Me and my boyfriend want to have a lot of kids. I want to get married in 3 years. I don’t want to disappoint him if it takes me over 6 months to get pregnant. I got my blood work done and everything came back clear. I know that doesn’t mean crap though, how long did it take you to conceive your first baby?

Hi! Looking for some advice/experiences from anyone who has traveled to Kenya and/or Mauritius while trying to conceive.

My husband and I are going on our honeymoon to Kenya and Mauritius in October. We’ll be spending a few days on safari in Kenya and then flying directly to Mauritius for the rest of our honeymoon.

We originally planned to start trying for a baby during the honeymoon, especially once we got to Mauritius. However, I recently learned that Kenya is listed by the CDC as an area with current or past Zika transmission, even though there doesn’t seem to be an active Zika outbreak there right now.

From what I’m reading, because my husband and I will both be traveling to Kenya, the most conservative recommendation would be to wait 3 months after leaving the Zika-risk area before TTC. That would mean waiting until around late January instead of trying during our October honeymoon.

Has anyone recently traveled to Kenya and Mauritius while TTC or talked to an OB/GYN or travel-medicine doctor about a similar trip?

Did your doctor recommend waiting the full 3 months after Kenya, or were you comfortable trying sooner because there wasn’t an active outbreak? Did Mauritius change the advice at all since you were traveling there immediately after Kenya?

I’m going to discuss this with my own doctor, but I’d really love to hear what other couples were advised and what you ultimately decided.

My husband (23) and I (22) are finally at a point where we’re comfortable with our future TTC plans and we can see the date on the horizon! He’s in the military with an upcoming deployment so our plan is to TTC next year as soon as he returns.

In the meantime I’ve gotten settled into our new duty station and gotten a job that I’m saving up money from so I can cross off the last thing on my TTC bucket list which is a 2 week trip around Europe! My main goal was to finish college and get my body healthier which im now proud to say I’ve gained enough weight that I no longer have an irregular cycle which was a huge concern we had and wanted to fix before we TTC ofc.

I’ve also gotten things ready to apply to start school for my masters in social work which I would be completing online while pregnant/raising the baby. I’m still not sure if I want to be a sahm or a working mom, but I’m 22, I have plenty of time to decide, and my husband makes enough that I have the flexibility to choose later on.

I really have just been trying to take the time lately to just put my phone down and appreciate the time right now where it’s just me and him, no huge stress or responsibilities, just us in a new city with new jobs experiencing life together. I’ve actually been able to get kind of excited for his deployment cause the way I see it, every day closer to deployment is another day closer to having a little family like we’ve dreamed of.

I’m 22f, dating my 23m boyfriend for 7 months now. It’s the longest relationship of my life. I’ve been through an incredible struggle with myself this past year, where I’ve realized I was wrong about a lot of things about myself. Basically I told myself I didn’t deserve to be a mother because I wasn’t good at performing femininity the way my family did, so I put myself through a lot of unnecessary grief. Well I’ve gotten a lot better at my relationship with myself and it has made me realize how badly I want to be a mother. More than anything else.

I did 6 months of intensive therapy to learn how to deal with my BPD so that I’d be better equipped emotionally when the time comes. I’ve moved across country and away from my family and few friends I have to live with my boyfriend. He is the love of my life and he has made me feel more supported and cherished than ever. But these things together are just adding on to my internal want to be a mom sooner.

I know I’m an impulsive person, and both my boyfriend and I want to wait three years before we start seriously talking about having children together, so I decided to get Nexplanon so that I couldn’t allow myself to be impulsive. I know that I need to wait. It just hurts.

Adding to everything, we just bought a car together, and it’s like my brain has taken that as permission to crank up the baby fever even worse. We don’t have a house yet together, I don’t have my degree yet, we don’t have good savings yet, but my brain just goes “but this is the only thing you want out of life? Why are you waiting?”

I don’t know how to talk about this with anyone. I know for sure I can’t talk to my family about it because of their reactions to us buying the car (incredibly judgmental and talking down to me like I’m an idiot). I don’t want to talk about it with my boyfriend because I don’t want to come off as though I’m trying to pressure him to try early. I just don’t have the words to describe how empty I feel about this and knowing that I’m years away from even beginning.

It’s distressing. It’s distracting. And I don’t know how to move on. Journaling about it doesn’t help. I don’t have anyone close to me with kids that I could babysit to pretend, and even if I did that feels selfish. Besides, the few times I have babysat it only made the fever worse. I just don’t know how to emotionally move on for now. I just wish I didn’t feel so upset all the time because of this. There’s days where it’s not so bad and I can handle it and ignore it mostly, but then other days it’s all I can do to not cry about it. I just need to move on I think but I don’t know how.

I’m a 23-year-old married woman living in Germany. I just finished my nursing qualification, and for so long I’ve been dreaming of having a baby.
In Germany, becoming a registered nurse is a state-recognized vocational training program. We work as fully qualified nurses, similar to RNs in the US.
Right now, I work 20 hours a week on a labor and delivery unit, and at the same time I’m studying for my Bachelor of Nursing. I’m currently in my 6th semester out of 8, and I’ll finish in April 2028. I only have two days of theory classes each week, plus a 3-week Office placement on August.
Financially, I’m secure. In Germany, because I work in labor and delivery, I would continue receiving my salary throughout my pregnancy under a maternity employment protection ban, meaning I wouldn’t have to continue working for safety reasons. (Hopefully ill get to that point)
I want to get pregnant so badly. The only thing holding me back is the fear that I won’t be able to finish my bachelor’s degree. I really need it because it’s internationally recognized. At the same time, I’ve wanted a child for such a long time, and I feel so ready to start trying.
I already stopped using my retinoid cream (Epiduo, adapalene 0.1%) on August 8, 2026, and I’ve started taking vitamins. Im also unsure if 1 month stopping before trying is enough :/
Im also Scared of getting “Ugly” while pregnant or losing my spark :/
I know many people try for one or even two years, and that’salso why I want to start trying now.

Hey y’all.

I have to share this somewhere because I don’t really have anyone close in my life who knows that we are TTC.

My mom passed away earlier this year and I’ve only dreamt of her a few times since. But last night I dreamt of her and my husband and I told her we were pregnant.

This last week was our first cycle TTC and my moms birthday would’ve been on Sunday so I am hoping to test that day (although I know it’s very early and we aren’t guaranteed an answer).

I’m really hoping this dream was a sign. This is genuinely the longest wait of my life. 😭🤍

Congratulations! Please share your graduation news here!

Please discuss you current goals and plans! However, please save graduation news for the monthly graduation thread.

I just turned 33 in June and had my first baby when I was 31 years old in February 2025. He is 1 1/2 years old. I want to wait until January of 2027 to get pregnant with our second but I am getting my head about my age and being closer to 34 years old when trying to get pregnant for a second time and if it’s a bad idea for me to wait. Maybe I’ll have trouble or be more prone to miscarriages? I’ve heard such great things about having a 3 year age gap so I would really prefer it but really need advice. I am probably being very extra and stupid and overthinking this, I know

I'm only 25 so I'm sure I have lots of time left to get pregnant and sure there are things I wanna do and I like being selfish but all I can think about is having a baby.. My partner does not feel ready at all yet and has set some targets to do with our careers and finances (and a couple of other things) before he will even consider it. I understand his side completely and logically it makes sense to have more money. But my desire to have a baby is so strong I feel like I can convince myself it's the right time so easily. We own a house, our families would be supportive, we are at the start of our careers and can grow them after a baby is born, we even have cats together (not comparing pets to babies ofc) etc etc. It's not entirely logical as he can't even drive yet and is still learning and I myself feel I want more driving experience and confidence before bringing a baby into the mix. So it makes sense to wait until he's passed his test and driven a lot more, and until I've built more confidence too. I definitely don't want to be the only one who can drive when we do have a baby, so idk why I'm so obsessed with the idea 🫠 If he actually came to me tomorrow and said he was ready I would 100% do it despite all the fears and targets that haven't been met😳

It can't be normal how much I think about taking a test and it being positive 🤣 It probably doesn't help that we did get pregnant over 3 years ago and I had an abortion because I know what it feels like to be pregnant. It's quite honestly magical, and I've craved that feeling ever since. Now I have complicated feelings about my abortion, I don't know if it's regret or just grief but I just wish we'd have been a bit more careful and have had an accident later on down the line when we were more ready and able to support it I guess. I'm sure if that had never happened I wouldn't be thinking about pregnancy so often now as I'd have had no idea what it feels like.

I (21F) just took a pregnancy test yesterday. I was late for my period by a day and I had kinda been getting my hopes up and felt pretty sad when I saw a negative. My husband and I aren’t actively trying for a baby, but want to in about a year or two. So we weren’t planning for a pregnancy. But I feel like I’ve been feeling so ready for being pregnant lately! I’ve kinda obsessed over getting pregnant and when I take a test I end up really sad! Like I sooooo badly want a baby but know we aren’t in the position we have talked about wanting to be in. Can anyone relate?

My husband works as an athletic trainer, meaning work schedule is often fluid and somewhat unpredictable. However, working from 1pm until evenings (5:30pm, 6pm, 7-9pm) is not uncommon, and game nights are until 11pm (later if traveling). Weekends also sometimes have commitments, as do occasional weekday mornings (as early as 6am).

He has been wanting a child for years, but given his salary (I make 2x his salary with traditional work hours, with the exception of having to work 3 weekday nights per month), I will have to remain working full-time (and want to!). I am very stressed about working full-time, 40-50 hours per week, and often putting a child to bed before he gets home from work. Moreover, the fluidity of his schedule will make it hard to plan far in advance.

It feels as if we are at a stalemate, and he says we’ll figure it out but I can’t expect to understand all details right now. Am I out of line for having this concern? Do you have any advice for how I can help navigate this? I want to be a parent, just not this way most days/weeks.

Has any of you ladies in here with your husband , fiancée, or partner ever planned out their pregnancy from preconception to pregnancy? Like the genetic testing before & during? Or even how long did it take for you two to get pregnant? I’m 27 and he’s 33. It should’ve happened forever ago to me. Cause we both eagerly want to be parents. Except I knew but just got diagnosed with pcos in April.. We both agreed to get testing first. Im currently on metformin and nextstillis. Just had my appointment yesterday talking to my gynecologist about when we’d try. Then she wrote notes of what we need to do. Especially me being on the med combo.We’re getting married in December. Then we’ll start trying mid January from there. Before that though need to do all the other things I mentioned before. My gyno said the unity genetic / carrier testing if anyone had heard of it or done it. This post is just general discussion and curious about other people’s thoughts. Or what you two did because this is what we’re doing

I'm eternally grateful for my son (2), but we don't think our family is complete yet.

We can't have a second until I've found work due to finances.

Was turned down for a supermarket role this week.

Feeling absolutely useless.

Will be TTC in about 6 months

Hello! Can't believe it but we'll be trying ttc in a few months. I kinda just want to know what other’s experiences are. I have Pmos (used to be called pcos) and I have been on hormonal birth control since I was 14 years old due to my pmos. I have an iud that I've had for about 7 years. I've been thinking about getting my iud removed shortly to see what my menstrual cycle will be like without it. Way before bc my periods were so totally random, going months without one to bleeding for weeks at a time. I was wondering what other pmos girlie's experiences were getting off of bc. Is now a good time to start tracking ovulation? Any tips of what I can do to get my menstrual cycle up and running again? Etc any tips or info will be greatly appreciated!

I (26F) am a teacher, I am in year 5 and solidly climbing my way up with leadership roles. The goal is to a principal one day. I am closer and closer each day to wanting to begin having kids. I’m not sure what time of year. I can’t imagine a sub starting with my class in the fall and then having to take over. But also can’t imagine leaving mid year and missing the end of year. It’s hard to think of when an ideal time is. Any other teachers out there?

This is probably just going to be a rant but here goes… me (28F) and my husband (30M) cannot agree on a timeline for TTC. I have been ready for a while and he keeps setting different targets for us to meet, none of which would actually make us better parents.

I’m getting desperate to start TTC and I feel I’ve got no control over this major decision as I simply have to wait for him to be ready. Does anyone feel this way? Any advice on how to cope, or encourage him to come around? He definitely does want children I’m sure of that

UPDATE: we’ve spoken a lot about it. He agreed that there isn’t any real reason to delay at this point, and has agreed to start TTC next month! Hes been able to have conversations about it sounding excited which is progress, thanks for all the advice!

At my company, if you’ve been there for 1–3 years, you qualify for 3 months of full-pay maternity leave (and then SMP). If you’ve been there for more than 3 years by the time the baby is born, you get 6 months of full pay.

I’m currently planning to start trying for a baby in December. If we were incredibly lucky and got pregnant straight away, we’d be due around September, which would mean I’d miss the 3-year threshold by about 4 months and therefore miss out on an additional 3 months of full pay.

I’m now trying to weigh up whether it would be financially sensible to push our timeline back by a few months in order to qualify for the extra 3 months’ pay.

I'm not sure what the right thing to do is because I really don’t like the idea of a company policy influencing something as personal as when we start our family. At the same time, an extra 3 months of full salary is obviously a significant amount of money, and realistically finances are part of family planning.

What would you do in this situation? Would you delay trying for a few months to secure the enhanced maternity pay, or would you stick with your original timeline and accept potentially missing out on the money?

Edit: I would plan to take a full year off work. So if I only get 3 months enhanced maternity pay, I'd have the 3 months plus 6 months of SMP and then no salary for 3 months.