Throwaway_panther
July 22nd, 2018, 08:56 AM
TTC a BOY Sway Attempt
Gender Result:
Girl
DW Age:
Just turned 29
DH Age:
37
Current Children's Gender(s)
Girl (22 months at conception)
Number of Months TTC
1
Did you purchase and follow a GD Personalized Plan?
No
MINERALS
Calcium Intake(Please describe)
Diet and prenatal
Magnesium Intake(Please describe)
Diet and prenatal
Potassium Intake(Please describe)
Diet, a little in prenatal, 99 mg supplement, and we use potassium salt to soften our well water
Sodium Intake(Please describe)
Diet
SUPPLEMENTS USED
DW Supplements Robitussin/Guafanesin tablets
Vitamin E
Fish Oil
Folic Acid
Royal Jelly
DH Supplements Zinc
Fish Oil
Multi-vitamin
Vitamin D
L-Arginine
Any additional supplement info?
Buckle up for this full supplement list!
DH: Fertilaid for men/sometimes multivitamin
Vitamin C (weaned off a month or two before -- this was recommended by REs and urologist for sperm health)
Occasional Vitamin E
Occasional Zinc (didn't do extra zinc and E with multi)
Acai
Vitamin D
L-Arginine
Fish Oil
Black Seed Oil (observed to improve sperm all around in several studies)
Oat straw infusions
Occasional Guafanesin (I think he never took these lol)
CoQ10
Pycnogenol (had only been a few weeks)
Me:
Prenatal
Probiotic
Fish Oil (480 mg)
Vitamin D 1000-2000 IU
Folate 1000-2000 mcg
Acai
NAC 600 mg
Low Dose Naltrexone (this is an experimental med used to reduce miscarriage/improve fertility)
R-ALA 100 mg
Occasional Vitamin C
Occasional Vitamin E
Royal Jelly
Ubiquinol
Pycnogenol (just a few weeks)
Mucinex tablets from AF-O
I was on melatonin regularly to semi-regularly from November to February. Weaned off at each surprise pregnancy during that time, and of course weaned off before our March FET.
JUST for this cycle, I started taking DHEA and Maca. I know this was CRAZY risky (and I know my DHEA level was normal), but this was literally my "Hail Mary" cycle and had seen women in my RPL position do this and get pregnant with sticky babies. So I only took both of these for 1-2 weeks total, since I went off when I thought ovulation was getting delayed (though in hindsight, I think I sit naturally at a later ovulation no matter what, and earlier ovulation seems to be worse for me!)
I had also started taking a super small amount of CBD in my tea. On one hand it reduces inflammation and helped depression. On the other, it's a big question mark in swaying!
I am probably forgetting some I will add later! Many of these that aren't normal "boy sway" things were used after lots of research and consultation to improve DH's sperm/reduce his fragmentation while also hopefully reducing miscarriage odds in me (though we are fairly certain I wasn't the issue :/ )
DIET
Did you follow a diet plan?
Yes
If yes to diet, which one did you most follow? HE(High Everything)
Comments regarding DW's diet changes-
Vastly different than before DD. Ate 1800-2000+ calories a day (versus my 800 or less with DD -- DON'T DO THIS!). Protein was NEVER below 90g, and usually average well above 100/110g a day. Kept fat high. Had gotten off keto around January/February and had gradually upped carbs to be in the higher double digits/got into 100-150g depending. I never did the crazy keto though of no carbs at all. Fat was usually in the higher double digit grams. VERY minimal alcohol. Only caffeine was in tea, and I often was drinking decaf tea though the start of the cycle I conceived I had gone back to some caffeine in black teas/green teas before weaning back off again.
Typical day:
Breakfast: Two eggs, a glass of V8 (sometimes with brewers yeast in it), sundried tomatoes. Sometimes toast as well.
Morning snack: Cereal bar (a recipe I came up with that had oats, Weetabix, and sometimes cheerios mixed with a homemade peanut butter and date paste, topped with unsweetened dark chocolate) paired with whole milk. Sometimes cheese stick and nuts.
Lunch: Often a salad with either chicken, beef or salmon as protein. Dressing was often avocado oil based. Also often ate just a burger patty with avocado and cheese and some nutritional flakes and/or brewers yeast. Sometimes chips or cassave chips (I was still hoping for those twins after the ones I lost!)
Afternoon snack: Sometimes the rest of lunch. This was sort of a freebie -- protein paired with carbs, but sometimes it'd be cookies with milk. Other times it would be cheese and crackers.
Dinner: If it was take out, often pizza with meat on it. Otherwise I actually did a lot of wild game the month I conceived (bison, venison). Lots of red meat. Tended to have potatoes be my main carbs with everything else being vegetables. Any chicken was usually dark meat.
Evening snack: Cereal bar with milk or cheesestick with nuts.
Miscellaneous snacks/other food items: RX bars, tended to avoid sugar and stick to date sugar, any condiments/dressings were avocado oil based or olive oil. Walnuts or brazil nuts were my nut of choice, though almond flour was used for baked goods. Had a few bananas throughout the 6-12 weeks before TTC.
The beginning of the cycle I had very hearty breakfasts since I was at a hotel with great free breakfasts. So lots of eggs, potatoes, breakfast meats, fresh fruit, etc.
Had a full lemon in water per day. Occasionally took electrolyte tabs that used stevia. I did have a cup or two of red raspberry leaf tea in the cycle before conceiving.
I randomly did the baking soda drink a few times for the first time the week before O.
I also had some leftover alkaline waters from back when I drank exclusively those when swaying before my 4-8 losses. Drank the rest of those during this cycle.
I should note, too, that I didn't have milk at all of those snacks -- it was usually only 1, maybe 2 cups of full fat milk a day, with any other dairy being cheese.
If diet was used, length of time before attempt?
Lol, overall? 2+ years. I was on HE diet as of finding out my DD was a girl at 20 weeks pregnant with her. Even though I dabbled with keto from November 2017-January/February of 2018.
Did you skip breakfast regularly?
No
Did DH change his diet with you?
Yes
Comments regarding DH's diet-
DH ate what I ate. He still would miss meals occasionally because of work which drove me crazy, but he's a big "boy eater" anyway between salt, meat, etc.
Definitely had him limited alcohol. He was a frequent drinker, but got him down to 1-2 a week, if that. He was mixed on caffeine.
He hadn't touched anything to smoke in well over a year (he hadn't smoked cigarettes ever, but had regularly had cigar/pipe before DD).
DId you consume alcohol? No
DId you try to limit caffeine?
Yes, I cutback
Any Diet Details?
I went from several drinks a week before DD to 1-2 drinks a MONTH, if that, before this pregnancy. I was pregnant so often or cycling so recently that I really was practically a teetotaler. Anytime I did drink, it was only ever red wine or unfiltered craft beer. I did have a craft beer right around ovulation this month.
Caffeine wise, I have not touched coffee since I was 3 weeks pregnant with DD. Only caffeine was from tea -- black or green. I had tea daily. Was often just drinking decaf tea from the IVF process, had gotten back on caffeinated tea at beginning of this cycle, then weaned back down to decaf black and green teas.
Any Diet Comments/Additional Info?
Not sure where else to put these, but: I had been using baking soda toothpaste since I was pregnant with DD. lol
I had been REALLY big on being EWG friendly and limited plastics/toxicity for awhile. So everything was cooked and store in glass and not plastic. Even did nontoxic deoderants, makeup, bath soap, shampoo, etc. for awhile.
Made DH change his beard oil from essential oils to just jojoba oil for a few months before this cycle.
WEIGHT AND EXERCISE
What did you weigh/BMI do leading up to O?
Before DD: I was in the 19s and actively losing weight.
Now: I tried very hard to avoid knowing about my weight lest I be triggered into my eating disorder again, but last weight I had seen shortly before this cycle put me at a BMI of 23.5ish.
I think I have lower body fat than most because of my years of weight lifting, as even in the 19s I was extremely thin, and even at this higher weight I was back in a lot of my prepregnancy clothes.
Any Weight/Exercise related additional info/comments?
I did a mix of weights and TONS of cardio before DD, averaging 7+ hours of exercise a week.
Because of the IVF process and FET, I was way more limited in my exercise in the months before this conception. I had just started lifting a little big again the month I conceived. Any other exercise was yoga or hiking/walking (sometimes while wearing DD). Was nervous because I was bordering on couch potato because of the weather and all the medical stuff and am still not sure how that sways based on my obsessive reading of pink and blue sways!
THINGS in VG and CONCEPTION DATE(CD) INFO
pH Before Starting a Sway Program, if known
-
Any VG potions used? Preseed
CM pH at attempt
-
DH pH
-
THE DEED INFO
How many BD attempts did you make for the BFP cycle?
5-6?!
BD Pattern DTD through Ovulation
BD every few days
BD Dates according to Ovulation 4 Days Before O
3 Days Before O
1 Day Before O
O Day
BD Position
Multiple
Any additional comments?
I did BSF O-1. Dipped finger in preseed than baking soda. Otherwise natural CM for all other attempts. I laid with my hips propped and feet up for a half hour after all attempts (including in between the 2x AM attempts). Tried to lay on stomach as well per atomic's recommendation. I was usually up so early that I was able to fit all of this laying down in before DD woke up!
Lots of AM attempts (5/6), and sperm has been shown to be higher count in mornings -- and fragmentation is lower because of body tempts lowered from sleep! I don't think we had any morning attempts before DD (which is funny, since we've usually been morning/midday sex people).
Any relevant attempt details?
This is officially the O attempts:
O-4: 1x AM.
O-3: 1x AM
O-1: 2x in AM. (I O'd 3x throughout) (Had positive OPKs on this day)
O Day: 2x (1 in AM, 1 in PM). (OPK was already negative by AM on this day)
I always O'd before and after DH o'd. It could be completely BS, but I had a strong sense that the twice we BD'd in morning was the "one" and when we conceived since DH was raring to go so soon after, and I had read a study that fragmentation was way lowered with close together releases. We did multiple positions for that particular morning.
We DTD EOD unprotected for the rest of the cycle.
We know DH actually has higher sperm count/concentration and better sperm in general with closer together releases from 3 different SAs and a sperm fragmentation test. So he actually seems to do better with not going as long as 3-4 days between releases.
Did you do anything with Ions?
I work on a laptop and keep phone in pocket I guess. I kind of have blown off this concept a ton after reading one study that linked cellphone proximity to miscarriage.
Moon Phase during conception?
Waning Crescent
Did you use any Old Wives Tales?
I've had boy clothes (including 'little brother' pajamas) underneath both my mattress and pillow since DD was born.
Things that make me feel great about my sway:
If anyone is a Harry Potter fan: this felt like my Felix Felicis attempt.
Even before I got the PGS results from my second IVF cycle, I had this strong feeling that, "Maybe I needed to go through all of this to get to a point where trying after would be the one." We then decided to transfer two XYs anyway, lost them VERY early, and I felt, "OK, this was it." I felt like everything sort of lined up -- the O attempts, that DH ended up being so ready to go for all of those morning attempts (even multiple in a row), that I had happened to have so much wild game from a trip earlier that cycle, had gotten more sun exposure/Vitamin D as a result, etc. Interestingly, April of last year was also when I felt a similar feeling, so maybe April was always (hopefully) supposed to be my month?
I also had a lot of sort of hoodoo/weird universe stuff happen and line up right beforehand -- let's hope I'm not nuts!
Otherwise, I was exercising way less, eating way more, and eating way differently before this pregnancy than I was before DD.
We had a lot of sex.
I toyed with the DHEA by taking the bare minimum supplement for a hot second this cycle, and I've seen a gazillion women end up with boys when taking this just for fertility purposes.
DH admitted he feels it's a boy (he thought DD was a girl from positive test), and he never had any feelings from our losses. So maybe his intuition actually means something? Hopefully. We're already getting a lot of boy guesses for this pregnancy, but then people thought DD was a boy too (I just seem like a boy mom lol!).
ICING: I did a LOT of research on this. I truly credit icing with why we're here -- I had DH icing his balls beginning in January everynight. We originally did this after seeing things saying it could help heal a varicocele (something we thought he had and why he had such high oxidative stress damage to his sperm DNA). When we discovered he didn't (LONG, UNRESOLVED STORY), it didn't matter since I was already pregnant with this baby. But I then found that many studies still found lowered DNA damage with consistent, long term icing, as well as increased sperm issues all around. Even from January to February, we saw improvement with his semen sample for the second IVF cycle (though clearly not enough), but he kept icing all the way through now, so he had a good 4 months or so of this by the time we conceived. I have many of the studies showing how icing improves sperm count, concentration, quality, etc. saved if anyone is interested.
Things that make me nervous about my sway:
Everything since I am perpetually critical and analyzing.
I had just weaned off myo insitol a month or two prior. I had quickly pulled DH off of the extra Vitamin C when I remember that some people use that as part of a girl sway. I was eating more 1800-2000 range than the 2000-2200 range, though I know the beginning of the cycle I was totally tipping over 2000 because of a week long trip. Out of habit from keto, I had just had some homemade bread that was almond flour/psyllium husk (so higher fiber). I hadn't been doing as much weight lifting as I would have liked because of the IVF/FET process preventing a lot of that. Unsure if the chemical counted or not, since I had literally only one day of positive pregnancy tests and then an unviable (under 10 HCG) blood test the day after -- so I can't imagine the HCG ever tipped 15 or 20? I had also had a mild cold the week before ovulation -- only a head cold/sore throat and I was taking mucinex all along anyway. Had a lot more tea and bone broth as a result though?
I'm nervous about the NAC after learning that it could potentially help blood sugar, but I also personally know several women who went on to have boys while taking it to reduce miscarriage odds, so not sure how much it does (studies saw people taking it at a much higher dose for blood sugar purposes, as well). Though NAC I've since read apparently does wonders for CM.
After everything we've gone through, I'm still just very hesitant to think DH can make healthy boys. I know we can make boys... I just don't know if we can make viable ones together :(
Things worth mentioning:
Maybe having the two boys in me so recently (and I'll go to my grave thinking the pregnancy before that was also two boys) helped set me up for further boys?
Midwife posited all of my losses were girls since I had symptoms with them and not this pregnancy (lol, this is BS, but I guess I'm mentioning it). Though I personally am nervous that the majority of those losses were actually boys and I'm finally sitting in the second trimester again because we only seem to get healthy girls (though I am fairly certain I also lost a girl or two or three in all of my losses).
I'm hyperfertile, though I don't know how much that will help me for a boy with DH's wonky sperm!
AF (or chemical, I guess) started in AM this cycle (it had started in PM the cycle I conceived DD). After the loss in February, this had been generally the longest gap in between losses before conceiving if we sort of ignore the "barely pregnant" FET? Since before I was just getting pregnant immediately after every loss.
I'm conflicted on how the FET process might have affected things.
Things that make me nervous over girl sway: progesterone supplementation until a few days before the end of that cycle.
Baby aspirin until a few days before the end of that cycle.
Things that might have swayed blue: Prednisone tablets until a few days before the end of that cycle.
Things I'm unsure on: Estrace tablets were taken from before transfer until a few days before end of cycle. Higher estrogen = boys? But also this suppressed ovulation, which is like BC, which would be more girl friendly? I'd be interested for anyone to weigh in!
I felt very confident going into this sway, knowing how long I've been different from when I conceived DD, and lacked the sort of typical self destructive attitude I normally have. Having pretty much reached the end of our rope, I knew there was nothing else to do BUT to try. I felt pretty fine too in the early days of this pregnancy -- I've of course reverted back to doubt and thinking this is a girl since I've had dreams of a girl (and I had dreams of a girl with DD). But I've also had a dream of a newborn with a diaper, and now a dream of a boy -- though the nurse cut his penis in half because it was so big?!
I also forgot to mention initially: I had been doing weekly to biweekly acupuncture since August 2017. So I had a solid 8 months or so of 3-4 acupuncture sessions a month.
I want to note: I REALLY hesitated in putting this sway up. After having so many drafted before and never shared because of losses, I felt like I didn't want to jinx it? So I'm really nervous even to share this.
Gender Result:
Girl
DW Age:
Just turned 29
DH Age:
37
Current Children's Gender(s)
Girl (22 months at conception)
Number of Months TTC
1
Did you purchase and follow a GD Personalized Plan?
No
MINERALS
Calcium Intake(Please describe)
Diet and prenatal
Magnesium Intake(Please describe)
Diet and prenatal
Potassium Intake(Please describe)
Diet, a little in prenatal, 99 mg supplement, and we use potassium salt to soften our well water
Sodium Intake(Please describe)
Diet
SUPPLEMENTS USED
DW Supplements Robitussin/Guafanesin tablets
Vitamin E
Fish Oil
Folic Acid
Royal Jelly
DH Supplements Zinc
Fish Oil
Multi-vitamin
Vitamin D
L-Arginine
Any additional supplement info?
Buckle up for this full supplement list!
DH: Fertilaid for men/sometimes multivitamin
Vitamin C (weaned off a month or two before -- this was recommended by REs and urologist for sperm health)
Occasional Vitamin E
Occasional Zinc (didn't do extra zinc and E with multi)
Acai
Vitamin D
L-Arginine
Fish Oil
Black Seed Oil (observed to improve sperm all around in several studies)
Oat straw infusions
Occasional Guafanesin (I think he never took these lol)
CoQ10
Pycnogenol (had only been a few weeks)
Me:
Prenatal
Probiotic
Fish Oil (480 mg)
Vitamin D 1000-2000 IU
Folate 1000-2000 mcg
Acai
NAC 600 mg
Low Dose Naltrexone (this is an experimental med used to reduce miscarriage/improve fertility)
R-ALA 100 mg
Occasional Vitamin C
Occasional Vitamin E
Royal Jelly
Ubiquinol
Pycnogenol (just a few weeks)
Mucinex tablets from AF-O
I was on melatonin regularly to semi-regularly from November to February. Weaned off at each surprise pregnancy during that time, and of course weaned off before our March FET.
JUST for this cycle, I started taking DHEA and Maca. I know this was CRAZY risky (and I know my DHEA level was normal), but this was literally my "Hail Mary" cycle and had seen women in my RPL position do this and get pregnant with sticky babies. So I only took both of these for 1-2 weeks total, since I went off when I thought ovulation was getting delayed (though in hindsight, I think I sit naturally at a later ovulation no matter what, and earlier ovulation seems to be worse for me!)
I had also started taking a super small amount of CBD in my tea. On one hand it reduces inflammation and helped depression. On the other, it's a big question mark in swaying!
I am probably forgetting some I will add later! Many of these that aren't normal "boy sway" things were used after lots of research and consultation to improve DH's sperm/reduce his fragmentation while also hopefully reducing miscarriage odds in me (though we are fairly certain I wasn't the issue :/ )
DIET
Did you follow a diet plan?
Yes
If yes to diet, which one did you most follow? HE(High Everything)
Comments regarding DW's diet changes-
Vastly different than before DD. Ate 1800-2000+ calories a day (versus my 800 or less with DD -- DON'T DO THIS!). Protein was NEVER below 90g, and usually average well above 100/110g a day. Kept fat high. Had gotten off keto around January/February and had gradually upped carbs to be in the higher double digits/got into 100-150g depending. I never did the crazy keto though of no carbs at all. Fat was usually in the higher double digit grams. VERY minimal alcohol. Only caffeine was in tea, and I often was drinking decaf tea though the start of the cycle I conceived I had gone back to some caffeine in black teas/green teas before weaning back off again.
Typical day:
Breakfast: Two eggs, a glass of V8 (sometimes with brewers yeast in it), sundried tomatoes. Sometimes toast as well.
Morning snack: Cereal bar (a recipe I came up with that had oats, Weetabix, and sometimes cheerios mixed with a homemade peanut butter and date paste, topped with unsweetened dark chocolate) paired with whole milk. Sometimes cheese stick and nuts.
Lunch: Often a salad with either chicken, beef or salmon as protein. Dressing was often avocado oil based. Also often ate just a burger patty with avocado and cheese and some nutritional flakes and/or brewers yeast. Sometimes chips or cassave chips (I was still hoping for those twins after the ones I lost!)
Afternoon snack: Sometimes the rest of lunch. This was sort of a freebie -- protein paired with carbs, but sometimes it'd be cookies with milk. Other times it would be cheese and crackers.
Dinner: If it was take out, often pizza with meat on it. Otherwise I actually did a lot of wild game the month I conceived (bison, venison). Lots of red meat. Tended to have potatoes be my main carbs with everything else being vegetables. Any chicken was usually dark meat.
Evening snack: Cereal bar with milk or cheesestick with nuts.
Miscellaneous snacks/other food items: RX bars, tended to avoid sugar and stick to date sugar, any condiments/dressings were avocado oil based or olive oil. Walnuts or brazil nuts were my nut of choice, though almond flour was used for baked goods. Had a few bananas throughout the 6-12 weeks before TTC.
The beginning of the cycle I had very hearty breakfasts since I was at a hotel with great free breakfasts. So lots of eggs, potatoes, breakfast meats, fresh fruit, etc.
Had a full lemon in water per day. Occasionally took electrolyte tabs that used stevia. I did have a cup or two of red raspberry leaf tea in the cycle before conceiving.
I randomly did the baking soda drink a few times for the first time the week before O.
I also had some leftover alkaline waters from back when I drank exclusively those when swaying before my 4-8 losses. Drank the rest of those during this cycle.
I should note, too, that I didn't have milk at all of those snacks -- it was usually only 1, maybe 2 cups of full fat milk a day, with any other dairy being cheese.
If diet was used, length of time before attempt?
Lol, overall? 2+ years. I was on HE diet as of finding out my DD was a girl at 20 weeks pregnant with her. Even though I dabbled with keto from November 2017-January/February of 2018.
Did you skip breakfast regularly?
No
Did DH change his diet with you?
Yes
Comments regarding DH's diet-
DH ate what I ate. He still would miss meals occasionally because of work which drove me crazy, but he's a big "boy eater" anyway between salt, meat, etc.
Definitely had him limited alcohol. He was a frequent drinker, but got him down to 1-2 a week, if that. He was mixed on caffeine.
He hadn't touched anything to smoke in well over a year (he hadn't smoked cigarettes ever, but had regularly had cigar/pipe before DD).
DId you consume alcohol? No
DId you try to limit caffeine?
Yes, I cutback
Any Diet Details?
I went from several drinks a week before DD to 1-2 drinks a MONTH, if that, before this pregnancy. I was pregnant so often or cycling so recently that I really was practically a teetotaler. Anytime I did drink, it was only ever red wine or unfiltered craft beer. I did have a craft beer right around ovulation this month.
Caffeine wise, I have not touched coffee since I was 3 weeks pregnant with DD. Only caffeine was from tea -- black or green. I had tea daily. Was often just drinking decaf tea from the IVF process, had gotten back on caffeinated tea at beginning of this cycle, then weaned back down to decaf black and green teas.
Any Diet Comments/Additional Info?
Not sure where else to put these, but: I had been using baking soda toothpaste since I was pregnant with DD. lol
I had been REALLY big on being EWG friendly and limited plastics/toxicity for awhile. So everything was cooked and store in glass and not plastic. Even did nontoxic deoderants, makeup, bath soap, shampoo, etc. for awhile.
Made DH change his beard oil from essential oils to just jojoba oil for a few months before this cycle.
WEIGHT AND EXERCISE
What did you weigh/BMI do leading up to O?
Before DD: I was in the 19s and actively losing weight.
Now: I tried very hard to avoid knowing about my weight lest I be triggered into my eating disorder again, but last weight I had seen shortly before this cycle put me at a BMI of 23.5ish.
I think I have lower body fat than most because of my years of weight lifting, as even in the 19s I was extremely thin, and even at this higher weight I was back in a lot of my prepregnancy clothes.
Any Weight/Exercise related additional info/comments?
I did a mix of weights and TONS of cardio before DD, averaging 7+ hours of exercise a week.
Because of the IVF process and FET, I was way more limited in my exercise in the months before this conception. I had just started lifting a little big again the month I conceived. Any other exercise was yoga or hiking/walking (sometimes while wearing DD). Was nervous because I was bordering on couch potato because of the weather and all the medical stuff and am still not sure how that sways based on my obsessive reading of pink and blue sways!
THINGS in VG and CONCEPTION DATE(CD) INFO
pH Before Starting a Sway Program, if known
-
Any VG potions used? Preseed
CM pH at attempt
-
DH pH
-
THE DEED INFO
How many BD attempts did you make for the BFP cycle?
5-6?!
BD Pattern DTD through Ovulation
BD every few days
BD Dates according to Ovulation 4 Days Before O
3 Days Before O
1 Day Before O
O Day
BD Position
Multiple
Any additional comments?
I did BSF O-1. Dipped finger in preseed than baking soda. Otherwise natural CM for all other attempts. I laid with my hips propped and feet up for a half hour after all attempts (including in between the 2x AM attempts). Tried to lay on stomach as well per atomic's recommendation. I was usually up so early that I was able to fit all of this laying down in before DD woke up!
Lots of AM attempts (5/6), and sperm has been shown to be higher count in mornings -- and fragmentation is lower because of body tempts lowered from sleep! I don't think we had any morning attempts before DD (which is funny, since we've usually been morning/midday sex people).
Any relevant attempt details?
This is officially the O attempts:
O-4: 1x AM.
O-3: 1x AM
O-1: 2x in AM. (I O'd 3x throughout) (Had positive OPKs on this day)
O Day: 2x (1 in AM, 1 in PM). (OPK was already negative by AM on this day)
I always O'd before and after DH o'd. It could be completely BS, but I had a strong sense that the twice we BD'd in morning was the "one" and when we conceived since DH was raring to go so soon after, and I had read a study that fragmentation was way lowered with close together releases. We did multiple positions for that particular morning.
We DTD EOD unprotected for the rest of the cycle.
We know DH actually has higher sperm count/concentration and better sperm in general with closer together releases from 3 different SAs and a sperm fragmentation test. So he actually seems to do better with not going as long as 3-4 days between releases.
Did you do anything with Ions?
I work on a laptop and keep phone in pocket I guess. I kind of have blown off this concept a ton after reading one study that linked cellphone proximity to miscarriage.
Moon Phase during conception?
Waning Crescent
Did you use any Old Wives Tales?
I've had boy clothes (including 'little brother' pajamas) underneath both my mattress and pillow since DD was born.
Things that make me feel great about my sway:
If anyone is a Harry Potter fan: this felt like my Felix Felicis attempt.
Even before I got the PGS results from my second IVF cycle, I had this strong feeling that, "Maybe I needed to go through all of this to get to a point where trying after would be the one." We then decided to transfer two XYs anyway, lost them VERY early, and I felt, "OK, this was it." I felt like everything sort of lined up -- the O attempts, that DH ended up being so ready to go for all of those morning attempts (even multiple in a row), that I had happened to have so much wild game from a trip earlier that cycle, had gotten more sun exposure/Vitamin D as a result, etc. Interestingly, April of last year was also when I felt a similar feeling, so maybe April was always (hopefully) supposed to be my month?
I also had a lot of sort of hoodoo/weird universe stuff happen and line up right beforehand -- let's hope I'm not nuts!
Otherwise, I was exercising way less, eating way more, and eating way differently before this pregnancy than I was before DD.
We had a lot of sex.
I toyed with the DHEA by taking the bare minimum supplement for a hot second this cycle, and I've seen a gazillion women end up with boys when taking this just for fertility purposes.
DH admitted he feels it's a boy (he thought DD was a girl from positive test), and he never had any feelings from our losses. So maybe his intuition actually means something? Hopefully. We're already getting a lot of boy guesses for this pregnancy, but then people thought DD was a boy too (I just seem like a boy mom lol!).
ICING: I did a LOT of research on this. I truly credit icing with why we're here -- I had DH icing his balls beginning in January everynight. We originally did this after seeing things saying it could help heal a varicocele (something we thought he had and why he had such high oxidative stress damage to his sperm DNA). When we discovered he didn't (LONG, UNRESOLVED STORY), it didn't matter since I was already pregnant with this baby. But I then found that many studies still found lowered DNA damage with consistent, long term icing, as well as increased sperm issues all around. Even from January to February, we saw improvement with his semen sample for the second IVF cycle (though clearly not enough), but he kept icing all the way through now, so he had a good 4 months or so of this by the time we conceived. I have many of the studies showing how icing improves sperm count, concentration, quality, etc. saved if anyone is interested.
Things that make me nervous about my sway:
Everything since I am perpetually critical and analyzing.
I had just weaned off myo insitol a month or two prior. I had quickly pulled DH off of the extra Vitamin C when I remember that some people use that as part of a girl sway. I was eating more 1800-2000 range than the 2000-2200 range, though I know the beginning of the cycle I was totally tipping over 2000 because of a week long trip. Out of habit from keto, I had just had some homemade bread that was almond flour/psyllium husk (so higher fiber). I hadn't been doing as much weight lifting as I would have liked because of the IVF/FET process preventing a lot of that. Unsure if the chemical counted or not, since I had literally only one day of positive pregnancy tests and then an unviable (under 10 HCG) blood test the day after -- so I can't imagine the HCG ever tipped 15 or 20? I had also had a mild cold the week before ovulation -- only a head cold/sore throat and I was taking mucinex all along anyway. Had a lot more tea and bone broth as a result though?
I'm nervous about the NAC after learning that it could potentially help blood sugar, but I also personally know several women who went on to have boys while taking it to reduce miscarriage odds, so not sure how much it does (studies saw people taking it at a much higher dose for blood sugar purposes, as well). Though NAC I've since read apparently does wonders for CM.
After everything we've gone through, I'm still just very hesitant to think DH can make healthy boys. I know we can make boys... I just don't know if we can make viable ones together :(
Things worth mentioning:
Maybe having the two boys in me so recently (and I'll go to my grave thinking the pregnancy before that was also two boys) helped set me up for further boys?
Midwife posited all of my losses were girls since I had symptoms with them and not this pregnancy (lol, this is BS, but I guess I'm mentioning it). Though I personally am nervous that the majority of those losses were actually boys and I'm finally sitting in the second trimester again because we only seem to get healthy girls (though I am fairly certain I also lost a girl or two or three in all of my losses).
I'm hyperfertile, though I don't know how much that will help me for a boy with DH's wonky sperm!
AF (or chemical, I guess) started in AM this cycle (it had started in PM the cycle I conceived DD). After the loss in February, this had been generally the longest gap in between losses before conceiving if we sort of ignore the "barely pregnant" FET? Since before I was just getting pregnant immediately after every loss.
I'm conflicted on how the FET process might have affected things.
Things that make me nervous over girl sway: progesterone supplementation until a few days before the end of that cycle.
Baby aspirin until a few days before the end of that cycle.
Things that might have swayed blue: Prednisone tablets until a few days before the end of that cycle.
Things I'm unsure on: Estrace tablets were taken from before transfer until a few days before end of cycle. Higher estrogen = boys? But also this suppressed ovulation, which is like BC, which would be more girl friendly? I'd be interested for anyone to weigh in!
I felt very confident going into this sway, knowing how long I've been different from when I conceived DD, and lacked the sort of typical self destructive attitude I normally have. Having pretty much reached the end of our rope, I knew there was nothing else to do BUT to try. I felt pretty fine too in the early days of this pregnancy -- I've of course reverted back to doubt and thinking this is a girl since I've had dreams of a girl (and I had dreams of a girl with DD). But I've also had a dream of a newborn with a diaper, and now a dream of a boy -- though the nurse cut his penis in half because it was so big?!
I also forgot to mention initially: I had been doing weekly to biweekly acupuncture since August 2017. So I had a solid 8 months or so of 3-4 acupuncture sessions a month.
I want to note: I REALLY hesitated in putting this sway up. After having so many drafted before and never shared because of losses, I felt like I didn't want to jinx it? So I'm really nervous even to share this.