Getting There

[whovian21]

Hello all!  I am quite new to the forum experience and have never done this before, but I am trying out something new.  I have recently married a man who has full custody of his 2 yr. old son. The little boy is the smartest child I've ever met, adorable, so sweet, and has adapted to the circumstances with flying colors.  Right now we are trying to add to the family.  We've been doing everything we can think of, from unprotected sex to diet change but nothing has happened.  I've been reading online and have been quite the variety of solutions, but still not quite sure about what to do.  Any suggestions? Any help is appreciated!

[Jaimee]

  Welcome to MDC!

My advice is to start charting!  Pick up a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler and a basal body thermometer at your local drug store.  Charting will allow you to see if/when you're ovulating, how fertile your cervical fluid is, and how long your luteal phase is.  It will help you pinpoint your most fertile days to maximize your chances of conceiving.  It will also help you discover any problems you might be having with your cycle that could be helped with supplements or other lifestyle changes.  In addition, you will always know about when you ovulated so there will not be any mystery about when to expect your period and when to take a test.

Once you get a few cycles under your belt you'll have a much better idea what's going on and if you continue to experience issues you'll have information to give to your fertility doctor. 

You can set up a free account at www.fertilityfriend.com to log your temps, cervical fluid, etc. and it's an easy way to share your chart on forums like this so that we can help you decipher anything confusing.   You can also join the other threads in this forum for women trying to conceive and those in the "two week wait" to gain support and tips.

Here's a site to help you with all the acronyms you'll be seeing as you start to post more: http://www.mothering.com/community/wiki/abbreviations-and-acronyms