TTC Resources & Recommendations

Let's talk baby making! Or "TTC" - trying to conceive, for those of you in the baby forums. When we first decided to start trying, it's like my body heard me speak the words aloud and it went absolutely haywire. I won't get into the nitty gritty details, but it resulted in a lot of frustrated tears, tons of research and eventually - understanding and peace with the process. Since I'm not one to sit idly by waiting for something to happen, I thought I'd share some things I'm doing in the meantime to help things along and to also spread some knowledge for anyone reading who is thinking about TTC!

Prenatal Vitamins

I started taking Nature Made prenatals initially, but they made me really burpy and queasy for hours after taking them, even with food and water in my stomach. I would be sitting at my desk just staring at the wall concentrating on not throwing up while my coworkers were talking to me . . . not fun. Considering my mom was sick as a dog with all three of her pregnancies, I figure I'll have plenty of time to to deal with that down the road. I spoke to my expecting friends and they all recommended Rainbow Light Prenatal One. Although they're a little bigger in pill size, I love that they're completely vegan and they don't make me sick at all. I highly recommend them!

Nutrition

Along the same vein - what I'm eating/drinking. I'm still eating a plant-based diet with seafood thrown in about once/week. I have no idea moving forward if I'll need to/want to start eating meat again but I'm just going to listen to my body and as always, consult with my doctor to make sure I'm getting everything I need. Right now, I feel great eating this way. My blood sugar feels stable, I've lost a little weight and my stamina is way up.

I'm trying to cut back on coffee because I know once I am pregnant I can only have 200 mg or 2 small cups/day but since I'm an all or nothing person, I have a feeling I'd rather have none at all than such a small amount. What can I say -- the java runs through my veins! As for alcohol, I'm avoiding drinking during my fertile window and after (when I could get pregnant). Honestly, I don't miss it when I know there could be a little nugget in there to protect ;)

Reading Resources

This book was recommended to me by a friend who had been trying for a while (and is now pregnant, wahoo!). I can't say enough good things about it -- from the science behind the FAM method to the reassurance it gave me in regards to trusting your body's cues, I love it!

Tracking & Ovulation Predictor Kits 

After my pre-conception appointment, my doctor ordered blood tests (everything came back normal, thank goodness) and told me to track everything for 3 months, including using an ovulation predictor kit. I went with the ClearBlue Digital. Like a pregnancy test, you pee on the stick and it reads your hormone levels, indicating whether you're ovulating (smiley face) or not (circle). I do this daily along with tracking my basal body temperature, which also rises right before I'm ovulating. It's become part of my morning routine and it's actually kind of fun to watch the pattern....nerd alert.

Holistic Aids

Although I'm all for modern medicine, I'm also a little (?) psychotic about what goes in my body. If there's a more holistic and natural approach to something, you can bet I'm all over it. And thankfully, my friends share the same sentiment so a lot of the following are suggestions from them.

Maca root is known to help balance hormones and increase fertility and stamina. Although I enjoyed the taste of it and it definitely gave me a boost of energy, it also caused cramping and spotting that made me stop taking it. I could see taking it after pregnancy to help regulate everything but for right now, I made the decision to stop taking it.

A slightly less invasive hormone regulator -- Progessence Plus (you guys know I love my aromatherapy). A while back when I was going off all my medicine, I used Valor as an aid to help with my anxiety. It worked wonders and I attribute it to helping me be med-free today. PP has a nice scent, but it's hard to tell if it's helping with anything yet. Either way, I'm using it daily and enjoying it, if only for the pleasant scent!

I debated sharing any of this, but I think it will be fun to look back on down the road and honestly, if it helps anyone who is thinking about or actively TTC then it's done it's job.  With that being said, this is probably going to be one of the last TTC-related topics I write about until some good news comes along and we're ready to share. Right now we're just enjoying the flow of life and knowing that when it happens, it will be right when it is supposed to!