The Conception Diaries by Caroline - Entry 1

Hi, my name’s Caroline and I am a Beebies Baby Store ambassador as well as a blogger over at Cakes, Corks and Kids.  I recently ‘came out’ about trying to conceive (you can read the initial post here) and the lovely Ami from Beebies asked if I would write a monthly column about our experiences on this seemingly never ending journey. I jumped at the chance and so here goes nothing….

We’re entering our seventh cycle now and officially in the minority. In general, a fertile couple has a good chance of getting pregnant within a year, as out of 100 couples TTC (trying to conceive) naturally:

• 20 will conceive within one month

•70 will conceive within six months

•85 will conceive within one year

•90 will conceive within 18 months

•95 will conceive within two years

Source:http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a1813/how-long-will-it-take-to-get-pregnant#ixzz3CFOwaKe5

I know they’re just stats and making a baby should be a joy but it’s that feeling of being left on the shelf, being the last one chosen in PE and wondering am I actually good enough? Is my body still capable? What am I doing wrong?  Not a day goes by where I don’t ponder all these thoughts and it gets tiresome and it gets boring, not just for me but for my husband too.

I read online about secondary infertility, and although this would be my third child, the principles the same. You’ve had one or two kids, fell pregnant quickly and easily and now you’re struggling. Apparently it’s more common than not being able to conceive at all, I’m guessing that’s because second, third, fourth children come along as we get older and therefore our fertility starts to decline naturally. But I’m only 30, and my partner is 36.  We know of many, many couples that have had kids well into their 30’s and 40’s so I’m kind of reluctant to believe our age is the problem but as the months pass I just imagine all these little sperm getting old, wrinkly and dying. 

A good friend of ours, who recently had a beautiful rainbow baby, recommended a reproductive reflexologist.  I looked her up and loved the sound of it and what she might be able to tell me about my body and my cycle.  I think next month I might book in.  Have any of you used a reflexologist during TTC and found it to be beneficial?

We’ve changed a number of things over the last few weeks in terms of ‘trying’, firstly we changed….well you know, how we do it.  I’ve also changed the pre-natal vitamin I take, I used to use Seven Seas and I’ve now switched to Pregnacare. We’ve used Conceive Plus Gel a couple of times so I’m living in hope that we might get the right combination and make ourselves the perfect storm so to speak.  I need to bear in mind that there are a long list of things which need to happen in order to conceive – hitting the nail on the head is quite a feat when you actually think about it.  Finally, we’ve made a few decisions at home that have made me 100% happier but I’ll be blogging about all that over on my own blog this Friday.

So, here we go again!