What to continue and what to drop in TWW? (+OPK today!)

This is my first post although I've been reading on here for about 3 months now.

I have 2 sons (10 and 4) and tonight is my first attempt at swaying for a girl! I got my +OPK today and we are DTD tonight after a 7 day abstain! I am following the LE diet and taking baby aspirin, folic acid (1000mcg), fiber (Metamucil), vitex, Zyrtec, drinking a strong infusion of peppermint tea twice daily, and drinking CL and diet soda. DH is taking Claritin D, licorice root, and olive leaf extract.

I just want to clarify what to do in the TWW. I know I have to wean off the aspirin slowly (I'm taking 5 a week now). And DH will have his last dose of licorice root tomorrow at day 14. I know Atomic says to stop peppermint tea and vitex at +OPK correct? So today is the last day I'm taking them. Is it ok to stop peppermint tea abruptly or do I need to wean off it over a few days? What about the Zyrtec? Do I need to wean off that slowly as well? I normally take it every day for allergies regardless of TTC and DH takes Claritin D daily as well for the same reason. Oh, and what about the fiber? Stop that now or continue through TWW?

So I know that I'm supposed to continue with the LE diet through the TWW to keep conditions ideal for a girl embryo to implant. But what about the aspartame? Do I continue that as well, or is it ok to stop it after tomorrow? Before this, I had never eaten a single thing with aspartame. I'm drinking CL, diet soda, and eating a Yoplait Light daily. Normally I eat pretty paleo, so I'm doing the complete opposite right now. Do I need to slowly ease back into my normal diet after the TWW and if so, how long should the transition take?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Bump I want to know too :)

You are correct to wean off the aspirin gradually. I can't speak to the vitex, but both the peppermint tea and Zyrtec can/should be stopped following ovulation (cold turkey). The aspartame is up to you. Obviously, we all hope the first cycle is successful...if you end up needing to continue into next cycle, will you fret over the 2 weeks off the aspartame element of your diet? If you are indeed (fingers crossed!) successful in a BFP this cycle, then you will likely do zero harm to your newly implanted little embryo, which won't even be feeding off a fully formed yolk sac at that point, much less receiving anything crossing a placenta barrier. I *personally* continued aspartame and caffeine until I had the bfp. The allergy meds that are for your actual allergies vs sway would fall under the "ask your doctor" category, I would think.

A transition period for the diet itself shouldn't be necessary following your bfp, but, again, I would wait until after confirmed bfp, otherwise your body is going to cling to those stores of nutrient-rich foods and undermine efforts for subsequent cycles. Fiber should be fine to continue throughout. By the way...brace yourself for some serious headaches after your bfp as you go off the caffeine, aspartame, and simple sugars - but they do go away :happy:

Good luck!! Pink dust to you!

I misread...the Zyrtec IS your allergy meds...sorry! I think it's therefore a personal decision for you, with recommendation from your doctor, depending on the severity of your allergies/medical needs. Hope this cycle is successful for you - how exciting!

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Originally Posted by 2bnaday

The aspartame is up to you. Obviously, we all hope the first cycle is successful...if you end up needing to continue into next cycle, will you fret over the 2 weeks off the aspartame element of your diet? If you are indeed (fingers crossed!) successful in a BFP this cycle, then you will likely do zero harm to your newly implanted little embryo, which won't even be feeding off a fully formed yolk sac at that point, much less receiving anything crossing a placenta barrier. I *personally* continued aspartame and caffeine until I had the bfp.

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Thanks! If I don't get a BFP this cycle then I'm going to hold off on TTC till June as I really don't want a Dec/Jan baby and I'm in no rush to get pregnant. So I probably will go back to my more normal diet and then resume 6 weeks before my attempt in June. I really don't have much weight to lose so I think a short time on the LE diet is ok.

Must be stopped at or just before ovulation - vitex, saw palmetto, pep tea, antihistamine. these ok to drop

Continue till BFP - aspirin then wean off slowly

Continue high dose folic thru first trimester then wean off slowly

DH must take LR ONLY 14 days and no more than that even if you do not O till after that. it is ok to stop suddenly

re diet, continue till BFP and then you can start prenatal and normalize diet. it's fine to just resume eating normally, but you may want to go easy if you were limiting sodium and I would not just launch into Atkins diet and eat a ton of protein either!! Upping protein is fine, just don't go to a VFC diet (you should not do that in pg anyway)

I do not want anyone doing more aspartame than is safe and FDA approved for use during pg anyway so that is fine to continue at the 2-3 12-16 oz serving amount.

What does your doctor say about continuing antihistamine into pregnancy?? Have you gotten pg while using it before?

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Originally Posted by essnce629

Thanks! If I don't get a BFP this cycle then I'm going to hold off on TTC till June as I really don't want a Dec/Jan baby and I'm in no rush to get pregnant. So I probably will go back to my more normal diet and then resume 6 weeks before my attempt in June. I really don't have much weight to lose so I think a short time on the LE diet is ok.

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I hope you get your bfp this month! If not, something to consider would be at least keeping up the fasting and supplement schedule during your non-ttc months even while not doing the LE diet. Intermittent fasting is a paleo concept anyway! As far as supplements, you could scale back to just folic acid and your allergy antihistamine if you don't want to do the vitex/pepp tea/aspirin the entire time, but just wanted to caution that as you resume your "normal" diet this *doesn't* include any multi-vitamins, etc, because you don't want those lingering in your system when you're ready to actively ttc again in June. Just something to consider! :happy:

Yes the 16 hour fast (pushing breakfast till noon) IS a Paleo principle! :) You just squeeze in your same number of cals in a smaller window.

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Originally Posted by atomic sagebrush

What does your doctor say about continuing antihistamine into pregnancy?? Have you gotten pg while using it before?

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Thanks Atomic!

Before when I was pregnant (and nursing for 5 yrs) I only took Chlor Trimeton, occasionally as needed, as I was told that was safest. I had never taken Zyrtec (or any antihistamine) on a regular basis when I got pregnant with my boys. Back then I had a typical boy diet, lots of supplements, green or white tea daily, lots of eggwhite/watery cm each cycle, and was not on BCPs beforehand (used condoms).

This time I stopped the Zyrtec on the day of +OPK and if I need anything in the future I'll use the Chlor Trimeton.

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Originally Posted by 2bnaday

I hope you get your bfp this month! If not, something to consider would be at least keeping up the fasting and supplement schedule during your non-ttc months even while not doing the LE diet. Intermittent fasting is a paleo concept anyway! As far as supplements, you could scale back to just folic acid and your allergy antihistamine if you don't want to do the vitex/pepp tea/aspirin the entire time, but just wanted to caution that as you resume your "normal" diet this *doesn't* include any multi-vitamins, etc, because you don't want those lingering in your system when you're ready to actively ttc again in June. Just something to consider! :happy:

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Yes, I had already dropped all my vitamins several months ago (had always taken a daily prenatal, vitamin D, fish oil, probiotics!!!) and I will continue to just take folic acid if I don't get my BFP this month. I will go back on the mini-pill (like I was before) up until my attempt month as I know the first month off BCP sways pink. I don't mind the aspirin (and I read it decreases the chance of blood clots in women on the pill) and I really like the peppermint tea, so I will continue that. I have charted the past few months while on the mini-pill and I am still ovulating regularly and having normal periods. If I wasn't, I'd stay off the pill all together. Oh, and yes, I'll continue to skip breakfast. That's not a problem.

Ok Atomic, one more question.

So I got my first +OPK at 1pm on Tues (CD13). I had another +OPK at 3pm that same day. Noticed eggwhite cm at 4pm (took a Chlor Trimeton since I already had Zyrtec that morning). At 10pm that day I had a -OPK and we DTD once at midnight after a 7 day abstain.

Then, yesterday (CD14) I continued to have +OPKs all day at 10am, 4pm, and 10:30pm. We did not BD yesterday (wanted to keep it to one attempt) and I didn't have a temp rise in the morning so I didn't O on CD13.

Now today (CD15) I still didn't have a temp rise this morning, so I didn't O yesterday either. Got another +OPK just now at noon. I've been charting for years off and on, and on average I ovulate on CD15, so I'm assuming I'm O'ing today and will have a temp rise tomorrow. Do you think DTD once on CD13 is enough if I'm O'ing today? Should we BD tonight or just keep it at one attempt? DH is 31 and I'm 32 by the way. Both boys were oopsies after DTD twice without a condom.

Here's my chart by the way:
http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/ae251//thumb.png
My Ovulation Chart


Thanks so much for all your help!

Bumping for Atomic!

Did I mention this already?? But I would not do the pep tea with the BCP. Might make BCP less reliable and also may make it take longer for your cycle to get back to normal (altho since you seem to continue having reg. cycles this may be less of an issue for you)

Sorry I had a horrible migraine yesterday and couldn't bear to be on the computer.

I woudl have had you stick with one attempt, that's getting best results for pink. But whatever you did it was the right thing to do! :)

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Originally Posted by atomic sagebrush

Did I mention this already?? But I would not do the pep tea with the BCP. Might make BCP less reliable and also may make it take longer for your cycle to get back to normal (altho since you seem to continue having reg. cycles this may be less of an issue for you)

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Thanks Atomic! One thing I REALLY like about the peppermint tea is that it made my period shorter and less heavy. Normally AF lasts for a full 7 days with 2 days of heavy bleeding. Since starting the peppermint tea though AF is completely over by the end of day 5 and I only have a 1/2 day of heavy bleeding. My O day and cycle length have still been the same while taking it so I think it's ok for me. I've always had super regular cycles-- even when exclusively nursing a newborn my periods still came back at 5 and 6 WEEKS postpartum!!!

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Originally Posted by atomic sagebrush

Sorry I had a horrible migraine yesterday and couldn't bear to be on the computer.

I would have had you stick with one attempt, that's getting best results for pink. But whatever you did it was the right thing to do! :)

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We stuck with just one attempt at +OPK and I ended up O'ing the next day! I'm at 3dpo now!

I'm off of all the supplements/tea except for folic acid, aspirin, fiber, and LE diet. I will wean off aspirin if I get a BFP.

Thanks again for all your help.

sounds great! good luck.