Sora TTC a Boy Sway Attempt

[Sora]

It never comes down to one thing like that but that is super interesting.

I have a disproportionate number of blue swayers from France, I've noticed that in the past, of all my European countries, by far the most blue swayers are from France!

Thank you for sharing that info with me!!

That's funny, Panther said that too !

I can only guess a few things that may explain (probably) :

- Lowest BMI of all Western Europe, average size is around 8(UK)-4(US) / 10(UK)-6(US) for women between 15-45 years.
- For a long time, the recommended cals intake was 1200-1500 a day for a woman out of puberty and not yet pregnant.
- LOTS of running, jogging, cardio. For 10 years now, we've had men and women of all age getting into it twice a day, 7/7 because the "healthy ones are the ones that ruuuun" !
- There was that trend of veganism where you only ingest roots and water.
- A general trend for dieting and a lot of pressure starting from a very young age (12-13)
- Lack of supps, even when wanting to conceive : even when warned about folics, women only starts taking pills once they're already pregnant, not before. I was considered an OVNI for taking my 400 folics two months before TTC DD1.
- Low doses of supps, lower than what you can find in other countries. Looks like they're always afraid we will gorge on the stuff and die XD ! Once, I needed vit A for some skin problem and the doc at the time was "What ? Isn't there any other way ? Because you know... vit A... if you take too much of that stuff, you could DIE !". Had to go to an hospital to get a prescription ! It's basically the same with pregnancy : supps are limited to folics, iron, omega 3 and all that AFTER conceiving. Ah and cal/mag, always cal/mag.
- Also, 80% of the female population still believe in Shettles. The other 20% know about the cal/mag vs potassium thingy...
- Prices for meat and fish are skyrocketing. It's becoming harder and harder to eat them once a day, even when you're not vegetarian/vegan. 10 years ago, every family had meat once a day and you couldn't find a restaurant that didn't sell meaty plates (it was hard for a vegetarian like me XD). Not anymore.
- Food is rarely fortified and anyway, fortified food is seen as something best given to children and the elderly.
- Animal fats are less and less accepted as a whole, because animal cruelty, vegans and stuff. Dairy and milk especially have been the first targets since the vegan trend happened on our shores. As far as 2011-2012, anyone who dared to say they liked milk would be heavily criticized, called a baby, a calf... Everywhere, you could hear "adults who still drink milk or use milk-based food are weirdos, they are still not weaned it seems !"
- As a result, almond milk, rice milk and soy milk became more and more proeminent either at home or outside.

We still have boys though XD, have had more of them starting from 2014 if the ratio in kindergarten are any indication. I think that's when the shift happened and people became more carefull about veganism, supps and especially vit D. Cals intake was boosted up to 2000. Also, sports-wise, weights and the like are trending now and cardio 7/7 is loosing followers. Not jogging though. Milk is still hated, meat still missing. But people are crazy about fruits and vegetables, more than usual.

[atomic sagebrush]

Thank you!! That is fascinating and so very interesting! Super helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to write that all up for me!

[Sora]

Thank you!! That is fascinating and so very interesting! Super helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to write that all up for me!

Glad I can bring something to the table. I'm no scientist though, these are only conclusions from what I've seen, heard and what docs complained about the most whenever I had an appointment while TTC and then when pregnant. But it's a start.

[hurrem]

Oh wow just read through the stats in France, so interesting!
Every country truly does have its own views on diets and healthy living. Although veganism has become a trend here where I live it’s no where big enough to overcome the other foods, the people here just love their meat and dairy lol.

I wish you the best of luck for your sway Sora, and pray you get your little boy!

[Sora]

Oh wow just read through the stats in France, so interesting!
Every country truly does have its own views on diets and healthy living. Although veganism has become a trend here where I live it’s no where big enough to overcome the other foods, the people here just love their meat and dairy lol.

I wish you the best of luck for your sway Sora, and pray you get your little boy!

Thank you hurrem. France has always been a harsh country for every girl or woman out there who is naturally chubby/gains weight easily. People here, even doctors, believe much too hard in more weight= fast food. If only they knew what some of their "beautiful thin elite" ingest everyday, they wouldn't call them "healthy" to our faces.

Ironically, it was also a harsh country for whomever didn't like meat or dairy up til the 2010's. Meat and dairy are so important in many of our local recipes that vegetarians had a hard time finding some place where they could skip them and just have a plate of vegetables or pastas. I remember when you would get so much weird looks because you went a whole feast without ever touching the meat. In restaurants, people mocked you and at home, people were just worried out of their minds, like "Are you sure you eat enough ? How can you even stand on your own legs without ever eating a bit of beef or chicken ? You will end up sick for sure !"

Now it's the other way around. Dairy, even in childrens' meals, is replaced with soy, almond and coconut milk. They even have started to switch the milk intended for non-breastfed newborns with them these past few months because, with more and more vegans, there are more and more parents asking for dairy-free products, to keep their babies away from that "disgusting milk, issued from animal cruelty and responsible for every sickness in the world". It has to be seen and heard to be believed. Now I get the weird looks because I give my children meat and milk, not because I myself usually don't eat them.
Fun fact (or not) : since I'm doing the blue diet but swaying is frowned upon in Europe, I concocted some lie about my doc asking me to get back to meat because of some vague illness. Cue horrified reactions all around "Isn't there any other way ? You're just going to end up more sick than ever ! You're killing yourself here... and animals !".

Anyways, even before all that, full-fat milk wasn't favored. We were always told it makes you fat and it was given only to small children, cause they are growing up. Teenagers and adults went with skimmed or half-skimmed milk. Many of our dairy products are made with the half-skimmed brand. And of course, they are not fortified in the least, except those marketed towards children/the elderly.

[Sora]

Well time has flown ! O should be here in a few days and I'm worried I did mistakes here and there ! The short heat wave made it hard to eat but I tried to stick with 5 meals a day. Still had a hard time eating meat each time and a real full meal during 3-4 days. Tried to get by on cereals, almonds, dairy and a bit of chicken + juices but couldn't swallow much before going to bed. I have to admit that sadly, this Saturday and Sunday were mostly water, juices and ice cream
Drank a lot of coconut water though, very refreshing for that kind of weather. Still managed to get the unprotected sex going every 2-3 days.

DH is very happy with his arginine/carnitine. I remember another male poster (was it archie ?) saying that he felt better down there with the supps (+one a day men + vitD). Asked DH about it and he said he felt the same.

Now the weather is colder again. I shall be able to eat a real full meal once more. As for cereals, I've been going around switching between muesli with berries, oat/rice/wheat flakes which are fortified... and my kids' cereals that are VERY much fortified (but also are quite sugary ). Idk if it was a mistake or not but I was in a state of mind where it wasn't enough, never enough, and I was on the hunt for more vits and minerals.

Days are going by fast and since I had a lot of work in June, it was hard eating regularly/ Sometimes I only got three meals plus a snack before bed and I wasn't sure it was enough. That worries me.

[hurrem]

Time really is flowing by! But your sway sounds good to me Sora and I totally understand the difficulty of trying to eat ‘everything’, even I still think I’m not getting enough nutrients or vitamins, that my sway isn’t perfect yet, but most important thing is to eat more than what we were before. The weather really affects our eating habits, espec if you end up getting sick or a sore throat(it’s cold here so I can’t just guzzle down cold juice or milkshakes all the time!). Btw can you buy hummus at your place? I’m eating that everyday with crackers or veges, great snack espec for work. Lots of luck and prayers to you, may everything go well <3

[Sora]

Time really is flowing by! But your sway sounds good to me Sora and I totally understand the difficulty of trying to eat ‘everything’, even I still think I’m not getting enough nutrients or vitamins, that my sway isn’t perfect yet, but most important thing is to eat more than what we were before. The weather really affects our eating habits, espec if you end up getting sick or a sore throat(it’s cold here so I can’t just guzzle down cold juice or milkshakes all the time!). Btw can you buy hummus at your place? I’m eating that everyday with crackers or veges, great snack espec for work. Lots of luck and prayers to you, may everything go well <3

Thank you hurrem ! Here it has been a very warm week so cold drinks were okay but it was hard having a full meal with cooked meat and all. I had dried meat instead but couldn't add much to it except cheese, V8 and a bit of bread.

Yes I can buy hummus, in fact I did just that when the heat wave started. Had it during lunch and as a snack, it was very good !

Hope we both get our boys !

[Girls Mom 2]

Time really is flowing by! But your sway sounds good to me Sora and I totally understand the difficulty of trying to eat ‘everything’, even I still think I’m not getting enough nutrients or vitamins, that my sway isn’t perfect yet, but most important thing is to eat more than what we were before. The weather really affects our eating habits, espec if you end up getting sick or a sore throat(it’s cold here so I can’t just guzzle down cold juice or milkshakes all the time!). Btw can you buy hummus at your place? I’m eating that everyday with crackers or veges, great snack espec for work. Lots of luck and prayers to you, may everything go well <3

and yes this is what happened with me after drinking grapefruit juice without added sugar i have bad sore throat and now i m in my fertile window.

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[Sora]

Aand the line has started to appear tonight on my little cheap OPK's but not too dark yet and my Clearblue is still negative. Guess it will turn positive tomorrow. We DTD already today. Idk if we add an attempt tonight or if we wait tomorrow to see if the Clearblue shows its positive smiley and if so, go on with the three attempts.

DH says he is full of energy but on the other hand I don't want to tire him before we have a clear, confirmed, positive peak.