New and completely lost!

DarcieK83 · October 2011

Hi everyone!

Joined the bump about a month ago, but this is my first post. My husband of almost 5 years and I decided to start thinking about starting a family. I just finished my birth control pills yesterday and I've been taking prenatal vitamins. Other than that, I am COMPLETELY lost and out of my element. I never planned on having any kids, so I don't know anything! lol My sister is about 9 weeks preggo with her first, so she has given me a few tips. I am definitely freaking out, and I'm not even pregnant yet! This website is great, but pretty overwhelming at the same time. Charting? Ovulation cycles? Basal Body Temperature? I had no idea getting pregnant was so scientific. LOL I'm hoping I can learn a lot from this site so I am more prepared if I do get pregnant. Any suggestions on where to start??? I'm hoping to be pregnant sometime next year, so I'm not in a huge rush.....but I feel like I need to catch up on everything.

jessican08 · October 2011

Welcome and good luck! TTC is what you make of it...you don't HAVE to chart or use ovulation predictor kits (OPKs). You can just wait and see what happens now that you're off birth control. If your cycles are fairly regular, chances are you're ovulating normally and if you and your DH are having sex every 2-3 days, you'll eventually hit your fertile window.

A lot of ladies do chart though because it helps you understand what your body is doing during your cycle. It will help pinpoint ovulation, and when you can consider your period officially "late". OPKs can help determine when your body is getting ready to ovulate, but only charting your basal body temperature (or monitoring through bloodwork) will tell you if/when you actually ovulate.

It can take your body a while to regulate itself now that you're off the pill so don't stress if your cycles are wonky for a little while. Check out the Trying to Get Pregnant board, lurk, and read the "newbie" link at the top in green. GL!

Eliesc2 · October 2011

Fertility Friend is a great resource to use when first TTC. It gives some great info on charting and how to do all that. Also a lot of ladies recommend reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Good luck to you!

AshDahlia · October 2011

Yep, Taking Charge of Your Fertility is good, as well as What to Expect Before You're Expecting. Also, go to the Trying to Get pregnant board and click on the new to TTGP link--good newbie info. Welcome and GL!