weight loss/gain TTC girl/boy

[Inky]

DS1 I got pregnant with when I was about 105 lbs. DD I got pregnant with 3 months PP, so I had more weight on me (but I was also breastfeeding, so maybe that swayed girl? does it?). Then DS2 I was 103 lbs when I conceived him.

My personal history seems to indicate a little EXTRA weight sways girls for me, or maybe I hope that's true because for the last year I've had some extra weight and I can't seem to shed ANY at ALL (no matter what I do, and I've been trying everything *sad*)! I'm also in terrible shape compared to what I was when I conceived my boys.

Thoughts?

[LacePrincess]

IMO, it's bodyfat %, not weight/BMI that matters. I've been doing some research because I'm struggling with anovulation and very irregular ovulation patterns, and I'm convinced at this point that it's my very low bodyfat that's dropping my hormones across the board and mucking up my fertility. However, my BMI is normal (20.9), so you'd think I'd be fine, except my bodyfat is only 14-16% and 22% is the minimum for reliable fertility.

OTOH, you can also be very low BMI and have very high relative fat levels and be just fine fertility-wise, even if not so great for fitness/heart health. You can also be extremely skinny and STILL have too much relative fat - hence the term 'skinny fat'.

So I really hate using BMI as a standard because it doesn't mean anything!

[Inky]

I agree BMI doesn't mean anything. With my boys, though, I was low weight AND low fat. I was thin enough to be getting modeling offers at the time and my body was very tone. Both times I got pregnant with my boys I was basically in "the shape of my life". Tone muscles and very thin. Conceived DD when I was about 115-118 I guess, which was on the heavy side for me. She's the middle child. Breastfeeding might have swayed her, though.

I'm in terrible shape now, comparatively. I'm 130 lbs, the most I've ever weighed not pregnant or immediately postpartum. I've been trying to lose weight for almost a year, and I've actually been GAINING instead. I think it's nothing to do with food (because as it stands I probably only eat 800-1200 calories a day anyway, most days) but because I'm not as active. anyway, I'm in TERRIBLE shape lately, even have poor circulation and increased tiredness.

Mostly my stats this cycle are:
-100mg Clomid
-Frequent Release (we didn't want to lower odds of conception too much while on clomid, and 7+ days abstaining for one shot at O+1 wasn't working for us). We basically did FR from AF through O, but we missed CD 5 and 6 because DH was too sick to particpate. Then we were BDing from CD7-now (CD15, and I'm 99% sure today was O day) and we'll keep BDing until O is confirmed.
-LE diet, but not strict. (My husband was REALLY annoyed with the diet thing because he does the grocery shopping. I can't even take over because I don't drive and he hates bringing peopel with him to the store, and he hates buying everyone in the house different diets when our Special Needs child is already on a diet). So, basically it was LE and NO BD because DH was annoyed with me, or be relaxed about LE and get the BDing/FR thing going on.
-I use as many sources of positive ions as I can.
I have naturally low PH (almost always 4.5), but I hear that's not a real factor anyway.

I know none of this stuff is 100% anyway, but I'm worried that because I couldn't do a strict LE and because no matter how low cal I go, I can't seem lose weight, I'm worried it didn't sway much at all.

[Sonia2003]

Hi lnky,

I am not expert at this by any means as I am just staring my sway for ttc blue. You may have weighed less, but your muscle tone, plus possible high testosterone levels may have swayed blue.

[Inky]

You are probably right. I was very fit. Now I weight more and I'm not fit at all. but no amount of dieting seems to drop weight.

[atomic sagebrush]

We don't know and don't have enough evidence to say. All we have are studies that show that moms who ate more calories and moms with lower BMI tend to have more daughters. The rest is just us guessing what will work the best.

Unfortunately you can't really extrapolate one thing in isolation (as in, your weight when you conceived your daughter) and assume aha, that one thing surely was the sole reason I had a DD. I strongly suspect that being 3 months postpartum was swaying for you a lot more than what you weighed. I also think BF does sway slightly pink with plenty of exceptions.

[atomic sagebrush]

The LE Diet and eating patterns still sway whether you lose an ounce at all. The diet and weight loss are independent of one another - they both sway on their own, it's jsut that in concert they might sway better.

[Inky]

thanks :) glad to know the diet helps either way. Weight loss just is NOT happening, and if it sways, it didn't do much with my boys, because I conceived them at my lowest weight during a very low cal diet/during weight loss. Of course, it could have been swaying girl then and I still had boys.

I know my mom and one of my friends got pregnant with me when I was very thin, but my aunt and two other friends got pregnant with girls with extra weight. TBH, I'd always thought low BMI must sway boy based on all the low BMI boy moms I know (and all the girl moms I know seeming to have a few extra pounds) so it was interesting to learn the reverse is true.

[HopingForPigtails]

Also...I do think some people tend to be like a pendulum when it comes to babies. One of my friends has two girls and two boys and her weight didn't correlate at all to the gender, and she has been a lifelong vegetarian and said her diet didn't alter at all whatsoever. She has practiced yoga every day for the last 10 years so her exercise routine hasn't really varied either.

So for her, she literally swung like a pendulum boy girl boy girl without changing much. But I guess who's to say if, even though she's been eating the same and exercising the same, her body fat percentage could have varied, or stress levels, etc. Or maybe some people just swing that way!! But for most of us, I do think our bodies play a role in the babies we carry!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Please read the following two essays for a thorough explanation of how BOTH bigger moms and very thin moms can have more daughters.

Nutshell version altho I really want people to read the essays, they explain it all - it's maternal condition that sways, NOT weight loss/BMI in and of themselves. If you're in good condition you're going to be more likely to conceive boys. It's just that both being heavy and being very thin/losing weight are ways to get to lower maternal condition.

http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-discussion-ttc-boy-girl-home-swaying-info/3187-big-girls-little-girls-baby-girls-boys.html

http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-discussion-ttc-boy-girl-home-swaying-info/12340-understanding-trivers-willard-hypothesis.html

[atomic sagebrush]

Also...I do think some people tend to be like a pendulum when it comes to babies. One of my friends has two girls and two boys and her weight didn't correlate at all to the gender, and she has been a lifelong vegetarian and said her diet didn't alter at all whatsoever. She has practiced yoga every day for the last 10 years so her exercise routine hasn't really varied either.

So for her, she literally swung like a pendulum boy girl boy girl without changing much. But I guess who's to say if, even though she's been eating the same and exercising the same, her body fat percentage could have varied, or stress levels, etc. Or maybe some people just swing that way!! But for most of us, I do think our bodies play a role in the babies we carry!!

But if it's her condition, that can change for other reasons that she doesn't even realize. Plus, Lady Luck has her own role to play. :)

[Inky]

I am not really overweight right now, but I have been having some health problems, so I wonder if that is going to affect my sway. Will read the articles now, too, because I personally love understanding HOW these things work.

[atomic sagebrush]

I wish I knew! Some health problems do seem to sway pink, but others seem to sway blue (PCOS and autoimmune). And we don't know if it's the conditions themselves that sway, the treatments that are used, or something else entirely. I wish we had an army of highly dependable grad students to compile info for us and look for overall trends.

[Inky]

ha, i agree! well for me, it's untreated, but i think it might be related to my thyroid (though last i had it tested it was fine) but also experiencing symptoms of stable angina, though this seems to improve with exercise (well, it's worse WHILE I exercise, but if I exercise every day it seems to lessen). Really just down to me being "out of shape". I think my muscle mass is the lowest it's been in my life :(

[atomic sagebrush]

Do what you need to do for your health, first and foremost...swaying isn't even proven anyway so don't stop exercising for your sway if it makes you feel lousy.

[Inky]

Yes, I've had to put not as much important on weight loss and diet as I would like, but it's really no good to be pregnant and not be healthy. I have been taking it easy. I'm mostly hoping clomid does a lot to sway. Next cycle would be my last try on clomid if I'm not pregnant this cycle.

[ELP]

Hi lnky,

I am not expert at this by any means as I am just staring my sway for ttc blue. You may have weighed less, but your muscle tone, plus possible high testosterone levels may have swayed blue.
I think this is the thing with me, I'm sure its muscle tone over weight which has swayed me in the past, fatter, low nutriton but high calories and lazy has swayed me girl and trimmer, still high calories and stronger has swayed me boy. If I was you atm I would consider myself in the pink zone. As AS says its if you were losing weigh aswell as condition then double bonus! But still losing condition sways in itself:)