Girl Sway Prep Advice?

[dark_pundit]

Hello All! I am new to the group and have found reading the older posts very informative. I'd like to thank everyone who has posted information in the other threads!

Quick background on me: I currently have a 10 month old baby boy and we're planning to TTC a girl next time around, hopefully in a couple of months but first we are trying to get all the prep work done. I am breastfeeding and also taking Nora BE which I believe is suppressing ovulation. I have not yet had any signs that my cycle has resumed. Hopefully, if not sooner, my cycle will return after weaning when my son is about a year. I am only going to continue the mini pill for a couple more weeks. I will be using OPK's and BBT to try and determine ovulation, but historically I've had very irregular cycles. I tested my vaginal pH and it's pretty high - average of 5 - 5.5 for the last week. I've already lost about 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.

So here's the tentative plan:

Start supplements for both myself and DH: Calcium (800 mg?) Magnesium (300 mg?) and Cranberry extract

Diet: not too much change except try to limit salt and cut out some of the caffeine, already on somewhat of a reduced calorie diet and not excercising (too tired from #1)

Get vaginal pH reduced: I'm going to try Fem-dophilus first and repHresh first and see how it goes, maybe add in baths with apple cider vinegar, or if I get more desperate Lime douches pre BD/tampons post BD.

If my cycles stay irregular timing will be too difficult for abstaining but DH is willing to try frequent release with cut off. He is also ok with wearing briefs and possibly using a condom with spermicide in the first few days after AF.

I might add in an antihistamine around Ovulation (again dependent on if I can figure out when ovulation occurs)

Any other "easy" suggestions of things to add in?

Thanks again for the input!

[carmella_marie]

You can take up for 1200 mg calcium. I think diet is the most important part, it can really get your pH down! Skipping breakfast is a small change that may make a big difference, too. Aspertame is easy to add. Saw palmetto will lower your testosterone.

[rainbowflower]

I agree with Carmella my emphasis would be on diet too as that's got a lot of evidence behind it showing it sways. Skipping breakfast is definitely good IMO.

I've not heard of Fem-dophilus, what is that? If you use RepHresh you shouldn't need to do any of the douches or anything as RepHresh keeps pH at 4.5 (raising/lowering to that value as needed) and it keeps working for 3 days.

For the cut off are you thinking of stopping when you get a pos OPK if you have irregular cycles? any cut off longer than 3 days and you have a really small chance of conceiving at all especially with all the other things that lower fertility/sway pink

You could also add a few neg ion aspects in too such as lavender oil/rose quartz.

[dark_pundit]

Thanks for the advice. I should have mentioned that I already miss breakfast most days... I can't seem to find the time, so instead of trying to find the time I will just let it go. I'm going to also avoid the big no-nos like potatoes and bananas. I'm also going to increase the calcium supplement to closer to 1200mg.

Fem-Dopohilus is just a lactobacillus supplement designed specifically to help increase good bacteria in womens reproductive tracts. People with bacterial vaginosis and high vaginal pH have had good success with it. I'm hoping it will lower the pH a little and then the repHesh can be used as more of a buffer.

I was originally thinking of the cutoff as a positive OPK - but has anyone used transitional saliva ferning as a reliable indicator of the impending ovulation?

Can you further explain the neg ion things? (or link to a thread explaining)

How do you add in aspertame? just use it instead of sugar? I'm already a diet coke drinker - so maybe not change that too much.

thanks again!

[dark_pundit]

I think I can only loose another 5 lbs before my BMI is in the "underweight" range... What do people do then as far as diet goes. At that point it would be unhealthy to continue on a low calorie diet.

[rainbowflower]

I got down to my lowest healthy-BMI weight (i.e. losing 1lb more and I'd have been underweight), and made the decision to stop TTC for a month to regain some weight, and then do 1 cycle back on the diet without TTC and after that we'll give it 2 cycles TTC even if I go underweight.
With regards to the diet I had no choice but to cheat - ate chocolate and cake to get my calories up (and both of those spike blood sugar so aren't too bad in that way - cake is probably preferable to chocolate as far as the diet is concerned because it contains less fat)