Getting Pregnant... Or Not!

Oh, and here's some proof for plugged noses (I didn't realize I'd forgotten one)/

http://www.entusa.com/smoking.htm[/ur] [url]http://familydoctor.org/221.xml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking

False. Once again, my experience with this smoking family (and other smoking families) versus non smoking families clearly shows the affects of smoking and second-hand smoke. Not all symptoms have been thoroughly researched, as it takes time. I managed to find, however, several sources for my claims. I think this justifies my previous statements, as what I described has had research done in the favour of my observations.

 

Just to let you know, IdentityCrisis, your first link doesn't work.... although your second one is working, and I find it interesting.
When I was young, I lived in a house with two chain smokers, and now I live with one. I was born with badly underdeveloped lungs, as I was born early, and that already brought on asthma, but I know living in this house has only made it ten times worse. And I also have hearing problems, and my little lisp never completely went away, I still can't pronouce my damn S's right most of the time. (Which makes me seem stupid, because my name is *S*arah!). This is probably all partly genetics, but probably not completely... I never thought of second-hand smoke affecting things like that... It's fasinating

 

Oh, well thanks for that flowerchild. I tried it and it works for me. Maybe try copying and pasting the addy into the address bar in your browser?

 

I would just like to say that I totally REGRET posting on this forum as all I seem to have been given is critisism.

I came on the forum for ADVICE therefore feel that you should realise that im willing to make any changes necessary to ensure a healthy baby. I simply wanted advice on what the best approaches to take to ensure a healthy pregnancy & baby, I feel some of the comments are a little harsh.

 

first off i found that taking charge of your fertility sucks! i used it and followed it to a t...nothing...


i am in the same boat as u sweetie...ive been trying for 6 months now with no luck...alot of people i know have been going through the same thing but one by one they end up prego and here i am not pregnant still..it has dampened my life really bad and my husband just keeps telling me oh hunny dont worry it will happen...yeah im ready to give up already..so i feel your pain..in fact i lay awake crying every night and usually cry myself to sleep

 

For healthy baby: start watching diet and lifestyle now. By the time you're even aware you're pregnant, it can be too late to prevent severe problems, so you're absolutely righ on: no smoking, no drinking for you, and since you're thinking pregnancy, watch fish intake for mercury (less of an issue for adults, but for the embryo/fetus it's more important). And be sure to get adequate folic acid.

In terms of overall fertility, a healthier lifestyle will suit both of you well--balanced diet, etc. And if it goes on a while longer without conceiving, you can check with a doctor. Sometimes things are random--my parents tried for 15 years before I was born and there wasn't anything wrong with their fertility.

Hopefully things will progress along though! Good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice! I've already been to see my doctor and he has done a pre-pregnancy blood test to check all of my hormone levels etc and also put me on folic acid.

I will be quitting smoking in the new year as is my partner and ive also started to do alot more walking for the extra excercise, my diet is fairly healthy anyway but im looking into improving that further.

Fingers & Toes crossed! x

 

Aww I wish you all the luck with trying, dont give up. As they say - Good things come to those who wait!

Jo x

 

Certain people on this forum seem to be against ANYONE trying to concieve. It isn't only you who has faced negativity. I just got my period and am overly sensitive today to things like this. I've been trying for 8 months now. I need to positive vibes, everyone on hipforums is against me having a child for some reason (like it's any of their business)


That being said, of course you should stop smoking/drinking/ect before trying to concieve but if you fell pregnant today, your baby wouldn't die from you smoking. (Flame me, people) DO try, I know it's difficult. My husband is trying to quit smoking too.

 

It's not that we're criticising you for having a baby. You asked if you thought smoking and drinking would decrease the chances of you having a baby. I personally found that if you're worried about those lifestyle choices affecting the chances of you having a baby, and are willing to put them away and phase them out if it increases the chances, it should be MORE important for your to realize that it will HARM your baby. Like, when I read that, I thought, "How is this woman concerned about the chances of having a baby when she should be more concerned about the health risks these lifestyle choices will have on her infant?"

Like I said before, I'm compassionate for people who are trying to have a baby, and for people who are pregnant, but there is only so much compassion you can have for the adult. When the safety of the potential child gets involved, compassion for the parent is obsolete.

 

That's really sad.
Fairplay to you wanting a family and all the best! Personally, I think a lot of people on the forums can be very pretentious know-it-alls. They think their way is the only effective way of conceiving/bringing up children etc. It's not. People have successfully brought up children for thousands of years. So, they must have been doing something right.
Keep your chin up, don't take what people say personally.

 

Actually, people have been bringing their children up more and more unhealthy and it is causing life-threatening results (such as morbid obesity).

 

In some places, but not everywhere. Go to Mainland Europe... Go to Asia... obesity is blatently a Western issue, particularly in the US, Canada and the UK. These places do not represent the entire world.

 

No, they don't. But I don't live there, do I? I'm talking about issues locally. You know, relevant issues to this topic.

 

Actually, the miscarraige and SIDS rates for babies whose mothers smoke is much higher. So, yeah, it just might. Your comment is not accurate.

From the Centers for Disease Control.

The womyn on this forum are, for the most part, very knowlegable about pregnancy and childbirth and infant and child care. If someone posts a "I want to do this, although I know it isn't healthy, so please tell me what I want to hear" post, these posts are usually recieved with KNOWLEGABLE information. No, we aren't "Know it alls" but many of us KNOW about pregnancy, childbirth and childcare.

I was going to say more, but I think we need to go beyond just what we think we "want to hear" and look at truth. YES, smoking is bad, for YOU, your reproductive organs and any baby you might conceive. In fact, in most studies, tobacco is more dangerous to fertility and pregnancy and babies than marijuana. I certainly wouldn't recommend marijuana to a womyn trying to conceive, or one who is pregnant, and the same goes for tobacco, but double.

 

I won't rehash all the stop smoking and drinking now advice except to say that smoking and drinking in any amount are associated with increased complications in pregnancy,

however, if you're trying to conceive, my first few questions would be do you know when you're fertile and how often are you having sex?

basically you can expect to ovulate 14 days before your next period comes. for a 28 day cycle that would mean ovulation on d14. for a 35 day cycle that would mean ovulation on d21. that's a big difference especially if you have a 35 day cycle and aim to have lots of sex round d14. so first thing? work out your average cycle length then subtract 14 to get the day you can expect to ovulate on average.

next thing would be to aim to have sex on the week surrounding ovulation. let's assume 33 day cycle so ovulation would be on 19. day 1 would be first day you bleed. so you would want to have sex especially between days 16 and 22. now if you can do this everyday then great. however as a lot of couples find out, doing this month after month is not always easy. an alternative would be to have sex on day 16/18/20/22. that's 4 times in a week. 80-90% of couples will conceive within a year of this. if you still don't then see your family doctor.

 

Thanks for the ovulation advice.

I registered on a website which has helped me work out my ovulation date to 6th Jan (Yest) but I worked it out to 4th Jan (Thurs). We've been at it like rabbits for the past week so hoping this month is the month, fingers crossed!

I have also given up smoking and drinking, as has my partner. Finding it hard but stop smoking aids are helping as recommended by my doc.

Will keep you informed!

 

What about the women who have shorter or longer luteal phases (ovulation - period)?
Please do not tell women to EXPECT to ovulate 14 days before their period.
One month it could be 8 days and the next it could be 18 days! Some women only have ONE fertile day a cycle, so timing is extremely important.

Happy_chick get 'Taking Charge of Your Fertility' by Toni Weschler. Not only will it try to help you to get pregnant, you'll be amazed at what our bodies can do.

(BTW - I've been trying to get pregnant for years and for the past year I know exactly when I ovulated through charting my cycles. Don't give up hope )

 

Actually, only the first half of your cycle varies. Once you've ovulated, it will be a set number of days before your period. Ovulation can differ though, the second half is only variable by a day or so.

 

As someone who doesn't know much about pregnancy but is a former smoker, I'll throw my 2 cents in here.

I highly recommend taking up some hobby to keep your hands busy. Learn to knit or crochet (maybe work on a baby blanket?). Whatever. The nicotine fits were nothing compared to the psychological need to have my hands occupied, at least for me. And that's generally the biggest reason people wind up gaining so much weight when they quit -- they substitute food for cigarettes to satisfy the hand-to-mouth action. And keep low fat foods around when you just have to satisfy that habit -- celery sticks, carrots, pretzels, and blow-pops were good for me. My dad used twizzlers, and gained 30 pounds in no time!

Not drinking should also help -- I still get the craving to smoke when I go out drinking.

And, finally, avoiding smokey old hangouts will help -- I'm not suggesting cutting off all of your old friends, but just the smell of cigarette smoke used to make me crave one... And even just having a cup of decaf coffee while sitting in the smokey pub where you used to go for a beer is likely to trigger old habits.

Good luck with the quitting and with getting prego!