Ribbon's girl sway!

[Ribbons]

** UPDATE - It's a boy! **

I don't know what more I could have done. I really feel like I gave it my best... I guess gender swaying can't win them all. I'm a little sad, but actually ok with it - DS2 will have a lifelong best friend, and that's the best gift I think I could ever give him. DH is taking it a lot harder than me, and is already talking about another one. If we do go that route, we will definitely do HT though. Good luck to everyone!

=================================

Sorry up-front for the novel. I am a fan of too much info, rather than not enough

ABOUT ME:

• I am 35
• DH is also 35
• We have two wonderful boys – one teenager 15.5 and one toddler 2.5
• Attempt Months: only 1 for the sway, but we were trying for over 6 months prior to this.
• Swayed for a GIRL!

I only have one working tube and high risk for ectopic. Trying is pretty risky business for us and I have to be closely monitored for every cycle I try. My first ectopic came without any symptoms at all (incl. no positive home test) until almost 7 weeks, then I was pretty sure something was up, tried to get my doctor to listen to me and long story short ended up almost dying – 4 blood transfusions and right tube cauterized (not functional). SO you can imagine how stressed out I was when I had my first U/S a week ago and they confirmed that I O’d from my right ovary. AMAZINGLY, my little bean somehow crossed the divide and ended up traveling down my left tube (according to my awesome betas!) We go for a confirmation U/S late next week to make sure the bean is safely in my uterus - UPDATE: bean is safe and sound, confirmed via U/S 5/25!!

Because of this, we wanted to get pg as soon as possible. I stuck with only LE diet, only one application of Rephresh, FR/LR for DH, and natural ways of lowering my testosterone. We put in multiple attempts in micro-window and hoped for the best!!!

-=-=-
DIET:

• LE Diet for 9 weeks prior to attempt
• FGD before that, since mid-Jan (3+ months total)
• Vegetarian
• No breakfast/snacking
• No aspartame

Being a Weston A. Price/traditional foods enthusiast, I approached the LE diet with some serious trepidation. I was raving to my husband for weeks about how I couldn’t possibly wrap my head around this crazy diet where you had to do pretty much everything OPPOSITE of what I knew to work for fertility in general! But, after plenty of research – both on this site and on my own – I started to come to grips with the fact that hey – that’s kind of the point. So obviously I had to take some serious baby steps on the diet... it was super challenging at first, since the WAPF diet is about as opposite of LE as you can get (actually, atomic recommends some of it in the TTC Boy forum LOL)! So, I am naturally a boy-makin’ mamma for sure.

I started out on the FGD in mid-Jan and did that for about 1.5 months as that was the easiest way for me to transition; switched to LE/fully vegetarian on 3/1. I unfortunately went over on calories quite a few times (like in the 1800-1900 range) as I was trying to get the hang of it... at least it was with carbs/wine when I was going over on calories, not fat and protein. There were a couple of major cheat days (St.Pats, my birthday). But, for the most part, I did pretty well, almost always under on my sodium and fat; went over on protein a few times but not by much (kept my protein at 15% or less of total calories).

I ate lots and lots of carbs mostly in the form of brown rice and rice pasta, matzo, and low-nutrient veggies: mushrooms, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, green onions, green beans, leeks, tomatoes. I didn’t eat onions, sweet potatoes, beets, spinach or any other bright color / high nutrient veggies. I rarely ate garlic but did indulge occasionally. I got my protein/fat from dairy (mostly fat-free or lowfat dairy - yogurt, ricotta, cream cheese, sour cream, sometimes some full-fat mozzarella and swiss cheese). I didn’t drink any milk. I was also getting quite a few calories from wine at the beginning (3-4x week) but cut that back significantly (1x week) and none at all in our attempt cycle.

I wanted to keep at least SOMEWHAT healthy and true to my WAPF principles, so I ate all organic, made everything from scratch (ate out maybe 3-4 times in 2 months), ate lots of veggies, steered clear of sugar - including most fruit, soaked my rice, and used expeller-pressed safflower oil as my main cooking oil.

MOST of the time I skipped b-fast but caved a few times. I was super-strict in the last 3 weeks. I never, never snacked – this wasn’t a problem for me actually. 3 meals a day; coffee 6am, 1st meal around 10-11am sometimes later, 2nd meal 2-3pm (which really wasn't a meal; something small like yogurt, around 100-200 calories max), dinner 6pm, and nothing after that. Dropped the "2nd meal" for the last 3 weeks of my sway. I didn't do any aspartame but I drank poo-loads of mineral water and RO filtered water.

-=-=-
WEIGHT:

• lost 11 lbs total
• beginning BMI: 24.3
• ending BMI: 22.7

I lost most of my weight at the beginning. Toward the middle of my sway, I packed on about 3 lbs (around my birthday first week of April) and it took a while to get that off. My body does not like heavy carbs for sure! After losing that extra 3 lbs, I plateaued for about 3 weeks prior to my attempt. Since I was still BFing, I was wary of cutting calories too much, but I progressively dropped from around 1600 to 1300 the final week. I FINALLY lost another 2 lbs the week before my attempt. The morning of O-1, I stepped on the scale and was super-excited to see it at the lowest point! I ended up at 4 lbs under my lowest conception weight.

-=-=-
SUPPS:

• 800mg Vitex AF-O, total of 3 cycles before attempt
• 800mg Folic Acid (400mg 2x day) since Jan
• Cal-Mag at the beginning (dropped 6 wks before attempt)
• Fiber + Probiotic supplement with every meal (when I remembered)

I started out taking Cal-Mag in January, but after seeing all of the successful sways without it, I finally decided to drop it about 6 weeks prior to our attempt. I was pretty bad about taking the fiber supplement – only started that about 5 weeks before attempt – and probably only took it half the time. Couldn't take Saw Palmetto, Baby Aspirin, or Cranberry since I am still BFing.

-=-=-
DH SUPPS:

• Licorice Root 450mg 3x daily AF-O, total of 2 cycles before attempt
• 8oz of chocolate soy milk daily during last cycle
• cranberry daily AF-O, low dose (2325mg herbal equivalent)
• 400mg Folic Acid daily since March

The LR made his semen output REALLY reduced – he loved it at first (he has naturally very high testosterone, and he said it made him calmer) but toward the end he started worrying about the drastic reduction in semen output. Our attempts were cut a little short too because of it (see attempts below) The combo of the FR and the LR was just a little too much for him.

He also wore boxer briefs, which he complained about at first but now he loves them and wants more LOL

-=-=-
PH/JELLIES/ETC:

• Rephresh O-3 in the late evening – since it works for 3 days, it covered all of our successful DTDs (since O+1 was a bust)
• No douche.
• No lubes.
• No antihistamines.
• Didn’t check pH.

-=-=-
OVULATION/TESTING:

• Suspected O Date: April 30, 2012 (CD18)
• Used CBFM, OPK sticks
• No temping - I can’t temp (still co-sleep with DS2)

Used a CBFM and OPKs to track O. I started OPKs (internet cheapies) daily around CD9, started 2x day around CD13 and then 3x day around CD16, when I knew O was close. I had a VERY close fade-in, not quite positive at 5pm CD17 but couldn’t test again – and next morning it was a strong positive along with my first CBFM peak. So, I estimate my O day to be CD18 (4/30 - FF thinks it’s 5/1).

-=-=-
TIMING/FREQUENCY/DTD:

• DH - Frequent Release from CD9-CD15, total of 7x
• DTD 1x/day on CD16 (O-2), CD17 (O-1), CD18 (O) mid-morning (likely O’d mid-day or evening)

I usually get a high on my CBFM about 5 days in advance and my first peak on O-1... it seemed to work out perfectly because my first peak actually came this time on O day (SO glad I was using OPKs as well), so what I thought was O-3 actually ended up being O-2, which made our attempts timed perfectly! (I thought we had missed O day) The combo of LR/FR wore my DH out, so on O day I had to pull out ALL the stops (you won’t BELIEVE the stuff I had to do to get to the finish line, it’s the spiciest we’ve been since before DS2!!!) – and on O+1 he couldn’t perform at all. O-2 and O-1 were missionary/shallow release and O day was… well, definitely not either of those!!


I didn’t have an orgasm at all for WEEKS but did on O+1 (accidentally!) and was so mad at myself since even DH didn’t! Guess I got too worked up on O day


My EWCM was REALLY reduced from normal, but I still had some, especially O-2 and O-1. Interestingly, the Rephresh seemed to dry it up a bit.

-=-=-
AFTER ATTEMPT:

• No J&D; laid flat for 30 mins – 1 hr each time
• stuck with the LE diet, including skipping breakfast and snacking - did not cheat
• Tried to help implantation (due to a history of chemicals and of course my ectopic) from 6-10DPO: I drank red raspberry leaf tea, ate pineapple with the core, sweet potatoes, walnuts, organic whole milk, a fish oil supplement, and ½ dose of a prenatal. Kept everything within my LE limits; was planning on stopping these at CD10 but that was the day I got my BFP

-=-=-
EXERCISE:

• Zilch! No complaints from me, I don't do much exercise anyway.

-=-=-
TESTOSTERONE:

• Peppermint tea 1-2x day AF-O for last two cycles (YUCK)!
• Tried really hard not to stress
• Spent more time with my boys
• Read boatloads of books
• Got a massage O-5
• Hubby hired a housecleaner for me for a couple of months (best birthday present EVER!)

I was a classic swaycessor at first, researching and analyzing EVERYTHING I could get my hands on 24/7! I am glad that I got it out of the way at the beginning, b/c toward the end of my sway I was pretty content and solid in what I had learned and just kind of “went with it”. I did spend a LOT of time on the boards though, I couldn’t stop myself.

-=-=-
OWT/IONS/OTHER STUFF:

• Ions, schmions.
• Tried Lunaception (was in full moon phase)
• Conceived in a great girl month!
• Pink fluffy tutu (newborn size) on my bookshelf
• Wore a fertility necklace with a pink ribbon tied to it (see my avatar)
• Chinese Gender Chart said girl (don’t believe in it, but fun)
• Wedding Ring test predicts two girls in my future!

We tried the Lunaception thing – I have a skylight in my bedroom, so DH covered that up and we put heavy blankets on all the windows to block out everything. Then, two cycles before attempt, we used a nightlight to “change” the moon cycles. Forgot about the nightlight some, so it was kind of a half-hearted attempt but it made me feel better...



If you made it this far, thanks for reading! We will be very happy with a princess but honestly, after this sway and talking to so many girl moms I am going to be at a loss of what to do with her if she DOES show up! AND, any egg that travels cross-tube is definitely meant to be, and this bean will be loved no matter what!!!! I will definitely update as soon as we find out what we are having

[BeadinMom]

Sounds like an AMAZING sway, Ribbons...I hope you get your girl!! You deserve it

[HopeandDreamG]

Congrats ribbons! Great job

[HappyMedium]

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!! Great sway!!!!!!

[pearl]

GREAT SWAY, Ribbons!!! I hope u get your girl

[dloui128]

sounds like a great sway, I hope you get your little girl

[zanacal]

Love it! All the very best :-)

[amari]

Yay, Ribbons!! I know you're happy to be pregnant and to eat!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Huge congrats!!! Good luck!!!

[auroara78]

Congrats again Ribbons!! I love how you wrote about any egg that travels across is very special!! This little bean really wanted to join your family!!