Brand new to trying to get pregnant!

[CaitlinReu]

Reading through the forum I see a lot of you are trying for baby #2, or have been trying for months and months now.  Best of luck to all of you!  I wish I knew more about it so I could say something more insightful.
But I was wondering if any of you have some general tips to someone who JUST started trying for baby #1?  I am so brand new to this and there is an overwhelming amount of info out there...I don't even know where to start!
I'm 25 and very healthy (so says my doc) and my man is 36 and a recovering alcoholic (2 years sober).  I know that his previous condition lowers the odds of conception, and that worries me.  So...any advice?  Any good books?  What can I do and what can he do as we begin our journey down this long road?  Helping words would be much appreciated by the scared little newbie.

[thefebygirl]

hi.. did you take a pap test. you can go to any helth clinic, or to gyn for a pap smear test. they might take few more prenatal exams. you can aslo take prenatal vitamins contains specially folic acid. (i think most of the prenatals are good when you are planning). you can aslo use Pre seed lubricant. reserch on this lub on google. you will find out more. you can get them at cvs pharm for $19.99. I am aslo ttc, for the past 4 months with no luck. so last month we used pre seed lub. and still waiting for the result. it might take few more months to some people. but i do have a specail on that pre seed. and the most important thing is NO STRESS. so dont worry, you will see your surprise very soon. Good Luck and Sprinkle a bunch of baby Dust on ya :)

[CaitlinReu]

Thanks to both of you!  Started on the vitamins already.  We're working on it.

[kamil119]

I think your odds are very good, you're young and his sperm is probably fine, they're resistant little suckers. First have fun with ttc, there's no need to worry, you'll be preggo in no time!

[renny320]

You're young so your odds are really good so my number one suggestion for you is to eat healthy and get plenty of exercise and sleep. Cutting down on caffiene and alcohol is also a good idea. Also, if you haven't already, you should start taking prenatal vitamins. You should be getting plenty of folic acid months before you get pregnant. Then of course you probably read that you should time intercourse as close to your ovulation as possible. Some women use opks to tell when they ovulate and they do work for me, but you might want to see if you can get pregnant without them first because you might not even need them. The very first posting on this forum is about Deana's sperm meets egg plan. It is a pretty good guideline for ttc.

If you want to put your mind at ease about your man's odds, he could always have a semen analysis done. That test is much easier than any of the tests we women go through for infertility. Also, I have read some women post that their men who have problems have had success with vitamins made special for improving sperm motility.

Good luck! I hope you are successful very soon.