Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Pregnant?
So, I stopped birth control about 5 months ago. We've decided this month that we're ready for a baby when it happens! Yay! The only thing is, I need many questions answered quickly. I don't know where to go to get the best information... My doctor gave me some papers that arrived in the mail today, but they don't explain as much as I want to know. The pregnancy tests say they tell you 5 days before a missed period. This means, you're wasting your money if you try them mid-way through a cycle? I'm lost and don't want my even closest of girlfriends to know that we're really thinking about an addition 
). We'd like to keep it a secret or surprise.
I'm nervous because we haven't been careful this month. With holiday parties and friends coming to see us and all, I realized that this may be more complicated than I thought. Our friends bring wine over and it makes me nervous. I don't know what to avoid or when to stop scooping the kitty litter everyday and let DH take over... Help! Where is the best place to research and find the information I need? Does anyone recommend a book for me?
Thanks!!!
Re: Pregnant?
The book that always seems to be recommend is Taking Control of Your Fertility. It is on my To Be Read list. So I can't say I think it is wonderful, but I know many others do!
You can also head over the NC Bump board to ask some questions. Most of the ladies over there were once regulars here and are very nice!!!
GL!! I hope you are able to get things figured out so you can enjoy the holidays!!!
i'm kind of in the same situation as you right now. i'm trying to be PG-free up until ... well after my birthday party which is this weekend LOL. but we left for vacation last week and i was already a week late. worrying and worrying. then finally took a test there. i knew i wasn't but just had to get that peace of mind. then AF shows up the day we get home.
i went from NEVER having peed on a stick, to doing it 3 times in 3 months. i thought my cycles would be pretty regular, but since i went off BC in August, it's gone from 25 days all the way to 42 days.
in my opinion, i wait until AF is late and then get a test. it's just for peace of mind. get the cheap ones. if you're activly tracking your ovulation and TTC, then i'd test more often.
Have you been pretty regular since coming off of BC? I also second reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It was very helpful for me. Also Fertilityfriend.com has tutorials on charting to pinpoint ovulation which are helpful as well (and a little shorter).
Are you late yet? The "up to 5 days" is very misleading because there's a lot of variation in peoples' cycles. Implanation happens 7-10 days after ovulation and If your luteal phase (time after ovulation before your period) is only 10 days (whereas with some people it could be up to 16), the test wouldn't be able to tell that early.
I hope that wasn't super confusing. If you have any specific questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them for you.
Y'all are awesome! I will purchase Taking Charge of Your Fertility this week-TY. I really need to get an understanding of this ovulation-timing thing. It's foreign to me. It's not time for AF yet, so I'm not late, but I was feeling a little different. Like KatieBride, I have just been sitting on the edge of my seat telling my friends I'm going to stick to water because the air's so dry. (you were funny, btw!) I broke down and had one small margarita at La Cocina last night.
If I was reading what I'm posting I'd probably advise myself to slow down and take it one thing at a time. I bet that crossed your mind too... I never read the directions before I start trying to do it myself.
) I pull a lamp out of the box and begin to assemble it. Directions? What directions? This is serious though and there's no rush at all. I want to make sure to prepare the healthy way. I have been taking pre-natal vitamins, but not for 6 months straight. On and off for 6 months but steady over the past month and a half. I'm excited to learn about mommyhood! Sounds weird though!
Thanks for the advice and for lending an ear! I will make sure to post quick when we're successful!!
Katie-use protection until this weekend!! Happy Birthday!
I never read Taking Charge of Your Fertility but I know it's highly recommended and it's one of the preferred reads on this board and The Bump. I did the free tutorial on Fertility Friend .com and LOVED it. I also used their site to chart.
I was a regular pee on a stick psychopath (not saying you are, just saying I could have probably saved enough to put my baby through college had I not bought so many damn pregnancy tests) and I always tested ALL THE TIME. 2 1/2 years of TTC and a period that is never on time equate to a lot of money on pee sticks. Didn't get my positive until I was "very late"... then again, as the previous posters have mentioned, it all depends on when you ovulate. You could have just ovulated later and not be late at all. That's why charting is so nifty, because (if you're lucky... some people have screwy temps... like me lol) you can usually tell when you ovulate that way... and then you know for sure if you're late. So that's my best advice... try to stay calm about it (yeah right, easier said than done, I know) because if you are or you aren't, you'll know for sure within a couple weeks. One thing that I would also mention... if you are wanting to stay unpregnant for a certain amount of times, pick up some condoms and use those until the holidays are over (not drinking SUCKS... not that I'm complaining about being pregnant... but I would love some Jack Daniels and egg nog right about now lol). If you or your DH don't like condoms, you can always make something kinky out of it... pick up ribbed colored ones or get some crazy awesome lube w/ heating-cooling capabilities... usually DH's don't mind condoms if they're mixed with something sexy :P.
GL and let us know how everything goes!
I would start charting your cycles so you have an idea of what is going on. I found the Fertility Friend website a good one to use. If you are not charting it is going to be hard to tell when you ovulated. If you do not know when you ovulated you will not really know if you are late. You could end up wasting a lot of home pregnancy tests this way.
Charting will also help you with timing if you want to really start trying.
I think it is fine to drink while TTC unless your doctor has told you otherwise. Depending on how much you normally drink, you might want to cut back, but a glass of wine now and then should not be a problem.
good luck
i'm trying to keep it cool for awhile as far as reading too much and getting really scientific. i don't want books to make me go crazy and start over analyzing things. i don't really want instructions, but having a basic knowledge is good.
FWIW, I drank while I was TTC. When I say I drank, I mean I had a glass of wine or 2 from time to time (since that's all I really drink anyway). Everyone has different views on this, so do what you are comfy with, but the fetus doesn't even develop a placenta until you are about 6 weeks along, so prior to that it is not sharing your blood, or what you consume.
GL!