atomic sagebrush
May 10th, 2013, 01:10 PM
Updated 12-27-17
First of all, if you are experiencing or have just had a loss, all of us offer our condolences.
Here are some frequently asked questions about swaying and miscarriage.
--Does swaying cause miscarriage?
We don’t know.
Those of you who came over to this site from the Ingender site will recall that miscarriages were very common on there. Both the blue and the pink swayers had them quite frequently. It was my very great hope that we could reduce that number on here by changing the diet, and I strongly believe (without crunching the numbers) that for the blue swayers, we have reduced the number of miscarriages significantly over the number of losses that people experienced on IG while swaying for a boy.
That having been said, I do not believe (again, without crunching the numbers) we’ve seen a substantial reduction in the number of losses among pink swayers. It may be a bit better than it was on IG, but nowhere near as dramatic an improvement as the blue swayers have had. As a result, I don’t think any other conclusion can be drawn besides that yes, swaying may contribute to miscarriage.
(Updated 10-15-13 I do think we've had lower rates of miscarriage for pink swayers in the months since I wrote this essay but still more than I would personally like to see.
Updated again 4-5-17 I do think we've decreased the number of miscarriages we were having. This is entirely possible that it is just something that is completely coincidental and has nothing to do with anything - but we have really cut back on the baby aspirin use.
Updated again 12-27-17 I am 100% convinced that ditching baby aspirin has dramatically cut back on the number of miscarriages among pink swayers and dropping EPO and cutting back on fish oil intake has cut the number of miscarriages even more for blue swayers.)
If you are TTC a boy, you are better off following HE Diet and Gender Dreaming boy supps, and avoiding the BSD/COT/URAL. If you are TTC a girl, both the IG and GD sways seem somehow linked with more losses than we would like and we need to figure out why that may be and correct for it. (UPDATE 12-27-17 we have found at least some losses to be associated with taking too many blood thinning supplements so please, ladies, use blood thinners when TTC with great caution, particularly baby aspirin, cranberry, EPO, and higher than 500 mg fish oil or DHA)
Before we do that, I do want to shed light on a couple of alternate explanations to why swaying may appear to be linked to an increased risk of miscarriage. Women who have sons, particularly a firstborn son, may be more likely to miscarry in later pregnancies to begin with Boys raise miscarriage risk | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-187011/Boys-raise-miscarriage-risk.html) and so perhaps pink swayers who’ve already had several boys, are coming into swaying more likely to suffer a loss than the general population is. Also, many of our pink swayers have been older and may be at higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities to begin with. I do not think this explains everything though and I would never want to just rest on that when we can possibly improve the situation, so I have gone over some possible causes below.
Blue swayers, the majority of this essay is going to be more targeted at pink swayers; while there is some info in there for you, if you’re in a hurry or just feeling kinda raw and want to cut to the chase, you may want to skip down to the “prevention” section for advice on how to tweak your blue sway after a loss.
IF swaying contributes to miscarriage, why?
Keeping in mind that we can’t totally know, my speculation runs in the following directions:
:sad:Altered hormone levels.
When we reduce our levels of testosterone and estrogen via the LE Diet, sometimes our bodies may reduce progesterone too. Some people may develop a short LP which could cause chemicals. Once a baby is implanted, this is probably no longer a factor because a normally-developing baby sends signals to your body to start making a lot of progesterone. That having been said, some pink swayers are messing around with progesterone creams and many people take B6 for short LP. My recommendation is that no one use over the counter progesterone cream at all, and if you are taking B6, be sure to wean off of it slowly rather than stopping it suddenly.
For blue, some people may develop PCOS-like tendencies by following a less-healthy version of the HE Diet (not getting fruits and veg, eating too many refined grains and sugars) and this could possibly be linked to losses as well, if your body starts producing testosterone at the expense of progesterone.
Pink swayers, while this isn’t strictly hormone related, the diet and supps may also change the consistency of the fluids in your reproductive tract that sustain a fertilized egg until it can implant in the uterus. Taking antihistamine may aggravate a natural reduction in these fluids caused by sway diets so please do not take cetirizine or diphenhydramine or Sudafed AFTER pos OPK or after your attempt, if you are doing a cutoff prior to pos OPK. (Update - since we have found antihistamines are not helping anyway, I'd have you leave them out totally if you have experienced a loss)
:sad: Blood sugar levels.
It may be that if our blood sugar levels are not optimal (such as, if you conceive a boy but are following the girl diet) then a pregnancy may have less chance of working out. I’m not totally convinced this is the case, however; the study done on glucose levels found that healthy blasts of either gender developed well in a wide variety of glucose concentrations. Still, it may play a part. Resume your normal eating pattern slowly so as not to shock your body, and blue swayers, I strongly advise you to eat a more varied HE-style diet throughout your pregnancy rather than crash dieting upon BFP to keep your weight low.
PCOS or tendencies thereof may again have some part to play in this because PCOS can affect the ability of your body to regulate blood sugar. Blue swayers who have gained a lot of weight very quickly or who are eating a less-healthy version of HE Diet, and pink swayers who are eating more refined grains and sugars may be more at risk for PCOS-related issues.
:sad: Egg health.
It may be that something to do with the LE Diet itself is contributing to the production of lower quality eggs. This is largely speculative because not a lot is known about egg health in a natural cycle – while we have seen improvements in IVF cycles with taking supps, they are trying to get 10-30 high quality eggs per cycle, and I do not personally find it plausible that the LE Diet is restrictive enough to affect a natural cycle with one measly egg forming. I believe your body would stop ovulation all together long before it started churning out low-quality eggs.
The supps such as vitex and saw palmetto and peppermint tea for pink, or evening primrose/flaxseed/Fertile CM for blue ~may~ affect ovulation negatively for some people, causing it to be delayed and this ~may~ cause an overripe egg to be ovulated. Does this make for a less healthy pregnancy? We don’t know. What we do know is that none of these things have even WORKED for swaying anyway and so I strongly recommend everyone leave every single one of these supplements out if you have had a loss (and no one should ever be using large amounts of flaxseed or flaxseed oil when TTC anyway as it has been proven to cause problems during pregnancy.)
:sad: Inflammation...or actually, a LACK of it.
The aspirin for pink swayers, and for blue swayers, fish oil, may be causing trouble. Your body needs to be a little bit inflamed in order to properly pop the egg out of the follicle, and if you are taking or eating things that are very anti-inflammatory like aspirin or fish oil, a condition called “LUFS” can occur where the egg doesn’t release all the way from the ovary. Aspirin & Infertility | Fertility Advice | Getting Pregnant (http://natural-fertility-info.com/could-aspirin-use-hurt-your-fertility.html) and while typically this manifests itself as a failure to ovulate, it may be that for some people this could contribute to chemical pregnancies. That having been said, this seems to be more of a problem for people who take higher doses of aspirin (above 350 mg) either all the time or a high dose right at the time of ovulation, and NOT the low dose of aspirin. Ibuprofin seems to be much more likely to cause LUFS than aspirin anyway adult_aspirin (http://fertilesigns.homestead.com/adult_aspirin.html) .
I believe the low dose aspirin that pink swayers take is fine and I will continue to recommend it (NOTE - update on 4-2017 we have moved away from aspirin as there were new side effects and some speculation it may cause miscarriage!! Update on 12-27-17 we are now pretty convinced that aspirin is causing miscarriages for some people...use it only under the guidance of a doctor and not ever for swaying, it doesn't work anyway!) but if you are not getting pg or keep having chemicals, and are trying to eliminate causes, it may be a good idea to have a day or two break between pos OPK and temp rise if you feel like the aspirin or fish oil may be preventing ovulation. Weaning off aspirin or fish oil altogether may be something to try, but I hesitate to recommend that because they can both be beneficial for implantation and fish oil is great for egg quality and I’m just not sure that LUFS is really causing many, if any losses.
NEW info - baby aspirin has been linked to miscarriage in one study. Since it was always said to prevent miscarriage, this is an unexpected development. We are not using it much any more anyway since it was not helping our results. I do feel we've seen less miscarriages of late; I have no way to know if this is related to dialing back on aspirin or just a coincidence, but sharing for your guys' info. It's not working anyway, I suggest leaving the aspirin out unless a doctor tells you to take it. And ALWAYS wean off aspirin, never stop it cold turkey even if your doc says it's fine.
:sad: Sperm health.
The egg is only half the equation, some of the supps like licorice root or high dose Vit. E may affect sperm negatively, as do frequency patterns used by pink swayers. I know of one person from IG who had been doing everything under the sun to improve her egg health after repeat losses and then she had another miscarriage. They decided to do a genetic analysis and discovered her loss was caused by chromosomal abnormalitites in her husband’s sperm.
If you have been having losses, pink swayers have your DH drop licorice root, cranberry, soy milk, and peppermint tea and switch to Olive Leaf Extract 500 mg a day taken throughout the cycle. OLE is a new supp but may be the only thing that we have seen that may boost sperm health while still swaying pink. Be sure to have him wean off gradually at BFP as stopping suddenly may be harmful to him. Pink swayers will also need to drop frequency (particularly abstain) and switch to release every 2-4 days instead, and of course drop tighty-whiteys, hot baths, and cycling/jogging.
Blue swayers, most of the TTC a boy supps we use on Gender Dreaming are good for sperm BUT if your husband is doing the very high sodium, BSD, or caffeine intake as advised by other sites OR is taking ginseng, maca, or high dose Vit. E, those things need to go, they affect cell division negatively. Also do not give your husband any more then 30 mg zinc maximum – the amount of zinc listed on Ingender is dangerous and may actually harm sperm to such an extent that it could end up swaying pink. I would also not use any herbs or drugs that are said to "raise testosterone" unless you are under the care of a doctor and using medication for a diagnosed low testosterone level.
:sad: Not enough folic acid/folate or stopping them suddenly.
While I do stress that people take a higher than normal dose of folic acid/folate throughout the entire first trimester and then wean off it slowly, there have been people who took the bare minimum and stopped at BFP. Both pink and blue swayers need to take a higher than normal dose of folic throughout the entire first trimester of pregnancy and then wean off slowly. The diets are not good for folic acid absorption and you need more than the standard recommendation throughout the entire first trimester while the baby is forming, and you need to reduce your levels slowly rather than stopping suddenly. I believe this to be the cause of at least some sway-related losses.
Yes, it says on the vitamin bottle not to exceed 400 mcg of folic but after doing a lot of research I believe it is best and safest when following a sway diet, to increase this dose substantially, to 1200-1600 mcg folic acid. The LE Diet as followed by some people, is lower than normal in sources of folate, and we do not know the effects of the sway supps and weight loss on folic acid absorption by the body. High sodium intake and green tea have been proven beyond shadow of a doubt to interfere with folic acid absorption so it is of paramount importance for blue swayers to take the 2000 mcg of FA.
If you have had repeat losses, pink swayers, you may want to give your husband 400 mcg folic acid for sperm health. This may sway blue. (Blue swayers, your husbands should be taking this already).
Once you've had more than one loss and particularly 3 or more, I strongly suggest dropping folic acid all together (even in fortified foods) and switching over to folate only. More about that in this thread http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-a-girl-best-practices/62405-fabulous-fasting-fantastic-fiber-fhenominal-folate.html
:sad: Clotting factors.
There are several clotting disorders that can raise the odds of miscarriage, and the on again, off again pattern of taking blood thinning supplements may contribute to this. I believe this to be the cause of some sway-related losses. Pink swayers, this is why I strongly urge you to use aspirin instead of cranberry, because you can take it all cycle long and then wean off gradually at BFP.
Blue swayers, you should continue your fish oil into early pregnancy and then gradually wean back and switch over to a DHA supp – don’t just drop fish oil suddenly at BFP. Stopping folic acid suddenly also plays a part in this issue because there is a substantial number of people who have a disorder called MTHFR which causes your blood to clot too easily and can cause pregnancy loss. Wean off folic acid/folate gradually and not until the end of the first trimester. I do believe this issue is the cause of some sway-related losses.
:sad: Sodium.
Suddenly increasing or decreasing your sodium intake (as in, pink swayers get BFP and start eating tons of salt, blue swayers who were eating a lot of sodium get BFP and cut it out entirely) may have a negative effect on your pregnancy. Go very gradually in either direction. And I do not advise the insane and unhealthy levels of sodium that is recommended for TTC a boy in some other sway diets. While I don’t think this matters too awfully much, it certainly can’t help.
:sad: Caffeine, alcohol, smoking.
High intake of caff. has been linked to losses, if you were using a lot as a sway tactic, cut back ASAP. I don’t think this matters much (I've always drunk caffeine when pregnant) but it certainly can’t help. Moderate alcohol is probably ok, but if you or DH have any concerns with sperm health or egg quality, the alcohol would need to go. Heavy alcohol use is definitely not going to help anyone have a healthy pregnancy (and I hope it goes without saying that it is not allowed DURING pregnancy.) Smoking prior to conception has also been linked to increased risk of miscarriage, and if you were having DH smoke as a pink sway tactic he will need to stop/cut back if you have had an unexplained loss.
:sad: Limiting cal/mag intake or potassium, drastically.
If you were a strict IG style swayer and limiting cal/mag for a boy, or potassium for a girl, your body needs these things to function and support a healthy pregnancy. I do not think these things sway in the way that some people claim and too low an intake of potassium can actually KILL you, so PLEASE be sane and sensible, if you absolutely must limit these things.
Blue swayers please do not limit cal-mag any sooner than 6 weeks before a sway. DO NOT under any circumstances cut back on cal-mag many months or years in advance. Your body simply will rob your teeth and bones of all the calcium and magnesium it needs and the level in your body will not change until you are so depleted that you have caused yourself lasting harm. It is NOT worth it for something that almost certainly doesn’t even sway anyway (trust me, I got 4 boys with both DH and I eating tons of dairy, one of whom I was taking between 600-1200 mg calcium a day; got my DD with DH and I eating hardly any dairy and not taking supplemental calcium). I do think this could play a part in some losses – if you conceive a boy but your body is convinced you do not have enough nutrients coming in to sustain a pregnancy.
:sad: AND MOST IMPORTANT Iodine and thyroid related issues.
Pink swayers who are limiting sodium on LE Diet, and blue swayers who are limiting dairy and using a lot of sea salt in lieu of regular iodized salt, may cause their thyroid to malfunction and thyroid issues are one of the most common causes of miscarriage. I believe this to be the PRIMARY reason why swaying might cause losses.
IF you do not have a thyroid problem, please eat iodized salt and/or use an iodine supplement 150 iu when TTC, if there is any doubt in your mind that you are getting enough. Additionally, iodine deficiency is one thing that has been absolutely totally 100% PROVEN to cause a serious type of birth defect known as cretinism. TAKE OR EAT ADEQUATE IODINE!!! IF you DO have a thyroid problem, please please check with your doctor before taking iodine or eating iodized salt as it may not be safe for you to do that.
:think: Additionally there are many other reasons why losses occur but the above ones are the ones I feel could be possibly sway-related. I talk about helping prevent miscarriage from all causes below, just didn’t want there to be any confusion about why I mentioned one thing above and then started talking about some other thing below. The above section is about sway-related causes of loss; the below section is how to better prevent all losses.
How to help prevent future miscarriage after a loss (please note, these are not standard instructions for all swayers, this is specifically for those coming back after a miscarriage)
:ttcboy:For BLUE:
Increase folic from 2000 to 4000 mcg broken into small doses and taken over the course of the day, take throughout the first trimester and then wean off slowly. Switch to folate if you have had more than one loss and particularly if you've had 3 or more and in fact avoid folic acid all together, even in fortified foods.
Drop EPO/Flaxseed and l-arginine if you were taking them (they may affect hormones negatively and make it harder for your body to sustain a pregnancy) Update - I am no longer recommending any of these things anyway.
Wean off fish oil slowly, even decrease doses slowly over time rather than just cutting back. You can trade fish oil for a pregnancy DHA supp, but do this slowly over the course of time, because usually the amount of Omega 3 in DHA is a lot less than it is in the fish oil. If you think fish oil may be preventing ovulation due to LUFS, you may want to take a break from it between pos OPK and temp rise.
If you use B6 or a B Complex vitamin that contains B6, wean off of it slowly, do not quit taking it cold turkey
Be sure you are taking a multivitamin containing iron and zinc and Coq10 if you are not already taking it. If you are over 35, use the coq10 in the “ubiquinol” form.
1000 IU Vit. D for both you and DH may help
Be sane with sodium intake.
Do not use baking soda drink, COT, URAL or ASG
Drop caffeine and alcohol all together for both you and DH
Do not drastically cut calories after BFP
Do not gain too much weight and try to include whole grains and fruits and vegetables rather than refined grains and empty carbs. Potato and banana are really not magic boy foods; neither are super nutritious and they are both bad for blood sugar. Moderate exercise will help improve glucose tolerance and keep excess weight off.
Use iodized salt throughout your pregnancy and/or take a prenatal containing iodine but ONLY if you do not have thyroid problems. IF you do, please check with your doc first.
Do not use megadoses of ANY supplement INCLUDING Vit. C. High dose Vit. C has been used to induce miscarriage.
If you have a history of clotting issues and have taken baby aspirin with previous pregnancy but have stopped it because you are worried it sways pink, please continue taking it. ONLY people with a proven history of clotting disorders who have been told by a doctor to take baby aspirin should take it, though. Do not use baby aspirin as a "preventative" since it likely causes more miscarriages than it prevents!
Do not discontinue cal-mag for months/years in advance of swaying.
Get plenty of rest and try not to stress over swaying too much.
:ttcpink:For PINK:
Do NOT use progesterone creams except under the advice of a doctor. The OTC creams are designed for menopausal women and it is not enough to sustain a pregnancy, but it IS enough to mess your cycle up badly and cause fluctuations in prog. levels during pregnancy.
Increase folic from 1200-1600 to 2000 or so, broken into small doses and taken over the course of the day. Take throughout the first trimester and wean off slowly. IF you have had 3 or more losses please switch to folate instead of folic acid and in fact avoid folic acid all together, even in fortified foods.
Use baby aspirin instead of cranberry, and if you have had a miscarriage while taking baby aspirin, you may want to drop BOTH of them and use 500 mg Vit. C taken throughout the cycle. If you use Vit. C, at BFP you should exchange that Vit. C for an equal amount in prenatal, don’t doubledose yourself with Vit C, high dose C has been used to induce miscarriage. If you think aspirin may be inhibiting ovulation due to LUFS, try taking a break from it from pos OPK thru temp rise. ONLY people with a proven history of clotting disorders who have been told by a doctor to take baby aspirin should take it, though. Do not use baby aspirin as a "preventative" since it likely causes more miscarriages than it prevents!
Add in an iron supp 18-30 mg 3 days a week (this will help your body recover after a miscarriage) and a zinc supp 8-15 mg taken 3 days a week (this may sway blue but can help with egg quality).
50-100 mg Coq10 may help improve your egg quality. If you are over 35, use Coq10 in the “ubiquinol” form. While it is a blue sway tactic, it is good for blood sugar levels and it’s great for egg health.
Use iodized salt. If you are strictly limiting sodium, add in an iodine supp 150 IU taken throughout pregnancy. Pink swayers, you may want to get the type of prenatal containing iodine in it as a preventative measure. If you have thyroid issues please check with your doctor before taking or ingesting supplemental iodine as it may not be safe for you.
Keep caffeine and alcohol to sane levels and if your husband was smoking as a sway tactic, that may need to go. (NO alcohol and minimal caffeine during pregnancy!!!)
Drop abstain. FR is probably ok but is not going to make it any easier to conceive. I advise having DH release every 2-4 days and then going for one attempt at pos OPK. Drop tighty whiteys, hot baths, cycling, jogging, and anything that could be harmful to sperm.
DH should drop any sperm-harming supps such as LR, Pep Tea, cranberry, even soy milk, and replace with 500 mg olive leaf extract taken throughout the cycle. At BFP he needs to gradually wean off OLE, do not have him drop it cold turkey as it may be harmful to do that.
Do not take antihistamine after pos OPK and you may want to drop it all together.
Get plenty of rest and try not to stress over swaying too much.
:think:--But what about douching/jelly and not taking a multi?
For whatever reason, when people experience a loss these are the two things they tend to attribute it to.
Lack of multivitamin:
:baby:Blue swayers, you should be taking a multivitamin. At BFP, either continue that multivitamin or switch to a prenatal that has the same or BETTER nutrient content than your multivitamin does. Don't suddenly switch to any vitamin that has a lower level of any nutrient than what you were taking when TTC. And don't suddenly switch from a vitamin that has folate, to a vitamin that has folic acid at any point. If you need to switch prenatals do so gradually over the course of time.
If you have thyroid problems please double check with your doctor about whether it is ok to take a prenatal or multivitamin that contains iodine.
:baby: Pink swayers: Your body stores months to years of many nutrients such as Vit. A,D, E, K B12, iron, calcium, magnesium and many others. Most of the other nutrients your body does not store, such as the other B vitamins aside from B12, Vit. C, and some of the other micronutrients, are present in more than adequate amounts on LE Diet (as it is written – some people DO cut back too far but that is not my recommendation!!!! Fruits and vegetables are 100% allowed on LE Diet!!)
The exceptions, the nutrients that aren’t always present in adequate amounts on LE Diet, are zinc, potassium , and iodine. I want everyone to be getting adequate potassium through diet (2500-3500 mg a day), iodine either from iodized salt (and DO NOT cut out salt all together) or else an iodine supp of 150 IU taken when TTC, and if you have gone on swaying for 3-6 months OR have had a loss, even if just a chemical, you should add in 8-15 mg zinc taken 3x a week to be sure you have enough. If you have thyroid issues please check with your doctor about whether you can take or eat supplemental iodine; it may not be ok for you to do that.
If you have had a loss and experienced heavy bleeding, have any history of anemia, OR you have been or will be on LE Diet for more than 3-6 months in total, you may want to add in an iron supplement 18-30-60 mg taken 3 days a week (avoid the high dose iron; even tho they are cheaper, they are badly absorbed which is why they come in such large amounts, plus they are murder on your stomach). Continue this INTO your next pregnancy until you are able to get in for a checkup to see what your iron levels are.
If you have been on LE Diet for awhile, and/or have had a loss and you are experiencing extreme tiredness, weakness, coldness, notice a lot of small red moles on your skin, excessive bruising, or that your blood seems to be taking a lot longer to clot, you should take iron 18-30-60 mg DAILY for two weeks and see if you feel better. If you do, continue it for a full month and then switch to the 3x a week level. If you don’t feel better, you need to see a doctor to have bloodwork for anemia done – not all anemia is able to be cleared up by oral medication and if it’s severe you may need to have IV treatment to rectify it.
As long as you take the precautions I mention above, you DO NOT NEED a multivitamin to have a healthy pregnancy. That is a myth propagated by vitamin salesmen, most of the babies ever conceived were not to women taking multivitamins, and I talk more in depth about the issue here. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/trying-conceive-girl/24628-le-diet-faq.html
Douching/jellies
:baby:for PINK: I don’t believe jellies contribute to any issues with pregnancy. When you are using them, be sure to use clean hands and clean equipment.
If you douche, do it BEFORE attempt and NOT after attempt – I believe douching before attempt to be safe, I would not douche after attempt, however. Your cervix will be slightly open around ovulation and douching after attempt may push microorganisms present in the vagina and penis, into your uterus where the pH is much higher and they can get a foothold to overgrow and cause infection and miscarriage at a later point in time. Semen may also help keep microorganisms alive, and the douching may push these unfriendly critters up into the cervix where they can spread into your uterus.
Chronic douching over the course of years HAS been linked to increased risk of miscarriage due to infection and scarring, but this is not the type of thing that most swayers do.
:baby:for BLUE: I don’t believe sperm safe, conception friendly jellies such as PreSeed or Conceive plus contribute to any issues with pregnancy. When you are using them, be sure to use clean hands and clean equipment.
The baking soda douches/finger and egg white that some blue swayers use, I DO believe may cause/contribute to miscarriage. They are very high in pH which overruns the natural protection of the low vaginal pH to allow microorganisms to survive. Then, your cervix will be slightly open around ovulation, and you will probably have a lot more CM than is normal as well. Baking soda can also cause irritation and even burns that can give entry points for microorganisms to thrive. This creates a perfect storm where microorganisms can run rampant and infect the uterus.
Egg whites can be contaminated with salmonella – it’s estimated that 142,000 people a year get sick from salmonella in undercooked eggs and the number of eggs with salmonella bacteria in them, is probably much much higher than that. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/weekinreview/26eggs.html?_r=0
Salmonella is known to cause pregnancy loss in sheep and cattle and salmonella has been proven to cause infections in the human uterus as well. There was a former member of IG who got a salmonella infection in her uterus and she nearly DIED when the infection ate through her uterus into her spinal cord and brain. Her infection was of unknown origin but she had swayed blue 2-3 years before, using egg white. We don't know that it is connected in any way BUT this case is proof positive that salmonella can infect the human uterus and wreak havoc.
And even the pasteurized egg whites are off limits because they are sky high in pH and egg whites are known to be perfect for growing microbes (this is why vaccines are grown in eggs!) They are very high in pH which overruns the natural protection of the low vaginal pH to allow microorganisms to survive. Then, your cervix will be slightly open around ovulation, and you will probably have a lot more CM than is normal as well. This creates a perfect storm where microorganisms can run rampant and infect the uterus.
I REALLY, really, really don’t want anyone messing with the egg whites.
How long to wait to TTC after a loss:
It depends (standard annoying atomic answer!)
:baby: Blue swayers: If you are swaying blue and have the luxury of time, you will want to wait one cycle, possibly even two, before TTC again. The first cycle or two after a loss may sway slightly pink. http://m.humupd.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/4/558.long
:baby:Pink swayers:
:tissue:If you had a chemical, you are good to go for the next month PROVIDED that you feel ok with it emotionally and you didn’t experience bleeding for longer than a week. If you had bleeding right up until you ovulated, I think it is advisable to wait because your lining will ~probably~ not be adequate and you may be setting yourself up for a chemical. That having been said the lining grows from the inside out and if you really want to try, it is still possible your lining will be perfectly fine after an early loss. Follow your gut.
:tissue:If you experience an early loss before 6 weeks (most of these will happen on their own) or a later loss that rectified itself naturally but BEFORE 10 weeks, you can PROBABLY go for it at your next ovulation; again, if you bled right up until ovulation, it is best to wait because your lining may not be good enough to sustain pregnancy. Your doctor will generally tell you not to try this first cycle, but it is largely because of psychology (leftover "women are hysterical" thinkingand not biology. It is UP TO YOU what you do, do not feel like you MUST try if you are not ready, and do not feel like you MUST wait if you want to try.
:tissue:If you experience a natural loss after 10 weeks or have had a D and C/E at any point, it is best to wait out that first cycle to be sure you have a good lining.
:tissue:If you experience a loss after 14 weeks it is best to wait TWO cycles before TTC.
:tissue:If you have had a recent C-section (within the last 18 months) and a loss either natural or with D and C, it is best to wait TWO cycles before TTC.
Above all else, PLEASE take care of yourself and do what feels right to YOU in your gut, heart, and mind. Don’t feel like you have to wait if you really want to be pregnant again, don’t feel like you have to try if you aren’t ready yet. Huge (((hugs))). :hug2:
First of all, if you are experiencing or have just had a loss, all of us offer our condolences.
Here are some frequently asked questions about swaying and miscarriage.
--Does swaying cause miscarriage?
We don’t know.
Those of you who came over to this site from the Ingender site will recall that miscarriages were very common on there. Both the blue and the pink swayers had them quite frequently. It was my very great hope that we could reduce that number on here by changing the diet, and I strongly believe (without crunching the numbers) that for the blue swayers, we have reduced the number of miscarriages significantly over the number of losses that people experienced on IG while swaying for a boy.
That having been said, I do not believe (again, without crunching the numbers) we’ve seen a substantial reduction in the number of losses among pink swayers. It may be a bit better than it was on IG, but nowhere near as dramatic an improvement as the blue swayers have had. As a result, I don’t think any other conclusion can be drawn besides that yes, swaying may contribute to miscarriage.
(Updated 10-15-13 I do think we've had lower rates of miscarriage for pink swayers in the months since I wrote this essay but still more than I would personally like to see.
Updated again 4-5-17 I do think we've decreased the number of miscarriages we were having. This is entirely possible that it is just something that is completely coincidental and has nothing to do with anything - but we have really cut back on the baby aspirin use.
Updated again 12-27-17 I am 100% convinced that ditching baby aspirin has dramatically cut back on the number of miscarriages among pink swayers and dropping EPO and cutting back on fish oil intake has cut the number of miscarriages even more for blue swayers.)
If you are TTC a boy, you are better off following HE Diet and Gender Dreaming boy supps, and avoiding the BSD/COT/URAL. If you are TTC a girl, both the IG and GD sways seem somehow linked with more losses than we would like and we need to figure out why that may be and correct for it. (UPDATE 12-27-17 we have found at least some losses to be associated with taking too many blood thinning supplements so please, ladies, use blood thinners when TTC with great caution, particularly baby aspirin, cranberry, EPO, and higher than 500 mg fish oil or DHA)
Before we do that, I do want to shed light on a couple of alternate explanations to why swaying may appear to be linked to an increased risk of miscarriage. Women who have sons, particularly a firstborn son, may be more likely to miscarry in later pregnancies to begin with Boys raise miscarriage risk | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-187011/Boys-raise-miscarriage-risk.html) and so perhaps pink swayers who’ve already had several boys, are coming into swaying more likely to suffer a loss than the general population is. Also, many of our pink swayers have been older and may be at higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities to begin with. I do not think this explains everything though and I would never want to just rest on that when we can possibly improve the situation, so I have gone over some possible causes below.
Blue swayers, the majority of this essay is going to be more targeted at pink swayers; while there is some info in there for you, if you’re in a hurry or just feeling kinda raw and want to cut to the chase, you may want to skip down to the “prevention” section for advice on how to tweak your blue sway after a loss.
IF swaying contributes to miscarriage, why?
Keeping in mind that we can’t totally know, my speculation runs in the following directions:
:sad:Altered hormone levels.
When we reduce our levels of testosterone and estrogen via the LE Diet, sometimes our bodies may reduce progesterone too. Some people may develop a short LP which could cause chemicals. Once a baby is implanted, this is probably no longer a factor because a normally-developing baby sends signals to your body to start making a lot of progesterone. That having been said, some pink swayers are messing around with progesterone creams and many people take B6 for short LP. My recommendation is that no one use over the counter progesterone cream at all, and if you are taking B6, be sure to wean off of it slowly rather than stopping it suddenly.
For blue, some people may develop PCOS-like tendencies by following a less-healthy version of the HE Diet (not getting fruits and veg, eating too many refined grains and sugars) and this could possibly be linked to losses as well, if your body starts producing testosterone at the expense of progesterone.
Pink swayers, while this isn’t strictly hormone related, the diet and supps may also change the consistency of the fluids in your reproductive tract that sustain a fertilized egg until it can implant in the uterus. Taking antihistamine may aggravate a natural reduction in these fluids caused by sway diets so please do not take cetirizine or diphenhydramine or Sudafed AFTER pos OPK or after your attempt, if you are doing a cutoff prior to pos OPK. (Update - since we have found antihistamines are not helping anyway, I'd have you leave them out totally if you have experienced a loss)
:sad: Blood sugar levels.
It may be that if our blood sugar levels are not optimal (such as, if you conceive a boy but are following the girl diet) then a pregnancy may have less chance of working out. I’m not totally convinced this is the case, however; the study done on glucose levels found that healthy blasts of either gender developed well in a wide variety of glucose concentrations. Still, it may play a part. Resume your normal eating pattern slowly so as not to shock your body, and blue swayers, I strongly advise you to eat a more varied HE-style diet throughout your pregnancy rather than crash dieting upon BFP to keep your weight low.
PCOS or tendencies thereof may again have some part to play in this because PCOS can affect the ability of your body to regulate blood sugar. Blue swayers who have gained a lot of weight very quickly or who are eating a less-healthy version of HE Diet, and pink swayers who are eating more refined grains and sugars may be more at risk for PCOS-related issues.
:sad: Egg health.
It may be that something to do with the LE Diet itself is contributing to the production of lower quality eggs. This is largely speculative because not a lot is known about egg health in a natural cycle – while we have seen improvements in IVF cycles with taking supps, they are trying to get 10-30 high quality eggs per cycle, and I do not personally find it plausible that the LE Diet is restrictive enough to affect a natural cycle with one measly egg forming. I believe your body would stop ovulation all together long before it started churning out low-quality eggs.
The supps such as vitex and saw palmetto and peppermint tea for pink, or evening primrose/flaxseed/Fertile CM for blue ~may~ affect ovulation negatively for some people, causing it to be delayed and this ~may~ cause an overripe egg to be ovulated. Does this make for a less healthy pregnancy? We don’t know. What we do know is that none of these things have even WORKED for swaying anyway and so I strongly recommend everyone leave every single one of these supplements out if you have had a loss (and no one should ever be using large amounts of flaxseed or flaxseed oil when TTC anyway as it has been proven to cause problems during pregnancy.)
:sad: Inflammation...or actually, a LACK of it.
The aspirin for pink swayers, and for blue swayers, fish oil, may be causing trouble. Your body needs to be a little bit inflamed in order to properly pop the egg out of the follicle, and if you are taking or eating things that are very anti-inflammatory like aspirin or fish oil, a condition called “LUFS” can occur where the egg doesn’t release all the way from the ovary. Aspirin & Infertility | Fertility Advice | Getting Pregnant (http://natural-fertility-info.com/could-aspirin-use-hurt-your-fertility.html) and while typically this manifests itself as a failure to ovulate, it may be that for some people this could contribute to chemical pregnancies. That having been said, this seems to be more of a problem for people who take higher doses of aspirin (above 350 mg) either all the time or a high dose right at the time of ovulation, and NOT the low dose of aspirin. Ibuprofin seems to be much more likely to cause LUFS than aspirin anyway adult_aspirin (http://fertilesigns.homestead.com/adult_aspirin.html) .
I believe the low dose aspirin that pink swayers take is fine and I will continue to recommend it (NOTE - update on 4-2017 we have moved away from aspirin as there were new side effects and some speculation it may cause miscarriage!! Update on 12-27-17 we are now pretty convinced that aspirin is causing miscarriages for some people...use it only under the guidance of a doctor and not ever for swaying, it doesn't work anyway!) but if you are not getting pg or keep having chemicals, and are trying to eliminate causes, it may be a good idea to have a day or two break between pos OPK and temp rise if you feel like the aspirin or fish oil may be preventing ovulation. Weaning off aspirin or fish oil altogether may be something to try, but I hesitate to recommend that because they can both be beneficial for implantation and fish oil is great for egg quality and I’m just not sure that LUFS is really causing many, if any losses.
NEW info - baby aspirin has been linked to miscarriage in one study. Since it was always said to prevent miscarriage, this is an unexpected development. We are not using it much any more anyway since it was not helping our results. I do feel we've seen less miscarriages of late; I have no way to know if this is related to dialing back on aspirin or just a coincidence, but sharing for your guys' info. It's not working anyway, I suggest leaving the aspirin out unless a doctor tells you to take it. And ALWAYS wean off aspirin, never stop it cold turkey even if your doc says it's fine.
:sad: Sperm health.
The egg is only half the equation, some of the supps like licorice root or high dose Vit. E may affect sperm negatively, as do frequency patterns used by pink swayers. I know of one person from IG who had been doing everything under the sun to improve her egg health after repeat losses and then she had another miscarriage. They decided to do a genetic analysis and discovered her loss was caused by chromosomal abnormalitites in her husband’s sperm.
If you have been having losses, pink swayers have your DH drop licorice root, cranberry, soy milk, and peppermint tea and switch to Olive Leaf Extract 500 mg a day taken throughout the cycle. OLE is a new supp but may be the only thing that we have seen that may boost sperm health while still swaying pink. Be sure to have him wean off gradually at BFP as stopping suddenly may be harmful to him. Pink swayers will also need to drop frequency (particularly abstain) and switch to release every 2-4 days instead, and of course drop tighty-whiteys, hot baths, and cycling/jogging.
Blue swayers, most of the TTC a boy supps we use on Gender Dreaming are good for sperm BUT if your husband is doing the very high sodium, BSD, or caffeine intake as advised by other sites OR is taking ginseng, maca, or high dose Vit. E, those things need to go, they affect cell division negatively. Also do not give your husband any more then 30 mg zinc maximum – the amount of zinc listed on Ingender is dangerous and may actually harm sperm to such an extent that it could end up swaying pink. I would also not use any herbs or drugs that are said to "raise testosterone" unless you are under the care of a doctor and using medication for a diagnosed low testosterone level.
:sad: Not enough folic acid/folate or stopping them suddenly.
While I do stress that people take a higher than normal dose of folic acid/folate throughout the entire first trimester and then wean off it slowly, there have been people who took the bare minimum and stopped at BFP. Both pink and blue swayers need to take a higher than normal dose of folic throughout the entire first trimester of pregnancy and then wean off slowly. The diets are not good for folic acid absorption and you need more than the standard recommendation throughout the entire first trimester while the baby is forming, and you need to reduce your levels slowly rather than stopping suddenly. I believe this to be the cause of at least some sway-related losses.
Yes, it says on the vitamin bottle not to exceed 400 mcg of folic but after doing a lot of research I believe it is best and safest when following a sway diet, to increase this dose substantially, to 1200-1600 mcg folic acid. The LE Diet as followed by some people, is lower than normal in sources of folate, and we do not know the effects of the sway supps and weight loss on folic acid absorption by the body. High sodium intake and green tea have been proven beyond shadow of a doubt to interfere with folic acid absorption so it is of paramount importance for blue swayers to take the 2000 mcg of FA.
If you have had repeat losses, pink swayers, you may want to give your husband 400 mcg folic acid for sperm health. This may sway blue. (Blue swayers, your husbands should be taking this already).
Once you've had more than one loss and particularly 3 or more, I strongly suggest dropping folic acid all together (even in fortified foods) and switching over to folate only. More about that in this thread http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-a-girl-best-practices/62405-fabulous-fasting-fantastic-fiber-fhenominal-folate.html
:sad: Clotting factors.
There are several clotting disorders that can raise the odds of miscarriage, and the on again, off again pattern of taking blood thinning supplements may contribute to this. I believe this to be the cause of some sway-related losses. Pink swayers, this is why I strongly urge you to use aspirin instead of cranberry, because you can take it all cycle long and then wean off gradually at BFP.
Blue swayers, you should continue your fish oil into early pregnancy and then gradually wean back and switch over to a DHA supp – don’t just drop fish oil suddenly at BFP. Stopping folic acid suddenly also plays a part in this issue because there is a substantial number of people who have a disorder called MTHFR which causes your blood to clot too easily and can cause pregnancy loss. Wean off folic acid/folate gradually and not until the end of the first trimester. I do believe this issue is the cause of some sway-related losses.
:sad: Sodium.
Suddenly increasing or decreasing your sodium intake (as in, pink swayers get BFP and start eating tons of salt, blue swayers who were eating a lot of sodium get BFP and cut it out entirely) may have a negative effect on your pregnancy. Go very gradually in either direction. And I do not advise the insane and unhealthy levels of sodium that is recommended for TTC a boy in some other sway diets. While I don’t think this matters too awfully much, it certainly can’t help.
:sad: Caffeine, alcohol, smoking.
High intake of caff. has been linked to losses, if you were using a lot as a sway tactic, cut back ASAP. I don’t think this matters much (I've always drunk caffeine when pregnant) but it certainly can’t help. Moderate alcohol is probably ok, but if you or DH have any concerns with sperm health or egg quality, the alcohol would need to go. Heavy alcohol use is definitely not going to help anyone have a healthy pregnancy (and I hope it goes without saying that it is not allowed DURING pregnancy.) Smoking prior to conception has also been linked to increased risk of miscarriage, and if you were having DH smoke as a pink sway tactic he will need to stop/cut back if you have had an unexplained loss.
:sad: Limiting cal/mag intake or potassium, drastically.
If you were a strict IG style swayer and limiting cal/mag for a boy, or potassium for a girl, your body needs these things to function and support a healthy pregnancy. I do not think these things sway in the way that some people claim and too low an intake of potassium can actually KILL you, so PLEASE be sane and sensible, if you absolutely must limit these things.
Blue swayers please do not limit cal-mag any sooner than 6 weeks before a sway. DO NOT under any circumstances cut back on cal-mag many months or years in advance. Your body simply will rob your teeth and bones of all the calcium and magnesium it needs and the level in your body will not change until you are so depleted that you have caused yourself lasting harm. It is NOT worth it for something that almost certainly doesn’t even sway anyway (trust me, I got 4 boys with both DH and I eating tons of dairy, one of whom I was taking between 600-1200 mg calcium a day; got my DD with DH and I eating hardly any dairy and not taking supplemental calcium). I do think this could play a part in some losses – if you conceive a boy but your body is convinced you do not have enough nutrients coming in to sustain a pregnancy.
:sad: AND MOST IMPORTANT Iodine and thyroid related issues.
Pink swayers who are limiting sodium on LE Diet, and blue swayers who are limiting dairy and using a lot of sea salt in lieu of regular iodized salt, may cause their thyroid to malfunction and thyroid issues are one of the most common causes of miscarriage. I believe this to be the PRIMARY reason why swaying might cause losses.
IF you do not have a thyroid problem, please eat iodized salt and/or use an iodine supplement 150 iu when TTC, if there is any doubt in your mind that you are getting enough. Additionally, iodine deficiency is one thing that has been absolutely totally 100% PROVEN to cause a serious type of birth defect known as cretinism. TAKE OR EAT ADEQUATE IODINE!!! IF you DO have a thyroid problem, please please check with your doctor before taking iodine or eating iodized salt as it may not be safe for you to do that.
:think: Additionally there are many other reasons why losses occur but the above ones are the ones I feel could be possibly sway-related. I talk about helping prevent miscarriage from all causes below, just didn’t want there to be any confusion about why I mentioned one thing above and then started talking about some other thing below. The above section is about sway-related causes of loss; the below section is how to better prevent all losses.
How to help prevent future miscarriage after a loss (please note, these are not standard instructions for all swayers, this is specifically for those coming back after a miscarriage)
:ttcboy:For BLUE:
Increase folic from 2000 to 4000 mcg broken into small doses and taken over the course of the day, take throughout the first trimester and then wean off slowly. Switch to folate if you have had more than one loss and particularly if you've had 3 or more and in fact avoid folic acid all together, even in fortified foods.
Drop EPO/Flaxseed and l-arginine if you were taking them (they may affect hormones negatively and make it harder for your body to sustain a pregnancy) Update - I am no longer recommending any of these things anyway.
Wean off fish oil slowly, even decrease doses slowly over time rather than just cutting back. You can trade fish oil for a pregnancy DHA supp, but do this slowly over the course of time, because usually the amount of Omega 3 in DHA is a lot less than it is in the fish oil. If you think fish oil may be preventing ovulation due to LUFS, you may want to take a break from it between pos OPK and temp rise.
If you use B6 or a B Complex vitamin that contains B6, wean off of it slowly, do not quit taking it cold turkey
Be sure you are taking a multivitamin containing iron and zinc and Coq10 if you are not already taking it. If you are over 35, use the coq10 in the “ubiquinol” form.
1000 IU Vit. D for both you and DH may help
Be sane with sodium intake.
Do not use baking soda drink, COT, URAL or ASG
Drop caffeine and alcohol all together for both you and DH
Do not drastically cut calories after BFP
Do not gain too much weight and try to include whole grains and fruits and vegetables rather than refined grains and empty carbs. Potato and banana are really not magic boy foods; neither are super nutritious and they are both bad for blood sugar. Moderate exercise will help improve glucose tolerance and keep excess weight off.
Use iodized salt throughout your pregnancy and/or take a prenatal containing iodine but ONLY if you do not have thyroid problems. IF you do, please check with your doc first.
Do not use megadoses of ANY supplement INCLUDING Vit. C. High dose Vit. C has been used to induce miscarriage.
If you have a history of clotting issues and have taken baby aspirin with previous pregnancy but have stopped it because you are worried it sways pink, please continue taking it. ONLY people with a proven history of clotting disorders who have been told by a doctor to take baby aspirin should take it, though. Do not use baby aspirin as a "preventative" since it likely causes more miscarriages than it prevents!
Do not discontinue cal-mag for months/years in advance of swaying.
Get plenty of rest and try not to stress over swaying too much.
:ttcpink:For PINK:
Do NOT use progesterone creams except under the advice of a doctor. The OTC creams are designed for menopausal women and it is not enough to sustain a pregnancy, but it IS enough to mess your cycle up badly and cause fluctuations in prog. levels during pregnancy.
Increase folic from 1200-1600 to 2000 or so, broken into small doses and taken over the course of the day. Take throughout the first trimester and wean off slowly. IF you have had 3 or more losses please switch to folate instead of folic acid and in fact avoid folic acid all together, even in fortified foods.
Use baby aspirin instead of cranberry, and if you have had a miscarriage while taking baby aspirin, you may want to drop BOTH of them and use 500 mg Vit. C taken throughout the cycle. If you use Vit. C, at BFP you should exchange that Vit. C for an equal amount in prenatal, don’t doubledose yourself with Vit C, high dose C has been used to induce miscarriage. If you think aspirin may be inhibiting ovulation due to LUFS, try taking a break from it from pos OPK thru temp rise. ONLY people with a proven history of clotting disorders who have been told by a doctor to take baby aspirin should take it, though. Do not use baby aspirin as a "preventative" since it likely causes more miscarriages than it prevents!
Add in an iron supp 18-30 mg 3 days a week (this will help your body recover after a miscarriage) and a zinc supp 8-15 mg taken 3 days a week (this may sway blue but can help with egg quality).
50-100 mg Coq10 may help improve your egg quality. If you are over 35, use Coq10 in the “ubiquinol” form. While it is a blue sway tactic, it is good for blood sugar levels and it’s great for egg health.
Use iodized salt. If you are strictly limiting sodium, add in an iodine supp 150 IU taken throughout pregnancy. Pink swayers, you may want to get the type of prenatal containing iodine in it as a preventative measure. If you have thyroid issues please check with your doctor before taking or ingesting supplemental iodine as it may not be safe for you.
Keep caffeine and alcohol to sane levels and if your husband was smoking as a sway tactic, that may need to go. (NO alcohol and minimal caffeine during pregnancy!!!)
Drop abstain. FR is probably ok but is not going to make it any easier to conceive. I advise having DH release every 2-4 days and then going for one attempt at pos OPK. Drop tighty whiteys, hot baths, cycling, jogging, and anything that could be harmful to sperm.
DH should drop any sperm-harming supps such as LR, Pep Tea, cranberry, even soy milk, and replace with 500 mg olive leaf extract taken throughout the cycle. At BFP he needs to gradually wean off OLE, do not have him drop it cold turkey as it may be harmful to do that.
Do not take antihistamine after pos OPK and you may want to drop it all together.
Get plenty of rest and try not to stress over swaying too much.
:think:--But what about douching/jelly and not taking a multi?
For whatever reason, when people experience a loss these are the two things they tend to attribute it to.
Lack of multivitamin:
:baby:Blue swayers, you should be taking a multivitamin. At BFP, either continue that multivitamin or switch to a prenatal that has the same or BETTER nutrient content than your multivitamin does. Don't suddenly switch to any vitamin that has a lower level of any nutrient than what you were taking when TTC. And don't suddenly switch from a vitamin that has folate, to a vitamin that has folic acid at any point. If you need to switch prenatals do so gradually over the course of time.
If you have thyroid problems please double check with your doctor about whether it is ok to take a prenatal or multivitamin that contains iodine.
:baby: Pink swayers: Your body stores months to years of many nutrients such as Vit. A,D, E, K B12, iron, calcium, magnesium and many others. Most of the other nutrients your body does not store, such as the other B vitamins aside from B12, Vit. C, and some of the other micronutrients, are present in more than adequate amounts on LE Diet (as it is written – some people DO cut back too far but that is not my recommendation!!!! Fruits and vegetables are 100% allowed on LE Diet!!)
The exceptions, the nutrients that aren’t always present in adequate amounts on LE Diet, are zinc, potassium , and iodine. I want everyone to be getting adequate potassium through diet (2500-3500 mg a day), iodine either from iodized salt (and DO NOT cut out salt all together) or else an iodine supp of 150 IU taken when TTC, and if you have gone on swaying for 3-6 months OR have had a loss, even if just a chemical, you should add in 8-15 mg zinc taken 3x a week to be sure you have enough. If you have thyroid issues please check with your doctor about whether you can take or eat supplemental iodine; it may not be ok for you to do that.
If you have had a loss and experienced heavy bleeding, have any history of anemia, OR you have been or will be on LE Diet for more than 3-6 months in total, you may want to add in an iron supplement 18-30-60 mg taken 3 days a week (avoid the high dose iron; even tho they are cheaper, they are badly absorbed which is why they come in such large amounts, plus they are murder on your stomach). Continue this INTO your next pregnancy until you are able to get in for a checkup to see what your iron levels are.
If you have been on LE Diet for awhile, and/or have had a loss and you are experiencing extreme tiredness, weakness, coldness, notice a lot of small red moles on your skin, excessive bruising, or that your blood seems to be taking a lot longer to clot, you should take iron 18-30-60 mg DAILY for two weeks and see if you feel better. If you do, continue it for a full month and then switch to the 3x a week level. If you don’t feel better, you need to see a doctor to have bloodwork for anemia done – not all anemia is able to be cleared up by oral medication and if it’s severe you may need to have IV treatment to rectify it.
As long as you take the precautions I mention above, you DO NOT NEED a multivitamin to have a healthy pregnancy. That is a myth propagated by vitamin salesmen, most of the babies ever conceived were not to women taking multivitamins, and I talk more in depth about the issue here. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/trying-conceive-girl/24628-le-diet-faq.html
Douching/jellies
:baby:for PINK: I don’t believe jellies contribute to any issues with pregnancy. When you are using them, be sure to use clean hands and clean equipment.
If you douche, do it BEFORE attempt and NOT after attempt – I believe douching before attempt to be safe, I would not douche after attempt, however. Your cervix will be slightly open around ovulation and douching after attempt may push microorganisms present in the vagina and penis, into your uterus where the pH is much higher and they can get a foothold to overgrow and cause infection and miscarriage at a later point in time. Semen may also help keep microorganisms alive, and the douching may push these unfriendly critters up into the cervix where they can spread into your uterus.
Chronic douching over the course of years HAS been linked to increased risk of miscarriage due to infection and scarring, but this is not the type of thing that most swayers do.
:baby:for BLUE: I don’t believe sperm safe, conception friendly jellies such as PreSeed or Conceive plus contribute to any issues with pregnancy. When you are using them, be sure to use clean hands and clean equipment.
The baking soda douches/finger and egg white that some blue swayers use, I DO believe may cause/contribute to miscarriage. They are very high in pH which overruns the natural protection of the low vaginal pH to allow microorganisms to survive. Then, your cervix will be slightly open around ovulation, and you will probably have a lot more CM than is normal as well. Baking soda can also cause irritation and even burns that can give entry points for microorganisms to thrive. This creates a perfect storm where microorganisms can run rampant and infect the uterus.
Egg whites can be contaminated with salmonella – it’s estimated that 142,000 people a year get sick from salmonella in undercooked eggs and the number of eggs with salmonella bacteria in them, is probably much much higher than that. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/weekinreview/26eggs.html?_r=0
Salmonella is known to cause pregnancy loss in sheep and cattle and salmonella has been proven to cause infections in the human uterus as well. There was a former member of IG who got a salmonella infection in her uterus and she nearly DIED when the infection ate through her uterus into her spinal cord and brain. Her infection was of unknown origin but she had swayed blue 2-3 years before, using egg white. We don't know that it is connected in any way BUT this case is proof positive that salmonella can infect the human uterus and wreak havoc.
And even the pasteurized egg whites are off limits because they are sky high in pH and egg whites are known to be perfect for growing microbes (this is why vaccines are grown in eggs!) They are very high in pH which overruns the natural protection of the low vaginal pH to allow microorganisms to survive. Then, your cervix will be slightly open around ovulation, and you will probably have a lot more CM than is normal as well. This creates a perfect storm where microorganisms can run rampant and infect the uterus.
I REALLY, really, really don’t want anyone messing with the egg whites.
How long to wait to TTC after a loss:
It depends (standard annoying atomic answer!)
:baby: Blue swayers: If you are swaying blue and have the luxury of time, you will want to wait one cycle, possibly even two, before TTC again. The first cycle or two after a loss may sway slightly pink. http://m.humupd.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/4/558.long
:baby:Pink swayers:
:tissue:If you had a chemical, you are good to go for the next month PROVIDED that you feel ok with it emotionally and you didn’t experience bleeding for longer than a week. If you had bleeding right up until you ovulated, I think it is advisable to wait because your lining will ~probably~ not be adequate and you may be setting yourself up for a chemical. That having been said the lining grows from the inside out and if you really want to try, it is still possible your lining will be perfectly fine after an early loss. Follow your gut.
:tissue:If you experience an early loss before 6 weeks (most of these will happen on their own) or a later loss that rectified itself naturally but BEFORE 10 weeks, you can PROBABLY go for it at your next ovulation; again, if you bled right up until ovulation, it is best to wait because your lining may not be good enough to sustain pregnancy. Your doctor will generally tell you not to try this first cycle, but it is largely because of psychology (leftover "women are hysterical" thinkingand not biology. It is UP TO YOU what you do, do not feel like you MUST try if you are not ready, and do not feel like you MUST wait if you want to try.
:tissue:If you experience a natural loss after 10 weeks or have had a D and C/E at any point, it is best to wait out that first cycle to be sure you have a good lining.
:tissue:If you experience a loss after 14 weeks it is best to wait TWO cycles before TTC.
:tissue:If you have had a recent C-section (within the last 18 months) and a loss either natural or with D and C, it is best to wait TWO cycles before TTC.
Above all else, PLEASE take care of yourself and do what feels right to YOU in your gut, heart, and mind. Don’t feel like you have to wait if you really want to be pregnant again, don’t feel like you have to try if you aren’t ready yet. Huge (((hugs))). :hug2: