i still need to look into robbi's note about dha...)
gl, and have fun!! let us know if you have any other questions

I got these too be couldn't take them until now for bfing since I was too nauseous to take anything with fish oil for dha when pg. I got some expensive gnc prenatals and took expecta dha separately and that was the only way I could get the pills down. The gnc were not that small but smaller than nature made since you have to take two a day instead of just one. Expecta wasn't tiny either but way smaller and easier to swallow since it was softgel. GL ttcing!

inamra · September 2010

SanHawaii08:
for prenatals, i take these - nature made prenatal + dha - b/c while they're not small, they're not huge either, and they're softgels, which go down a bit more smoothly. they also include some omega-3 (which reminds me, i still need to look into robbi's note about dha...)
gl, and have fun!! let us know if you have any other questions

I got these too be couldn't take them until now for bfing since I was too nauseous to take anything with fish oil for dha when pg. I got some expensive gnc prenatals and took expecta dha separately and that was the only way I could get the pills down. The gnc were not that small but smaller than nature made since you have to take two a day instead of just one. Expecta wasn't tiny either but way smaller and easier to swallow since it was softgel. GL ttcing!

SanHawaii08 · September 2010

oh yeah - the softgels don't smell either. but my old prenatals (that i was taking before nicole recommended the nature made!) were *nasty*. huge horse pills that stank and often made me gag Stick out tongue

Married2MrWright · September 2010

Hooray!

Firstly, 35 is NOT too old...I was 34 when I got PG with Libby, but 35 by the time I delivered her...that said, I did chart like a mad woman and also used a Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor, which I chalk up to our quick success in TTC (two cycles). I blogged my entire TTC and PG at www.pregosaur.com as Divasaur if you want to read more about it.

There is a board here called TTC after 35 and I recommend you post there rather than the other national boards which can make you feel like your ovaries are dusty if you're over the age of 30! The ladies are super supportive and you'll soon realize that you're not at all alone! It's linked on the column on the left of this page.

Good idea not to spill the beans to your friends and family about TTC...in retrospect I wish we had kept it to ourselves. Too much pressure and too much advice. I do say that charting helped us time things and I plan to do that again once we're ready to TTC#2 (probably this time next year).

Besides TCOYF I recommend signing up with www.fertilityfriend.com and taking their free tutorials. Also, you can use their software to chart. I paid for 6 months of the premium membership and am glad that I did. Once I get my PPAF back I plan to use them again to track things.

As for the PNVs, I have no advice. I can swallow horse pills just fine. I LOL'd about your "baby hippos" comment...too funny! Maybe ask your OB for a recommendation, I seem to remember seeing small PNVs advertised in my OBs office waiting room. I take the Walgreen's version of the One-A-Day PNV with the extra DHA pills that the other ladies have mentioned.

MrsIH · September 2010

Just wanted to say good luck! Just go with the flow and it will happen for you. It can become stressful at times but like I said if you *try* and go with the flow and let things happen, they will

We used OPK's and they were great, bought them at saveontests.com They helped a lot and we got PG our 5th month. It was so much easier to figure out when I was O'ing. We opted not to chart because I didn't want to obsess over it too much. Please keep us posted.

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