What have you changed since you decided to TTC?

[yummymummy2hannah]

It's been a hard week for me. Since the day we DTD without a condom I did these changes:
1. Gave up caffeine :irked:
2. Gave up artificial sweetners
3. Quit my Zoloft
4. Started taking some midwife approved homeopathic remedies for my stress induced high blood pressure (garlic, ACV, and hawthorn)
5. Started taking my prenatal vitamins again (same bottle from my last pregnancy :( )
6. Started Yoga for stress and blood pressure
7. Started loosely doing the Brewer's Pregnancy Diet
8. Prayed and prayed.

I had a placenta abrubtion that caused me to loose my son, so that is why I'm trying to avoid high bp and stress since those can cause increased blood flow to the placenta and make my risk a bit higher.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd love to hear what you are all doing....maybe there is something I should be doing and forgot. I need all the help I can get.

[yummymummy2hannah]

Sigh. *******

[vanessa36]

You know, I should probably have skipped that major coffee this morning. I'm glad I read this because I sort of forgot that we ttc just a few days ago! So I'll get back on track tomorrow with my decaf.

I started taking my vitamins a week after my m/c. I don't take a prenatal because the excess iron makes me sick, so I take a women's multi and extra folic acid.

Started exercising the morning we dtd.

Working on getting more calcium from natural sources.

Trying to breathe and relax. Hard, because I've started having random but pretty regular muscle fasciculations and I have no idea why. I'll be seeing a doctor this week for that.

Vanessa

[Katica]

I don`t know anything about placental abrubtion but high bp and caffeine truly don`t mix. It`s wonderful that you are taking such good care of yourself.

We are not TTC yet this month but I also haven`t done anything to get healthier either. I have not been taking any vitamins and haven`t given up coffee either. I do quit once I get pregnant again but until then I`m just too weak..:o The only thing that I`m doing different this time is regular exercise not much but more than before.. Terrible, I know..

[jess_paez]

i also had a placental abruption. :( I loved all your ideas for this time around, I have a few ideas for you as well. I included no sex for next time, no orgasms, (because it can cause premature labor) ...that may not be a problem for you, but it is for me and i want to be careful, no smoking of course, and taking it very easyyyy, I won't really be doing much of anything next time. Drink lots of water, stay in the ac if it's hot out, laying on left side with a pregnancy pillow helps promote blood flow to the placenta. Hope that helps a little :)

[yummymummy2hannah]

i also had a placental abruption. :( I loved all your ideas for this time around, I have a few ideas for you as well. I included no sex for next time, no orgasms, (because it can cause premature labor) ...that may not be a problem for you, but it is for me and i want to be careful, no smoking of course, and taking it very easyyyy, I won't really be doing much of anything next time. Drink lots of water, stay in the ac if it's hot out, laying on left side with a pregnancy pillow helps promote blood flow to the placenta. Hope that helps a little :)
I'm so glad you posted. Those are great things to do! I have thought about the pelvic rest (no sex or O) through the pregnancy. I will do what it takes to help have a living baby in 2009. It's sooo hard to be on pelvic rest though. :(
I will also do ZERO heavy lifting. I think I will limit my lifting to 5-10lbs even if I am having no problems.

[Ms. Cellaneous]

The two biggies for me are:
1. No caffeine
2. No alcohol
... I've been surprised that giving up my beloved diet coke was harder than giving up wine ... guess I'm more of a caffeine freak and less of a drunkard than I thought! :wink
Other things I do, more sporadically:
3. Eat/drink full-fat dairy... I've read that low-fat dairy products can be associated with infertility, so I've been transitioning from skim to full-fat milk. Full-fat tastes weird, though, when you're used to skim, so I'm up to 1-2 per cent now.
4. Eating organic/avoiding artificial foods -- good to do for reasons beyond just pregnancy. But oh I do love my junk food, so that's a work in progress.
5. Actively trying to be calm & loving. Again, I should do this for other reasons, but I've had a lot of stress recently and I try to just keep myself calm and be like an oasis... trying to make myself a hospitable place for a little one to grow. That probably sounds hokey, but hey, that's me...

Taking prenatals of course, but it feels like I've been doing that forever.

What can you tell me about the Brewer's pregnancy diet? I looked it up online, seems like a lot of eggs!

[yummymummy2hannah]

What can you tell me about the Brewer's pregnancy diet? I looked it up online, seems like a lot of eggs! Yes, it is a lot of eggs. I have heard that he recommends so many eggs since they are cheap and almost anyone likes them. I have heard if you don't like eggs you can swap it with other proteins. They key is that you are eating LOTS of protein and veggies and fruits and milk.
Many people swear for the Brewer's Pregnancy diet since it can help with loads of things like Pregnancy Hypertension, Gestational Diabetes, and general pregnancy health. I have heard that it also helps to prevent pre term labor and pregnancy complications. I figure I need all the help I can get and my Midwife friend swears by it and recommends it to every pregnant woman and especially those with a history of loss or pregnancy complications. :thumb

[SarahDC]

Great thread - I have to start making changes next week too - should O in about a week. It's a little difficult emotionally to think about going back to my "pregnancy lifestyle", just because it was so difficult right after the miscarriage when I didn't have to do all that stuff anymore...

Anyhow, I am already on prenatals (you can start these ASAP when TTC, 6 months before is good), exercising regularly again, will stop caffeine this weekend, start drinking more water, eating lots of veggies & fruits, avoiding all the stuff on the long list :), REALLY paying attention to dealing with stress well and not letting things get to me.

[Ms. Cellaneous]

Yes, it is a lot of eggs. I have heard that he recommends so many eggs since they are cheap and almost anyone likes them. I have heard if you don't like eggs you can swap it with other proteins. They key is that you are eating LOTS of protein and veggies and fruits and milk.
Many people swear for the Brewer's Pregnancy diet since it can help with loads of things like Pregnancy Hypertension, Gestational Diabetes, and general pregnancy health. I have heard that it also helps to prevent pre term labor and pregnancy complications. I figure I need all the help I can get and my Midwife friend swears by it and recommends it to every pregnant woman and especially those with a history of loss or pregnancy complications. :thumb

Thanks yummymummy2hannah! I figure I got nothin' to lose at this point, bring on the eggs... I will definitely check it out.
Er... next week that is... AF just arrived so I'm binging on Diet Coke & candy :(

[ann_of_loxley]

Ive added omega 3 to the mix.
I dont drink coffee or eat artificial sweeteners or anything like that....I do everything I am supposed to do and still I had a m/c.
But then I read omega 3 can greatly reduce the risk and I know my risk is small for having another m/c but I am not naive enough to think it wont happen to me this time...so omega 3 it is.

[babybeemama]

I have been reading a book: Fertility Foods. It has been very helpful and I highly recommend it.

I started acupuncture for the first time a month after my son died. (I was 5 months pregnant.) The acupuncture has helped my cycles become more regular and I am very hopeful I will be pregnant again soon. I prefer natural remedies but I am considering trying clomid.

When I do become pregnant I plan on continuing acupuncture.

[threadbey]

i also had a placental abruption. :( I loved all your ideas for this time around, I have a few ideas for you as well. I included no sex for next time, no orgasms, (because it can cause premature labor)

I am so sorry for your losses. I try to tell myself things are "safe" after 12 weeks, but I know it's not true. :( That's interesting about no orgasms. I hadn't heard that before. I remember being pretty ticked off that I never o'd after the 1st trimester with my healthy full term son, though. :eyesroll I guess it's just something I have to put up with. At least I can tell myself it does some good now.

Yes, it is a lot of eggs. I have heard that he recommends so many eggs since they are cheap and almost anyone likes them. I have heard if you don't like eggs you can swap it with other proteins. They key is that you are eating LOTS of protein and veggies and fruits and milk.

I'm not a good one for diets, but I was very careful to get plenty of protein while I was pregnant. I was a vegetarian at one point in my life and still wasn't often eating meat when I got pg the first time, but my midwives have you do a protein count of your diet for three days and my numbers were never high enough on the days I didn't eat meat, no matter how much dairy and legumes and eggs I thought I was eating. I hate to say it because I wanted to be a vegetarian for so many reasons, but I feel much healthier when I eat meat every day (usually chicken and I try to get organic esp. when I go for beef). And my morning sickness this time was much more manageable (now I'm just scared that was only because this pregnancy wasn't hanging on).

I was actually exercising a lot more this year than I did before my first pg. And I felt really healthy. I still feel healthy. But I think I will scale back my exercise when I know I am pg again. It isn't logical, but I worry that I overdid it this time. I'm just afraid of losing some of my fitness while I sit around "protecting" my pg the first trimester. :gloomy:

[crazyrunningmama]

I am trying to scale down my weight a bit. I had a m/c in August, I was pg as a result of IVF and we plan to do a frozen embryo transfer (FET) in the next couple of months. Having a lower BMI might help?

My accupunturist said that caffeine is bad for fertility but that decaf coffee is also not great because the volitile oils in the coffee are bad (?) Never heard of that before, but I am off coffee completely.

[Sanguine]

Threadbey, it's interesting to hear you talk about protein & meat. I just miscarried a week ago today (nowhere near ready to ttc yet), and I lost a lot of blood, so I've been eating way more meat than usual to try to build up my iron & protein. The weird thing is, my body seems to be really craving it. I usually only eat meat once a month or so, but I'm starting to wonder if I just need to eat more of it. I think I'll be eating meat daily (thankfully we have an organic farm up the road) as I recover and definitely during the next pregnancy.

Also cutting back to one cup of tea a day--even though we won't be trying for a while, I might as well get the withdrawal over with.