Please share all tips for TTC naturally

[Anonymous]

I bought some COQ10 and I am taking mutivitamins. I am considering getting those ovulation predictors. Please share your wisdom with me. What are the other things people are doing (besides having sex of course I'm in my late 30s so the clock is a tickin'

[Anonymous]

Acupuncture
Fish oil supplements
Meditate & Yoga
High veggie, organic diet

[Anonymous]

Temperature charting

[Anonymous]

Ovulation predictor kits or Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor (expensive!)
Pre-seed
Meditation
Temping

[Anonymous]

1) Time it right. The OPKs can work very well for that.

Temperature charting is great for understanding your cycle better. But it won't likely help you time it right in the first few months as you establish your pattern. Or if you're like me, you may have a fairly erratic pattern and never be able to predict ovulation by temping alone. It's best at telling you after the fact.

2) Abstain from or cut back on caffiene, especially during the two week wait.

3) If you use lubricant, make sure it's sperm friendly. Even saliva is not.

4) Relax, relax, relax and try not to overthink it all (another reason against temping IMO)

Good luck!

I almost hate to add this, but if you think there's an issue, don't wait long to see a specialist. It can take months just to get a consult and then it may take a while to get things underway.

[Anonymous]

Know your cervical mucus, and take guanfacine when you are ovulating (five day fertile period). My 30 something SIL got pregnant on first try with that one because it thins your cervical mucus, presumably making it easier for the little swimmers. Make sure you drink lots of water, too.

I think you can see a specialist after age 35 when you've had 6 months of failed attempts, but I'm sure there are other women on here who can verify that number.

[Anonymous]

Purchase and read "Taking Charge of Your Fertility"

Chart your temp / CM daily (I used the software that was included in the book)

Follow the steps in the book

I conceived 3 after age 35 even with very irregular cycles b/c I knew when I was ovulating through charting.

[Anonymous]

Charting!!!
Ovulation predictor tests
Robutissin (or generic) and grapefruit juice during the week leading up to ovulation (even if you have good eggwhite CM, both of these will still help!)
Prenatal vitamin
CoQ10 if you are AMA or suspect egg quality issues; the studies show you need 400-800mg/day to have an effect on egg quality, and it can take several months to see an improvement
"Sperm Meets Egg Plan" (SMEP) - intercourse timing plan, just Google it.

[Anonymous]

For those of you who have recommended CoQ10, where do you buy it? My understanding is that you need to have the higher quality type for it to help, which at 400 mg/day would cost me about $55/month based on what I just paid at Whole Foods.

[Anonymous]

This is helpful-thank you. Have a few questions..

1.) What is an OPK?
2.) What is the 2 week wait you refer to?
3.) Do all the more aggressive methods increase chances of twins or triplets (e.g. clomid, IVF) I ask because I have a child with SN and while we could handle another child, withour situation I don't want to do anything to increase chances of multiple births. The expense alone would do us in, let alone not having the energy to deal with my child with SN. If that means we aren't able to have another we will cope.

To 9:50..I got some COQ10 at WFM too. You could search online for better costs.

[Anonymous]

OPK is ovulation predictor kit - I (not PP) found the Clearblue smiley face reliable though expensive. Two week wait is the wait between ovulation time and missed period/ability to test.

Sex every other day from day 5-6 of cycle works for a lot of people if OPK's don't but it can get tiring...

[Anonymous]

This is helpful-thank you. Have a few questions..

1.) What is an OPK?
2.) What is the 2 week wait you refer to?
3.) Do all the more aggressive methods increase chances of twins or triplets (e.g. clomid, IVF) I ask because I have a child with SN and while we could handle another child, withour situation I don't want to do anything to increase chances of multiple births. The expense alone would do us in, let alone not having the energy to deal with my child with SN. If that means we aren't able to have another we will cope.

To 9:50..I got some COQ10 at WFM too. You could search online for better costs.

OPK = ovulation predictor kit, or the test sticks or strips that help you detect LH surge

2week wait (2WW) is the 2 wks after ovulation until you get your period. This is the luteal phase of your cycle and is btw about 11-16 days. It also doesn't vary by more than a day or two from one cycle to the next, so if you start charting and determine that your LP is 12 days, you should expect it to be close to that length every cycle. The pre-ovulatory phase of the cycle (follicular phase), however, can vary a lot more. Women who have long cycles have a long follicular phase, and for the same woman, it can also vary from month to month for various reasons, unlike the LP, which remains relatively constant. That's another benefit of charting - if you know when you've ovulated, you know that your period is due in ~2wks, where if you're not charting and your cycle is just long, you won't know if your period is truly late (ie, may be pregnant) or if you just ovulated later than usual.

"Aggressive methods." Well, any ovarian stimulation drugs coupled with IUI or timed intercourse *can* increase the risk of multiples. It depends on how you respond to the stimulation drugs. That is why monitoring is so important with clomid and injectibles - to determine how many mature follicles there are at trigger. Some women don't ovulate on their own and clomid helps them to produce one egg, so there's not much risk of multiples there. Other women produce a lot of follicles on clomid and thus the risk is higher. IVF, however, gives you more control in that you decide how many embryos to put back. Some people elect to transfer only one while others do 2 or 3. Depends on the circumstances and would be a decision you'd make together with your RE.

[Anonymous]

try putting a heating pad on your belly. a chinese medicine specialist suggested it to me as a way of increasing bloodflow to your uterus/ovaries. Hard to know if it works but it's free and feels good. The specialist who suggested it to me does research with Dr Rosenswaks at Cornell so he is not a total quack.