Ttc baby girl....while taking prenatals etc??

Hi all,
I am currently breastfeeding my 13 month old son and am hoping to try to conceive next cycle or the one after.
I have been taking prenatals since before my last pregnancy, but am seeing that those heavily sway blue. I also take coq10, l-carnitine, magnesium, fish oil and vitamin d. I know a lot of those sway blue...but I also know they help make a healthy baby which is really my number one goal.

I just started learning about swaying and am going to stop prenatals and switch to folate only.
Take cranberry?
Add calcium with the magnesium.
Drop fish oils maybe?
Should I also stop with the coq10 and l-carnitine...I have heard mixed things.

I'm also holding off on breakfast for as long as possible and cutting calories (only slightly tho bc I'm still nursing).

My question is, am I too late to sway for this cycle (ovulation predicted Aug 25)? If o stop everything will that be drastic enough that I may influence girl? Or should I plan to wait until my sept cycle and hopefully some of these supplements will be out of my system?

Thanks in advance!!!

~mamamelia

Hi and welcome!

No woman should ever take carnitine for any sway, let alone a pink one, or ever when TTC since it makes your cycle go berserk. Unless you are weight training and trying to look like someone who is doing weight training (meaning, muscley) you should not take carnitine until you are in perimenopause, it can really mess up your cycle. Wean off of it though, don't just drop it, not only for your sake but that of your nursing baby.

if you would like to compromise, you can take your supplements 3x a week instead of stopping them. This is what people have done when they are swaying pink and just can't quite walk away from the whole idea.

Coq10 is fine to continue, it may lower blood sugar and I"ve actually used that with several pink swayers who had poor egg quality. I have moved away from it because it is expensive and did not seem to help, but it is something I've given to people and seemed to have some success with it.

PLEASE do NOT NOT NOT x a million, suddenly stop this stuff. It is IMPERATIVE that you not stop these things cold turkey not only for your sake but also for the sake of your nursing baby. Wean off nutrients slowly over time.

I would not recommend TTC this cycle but it is of course your decision. If you do decide to proceed, just be sure you have only one attempt in the fertile window as that has been very effective for pink for us.

Cranberry is not safe when breastfeeding and were you to take that together with fish oil, you really run the risk of both you and your baby experiencing bleeding and bruising. I was told (by another site) that cranberry was safe when nursing, and I took it for 3 days and my son got a tiny cut on his thumb that gushed blood for hours and only stopped when I glued it shut with Superglue and then kept reopening for days after that. That was enough for me to never ever ever recommend cranberry to any nursing mom!!

Calcium at your discretion - many of us got opposites doing calcium supps (especially alongside the Vit. D) but if you believe in it, totally up to you. (It's a lot easier to give up on calcium after you've gotten boys while taking it!)

Wow! Thank you so much for your reply!!!
I actually only recently started these supplements after visiting my naturopath and prepping to conceive again. I will definitely stop the carntine (which she prescribed for ttc, nothing to do with weight?!) and cranberry (I've only been on these a few days, I was planning to take them and then stop at af, but I'll rethink that!).

i think I will switch to just folate and magnesium (prenatals 3x). I'm surprised to hear calcium is a potential no-no. I just ordered that and haven't started yet, so maybe I'll avoid it altogether.

One question about the fertile window: should I plan to bd one time once I receive a positive ovulation test?

Thanks again for your advice! I've been reading a lot of your replies on here and you are so knowledgable!!! There's so much info out there and so much of it conflicts, so I really appreciate the guidance from someone who's opinion I trust!

No offense meant to him/her but naturopaths are gradually becoming the bane of my existence as I have client after client show up rendered unable to conceive by herbs and supplements their naturopath had insisted were absolutely necessary for conception but instead made their cycle go crazy. I am glad you've only been on it a short while as it makes me very, very nervous to hear a breastfeeding woman take that since it's proven to come out in breastmilk.

Calcium is totally up to you, like I said, I understand why people want to try it but it was easy for me to drop after getting boys while taking it. Just don't take the Vit. D at the same time.

Fertile window - it is up to you when you have the one attempt, the important thing is the one attempt (for reasons we don't know, one attempt has been super effective for us). If you just want to be in with a good chance of conception, one attempt at positive OPK is an easy way to do that. If you are a believer in timing, aim at 2-3 days before you expect to O. Timing doesn't sway and has been totally debunked, but many people do still want to try it. :)

Thanks again for your advice! I'm very happy to be informed about some of the things I was taking early on in my journey! Especially if they impact my cycles and show in breastmilk! Sounds like I was making things harder than I needed to.

We all want to have the best chance of conception, but just remember - there are 8 billion people on this planet and very few of them actually needed any supplement to conceive. Our bodies know how to do this, sometimes we just have to get out of our own ways and let it happen. :)