Prenatals and brands

[cv12]

Hey Atomic! I was wondering which prenatal do you recommend for boy sway? Is there a particular brand? I am currently taking naturemade prenatal with fish oil but it has such a strong fishy smell I don't think I can stomach this for much longer. I live in the US and can get anything off Amazon or grocery store so I guess I have should have plenty of options.

this is the naturemade
43640

Thank you!

[atomic sagebrush]

I just recommend the trusty old Women's One A Day (the orange one). Or Centrum. Both of them are available at most stores and are affordable. The Naturemade one is actually just fine too but I understand the fishiness is a no-go. :)

[cv12]

thanks for the quick response! yay! I am long time lurker and am hoping to get pregnant by the end of the year! the women's one a day contains less folic acid than the average prenatal right? Should I be taking a higher amount of folic acid/folate?

[atomic sagebrush]

Happy to help! Glad you came out of lurkdom!

Many prenatals have the same amount as the Women's One a Day. I like you guys to take extra simply because blue swayers are often drinking green tea, more sodium, and other things that may block folic acid/folate, and also because it's possible that baby boys need a bit more from the jump. That's why I recommend more like 1600-2000 for blue swayers through the first trimester of pregnancy, then you can wean back to the amount in whatever prenatal or vitamin you're on. :)

[cv12]

Also, do I need to take any other supplements? I am currently just taking prenatals and on HE diet. I am not sure if other supplements sway heavily or I should just stick to just the HE diet and prenatals.

Thanks!

[atomic sagebrush]

I would definitely add in a probiotic. We had good results with that. We also have our blue swayers taking more like 1600-2000 mcg folic acid or folate total, all thru the first trimester and then wean back to the amount in a prenatal.

As for all the other stuff, to be honest if you're eating a well-balanced diet you probably don't need it, but some people also like to add in 100 mcg coq10 daily (wean off at BFP) and 500 mg fish oil or other DHA supplement daily. If you can only find a higher dose, take it every other day instead.

[cv12]

Hey thanks for the recommendation! I have another question regarding fertility as well. I've read in other posts about how low fertility tends to sway girl and high fertility sways boy. If that is the case how does one know how "fertile" they are on a scale of more/less fertile? I understand that how fast you conceive isn't completely linked to how fertile you are either so I am just wondering what makes one more or less fertile? Are there any detectable signs? such as having regular periods, healthy diet etc. Because I do know lots of people (around me) who aren't "healthy" (i am defining healthy by diet/lifestyle) but have a lot of boys and seemingly healthy people who struggle to conceive or have girls.

I really appreciate all your responses. All this information is truly interesting as I am on this ttc journey. Thanks!

[atomic sagebrush]

You don't know. We're talking about changes so small that most people don't ever even notice them, which is why so many people have boys and girls and will swear they did nothing any different. In most cases, nothing at all whatsoever changes, and yet most families do have BG or GB without even trying.

We DO see, with swaying, oftentimes changes where people who had very long and irregular cycles, with faint, light periods, often with no ovulation symptoms, from being too thin, will see their periods come sooner and be more "normal" and they end up getting boys that way. This can be tricky, though, becasue people with PCOS (which is blue-friendly) can also sometimes go from having long irregular cycles to having more regular ones, and getting girls after boys. So it has more to do with one's underlying levels of fertility and the reasons why they have fertility challenges...

PCOS (which is basically too many hormones causing issues) will tend to sway blue, and hypothalamic amenorrhea (low hormone levels causing trouble conceiving and messing up cycle) will tend to sway pink. But we don't want you guys to end up having fertility issues, whether you're swaying pink OR blue, of course! We aim at very small changes that end up swaying your odds to conceive a baby of the gender you're hoping for, without seeing any disruption in your cycles for ANY reason. :)

[cv12]

I used to have long and irregular cycles (not sure if I even ovulated or not) but I was also very thin. The month I gained a little covid weight I conceived my daughter. Now, at 1 yr postpartum and about 6 months since I have had my period back, my cycle has been VERY regular, right on time every month. I use an ovulation kit to detect ovulation as well and there seems to be a surge every month consistently. So I feel as if my fertility has somewhat improved after having a baby? We are on our 3rd cycle trying this month so *fingers crossed*!

I also am not sure if I have PCOS tendencies or if it's something else. I did have a check up with my OBGYN before conceiving my daughter due to the irregular period issue and they didn't find anything wrong with my hormone levels. So I am not sure what was causing the irregularity in my periods, perhaps being underweight?

[atomic sagebrush]

That is very common - something about the whole process seems to really regulate cycles.

What you are describing does not sound like PCOS. I suspect your irregular cycles were due to being low weight (that often does not show up on testing, whereas PCOS would, and PCOS is more often a case of being overweight) and since you've gained some weight your cycle is nice and regular now.

[cv12]

I am looking for ways to improve my fertility in general besides being on HE diet, pre-natal and probiotics. Is there anything else I can do or supplements I can take? thanks!

[atomic sagebrush]

Are you doing guaifenesin around ovulation?

Are you exercising?

What's your husband/partner doing?

[cv12]

i am not doing guaifenesin because I do have a lot of EWCM around that time so I haven't considered it yet. As for exercise, I am doing weight lifting and muscle toning exercises 3x a week about 45min-hour each time. I do recall that when I conceived my daughter I did lots of cardio such as walking/running 2miles a day to loose the covid weight but got pregnant!.

My husband is pretty much on the same HE diet and has started exercising (weight lifting) about 3months ago as well. He is taking multivitamins and fish oil on weeks we don't eat as much fish. He does work in a high stress environment so that sometimes affect his sex drive. I am trying to follow 2-4 days of sex as recommended but sometimes miss this as he's so busy :(

Good news is he just got a new job and should be in a better mood this month and maybe we can try to be more diligent about BD-ing. Anything else he can add/adjust on his end?

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh ok great, then I'd just skip the guaifenesin in that case.

Perfect exercise level both for blue and for fertility.

What is your husband's multivitamin? Some of them have elements in the mix that aren't ideal.

I'd consider adding in 1000 mg carnitine and 500 mg arginine.

[cv12]

He's taking some multivitamin gummies and I am not sure how effective those are :think: Perhaps I can switch him to one a day for men or something? I will look into adding the ones you suggested.

I am not a big snacker, I know that boy moms mention they graze all day and snack so I am wondering how important this is? I have been watching my weight gain as well since this is month 3 on the HE diet, I try to eat smaller meals but still eating nutritious foods. I drink prune juice every other day to help move things along sometimes too, is that ok?

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes the One a Day are probably better. The gummies are good though, I was more worried he'd been taking something herbal that might have been harmful.

The snacking is somewhat important, but what works for YOU will be different for what works for me or another boy mom. We have higher metabolisms and are used to eating more often and we can largely just burn that off. The important thing is not to do as we did, but to eat more often than you personally have in the past. So if you can only manage three meals and one snack, that's ok, esp. if you were only eating two meals before. What is important is doing what is different for what you've done in the past, not holding yourself to some standard that isn't attainable for you.

The prune juice is ok as long as you're not using it as a weight control mechanism. Once in a while is ok but we don't want things to "move through" so fast that you're harming your body's ability to absorb nutrients!

[cv12]

I have definitely changed my eating habits and the type of food I used to eat for sure. I used to eat light meals and not very nutritious food but now I focus on choosing healthier options and making sure I am not hungry at any point of the day. I have increased my intake of greens and fruits a lot more. This has been great at keeping my weight in check for the most part (just not snacking on junk food like I used to).

The prune juice isn't often at all, maybe every other day or every 2 days if I feel a little behind on the schedule.

I am also trying to relax as much as possible in terms of expectations as well because I think I was unintentionally pressuring hubby too much about this. I do believe that swaying will help increase the odds but nothing is guaranteed. If I don't get my desired gender I should adjust my perspective on possibly having all girls and focus on healthy babies and their happiness. I do think that I get stuck on this identity I create for my family, a boy who will like boy things and a little girl who will be sweet. When in reality, they will be their own person and gender isn't indicative of what/who they will become.


I will keep you posted when I get my BFP since I do think I am doing what I can for this boy sway as of right now! thank you for answering all my questions so far! :happy:

[atomic sagebrush]

Sounds perfect!! Let me know how I can help!

[cv12]

Also, I am not sure if I am getting paranoid or anxious but I am getting nervous about not conceiving within the first 2 months of trying. I am afraid if my fertility is not good enough? I see a lot of boy moms also conceive within their first try and I guess I am just worried since I am now on my 3rd attempt.

Last pregnancy took 3 months to conceive.. so I hope I to get my BFP soon..
I know that stress plays a big role in this too because DH has been stressed the past 2 months and wasn't really up to DTD all the time. When we conceived our daughter we DTD every other day and he was super drained and exhausted so I am trying to back off a little this month. I just don't think he can keep up with every other day schedule..

Will this affect blue sway, since more sex is encouraged? We did have a girl when we had sex EOD last time around so I guess I am not sure about frequency?

[atomic sagebrush]

We see plenty of people get boys after many months, even years of trying. That's not a big deal at all.

It's fine to stretch intercourse to every 2-4 days, that's actually my preference for this very reason. People who try for eod often end up unable to keep up.

As long as you are still in with 3 attempts in the fertile window, that's the important thing.

[cv12]

Hey Atomic!

A little update! I got a BFP 3months of TTC and today found out we're having another little girl :) blessed either way even though I didn't get the little boy I had hoped for but I am happy my oldest will have a little sister. I know that swaying isn't guaranteed of course but I gave it my best shot. Thanks for answering all the questions and this forum has provided lots of great info.

Cheers!

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh gosh I'm sorry to hear it didn't go the way we were hoping, but congratulations on your new baby girl on the way!!! Let me know if I can help in any way!