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When my husband and I were trying to conceive our first baby it was common knowledge among our friends and family. Everyone knew we were trying to have a baby, and everyone had ideas that they wanted to share with us. Apparently we were the only people who didn’t know how to make a baby. I mean, we knew how to make a baby logistically, but since it wasn’t working everyone had a tip for us.

Many of our advisers said the timing of our attempts was everything. We heard a wide variety of ideas: try to make a baby every single night, try to make a baby every other night, try to make a baby only once a month after carefully timing my ovulation…it was exhausting. We tried every method suggested to us, and none of them worked. I won’t even go into the various positions suggested by well-meaning folks.

We heard from friends that the only way to have a baby was to not try. In other words, the stress of trying was so taxing that my body would shut down. So we tried to be nonchalant in our attempts at getting pregnant. That didn’t work either.

My poor husband was victim to many unsolicited tips too. He was told to wear boxers instead of briefs, to take in extra Vitamin C, and to stop drinking Mountain Dew. He was such a trooper. Not only did he listen politely to all the advice, but he actually tried what people said. Still no baby.

I think that most pregnancies just happen when they’re ready to happen. There is no tip I can pass on to help anyone get pregnant because I’m not sure if any of the million tips we received actually helped. I did wind up pregnant, but as the scientist in me says (in a stern voice): Correlation does not equal causation. I don’t think the extra Vitamin C helped my husband impregnate me, but hopefully it stopped him from getting a cold or something.

Tags: getting pregnant, trying to conceive, TTC