Decision made

Well we decided last night that we are going to start trying at the end of novemeber for baby number two..Rhiannon will be 7.5mths old and we want a smallish age gap (15-17mths)

My question is what should i be doing to prepare myself for getting pregnant.

I did nothing last time...but when we decided to start trying i feel pregnant straight away.

I am going to pick up some folic acid tablets and some multivits...can any recommend some good ones.

Any other suggestions would be great

kaz

oh yes the guilt - i still get that, went to plunket today and realised that i haven't even filled in any of Ayja's plunket book - she isnt' doing half of the things Paris did at that age and i already know we treat her differently too despite trying not to. I second what Deb said.. Paris was about 15 mths when i got to the stage of having M/S and being sooooo tired - and it's hard cos you can't just sleep when you want.. the good thing is though - having them close together means that at least #1 will still be having 2 sleeps a day hopefully when baby is born.. so that helps a bit... I lovemy afternoons when both girls now go down for a nap at the same time, Paris usually wakes first though so we get some time together by ourselves which is also nice.

With the folic acid etc, ask at the chemist and they can usualy point you in the right direction.. i think i used apo-folic. there's a heap of different preg vits depending on who you ask you'll get different recommendations.. I think i used thompsons ones.

I second what everyone said, the guilts are horrible!!
I hated the feeling of being too tired and sick to entertain Ella in the first and final 3 months of my pregnancy. She is such a fun and active kid that I really felt I was shortchanging her when all I could do was lie on the couch and pathetically try to enthuse about whatever she was doing.
Definitely try to make the most of the time and energy you have now if you are prone to m/s, for lots of quality playtime and trips out and about before it kicks in!
Agree with Emma about the vitamins too. Lot of people reccomended elevit to me but $1 per tablet was just too much for our budget. My Dr took a look at the contents of the thompsons multi I was taking in conjunction with prescribed folic acid and said I was getting just as much good stuff as with Elevit anyway, just a little less iron.
Best of luck with TTC, how exciting!!

Yes Elevit is more expensive but it is the only one that is a registered medicine so is the only one that has had clinical trials and has a decent dose of folic acid etc in it. Also it does have iron which isnt always suitable (I have had to stop taking it as my iron levels are too high!) The other companies are usually fine but make sure you are taking 0.8mg (or 800mcg) of folic acid as normal vitamin companies arent allowed to put any more than around 0.3mg in by law. Also make sure you get a reputable companies brand otherwise there is guarantee what you get in each tablet is the same. Cheapest isnt always just as good.

i had the guilts, but i really love the age gap with my oldest and second daughter.... just over 17 months. my second was a bit of a suprise, we werent trying. but werent not either. i would really reccomend the age gap though! its great!!!!   goodluck with trying hope it happens fast.   

Well the decision has defintely been made and we are going to start trying for number two the middle of october...i am taking Kent away for the weekend for his birthday...so we are going to start trying from that weekend.

I have started taking normal mulitvits with folic acid in them plus extra iron tablets...must do a blood test to find out what my levels are hmmmm righty ho, off i go to get them done...should have done them 3 days ago...opps

Good luck

Just remember that normal multivitamins will not have enough folic acid so you are better off getting that separately from a pharmacy. They are pretty cheap, about $10 for 120 tablets...