How can you increase your chances of conceiving?

**spandangley** · 10-09-2008, 12:08pm

Besides the obvious?

I remember reading something about grapefruit juice,a nd a certain medication last time round....

and what about supplements?

**lisnic** · 10-09-2008, 12:13pm

spands grapefruit juice is meant to help cm that is all

your using your monitor now though so hopefully you will have a more definite idea of when you ov. maybe you didnt quite get when you ovd quite right which is why you thought af was a few days late? maybe it wasnt you just infact ovd few days later iyswim

i would see how the monitor goes this month but wouldnt worry about pills yet

i know the feeling too well you want to do anything and everything that will help - i fell quick both times without any pills or potions just gluging grapefruit juice and using opks and dtd on the right days.

**claireh** · 10-09-2008, 12:15pm

Spands grapefruit juice is supposed to help you produced lots of CM. I think you are only supposed to drink it in the first part of your cycle.

The next think that I know of is to make sure that there are lots of swimmers waiting for the egg. If you know when you usually ov it is really important to make sure that you dtd every second day leading up to ov and then for three consequitive days once you get a positive opk (this is based on the Deanna plan).

The month I fell pg we used Preseed. This is supposed to make it easier for the swimmers to get to the egg as it mimics cm. If you would like my preseed pm me and I will bung it in the post to you. I think I have four tubes. They are all in sealed packets. Which reminds me there is a book that I promised to send to Sunshine.

We also tried to limit dtd to night time just before bed to try to keep the swimmers in.

I also gave up coffee in May as I read that caffeine can reduce your fertility. I cut down to decaf and then I stopped that too.

That is all that I can think of just now.

I hope your BFP is not too far away.

**sparkliness** · 10-09-2008, 12:36pm

Have you thought about your DH's fertility?

I think him taking zinc, cutting down on alcohol and caffeine amongst other things can help.

**spandangley** · 10-09-2008, 12:38pm

linsic, I think the med was something like vicks or something which helped cm.... but yes, its 5 months now and it's just toooooo long, over half a pregnancy gone, even OH is getting really affected by it now. He hates all the technical side of things, and wishes it was just natural, but it's taking too long!

Im doing the Clearblue trial now claire, so Im using the FM. It tells me my high days and then peak day/days. Why DTD only every other night on high days rather than every night?

I hate grapefruit juice... might see if I can find some breakfast juice instead... that's oj & grapefruit isnt it?

Thanks for your replies

**spandangley** · 10-09-2008, 12:40pm

Originally Posted by sparkliness

Have you thought about your DH's fertility?

I think him taking zinc, cutting down on alcohol and caffeine amongst other things can help.

Sorry sparkliness, cross posts there... well it's crossed our minds but seeing as we conceived so easily last time we thought there wouldn't be an issue there. He does drink - coffee and alchahol, and smokes too so I guess none of those help him

will have words tonight - thanks

**claireh** · 10-09-2008, 12:45pm

Ooooh I heard that moderate coffee intake was supposed to be good for mens swimmers.

In the zita west book she doesn't advise abstaining completely from things like alcohol but she does advocate diet low in processed foods. She definitely believes that diet has lots to do with fertility.

For A I just bought lots of nuts and Kiwi's that are supposed to be good for mens swimmers. I just encouraged him to eat them.

The every second night thing leading up to ov is advocated I think just to make it easier to stick to. I think as long as you are leaving 24hr between dtd it should be fine.

**Mrs B** · 10-09-2008, 12:46pm

I think it's an ingredient in cough medicine that's also meant to help your cm - guafesin or something like that. I used preseed each time I got pg, but I produce very little cm. You only need to worry about it if you are a bit dry - sorry if personal or tmi!

Agree about getting your DH to cut back on booze, although I asked a gynae nurse about this and she said moderate drinking probably doesn't have a negative effect.

And dtd every other day is meant to give his swimmers a chance to build up again, otherwise you may not get enough to give some of them a chance to swim all the way. But again, 2nd time I got pg we dtd every day for a week.

Please don't get disheartened though; I know how easy it is to feel like that but 6 months is the average time it takes so you're certainly not in the struggling bracket.

**lisnic** · 10-09-2008, 12:52pm

ah spands

hope the monitor really helps

what cd you on? im cd4 and just started using monitor this cycle too

mrs b is right its the cough medicine stuff that i think you talking about - be careful as there are other ingredients in some cough medicines which can dry cm up. i think beechams is ok. i read the boxes but never tried it

and yep its the every other night thing as claireh says so the swimmers are better quality and build up more

its so dissheartening when you get af especially when you were getting symptoms etc

have some of this and just think positive for this cycle

maybe you missed ov a bit and so the monitor telling you peak may help

**Katiekipper** · 10-09-2008, 12:56pm

For me, what finally did get my pg was homoeopathy and pre-seed. I'm sure that it was no coincidence that I fell pg the same month I started both of those!
This is my wonderful homoeopath's website if anyone is interested.
http://www.moonlightessence.co.uk/