Atomic - just got another BFN, need your advice...

[fignewt74]

Hi Atomic,
Background: First sway attempt (Dec 2010) was BFP but ended in m/c at 7 weeks. Have made four more attempts and have gotten a BFN each time.
Here is my sway: 2 day cutoff with frequent attempts. 7% vinegar/calcium douche 1 hour before DTD and aci-jel 10 minutes after. Hot shower for DH along with cranberry supplements. I am on the girl diet and take cranberry, acidopholus, magnesium and calcium too.
I just realized as I was reading through some of your old posts that I forgot to add distilled water to the douche, so it was just 7% vinegar with calcium in it (yes, it burned a bit!) Do you think that could be a reason why I did not fall pregnant this month? If not, is there anything else you think I could do differently that would not compromise my sway? I was thinking of maybe the store-bought vinegar douche, or just aci-jel and antihistimine instead of douche...
Would love your input
Thanks in advance!

[TTC5]

Just want to send you some sticky pink baby dust

[rainbowflower]

it sounds like it could be the reason - I'm no expert on the douching (will be using RepHresh instead) but I thought you had to mix the douche to have a pH of 2 - if you haven't been doing this perhaps you have been using one a lot lower than that and killing off nearly all the sperm?

personally I'd drop the douching altogether or the cut off. DTD on OV day for a healthy couple has a 33% chance of conception compared to a 10% with a 3 day or more cut off, if you want to get pregnant faster you should DTD closer to ovulation.. or remove some of the barriers that will kill off the sperm such as low pH in there.

are you doing the diet as well? if you are the rest of the things are less important

[zanacal]

Hi fignewt. I'm sorry for the BFNs x

I'm obviously not Atomic but personally I would drop the douche and use Rephresh every 3 days and use your Aci-jel an hour or so before BDing or Sylk as a lube.

The Rephresh is designed to adhere to the walls of your V to balance the pH in there at around a 4.5 - so if you're BDing frequently it will work between attempts to bring your pH back down even though there will have been some higher pH stuff in there (EWCM and semen!). I don't think there's much point using Aci-jel 10 minutes after your attempt because most of the sperm will be well away by then and out of reach of the Aci-jel so I would consider using it beforehand and nothing after you BD - or use Sylk as a lube in place of the Aci-jel. If you decide to try this it's worth testing how Rephresh and Aci-jel or Rephresh and Sylk work for you personally because we're all different!

I think using the Aci-jel and antihistimine combo as you suggest is a good idea too - but I would still use Rephresh every 3 days if frequent BDing.

[atomic sagebrush]

Hi Atomic,
Background: First sway attempt (Dec 2010) was BFP but ended in m/c at 7 weeks. Have made four more attempts and have gotten a BFN each time.
Here is my sway: 2 day cutoff with frequent attempts. 7% vinegar/calcium douche 1 hour before DTD and aci-jel 10 minutes after. Hot shower for DH along with cranberry supplements. I am on the girl diet and take cranberry, acidopholus, magnesium and calcium too.
I just realized as I was reading through some of your old posts that I forgot to add distilled water to the douche, so it was just 7% vinegar with calcium in it (yes, it burned a bit!) Do you think that could be a reason why I did not fall pregnant this month? If not, is there anything else you think I could do differently that would not compromise my sway? I was thinking of maybe the store-bought vinegar douche, or just aci-jel and antihistimine instead of douche...
Would love your input
Thanks in advance!

Yes, I would say with some certainty that a 7% vinegar douche is the reason you are not conceiving. A 10% vinegar douche is as effective a weed killer as Roundup so obviously it is bad for sperm.

I don't love douching, I don't think it's necessary (I prefer Rephresh because it's so easy and keeps working, but Acijel works too) but if you do decide to douche, I think the Acijel afterwards is also very detrimental to whatever sperm is left. Then, if you're using antihistamines as well and lowering sperm count with hot showers and frequent, there is just NO opportunity for anything to survive.

The first thing I would do is give it a try with the distilled water + vinegar or else a storebought douche. If you dropped douching all together and conceived an opposite, I can envision you beating yourself up over the mistake and wondering forever what would have happened, KWIM?? I would probably drop the Acijel afterwards but again, you shouldn't do that if you will forever wonder what would have happened if you'd given it a try.

Also, something to consider would be to keep the Acijel afterwards but BD closer to or even through O. It all comes down to what you feel comfortable with and how big a hurry you are to conceive.