Jennibel's pink sway attempt - updated - ended in miscarriage
Gender Result: Unknown
DW Age: 28
DH Age: 30
Current Children's Gender(s): 2 boys (4 and 2)
Number of Months TTC: 1
Did you purchase and follow a GD Personalized Plan? No
DIET
Did you follow a diet plan?
Yes
If yes to diet, which one did you most follow?
LE(Low Everything)
Comments regarding DW's diet changes-
N.B I was on the diet on & off for 6 months from Jan to June 2012, lost almost 2 stone (got down to 117lbs) but decided it wasn’t the right time for a third baby for various reasons including DS2 being a very difficult child. I was off the diet for about 3 months, gained weight back and restarted the diet beginning of October (started at 128lbs) and lost it all by the beginning of December but still didn’t attempt as we had a house move, I had an abnormal pap test I needed to get sorted etc. Once I had a clear result for my pap test, were settled in our home and after DS2 turned 2 and became more manageable we decided to start ttc from Feb 2013.
I followed the LE diet and tracked my totals on myfitness pal daily. I usually had 1200kcals or under as this is how I lost a consistent 1lb a week (after the first initial big loss that you get when first starting a diet). I usually had about 30g fat and 40g max protein a day. I didn’t eat any meat.
I had no breakfast, but did have 1-2 cups decaff tea in the morning with semi skimmed milk and a tonne of canderel sweetener to keep me going.
I usually had 2 meals a day – at 12 noon and 6pm, sometimes I would have the occasional 3rd ‘meal’ at about 8pm but this would be something small like a mini milk, yoghurt or frozen yoghurt. I had matzo crackers, light philly, a yoghut and sometimes some strawberries for lunch, dinner would be pasta crème fraiche leek and parmesan, or rice and sour cream or crème fraiche, sometimes with peas or green beans. I occasionally made a pancake batter with flour, milk and 1 egg and would have 2 for lunch and 2 for dinner with no sugar st dalfour raspberry jam. Sometimes I would just have a muller rice low fat rice pudding and some milk at lunchtime.
I drank lots of Sprite Zero or 7 up free, occasional caffeine free diet coke, and very occasional ‘normal’ diet coke. I drank Evian and organic semi-skimmed milk too.
If diet was used, length of time before attempt?
about 7 1/2 weeks but I was much more strict from 6 weeks
Did you skip breakfast regularly?
Yes
Did DH change his diet with you?
Yes
Comments regarding DH's diet-
N.B Like me, DH was also on the diet on & off from Jan-Jun. Stopped being so restrictive from Jun-Sept but maintained lots of it such as the Soya milk. Started strict again from Oct to Dec, had a bit of time off in Dec, started strict again in Jan.
Food – We both usually eat a lot of boy foods (chilli con carne and rice, spag bol, cottage pie, curries, pizza with pepperoni on etc) so we have changed this a bit. He didn’t follow my diet but I changed some of his foods to things like veggie burgers. He had a lot less red meat or tomatoes then he used to. He also had 1 Rachel’s organic yoghurt a day. I did get him to follow some old A-Gender guidelines such as reduce beer, berries esp blueberries and raspberries, red or black grapes, carrots, coffee, coke and caffeine, greens esp alfafa, broccoli, spinach and other greens, fresh fruit juices and veg juices, nuts, pineapple, pumpkin, splenda/stevia artificial sweeteners, tea inc herbal and green tea, tomatoes esp tomato sauces and pastes, V8 juice, Jelly. This is all a BIG change. He never used to have any dairy and used to be obsessed with drinking whey protein (sways blue) and smoothies, Boost fruit juices etc to be as healthy as possible (increased sperm count?). I am not sure if any of this helped, but he/we wanted to try everything.
Drinks - DH drank 1 large glass of Ocean Spray Cranberry Classic Light a day, a glass of Alpro Soya Milk Original every other day and had a glass of semi-skimmed organic milk every day. He would have 2 cans of Sprite Zero a day and Robinsons no added sugar squash (has aspartame in it). He switched from mainly drinking beer and cider to Southern Comfort lime & Sprite Zero so more (hardcore) spirits, or white wine. He did have the occasional beer when out socialising but stayed away from red wine. We generally got him to up his alcohol intake. He joked and said swaying was turning him into a fat alcoholic (it did make him put on 1 ½ stone). He switched to decaff tea and decaff coffee (one of each a day max).
DId you consume alcohol?
Yes, and I did have quite a bit around ovulation. I found it helped me relax. I had white wine or spirits (mainly spirits with sprite zero as lower in calories/any nutrients)
DId you try to limit caffeine?
Yes, but I started that before I found gender dreaming and by then quite liked/was used to non caffeine varieties of tea and coke
Any Diet Comments/Additional Info?
I did have a few cheats such as for DH’s birthday we went for a meal but I stuck to veggie dishes – I had an aubergine starter and risotto main. Similarly we went out to an American style diner for DS2’s bday and I had a cheat which was veggie fajitas but I generally tried not to cheat at all really. I had a couple of tries of the kids homemade shortbread the week leading up to OV but I didn’t think it was too bad a cheat although should have perhaps avoided such a fattening/sugary food in OV week but hey ho!
When I did eat out I would always try to choose a simple veggie rice dish or risotto. Sometimes I went to an East Asian restaurant where i would choose a veggie rice dish like Come Hue but literally eat the rice and not even the vegetables as I was so worried about eating anything I shouldn’t. When I went to the cinema (which I love) I would have frozen yoghurt and a sprite zero.
The day before OV I tried to keep my blood sugar levels so low I ended up not eating from 5pm on the Friday to 5pm on the Saturday.
WEIGHT AND EXERCISE
What did you weigh/BMI do leading up to O?
I went from 144lbs to 117lbs from Jan-June 2012. I had gained a bit when I wasn’t ttc, lost some from Oct-Dec, gained a bit in Dec and when I started the diet at the beginning of Jan I was 130lbs (BMI 22.3) and when I ovulated I was 117lbs (BMI 20.1) so I lost 13lbs in 7 weeks. I lost 3 more pounds before I got my BFP, so my end weight was 114lbs (BMI 19.6).
My final/conception weight was about 28lbs lower than my conception weight for both my boys and definately my lowest adult weight, by far.
Any Weight/Exercise related additional info/comments?
DW exercise:
None. I used to go the gym and was obsessed with running on the treadmill but stopped all running in Jan 2012 and have gone rather bit flabby and untoned as a result (but I figured this would mean less testosterone)!
DH exercise:
He has always been a massive fan of the gym, used to go every day and do weights, had good muscle tone (testosterone!!). Since we had DS2 (and I discovered swaying) he didnt get to go as much but in 2012 he did go twice a week max and he would do light weights and took up cycling on the exercise bike (to lower sperm count). After we moved house in Dec he had to cancel his gym membership and because he wasn’t exercising and was eating and drinking more he did pile on the weight.
THINGS in VG and CONCEPTION DATE(CD) INFO
pH Before Starting a Sway Program, if known
When I first tested my ph at the end of 2011 before all the swaying it was 7/8 and DH’s was about 10!
Any VG potions used?
I used Rephresh every 3 days from end of AF to day of attempt (which turned out to be about 2.5-3 days before OV). I used ¼ to ½ of acigel about 2-4 hours before attempt (I think, its hard to recall but it was early evening and attempt was at 11pm ish).
CM pH at attempt
It was about 4 or 5 but I tried not to obsess about it. After doing the deed I did get up to check and the ‘mixed combo’ was about 5 so I was pleased with that.
DH pH
Before starting swaying it was about 10, after our attempt I tested and it was about 5.
He drank a lot of cranberry and took a lot of cranberry pills to get his ph down.
How many BD attempts did you make for the BFP cycle?
One
BD Dates according to Ovulation
Fertility friend says I bd’d 3 days before OV but I think I OV’d very early in the morning of the OV day and we had bd’d very late at night on our BD day so I think it was more of a 2-2.5 day cut off (not intentional, I had planned on bding on a fade in IC but the fade in came the day after I had dtd).
So to summarise we dtd late at night on on CD13, I got a fade in on CD14, a positive ople & peak on my CBFM on CD15 and Fertility Friend says I ovulated CD16.
Any additional comments?
THE DEED INFO
DH Info about Swimmers
DH had released every day from CD 3-9, and twice a day on CD 10, 11 and 12, and then the morning of our attempt on CD 13. I think his release on CD 12 was late at night, about the same time we made our attempt the next day, so with the morning release on CD 13 our one bd attempt on the night of CD 13 was in effect the third release in 24 hours having released every day since CD3.
(with our boys we had dtd every other day through OV so I was trying to reduce sperm count a lot with this sway)
The months previous we had hardly had any sex so all this releasing was after a long period of abstinence. The month before attempt DH had a hot bath every other day, and heating his bits every day when having showers. From CD1 of our attempt month he had a hot bath every single day.
DH wore tight pants and had been doing since I discovered swaying when pregnant with DS2 (so had been wearing them for about 2 ½ years).
Its also worth mentioning that DH had mumps as an adult which affected one side of his bits and when I was pregnant with DS2 he had a testicular cancer scare on the other side (a lump was found which is still there and he had many x rays - which can reduce sperm count - but they decided that for now they think its benign and could be related to a torsion incident) so this may have affected his sperm count since having our boys.
BD Position
Missionary, tried not to go too deep, release was half way in (tmi) as we had a non attempt in 2012 which I think was far, far too shallow
Did you Jump and Dump?
Lay flat for 5 mins whilst DH went to bathroom then got up to the toilet. Didn’t really do SEM as there was hardly anything there from all the frequent release. I tested ph then went straight to sleep as it was very late at night and I was knackered!
Any relevant attempt details?
No big O. It was actually a really lovely attempt, really relaxed, romantic and loving, I wasn’t very stressed about it all. It just felt ‘right’.
SUPPLEMENTS USED
DW Supplements
Folic acid – 1200mg per day (had been having this for about a year)
Standardized Saw Palmetto – 320mg per day AF-O (took every day for 9 weeks before ovulation of attempt cycle - and a lot of the year beforehand)
Vitex – 1000mg AF-O (took every day for 9 weeks before ovulation of attempt cycle - and a lot of the year beforehand)
Aspirin – 75mg every day
Antihistamine – I took Benadryl one day, Zirtek the next, and so on, from CD7 until I ovulated on CD16 (both cetirizine as they are the UK type).
DH Supplements
Liquorice root - 1200mg (which was 3 pills) AF-O (he started this the cycle before, he was also on it a lot of 2012)
Calcium – 250mg (1 pill) per day (he was on this most of the year beforehand)
Magnesium – 100mg (1 pill) per day (on this most of the year beforehand)
Cranberry – 10,000mg (2 fruit equivalent pills) per day (again was on this most of the year before hand). He had 6 pills day before and day of attempt (30,000mg – it really lowered his ph)
Any additional supplement info?
I had Chitosan and tried to remember to take 2 pills 30-60 mins before a meal but was sometimes useless at remembering. I did try to remember for every meal on the lead up to Ov and especially before any kind of cheat meal out.
Did you do anything with Ions?
I did ion-related stuff mostly out of superstition. I wore a ki flow bracelet and sometimes my hematite bracelet for over a year before our attempt. I had a girl spell done and wore the pink rose quartz ring that the spell was ‘cast’ into it constantly.
I would often light beeswax tealights and put them in rock salt holders (which I did in our room for the attempt) as well as a lavender oil burner with a beeswax tealight in it.
I also had a piece of rough rose quartz and a rose quartz ‘guardian angel’ from a fertility spell on my bedside table.
I used Original Source Lemon shower gel (as did DH) and I used Anion pantyliners AF-O. I painted my nails as often as time would allow in the evenings on the lead up from AF to Ov.
I had an aromatherapy detox face, neck and back massage the day before OV and I went for a walk with my boys the day of Ov.
Moon Phase during conception?
New Moon – just. It changed to full moon the day after OV (not sure if that matters)
Did you use any Old Wives Tales?
I have a couple of girls sleepsuits and dresses, a pair of hair slides (I couldn’t face giving them away as part of a friends daughters birthday gift!), a wooden spoon with a pink ribbon around it, a Sylvanian Family toy (my sister gave to me as a joke Christmas present one year as I loved them as a child so I hid it away under my bed *sheds tear*), a fertility spell and a picture I drew of my ideal family (2 boys & a girl) outside our dream home all under my mattress.
Things that make me feel great about my sway:
I really think I could not have done more, I put my all into this and did as many things as I could to sway, as did DH. If we have another boy it is meant to me and god has a plan for me and I am obviously meant to be a Mummy to three boys.
I am really pleased we only had one bd, I was tempted to add a second attempt the day after but I am glad I stuck to the one. I wanted to have a month where I tried everything before a ‘bigger and even better’ (not sure how?!) attempt in March and April when it would be peak ‘girl’ conception time.
I am also pleased that DH was so on board, he did absolute everything he could to help me sway and I love him for that :)
Things that make me nervous about my sway:
I did have a few cheats on the diet, I would have liked to be on the diet a little longer as that has been shown to sway more on the recent stats. I feel I maybe wasn’t as strict on the diet during implantation time/2ww as I perhaps should have been.
The Chinese gender calendar shows every month of this year to be a girl month for me, except for the month I conceived in, typical! (it was right for both my boys...eek).
The boys were driving me nuts during that month and DH and I had a couple of fall outs. I did fret a bit about it all and am quite a stressed out person so I wish I could have chilled out more. So if hormones play a massive part I wonder whether that will work against me.
