My Plan...a week away - please weigh in!

[onehealthybaby]

Hello ladies!

I am getting ready for my sway and I wanted to run my plan by you all to help me tweak it.

We have two boys and we are on vacation during my sway. Hopefully flying on a plane won't hurt the sway. I may see how much an air purifier costs...I have been on cal/mag, aspirin, folic acid and zoloft for a few months. DH is on cal/mag, double dose of licorice root, asprin, cranberry and folic acid. I am eating somewhat LE but not perfect. Much better than my old diet though. I am still nursing once or twice a day. I drink lots of peppermint tea and some CL every day. And at least two Diet Cokes a day.

I O on Tuesday or early Wednesday of next week. I am having 28-29 day cycles with O right in the middle.

Today DH released.

We will abstain for the next 5 days (through Saturday).
First release will be Sat afternoon (about O-3). I won't use this inside me.
Second release will be Sat night - this will be inside me and our first attempt.
Sunday morning he will release inside me (O-2),
Sunday afternoon he will release inside me (still O-2),
Monday morning he will release inside me (O-1).
Assuming I get a peak on my CBEFM he will release outside of me that evening (if no peak it will be inside me).
We fly home Tuesday. Assuming Tuesday I have my second peak, we will release that evening (if he isn't totally exausted). If Tuesday is only my first peak, we will wait until Wed for an O+12 attempt.

I will use replens every other day (full applicator) from now through the day after O. My PH is around 5.0 and rises to over 6 usually at O. I will use a lime tampon for all of my attempts. I also have acijel and am not sure how to work this in...maybe every morning I don't do replens?

Also, I think I want to jump and dump but not sure.

Any thoughts! Please be critical!!!!

[rainbowflower]

if you're DTD that often unprotected I'd be tempted to jump+dump too - get most of the high-pH semen out after you have BD

I'd be tempted to drop the Replens/aci-jel and use RepHresh if you're BD that often, that way you'll know your pH is back down to 4.5 between attempts

[Out of the Blue]

I'd be tempted to drop the Replens/aci-jel and use RepHresh if you're BD that often, that way you'll know your pH is back down to 4.5 between attempts

I agree! The cool thing about RepHresh is that it keeps on working whereas Aci-jel and Replens (which are very similar to eachother) don't last as long. If you can spring for a box of RepHresh, go for it!


The difference between Replens and RepHresh is, that RepHresh is designed to BALANCE vaginal pH at that magic 4.5 number. If your pH is higher, it lowers it to 4.5. If your pH is lower, it will raise it to 4.5. That has scared some people off RepHresh because they think, OMG, I just douched with my lime douche that had pH of 2 and now the RepHresh will RAISE my pH back up again!

But go back and reread that first part. If your pH is higher, it lowers it to 4.5. You know what that means? It means that when the more alkaline EWCM arrives on the scene, which it will, because your entire reproductive tract is ALWAYS churning out more CM especially around ovulation, RepHresh will lower its pH to 4.5. It means when your husband's semen arrives on scene, RepHresh will react with it and lower its pH to 4.5. It will be a 4.5 party going on. WHO cares if the initial pH of RepHresh is slightly higher than the initial pH of Replens? Both of them end up between 4-5 anyway because the company designed them to.

The difference is, RepHresh KEEPS working, reacting with everything it touches to reach 4.5, while Replens gets diluted by CM and semen. The company even advises using RepHresh immediately after sex to restore that normal vaginal pH of 4.5, because some women who are prone to yeast infections or bacterial vaginosis, get a flare up EVERY time they have sex because their pH goes up from the semen. RepHresh is designed to prevent this jump in pH from happening by lowering the pH of everything it touches to the magic 4.5. Including semen.

Plus, because it's a sticky gel, RepHresh lasts for THREE DAYS. Perfect for a cutoff. Replens also lasts three days too, but remember it gets diluted by CM and semen and its pH WILL rise. So for a cutoff, I think RepHresh is best. However, since we don't know how long it will take RepHresh to work, if you're going for O+12, it may be best to use Replens or Acijel (which contains the acetic acid) to lower pH immediately, because the sperm will not be waiting around in the cervical crypts for the egg like they do with a cut-off.

Everything else sounds great! FX for a BFP as an early Christmas prezzie!

[onehealthybaby]

The replens that I bought comes in individual applicators and the box says it last three days. Doesn't that sound like the rephresh box? I used it this morning and my PH is now around 4.3 -4.4. Do you think the rephresh do better at keeping the ph low after our attempt?

[lemon2012]

You sound so thorough,..I am not sure how helpful I will be since I am doubting everything I am doing....
But, maybe not replens everyday. I think a finger tip is what most suggest unless you use another product, but even then, I think it prevents pregnancy from what I have read,....???
Why dtd o-1? Because you have low sperm count? That would make sense! I did that as well...actually on day as well.

I don't like the lime tampon...it makes it uncomfortable when you are already dtd so much but see how it goes. Is there a lot of success with it? I used it last month but I was too far away from o. Have you tried this before?

Your ph is really low, do you need all this stuff? Mine was over 8...grrr...guess I can't do much now but I think you are good!

I think it sounds good although the suggestions above and maybe from experience....(I did not do this) relax and enjoy vacation!
GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[onehealthybaby]

One more question. I just read atomic's ideal sway post and I see vitex and saw palmetto are her two favorite supplements. I am not taking either! I drink about three cups of peppermint tea a day. Should I add these two supplements tomorrow? Is a week before O enough time for them to make any difference?

[atomic sagebrush]

I think the RepHresh is better than Replens because the Rephresh reacts with stuff to lower pH to 4.5. The Replens just blends with stuff, so the combined pH will be somewhere between the two. Esp. for those who are going to DTD several times, RepHresh is a much better option.

If you want to do lime douche tho, stick with Replens because we haven't tested lime douche with RepHresh.

[atomic sagebrush]

One more question. I just read atomic's ideal sway post and I see vitex and saw palmetto are her two favorite supplements. I am not taking either! I drink about three cups of peppermint tea a day. Should I add these two supplements tomorrow? Is a week before O enough time for them to make any difference?

You can add vitex if you want but it prob. won't do any good. The pep tea is doing the same sort of thing as the SP does so at this point I think you should just stick with the pep tea. Starting SP now may just delay your O and that would mess up your plan.

[onehealthybaby]

Thanks Atomic. Should I give it to DH?

[atomic sagebrush]

You sound so thorough,..I am not sure how helpful I will be since I am doubting everything I am doing....
But, maybe not replens everyday. I think a finger tip is what most suggest unless you use another product, but even then, I think it prevents pregnancy from what I have read,....???
Why dtd o-1? Because you have low sperm count? That would make sense! I did that as well...actually on day as well.

I don't like the lime tampon...it makes it uncomfortable when you are already dtd so much but see how it goes. Is there a lot of success with it? I used it last month but I was too far away from o. Have you tried this before?

Your ph is really low, do you need all this stuff? Mine was over 8...grrr...guess I can't do much now but I think you are good!

I think it sounds good although the suggestions above and maybe from experience....(I did not do this) relax and enjoy vacation!
GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IG says use a fingertip of everything but I think you should use more, further from your attempt so it gets into all the nooks and crannies. By using it further from your attempt (so several hours or the day before) most of the excess stuff will come out and leave a nice small amount everywhere rather than a big blob at the cervix.

I don't like lime tampon and would be happy if no one ever used it.

Remember, timing doesn't sway so many people are BD on O-1. Studies show that BD ending both on o-1 and O day produces boys and girls in 50-50.

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks Atomic. Should I give it to DH?

NO. lowers estrogen, and in men, higher estrogen sways pink

[amari]

Good luck! Hope you get your bfp!!

[onehealthybaby]

Thanks so much for all of your help on my posts last week! I am back from vacation and I think I am done with our first attempt cycle.

We did frequent release starting Thursday (every day is a lot for us so I decided to just to that instead of compressed). We released Thurs, Fri and Sat. Sunday was our first attempt. very shallow penetration. Monday was our second, also very shalow.

I have been using a tub of replens/rephresh (mixing it up) pretty regularly since O. I use fingrtips of aci jel whe I think of it.

I used 3 ml lime douche before and after each attempt. After the first attempt, I waited a few hours for the lime tampon. Left it in 4 hours. The second attempt I only waited 30 minutes to put it in. It burned pretty bad so I took it out. I have actually had a little dried blood I think from the tampon.

My ph has stayed extremely low...much lower than past cycles...maybe too low at times. I am barely at 4. I have been taking sudafed and have had little if any cm, had some last night and I think I am oing now.

Supplements have been the standard ones for me and dh. Diet has been so so but now food before noon and no red meat. Cut back on salt and potassium.

I decided not to do an O plus 12 because we didn't release yesterday. I am going to stick to a 2 and 3 day cut of this first cycle with really low PH and see what happens!!! I am a little concerned the lime dried me out too much to have any sperm make it to the waiting zone, but time will tell!

Thanks again, ladies.

[atomic sagebrush]

Unless you put the lime tampon in right away it is pointless because the sperm are already gone. I HATE lime tampons and if no one ever used them, I would be happy. They do nothing beneficial that the RepHresh doesn't already do 1,000,000 times better.

I also don't like Sudafed because it ups your risk of stroke.

I wouldn't bet on you getting pg this month BUT I am KFX for you!!!