My Pink Sway Plan, Questions and Advice?

[Arimethia]

Sorry in advance for this being so long! Could you please read my sway plan and tell me if I need to change or fix anything? Thanks!

12 Weeks Out-

Diet:
For the past two and a half weeks I’ve been limiting myself to a 1200 calories a day diet. If I exercise than I eat 200-300 calories more depending on what I did but the goal is to stay under 1500 calories a day.

I’m weaning myself off caffeine and salt. Trying to increase my dairy intake.

I still eat breakfast but I am working on decreasing the size. (Going from an egg and toast and fruit to an egg and fruit or just a piece of toast.) Trying to go longer in between meals. Just this week trying to add a dairy (glass of milk or yogurt) to each meal.

We don’t eat much red meat anyway so working on cutting red meat out completely as well. My mom was vegetarian when she had me so contemplating cutting out the chicken breast that we eat a few times a week as well.

Acclimating myself to artificial sweetener since it gives me a headache, that has been pretty successful. Started by replacing the creamer in my coffee (a special daily treat) with a sugar free kind.

Supplements:
Right now I’m taking a Women’s One-A-Day with skin support. I quit my antidepressants (SNRI’s) almost a month ago and I read that a multivitamin helped with the withdrawal symptoms, I pretty much have none of those left so I’ll be able to switch that up soon.

Charting:
Religiously checking my BBT, CM, Cervical position and effacement and charting, I’m on cycle three of charting but have already determined when I ovulated last cycle. This is important since I have had trouble in the past determining when the first day of my period actually is since I have dark brown discharge for a few days immediately before the actual first day. (Could this be a hormone problem? Anybody know? I’ve ALWAYS been like this and other than a few tiny ovarian cysts my junk is in tip-top shape as far as I know.)
We use a speculum to closely monitor where I’m at in the fertile stage of my cycle.
I have also started using PH strips to check the acidity of my CM throughout the cycle but find those things DANG hard to read. So if anybody has a digital monitor brand they like please let me know. (Under $30, would be awesome)
I have a pretty consistent 28-30 day cycle and it’s really obvious when I’m ovulating/fertile. My body is pretty textbook when it comes to that.

Exercise:
This has been all over the place since we’re fixing up our house and getting ready to sell and move. Some days I get my exercise from moving boxes and yard work, other times it’s cardio playing a dance game. Some days I don’t exercise at all. My lifestyle is sedentary to moderately active depending on the day. I have two boys and my two year old keeps me particularly busy. I know when my mom conceived me she was riding her bike over 25 miles almost every day. Most days I don’t have time for a 12 mile ride, which takes me an hour, much less 25 miles so this might have to be a part of the sway that isn’t as crucial for me.

I’m either planning on exercising a TON next month (October which will be 8 weeks out) and then stopping completely come November (4 weeks out) Or continuing on my merry moderate way for the next month or two and then stopping completely the cycle before our first attempt. Which would be better?

8 Weeks Out:

Diet:
I plan on completely doing the strict girl diet (low everything) for the two cycles before and then on through our attempt cycles. Keeping my calories low (1200-1500) and sticking with dairy, eggs, switching all breads and pastas from whole wheat to white, low sodium. No more salt, no more potatoes. Drink crystal light instead of water pretty much all day. I have a copy of “The Pre-Conception Gender Diet” by Sally Langendoen and William Proctor, does anybody know how good their sway diets are? The main takeaway I took from the girl diet was NO salt and low caloric intake. I also have the girl diet book from IG and I wonder if anybody has some tweaks for that too?


Supplements:
I plan to start taking daily: Folic Acid, Cranberry, Magnesium Citrate, (No calcium supplements as it can raise your chances for heart disease but I will try to meet my calcium goals through dairy, I’m trying not to stress about it, just increase dairy and decrease calories)

Thinking about adding B12 just to see how it affects my Seasonal Depression I usually get around October, does anybody know what B12 sways?

Vitex AF to O – My cycles are already VERY regular, would this help my girl sway or mess it up?
Progesterone Cream AF to O –Again, help or would it mess up my regular cycles?

Charting- Continue to closely chart and monitor CM.

Exercise- Should I start exercising a ton (If I have time?) and stop 6 weeks before next attempt (after ovulation the cycle before the cycle we attempt to conceive)? Or just keep moderately exercising and then stop 6 weeks before?

Also, is it important to stick to a 1200-1500 calorie diet or do you account for exercise? (Like if you do more exercise that day you can throw in the calories you burned exercising for a consumption, i.e. drink an extra glass of milk and have a cookie as long as your net calories stay under?)


6 Weeks Out

Continue everything as before, stop exercising completely. Become a couch potato. Add a glass of wine or cocktail or two every night from cessation of AF to Ovulation. (We’re not big drinkers so both us will be doing this)

Cycle Attempt-

Continue all previous factors

From AF to O+12 Take Antihistamines (both hubby and I). I was planning on Sudafed but I read somewhere that Atomic Sagebrush doesn’t recommend pseudoephedrine? Why is that? Which ones does she recommend? (I have allergies so I’m well versed in them ALL, lol!)

Have hubby abstain from cessation of AF to Ovulation, Attempt at Ovulation+12.

Have hubby switch from boxers to briefs from AF to Attempt. Hot hot hot shower right before attempt.

I conceived both my boys during happy fun times probably THE DAY I ovulated. My second we were DTD every single day, multiple times per day so I figure we should do a lengthy abstinence period before the one attempt.

Get as drunk as possible without forgetting our factors night of attempt. (HA! We’ll see how that goes)

No Orgasm for me. I don’t know if we’re planning on position or anything.

Lime douche before attempt. Do Replens before and after attempt. Then every morning and night for 5 or so days.

Jump and dump.

And that’s it! I’ve been researching this for about two months on and off. Our first attempt is planned for October. I did almost 3 months of research on and off and have been reading about swaying every day for the past month or so.

Can anybody tell me if my sway seems pretty spot on?

What do I need to tweak and/or change?

My husband is pretty open to swaying so what else should I be requesting he do?

Thanks in advance for all your advice!

[Arimethia]

I forgot to add, I'm 5'6" and I currently weigh 156 lbs, my plan is to lose 24 pounds in the next 12 weeks, and try to continue to lose weight through our sway attempts. After reading about the cranberry I think I'll switch to baby aspirin instead.

[Atsaukina1]

Wow kudos for having it all thought out way ahead of time :) I thought I had it all together and then got my first +opk and was like "oh shiz what do I do" lol. I'll let the pros offer advice :)

[atomic sagebrush]

as a general rule I only go over Dream Members sway plans when they require this level of detail, so please consider a Dream Membership, the money goes to keep the site up and me able to do this as a job rather than having to go to work. :)

Personally, this is not the type of sway that I recommend. It's a little hard for me to tell you "yes tweak this or that" because it's just...different. Like apples and oranges. You're basing a sway on mineral diet and pH stuff and timing, I don't really believe in that stuff, so it's just tough for me to sound off without preaching at ya and I'm sure everyone is sick of that LOL.

So, I will give you my opinion and take it for what it's worth. People ahve gotten girls doing the old-school sway stuff, it didn't work for some of us on here but then again no sway is ever going to be 100%. Also, I do want you to be informed that the stricter the sway, the lower odds of conception, and the longer it will take to conceive. So if you are in any kind of hurry due to age or other time constraints, this is really quite strict and you may need to pick and choose a bit about what to include and what to leave out.

1)i personally think caff and salt are fine for swaying pink, I would not increase dairy because it's loaded with nutrients. If you are a big believer in mineral stuff I'd use a cal-mag supp rather than dairy and avoid Vit. D and B6 at all costs.

2)would drop multivitamin ASAP, I think those sway blue pretty substantially

3)antidepressants may help sway pink; as I'm sure you know they are not ok during pregnancy.

4)Don't worry about the artificial sweeteners. I think they barely sway if at all and I don't want anyone doing those insane levels recommended on some of the other sway sites. No more than 2-3 servings a day and if you are getting headaches from them, I'd avoid them.

5)I really do not recommend religiously charting anything for purposes of swaying/timing intercourse. Your cycle is regular, swaying changes it all anyway and all it does is add a level of "Martha" that seems to sway blue in a big way. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/33517-maternal-dominance-hypothesis-priviledged-daughter-hypothesis.html If it's coming down to where you're worried about whether your period starts on Tuesday or Wednesday and above all else getting a speculum involved (girl I thought I had heard it all ;)), that is NOT GOOD for your T levels (or whatever it is that sways blue for we control-freak boy moms)

6)RE the spotting before AF, that can be normal. as long as you ahve enough time for a fertilized egg to safely implant before your lining starts to slough (10 days or so, more like 12 is better) then it's fine and nothing to worry about, esp. if you've gotten pg that way before. It's simply the way your body likes to roll.

7)I strongly recommend the exercise. WE've gotten great results with it. But if you can't with the kiddos, please don't worry about normal stuff like running around after a 2 year old. When I say moderate exercise = blue, I mean like doing Taebo for a half an hour a few times a week, not caring for your child. Swaying has to fit into your life and not the other way around.

8)I have the Preconception Gender Diet and I think it's not that great. The foods are really old fashioned. Aside from that, the mineral stuff is NOT LE Diet and I just want to issue the caveat, that those who've tried to blend LE and the mineral diets have not been able to stick to it. It makes a diet so restrictive that you're miserable and probably not getting enough nutrients to sustain yourself and a pg. I no longer recommend anyone trying this. But, I do have a thread here http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-girl-best-practices/761-diet-suggestions-ttc-pink.html

Special mention for potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, etc. The reason why those are "forbidden" foods on the mineral diets is because they include massive amounts of dairy which is LOADED with potassium. If you are doing LE diet, most people need to include them in order to get enough potassium. You need 2500-3500 mg potassium a day for survival (this is the same on all diets because it's the bare minimum for your body to function) and going any lower than that is a dangerous idea that can KILL you. There is nothing inherently boy-friendly about those foods and the Irish and the Incas had 50-50 boys and girls despite diets that were pretty much solely potatoes.

9)If you're not taking calcium, there's no point in taking magnesium. The only reason the mag is even included is allegedly to help with cal absorption. But if (and that's a BIG IF) calcium even sways, we don't know if we even want it to be absorbed into our bones or if we want it floating around in there free and then getting excreted. ***I totally agree that it may be dangerous in the long term to take massive doses of calcium for swaying and I do not recommend it. I think the data points towards calcium swaying blue when it's a part of an overall diet anywya and you can read the full case against calcium for swaying here (this is a three parter, read all three) http://genderdreaming.com/forum/trying-conceive-girl/610-calcium-conundrum-controversial.html

10)For the love of all that is good and holy no B12. Unless you are proven to have a deficiency, I think that's one of the few nutrients that may sway (BLUE!!!) all on its own regardless of diet (Vit. D being the other.)

11)Re vitex, yes, it does mess up cycles but that may be part and parcel of why/how it sways. I think vitex does sway pink, but it's not like OMG super effective, so it may be more trouble than it is worth. (your call to make on that.) I really really really advise against the prog cream for swaying. The case for prog and swaying is just one guys' totally unproven theory anyway, and worse, is a gross misunderstanding of what the original theory even says/means, biologically speaking.

12)I really don't recommend that most people start off doing 1200 cals anyway. (I am not entirely sure where people are getting that idea, is that something that is being said on IG or something???) 12-1500 is the barest minimum and I only recommend that for really petite people who may only eat 1500 to begin with, or else people who have plateaued with weight left to lose. I think it is very important for you guys, esp. if you are going to exercise, to start off higher than you think you need and see what happens. That way if you need to cut back later, you have somewhere to go. If you start too low, your body freaks out and your metabolism drops and then you will stop losing weight even at very low cal intake.

My advice - start with 1800-2000 plus exercise. The weight may fly off, or come off slowly. If it does stall out, then you can drop to 1500-1800, and if it stalls again you still ahve the 12-15 range to fall back to.

No one should ever go below 12-15, that is the minimum safe pre-preg range.

13)you don't need to take antihistamine that far in advance. I recommend cetirizine daily for 5 days before O or whenever you see EWCM, whichever comes first (try to time this to be 6 hours or more before attempt). Then, if you still have tons of EWCM (like "birthing a jellyfish" as cauliflower says) you can take an additional ONE diphenhydramine 1-2 hours before attempt.

Your husband can take ONE Sudafed 1-2 hours before attempt. The reason why you cannot take Sudafed, is because it has been strongly linked to strokes in young women, who took it along with taking blood thinners (both aspirin and cranberry are blood thinners) and for several days (exactly the way swayers were taking it on IG). It is not safe and the antihistamines do the exact same thing anyway.

14)I really advise against O+12, timing doesn't sway anyway and there has never been a conception observed on the day after ovulation regardless of what some sites claim. O+16, O+20, and O+48 timing schemes will = BFN and O+12 is barely any better. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/7691-trouble-timing.html

15)Sticking to one attempt really does seem to sway pink so if there's any way to avoid several BD's for your pink sway,t hat's great. Personally I think it best to plan to have your attempt so you ahve a good chance of conception so I have people attempt at pos OPK.

16)I really do not recommend lime douche and I FOR SURE do not recommend doing anything for 5 days after ovulation/attempt. The sperm are long gone out of reach after about 15-30 minutes. It doesn't work anyway and you can read a really long boring diatribe here http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/11684-ph-pickle.html

I like RepHresh better than Replens but you can't use that with lime douche, so if you must include douche, I would not do RepHresh.

17)One thing we have seen great results with for DH is the licorice root http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-girl-best-practices/7108-saw-palmetto-peppermint-tea-licorice-root-depth-how.html LR is not right for everyone so please do have a look at that essay before deciding to include it.

Another thing to try is giving him 12-48 oz soy milk a day. We haven't had any results with this yet as we are just starting to include it.

Jogging and biking have been shown to sway pink in studies so if he enjoys those things, great.

Smoking regular and "special" tobacco can sway pink, if that is something he does. If he doesn't, of course no one should ever start smoking anything for a sway. If he does, I hear you can make a pretty cool pipe out of a speculum ;)

18):agree: You are at a perfect weight to start a pink sway - got some weight to spare but not so much that you can't lose it in 12 weeks' time.

Thanks again for your patience and I apologize it took me so long!!! :) Welcome to the site.

[Arimethia]

OMG! Thank you SO much for that extensive critique of my sway! I will be changing several things up and I actually came back today to pay for a Dream Member membership because we're getting down to the nitty gritty and I think we'll be trying in January so we're quickly approaching the 8 weeks out mark.

After researching some more I think we'll be changing a lot. We're all going vegetarian, DH and I are adding lots of soy to our diets and I will look into him taking licorice root. He's also planning on going with whitey tighties, hot showers and frequent release come the cycle we're going to attempt. We've been debating between abstaining and frequent release and frequent release seems healthier and more comfortable for him even if it may not be convenient. (TMI: Our BD pattern is currently pretty boy sway, once every other day or so, so it seems like upping his release pattern to twice a day every day should help sway girl?) We're not worried about timing so much but I will be doing the RePhresh after researching that here. Thank you especially for the instructions regarding antihistimines, I will follow that to a T, and I am going to try super hard to do the exercise, can I split it into two thirty minute sessions in a day or does it have to be a one hour long stretch? Can I start the exercise routine 2-4 weeks before our attempt or does it have to be started 8 or more weeks before our attempt?

I think I will up my calories a bit more, I've lost 15 pounds, I'd like to be 10 pounds lighter before I get pregnant just for comfort sake but is it okay if I don't lose any more weight. (I'm 5'6" 145 lbs) or should I still continue to lose leading up to and during our attempt. I'm guessing exercising every day should help with that. I'm currently on 1400-1800 calories a day being moderately sedentary (just house cleaning and toddler chasing) and I've hit a plateau.

Also, should I do Vitex AND Cranberry/baby asprin? Or just Vitex? Or Just Cranberry/baby asprin? I'll skip the magnesium and calcium and keep the folic acid.

Thank you thank you thank you! :bowdown:

[atomic sagebrush]

thanks for Dream Membership, much appreciated!

1)re frequent release, I don't think you need to have him release 2x a day. the only people who I ever think should go that much are guys who habitually already release 1x a day and have gotten boys doing that (very small minority) If you are DTD every other day folks, have him release daily for 7-10 days and then go for one unprotected attempt. That's different both in terms of amount of release and number of attempts.

2)I think exercise needs to be in one 60 min block when possible. Your body will stop burning carbs as fuel and start burning stores of fat and muscle after about 45 minutes, and I think that process sways somehow.

3)We honestly don't know about the weight loss timing. It's great if you can be at your lowest weight when you get pg and even better if you are actively losing weight at that stage, but at the same time we have had so many people end up messing up their ovulation by trying to be too strict with the weight loss, so just do what feels best for you on that.

4)don't do both cran and aspirin, I am not a huge fan of cran and you can read about that here http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-girl-best-practices/7086-how-lower-ph-via-supps-cran-baby-aspirin-aspartame-other-techniques.html

re vitex, we have not gotten the kind of stellar results that I would ahve hoped for, to justify as much trouble as vitex causes. I do think it helps sway pink, but it can really be a PITA in terms of moving/delaying O so it's up to you on that.

[Arimethia]

Thank you so much! This has been extremely helpful. So in summation, here is what our sway is looking like right now.

I am on day 15 my cycle, we're planning on trying next cycle. I haven't been charting anything other than days and paying attention to CM because we're not as concerned about timing and it's one less thing to stress about.

I have been exercising every day for an hour in one chunk for 5 days and last week I fit in an hour three days of the week, a half hour on one day and then had a rest day. I figure if I can only do 30 minutes occasionally, as long as I'm doing an hour most of the time I'm getting the benefit. Plus it's been helping my stress levels stay low. (I've been doing 60-65 minutes of an X-box Kinect Zumba class every day for cardio) I plan on doing 60 minutes every day for 6 days with a break, usually on one of the days I work at a coffee shop, and those days I'm on my feet all day anyway.

Both my husband and I have been eating vegetarian since mid-Novemeber. I've been using the My Fitness Pal app to track my calories and it has a neat feature that tells you what percentage of your daily diet has been carbs/fat/protien. I've been trying to aim for 55% or more carbs, less than 15% protein and fat fluctuates. I've replaced olive oils with canola oil, drinking nonfat milk, occasionally having soy milk and peppermint tea, one cup every day for the past 4 days or so. I'll be taking a break from that until next AF. I'm eating roughly 1400-1600 calories a day and with the hour of exercise every day it appears I'm losing weight.
I have been having a drink, either a glass of wine cooler or a cocktail every night. Just one, because before this I RARELY drank, like maybe two drinks a month. We started that just this week too.
I took my first baby aspirin on Wednesday and plan on taking my second on Saturday, I'll keep that schedule every week until we conceive as long as it doesn't affect me negatively. Still taking Folic Acid every day.
My husband has been drinking a cup of soy milk every day and he just started taking LR a few days ago because we forgot to start him on it my last AF. Getting him to take stuff regularly is difficult so I'm constantly reminding him. Because we skipped almost two weeks that he should have been on it, I'll have him on LR until about day 24 or so of my cycle and then give him a break 6 to 8 days or so until my next period, when he'll be on the recommended AF-O then break schedule. As soon as we can pick up some briefs he'll be wearing those.

The cycle we try for we'll be doing the centrizine and benadryl for both of us and Rephresh after AF stops. We'll aim for somewhere around day 11 of my cycle (Generally I ovulate around day 14 so day 11-13 seems like it will be fruitful) and do one attempt. My husband will be doing FR once a day every day from AF to attempt. He'll also take hot showers every day from AF to attempt. We'll go for one attempt and see how that goes.

Here's hopin'!

[atomic sagebrush]

just wanted to let you know I have seen this, give it a bump if I don't answer within 48 hours!

[Arimethia]

Bump. (I also would like to add that most dinners I make have onions or garlic or both, are these hardcore boy sway foods or is this one of those speculative things?)

[Arimethia]

Also, I'm drinking about three cups of peppermint tea four days a week, I read in the thread on SP, LR and Peppermint that you rccommend doing that only from AF to O but then I read somewhere else every day was okay. Which is preferable?

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks so much for the bump and the patience!!

1)as long as you're hitting the 60 when you can, if then additionally a couple days you only get 30, that is fine. what you want to avoid is doing 4 days a week of 30 min.

2)diet and supps look great, it's my personal preference for guys to take LR for no longer than 14 days no matter how long he was on it or not before. It makes blood pressure go up and the longer he's on it, the sooner that can occur.

3)I do want to say that is a pretty darn strict sway and you ~may~ want to consider dropping or relaxing a bit on some of it. My advice would be to cut it closer to O day because that's going to increase your odds of conception. And I would only use antihistamines for you, and only cetirizine unless you really have loads of CM. (but of course as always your call to make - on occasion people do get pg with uberstrict sways and even if you don't, at least you can rest safe in the knowledgethat you have really left no stone unturned!!

PS your avatar is about the cutest thing EVER

[atomic sagebrush]

Bump. (I also would like to add that most dinners I make have onions or garlic or both, are these hardcore boy sway foods or is this one of those speculative things?)

this is def. speculative and it is something that I really doubt does a whole lot; people eat so much of these foods around the world and yet still have 50-50 b and g.

The only reason why I exclude them from diet is simply because it can't hurt and it is possible to do so.

[maidentomother]

Arimethia, I haven't researched garlic yet, but in order to raise T levels with onions, they must be eaten raw. Cooked onions are therefore safe, as I understand it. I love onions so I had to check that out! All the research I've read suggests cooked onions are fine for pink swayers.

[Arimethia]

Thank you guys so much!

Re the antihistamines, I'm an over producer of cm so I'm probably going to do both.

Thanks for the food advice too, I rarely eat raw onions when I'm not swaying so it will be no sweat to avoid those.

I have been easing up on the diet a bit when it comes to timing, some days I cheat, some days I hardly eat, some days I have to snack or have breakfast but I try to hold off on that first meal for as long as possible, I only make it to 10 am some days but others I can go until 12 or even 2. Mist days it seems like I eat around 11am and 5pm with a latte in there sometimes, either before or after 11. Either way I wait until my tummy is really growling or I feel super hungry before having a meal. I'm under the impression that erratic mealtimes sways girl, am I right?

I'm also getting sick and I heard that sways girl too. First time in my life I'm hoping a cold will stick around three weeks.

Thank you ladies so much for your help. It's reassuring to hear I've planned a strict sway, I was a little worried about the stuff I was leaving out.

[Arimethia]

Thanks about my avatar, it's one of my favorites of my boys.

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, I don't think erratic meals in and of themselves sway, but waiting till you're good and hungry probably does, as does being sick.

I wanted to add another layer of reassurance about the strictness of your sway. I know that on some other sites people claim to do these incredibly strict sways but my experience on this site (where I like to think I"ve worked very hard to create an atmosphere of acceptance and lack of competitiveness regarding people's sways) is that at least SOME of the superstrict swayers are fibbing/exaggerating to some extent. We have MANY people who aren't getting pregnant - I'm talking 85%-90% - doing even fairly relaxed sways compared to the "other site". There is NO earthly way that people, at least not most people, are conceiving doing the types of sways that are reported...if that was the case then people would be getting pg more easily on this site where they're only doing a few things. So of course while it's always best to do what you feel you need to do, to have no regrets, neither should you regret the things you're leaving out. If you do too strict a sway, you won't get pregnant, and when the BFN's start adding up people tend to panic and drop everything, even sway blue, in order to conceive. You are far better off doing a sane sway that actually has you in with a shot of conception, because even tho it feels counterintuitive, you're actually more likely to get pg with a stricter sway than you would be if you had started off with the STRICTEST sway possible and praying for a miracle!

[Arimethia]

Well it looks like I got confirmation of my strict sway as I did not get pregnant last month. :tissue:

I messed up LE and didn't exercise during the 2WW due to all kinds of stress.

I'm thinking it's too hard to fit in the daily hour of exercise this month, 3 or 4x per week for 30-minutes would be more doable but I'm assuming that sways more boy.
I'm thinking I'm also going to just do one applicator of Rephresh after AF ends this cycle and then no more.

I'm also thinking about doing more than one attempt at +OPK, like once at +OPK and once a day for two days after that. Or would that stack the deck more in favor of boy? I got a +OPK on CD13 but didn't ovulate until CD16 so I think we missed the egg.

What should we drop and still have a solid sway? Thanks so much for your help.

[Arimethia]

As a refresher, this was what my sway looked like last month: So far my sway has been vegetarian LE diet since November, LE since September, I exercised an hour every day in December to our first attempt in January. I was taking baby aspirin 3x per week but started bruising so I cut that back to 2x per week. Folic acid every day. Peppermint tea, three cups per day from AF-O. Rephresh every three days from AF-O. Centrizine every day from AF-O, Benadryl the night of attempt. One attempt at Positive OPK. I also lost about 27 lbs from August until now and still losing. My husband is on LR 3x per day from AF-O, briefs from AF-O and frequent release from AF-O.

But yeah, I haven't exercised in over two weeks and have been eating breakfast lunch dinner and snacks during that time as well.

[atomic sagebrush]

please bump this for me for tomorrow

[maidentomother]

I think you should stick with one BD attempt. Do you know how long after a positive OPK you usually O? O-2 has the best odds for conception, so aiming for that with one attempt makes sense with a girl sway. Personally I would keep the one attempt + diet + exercise, as those sway the hardest IMO.

[Arimethia]

Bump! I want to do exercise but getting in an hour every day is really difficult this month, I may be able to do a half hour a couple of time a week' maybe every day but a whole hour every day was just way too much for the way life is going right now.

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, the thing about exercise is that I honestly don't KNOW. I had to come up with a blanket recommendation that I felt would work for everyone, so I came up with the 60 6-7 idea because I knew that would work. But that doesn't mean you as an individual can't get a girl with less (provided you are losing weight on a lower protein diet), it's just that I had to pick the number that I felt would be most effective for the population as a whole. That having been said, I do think the 60 min. part is more important because after about 45 min. your body runs out of carbs to burn and has to start converting your stores of fat/muscle to use as energy. So if you could even do 60 min. 4 days a week, that could be enough for some. 3 days a week, 30 min a day, I don't think that's going to work for most people.

I BEG you to keep the one attempt for now. We've gotten 75% with one attempt and I hate to see people drop it without giving it at least one month without the stuff like jelly, frequency, antihistamine - I'd drop ALL of those things before giving up on one attempt. Plus, you were doing both frequency and antihistamine longer/harder than I recommend anyway. One attempt has had vastly better results than all of them. If you really didn't ovulate for 3 days, you'd be in with 3 attempts in fertile window which has thus far yielded 60% BOYS even with otherwise pink sways (and 80% boys with blue sways)

Just because you didn't O for 3 days last month, doesn't mean this is going to happen in future cycles (esp. since it sounds like you were under a fair bit of stress) so I would stick with pos OPK or first thing the next morning if you're more comfy with that. BTW you can still get pg from an attempt CD 13 with O on CD 16, it was all the other stuff you were doing that kept it from happening (or else it just wasn't your month)

[Arimethia]

Oh thank you! That's very helpful! ;) I think I can do an hour of exercise four times a week, that's much more doable. I think we will stick with just one attempt again at pos OPK and just try not to obsess during the 2WW. This month I'm planning distractions so that should help keep me from testing until AF does or does not show up.
I'm also going to be less hard on myself about my cheats because it seems like I'm still losing weight even on my splurge days, and sometimes it seems like splurging on my calories gives my body the extra push to lose. I figure if I stay away from meat, keep losing and keep protein low I can call it good enough along with the other stuff we're doing. :fx:

Thank you!

[Arimethia]

Hey Atomic! Yet another BFN this month. This is what we did last month:

Vegetarian LE. I don't watch levels but I try to push breakfast back as far as possible and eat mostly carbs, low protein and low fat.
Consuming Equal and Crystal light
Folic Acid
Baby Aspirin every four days
Alcohol every night AF-O

Husband
Licorice Root AF-O
FR AF-Pos OPK
Briefs AF-Pos OPK

One attempt at +OPK

What should we drop this month? Husband is thinking dropping FR would be effective as he notices a reduction in volume and viscosity. (Sorry if TMI) Or should we drop the Licorice Root?

I'm also concerned I have a short LP as I start spotting 5 full days before AF. Should I drop the aspirin and start Vitex instead? My cycle is typically 30 days.
I'm temping this month just to get an idea of when I'm Ovulating.

March conception would mean a Christmas babe so it's not as big of a deal if we don't up fertility drastically this month but if I don't get pregnant in March we might drop everything except for the one attempt and our Vegetarian diet in April.

I'm finding myself wishing we had started trying months ago. I should've had more of an inkling of how long it would take to conceive.

[atomic sagebrush]

I would 110% drop the frequency. I would have him release every 2-4 days but keep the one attempt.

how long has he been on LR?

Would also consider dropping tighty whiteys.

you can take both aspirin and vitex, HOWEVER I am not sure I'd have you start vitex at this point. How long has this been going on? How heavy? A new thing or ongoing? Temping may help us get a better picture of if this is a problem or not. Try having one serving full fat dairy a day and 4 whole eggs a week.

[Arimethia]

I've always spotted two to three days before AF but the last few cycles it's been 5 full days of spotting before AF. It's brown discharge that gets darker every day until AF starts. Basically since I started baby aspirin, which is one every four days. This will be DH's fourth cycle on LR from AF to O. He's 29 and I'm 30, we're both have healthy BMI's and I'm still losing weight but much more gradually than before. Half a lb a week vs 1-2 lbs a week.

Should I add any kind of semen retention technique for our one attempt? I have been doing the hips up for 20 minutes deal but I've thought about putting an Instead cup in just to keep what's there in there for a day. I figure we're doing so much else to sway it might help to give a little bit of advantage. :pinksperm:

I was hesitant about the Vitex because my cycles have remained regular 30 days even throughout swaying.

[atomic sagebrush]

OK then I would not start vitex if you are hesitant and would try upping the dietary fat in the way I suggested and hopefully that will help.

DH can't take LR more than 6 months consecutively so I would have him keep it in for at least one more month and then he's due for a break anyway.

No, I do not recommend propping hips for 20 min. (may sway blue) and I really really really do not recommend instead cups. (unneccesary and can actually seal the cervix SHUT with sperm on the outside, plus you lose so much semen trying to put the damn thing in there that it's worse than nothing) The living sperm will be gone from the ejaculate within 15-30 min. and the "stuff" that comes out is semen full of dead/deformed sperm that your body wants to be rid of anyway.

i would have you lay flat for 5-15 minutes and that's it.