Where Do I Start?
Congratulations on your decision to TTC!
“Where do I start?” is a common question on the GP board. Here are the basics to get you started.
First, start by taking a prenatal vitamin (PNV) with folic acid. Your husband also should be taking a multivitamin with folic acid. Next, pick yourself up a copy (or get it from your library) of Taking Charge of Your Fertility (TCOYF). This is an excellent resource to learn about your body, cycles, and fertility. Another good resource is What to Expect Before You’re Expecting.
FertilityFriend.com (FF) is a free website where you can learn all about charting your basal body temperature (BBT). You will also learn about charting your cervical mucus (CM) and cervical position (CP). When charting you take your temperature(orally or vaginally) first thing in the morning- BEFORE you do anything. You need a special thermometer that measures to the hundredth position. Any pharmacy, Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon.com will carry these thermometers.
Charting is not for everyone and not everyone on the board charts. It is very useful to know what is going on with your body and knowing if/when you ovulate so you know when to test. Testing too early can be heartbreaking when you see that negative. Also, you may think that you are “late”, when in fact, you are not really “late”. Your cycle can be longer due to delayed ovulation. There are three common explainations for this: you ovulated later than usual, you didn’t ovulate at all and had an anovulatory cycle, or you are pregnant and just tested too soon.
One last note, if you recently quit hormonal birth control (HBC), it can take up to a year for your cycles to regulate. You need to be patient during this time. If your cycles are lasting longer than 60 days, and your HPT’s are still negative, call your doctor for an appointment to talk about your options of inducing your period. Note: Some doctors want you to wait 90 days. Check with your doctor to see what they recommend.
Many of us use a lot of acronyms on the boards. You can look under the “My Boards” heading on the far left of the page and click on Nest Glossary or Bump Glossary to learn the acronyms. You can also look under the Nest Glossary on this site which can be found at the top of the page.
To send someone a private message (PM) click on “contact” on a post of theirs. Be sure to make a “page” for them by posting their name with a “you’ve got private message” (YGPM). The nest does not have a function that alerts you to new messages. To check private messages, look to the far left again under the “My Boards” heading and click on check private messages.
“Where do I start?” is a common question on the GP board. Here are the basics to get you started.
First, start by taking a prenatal vitamin (PNV) with folic acid. Your husband also should be taking a multivitamin with folic acid. Next, pick yourself up a copy (or get it from your library) of Taking Charge of Your Fertility (TCOYF). This is an excellent resource to learn about your body, cycles, and fertility. Another good resource is What to Expect Before You’re Expecting.
FertilityFriend.com (FF) is a free website where you can learn all about charting your basal body temperature (BBT). You will also learn about charting your cervical mucus (CM) and cervical position (CP). When charting you take your temperature(orally or vaginally) first thing in the morning- BEFORE you do anything. You need a special thermometer that measures to the hundredth position. Any pharmacy, Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon.com will carry these thermometers.
Charting is not for everyone and not everyone on the board charts. It is very useful to know what is going on with your body and knowing if/when you ovulate so you know when to test. Testing too early can be heartbreaking when you see that negative. Also, you may think that you are “late”, when in fact, you are not really “late”. Your cycle can be longer due to delayed ovulation. There are three common explainations for this: you ovulated later than usual, you didn’t ovulate at all and had an anovulatory cycle, or you are pregnant and just tested too soon.
One last note, if you recently quit hormonal birth control (HBC), it can take up to a year for your cycles to regulate. You need to be patient during this time. If your cycles are lasting longer than 60 days, and your HPT’s are still negative, call your doctor for an appointment to talk about your options of inducing your period. Note: Some doctors want you to wait 90 days. Check with your doctor to see what they recommend.
Many of us use a lot of acronyms on the boards. You can look under the “My Boards” heading on the far left of the page and click on Nest Glossary or Bump Glossary to learn the acronyms. You can also look under the Nest Glossary on this site which can be found at the top of the page.
To send someone a private message (PM) click on “contact” on a post of theirs. Be sure to make a “page” for them by posting their name with a “you’ve got private message” (YGPM). The nest does not have a function that alerts you to new messages. To check private messages, look to the far left again under the “My Boards” heading and click on check private messages.