LacePrincess
September 18th, 2012, 08:40 AM
Hi ladies!
I just found this site a few weeks ago, and I'm sort of drowning in too much information :eek:, but first I wanted to thank AS and the mods for creating such a informative site. Even if I'm mostly confused and unsure after information overload at this point! LOL
Quick background: DH and I are both 33 this year. We already have 3 sons, currently 8, 6, and 2.5. The youngest is still breastfeeding - not at infant levels, obviously, but not infrequently either. I'm a SAHM so he nurses whenever he wants, which is pretty much multiple times at night (we're cosleeping still) and at least 3-5 times during the day. Which seems a lot to me for his age! :suprise:
We did sort-of do the Shettles timing method with our sons, mostly just cut-off, but we were just NOT getting pregnant at all. So we gave up and just BD'ed frequently through O. Our eldest DS took 2 months using the CBFM, the second ended up taking a LONG time - almost 18 months!!!! - and was conceived BD'ing through O, and DS3 took 4 months also BD'ing through O. So I guess we're really not that fertile? :worry: Anyways, DS2 and DS3 were both conceived BD'ing frequently through the day before O....curiously enough, both times we BD'ed the day before O and not O day itself.
This final bub will likely be our last, as DH and I are agreed that we don't want to be pregnant past 35. And, that we didn't want any more kids than we have hands to hold onto them with! :p So we have one serious 'try' for our girl left! So I kind of want to have a good attempt and if it's DS4, that's fine and we'll know we at least stuck with it and didn't give in to my biological clock and 'gave in' like we did the last few times.
We do have some challenges though. DH is military, and it sounds like as of next summer (Aug, 2013) we can expect him to be posted away from the family for a period of 2-3 years. Which means, realistically, if we're gonna do this we have about 10 cycles to do this in. And seeing as how it took awhile with our other kids even with going whole-hog, I think this would rule out anything that really drops our chances, like using spermicides or extreme cutoffs or O+12. So now I'm looking at diet and abstaining, since we definitely were FR'ing with our other conceptions.
The other big challenge is the diet. I'm much thinner and much more in shape than I was when I got preggo with my DS's. Since the birth of DS3 I've become a serious runner and exerciser, but I favour cardio by far over any strength training. Which is good for pink! But now I'm wrestling with how far to take the diet - I really can't drop much weight, as it is my bodyfat is so low I'm on the cusp of affecting my ovulation (my periods are already a bit irregular). I'm 5'0", 109lbs, and 12-16% bodyfat. So, I can't afford to lose much more!
I intend to go for the extreme-cardio pink sway, with a sensible diet, but I've got to be careful not to drop it too low. With my sons I definitely was eating high-sodium, high-protein (red meat) and lots of dairy, so I thought I'd switch to (mostly) veg and less milk and salt. I'm not going to hypermanage everything because face it, with 3 young kids it's just not possible and it's too stressful! I'm not planning on taking any supplements except folic acid and maybe B6 if my luteal phases are too short again (last cycle they were borderline, 8-11 days). I was going to keep my calories at 1800 because of the bf'ing and workouts, and also eating 'back' calories if I do a heavy workout/long run so I don't drop too much weight. I've also green-lighted DH to mainline coffee, which he's happy about! LOL I am skipping breakfast (just a cup of coffee) though yesterday I couldn't stand it by 10am and had to have a small yogurt as a snack.
So I guess my question is for all you more experienced ladies, does this sound like a sensible approach? How long should I do this diet before TTC (I just started this cycle, so it's been a few days)? I want to make sure the diet's right but also feel like we just don't have much time. Also, if I want to workout in the morning, is it a mistake to have a small snack right before the workout, or should I try to exercise only after lunch or in the afternoons?
I must say, though, that we won't be crushed if we get another DS.....our 3 already disprove so many gender cliches. Our first is introspective, quiet, hates most sports and likes to read, and our second is going to dance class tonight that he begged for for years. So it just goes to show, you really never know!
ETA: Forgot to mention that DH and I briefly discussed HT methods (specifically PGD) but we're in Canada, so it's illegal to use PGD for gender selection here. We could afford it for maybe 1-2 tries but the legal and travel loopholes, combined with DH's military career and separations just makes it logically impossible. Unless we got posted to the US! (hah, I wish!)
I just found this site a few weeks ago, and I'm sort of drowning in too much information :eek:, but first I wanted to thank AS and the mods for creating such a informative site. Even if I'm mostly confused and unsure after information overload at this point! LOL
Quick background: DH and I are both 33 this year. We already have 3 sons, currently 8, 6, and 2.5. The youngest is still breastfeeding - not at infant levels, obviously, but not infrequently either. I'm a SAHM so he nurses whenever he wants, which is pretty much multiple times at night (we're cosleeping still) and at least 3-5 times during the day. Which seems a lot to me for his age! :suprise:
We did sort-of do the Shettles timing method with our sons, mostly just cut-off, but we were just NOT getting pregnant at all. So we gave up and just BD'ed frequently through O. Our eldest DS took 2 months using the CBFM, the second ended up taking a LONG time - almost 18 months!!!! - and was conceived BD'ing through O, and DS3 took 4 months also BD'ing through O. So I guess we're really not that fertile? :worry: Anyways, DS2 and DS3 were both conceived BD'ing frequently through the day before O....curiously enough, both times we BD'ed the day before O and not O day itself.
This final bub will likely be our last, as DH and I are agreed that we don't want to be pregnant past 35. And, that we didn't want any more kids than we have hands to hold onto them with! :p So we have one serious 'try' for our girl left! So I kind of want to have a good attempt and if it's DS4, that's fine and we'll know we at least stuck with it and didn't give in to my biological clock and 'gave in' like we did the last few times.
We do have some challenges though. DH is military, and it sounds like as of next summer (Aug, 2013) we can expect him to be posted away from the family for a period of 2-3 years. Which means, realistically, if we're gonna do this we have about 10 cycles to do this in. And seeing as how it took awhile with our other kids even with going whole-hog, I think this would rule out anything that really drops our chances, like using spermicides or extreme cutoffs or O+12. So now I'm looking at diet and abstaining, since we definitely were FR'ing with our other conceptions.
The other big challenge is the diet. I'm much thinner and much more in shape than I was when I got preggo with my DS's. Since the birth of DS3 I've become a serious runner and exerciser, but I favour cardio by far over any strength training. Which is good for pink! But now I'm wrestling with how far to take the diet - I really can't drop much weight, as it is my bodyfat is so low I'm on the cusp of affecting my ovulation (my periods are already a bit irregular). I'm 5'0", 109lbs, and 12-16% bodyfat. So, I can't afford to lose much more!
I intend to go for the extreme-cardio pink sway, with a sensible diet, but I've got to be careful not to drop it too low. With my sons I definitely was eating high-sodium, high-protein (red meat) and lots of dairy, so I thought I'd switch to (mostly) veg and less milk and salt. I'm not going to hypermanage everything because face it, with 3 young kids it's just not possible and it's too stressful! I'm not planning on taking any supplements except folic acid and maybe B6 if my luteal phases are too short again (last cycle they were borderline, 8-11 days). I was going to keep my calories at 1800 because of the bf'ing and workouts, and also eating 'back' calories if I do a heavy workout/long run so I don't drop too much weight. I've also green-lighted DH to mainline coffee, which he's happy about! LOL I am skipping breakfast (just a cup of coffee) though yesterday I couldn't stand it by 10am and had to have a small yogurt as a snack.
So I guess my question is for all you more experienced ladies, does this sound like a sensible approach? How long should I do this diet before TTC (I just started this cycle, so it's been a few days)? I want to make sure the diet's right but also feel like we just don't have much time. Also, if I want to workout in the morning, is it a mistake to have a small snack right before the workout, or should I try to exercise only after lunch or in the afternoons?
I must say, though, that we won't be crushed if we get another DS.....our 3 already disprove so many gender cliches. Our first is introspective, quiet, hates most sports and likes to read, and our second is going to dance class tonight that he begged for for years. So it just goes to show, you really never know!
ETA: Forgot to mention that DH and I briefly discussed HT methods (specifically PGD) but we're in Canada, so it's illegal to use PGD for gender selection here. We could afford it for maybe 1-2 tries but the legal and travel loopholes, combined with DH's military career and separations just makes it logically impossible. Unless we got posted to the US! (hah, I wish!)