Planing my sway, rush edition!

[NYC_CNM]

Hi, everyone:

Having read my eyes out yesterday and today on this awesome site, I'm now about to put my sway into action, as we're ttc this month...so I'll lay it out for you guys, and please feel free to tell me what you think, or help me tweak it!

A little background. I had 1 miscarriage in July 2010 at 8 wks (didn't find out until 11 wks), the got pregnant with our DS the very next cycle, Aug 2010. And now, this summer we got pregnant in April but almost the exact same thing happened: miscarriage at 8 wks in late June (again not finding out until 11 weeks). I'm shooting for ttc this coming month for a few reasons: first, we got pregnant with our first son right after the first mc, I'm hoping the pattern might repeat itself (and I'm trying to reap the benefits of the mc; in my professional work, I've definitely noticed that there's often improved fertility right after a mc for many people, I think this is because of lingering high progesterone levels after the miscarriage which give the next pregnancy a boost, and also b/c the cervix tends to be a little softer and more open right after a mc, which improves sperm penetration. I've got no research to back this up, but I've seen this pattern so often in my work as a midwife--a mc, and then boom she's pregnant again one or two cycles later--that I really do think there's something to it). Also, the Chinese conception calendar says Boy for conceiving in August for me, but then Girl for the rest of the year. Not that I'm really putting much stock in it (and someone please tell me it's a bunch of hooey, right??), but hey, I figure it couldn't hurt.

I would *really* like another boy. DH is partial to a boy, but would be equally thrilled to have a girl. I suspect I would be deeply disappointed (but obviously able to reconcile myself to it, should that happen). Even so, I figure it doesn't hurt to try to tilt the odds somewhat, hence my last minute sway! DH is not really on-board enough to take supplements himself, but he doesn't object at all to having sex with me every 2-4 days until our fertile window, and then a bit more often during it. ;-)

So, here's my plan:

Drink:
Red clover tea daily
Ice water with lemon daily
8 oz of V8 juice daily
Full fat milk instead of skim
Naked Green Goddess with wheatgrass occasionally (can't afford this daily)
Alkaseltzer Gold daily (not sure about this last one...is it really necessary? Also, my pharmacy only had regular Alkaseltzer, not Gold, which has no potassium in it, just 1000 mg anhydrous citric acid and 1940 Sodium Bicarb...is this still ok, or does the potassium in Gold make a real difference and I should search harder for the Gold?)

Eat:
HE diet overall, plus:
1 egg daily
Meat daily
Fish 2x/ week
1 Banana daily
Snack on salted pistachios/ peanuts daily

Exercise:
I'm a runner, have run 3 marathons, tend to do 4-6 mi runs 3-4x/ week - My plan is to cut back on runs to 2-3x/ week and not run more than 3-4 miles each run (this will take me 30-40 minutes at my pace, so less than 45 min of cardio at a time) and also up the weights/ strength training (I usually don't do any weights at all, so even adding a little bit of this will hopefully make a difference)

Supplements:
Womens Daily multivitamin
EPO and DHA supplement, switching off every other day (EPO one night, DHA the next)
Green tea capsules
2000 mcg Vit D3

BD:
Every 2-4 days until fertile window, then BD O-3, O-1, O (or maybe O-2, O-1, O...we'll be visiting friends in DC that weekend, so I'll have to play it by ear). BD started last night. I'm pretty sure DH doesn't release that often on his own, so if I stick to every 2-4 days prior to fertile window, I think he'll be thrilled by all the extra sex and happy to leave it at that.

I'm on CD 4 right now, so a little less than 2 weeks to implement this. So, what do you think? Good to go? Team Blue!

Thanks everyone!
:-)

[NYC_CNM]

Oh, I forgot to add that I'm going to take robitussin during the fertile window, too, as soon as I start to see CM.

[ELP]

I would forget the alka seltzer, ph is pretty disproven so dont mess with the good stuff your doing And you could think about getting a cheaper wheatgrass say tablet form, still full of nutrients, maybe add a fish oil aswell again cheap but helps you build muscle, otherwisr you look excellent!! Are you eating a good beakfast?? A porridge with some stirred in peanut butter and sultanas is very good and tastes great Best of luck, you have a great shot!!

[NYC_CNM]

Great suggestions! I tried some alkaseltzer yesterday and it was *horrid*, so I'm happy to drop that. And good idea about the wheatgrass tablets. DHA is a type of fish oil. Should I drop the DHA and just get a regular fish oil tablet? I'm a big believer in breakfast. For me breakfast is usually a healthy whole grain cereal like kashi with soy milk. I've changed the soy to full fat regular milk, and added bananas to it. But I like the porridge suggestions, too. Just harder to implement in the 90 degree weather we've been having, when a hot breakfast is the *last* thing you want!

[atomic sagebrush]

Hi and welcome!!

Personally I believe the cycle after a loss can tend to sway pink, but there are still plenty of boys conceived so if that's what your gut is telling you, go with that. I do think there can be higher fertility in terms of a pregnancy working out, but that same thing ~may~ not be the case in terms of swaying - it may be a little harder for sperm to reach egg after a miscarriage.

the Chinese gender calendar IS a bunch of hooey. We've done tons of polls both here and on IG and it's always been 50-50 - for me personally some of the calendars are 3 right 2 worng and others are 2 right 3 wrong LOL. If there was actually anything to it, there would not be orphanages full of unwanted baby girls in China. Now, that having been said, there ~may~ be something to seasons swaying gender slightly (science, not mysticism) and you can read an essay about that here: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...s-swaying.html

Re the supps, I do not recommend the red clover (may sway pink because it's a phytoestrogen that may compete with your body's natural estrogens for the receptors) or the ASG. Would not have you take EPO after ovulation in months you are going to attempt but it is ok prior to the month of attempt.

Be sure you are eating 3 meals a day and 2-5 snacks with protein and carbs at every meal and snack.

Everything else looks great! Sending you a ton of blue dust.

[atomic sagebrush]

DHA is fine - we don't know which is better DHA or fish oil.

[NYC_CNM]

Atomic, thank you so much for weighing in! Dropping the EPO and red clover today! I've only taken them twice so far anyway, so hopefully they won't have made much of an impact. I'll stick to the DHA instead of regular fish oil.

I'm curious what your thoughts are on why post-mc might sway pink? Just trying to reason out why it might be harder for sperm to reach egg post mc? B/c of scarring to the endometrium? I could see that happening post D+C, but not necessarily a spontaneous miscarriage where everything was passed naturally. What else am I missing?

Also, could you explain your thinking with regards to the EPO? Happy to drop it, but I'm always curious about the rationale behind these suggestions. :-)

We're still going to stick to our plan of ttc this month. It worked for us the first time around and gave us a DS, who knows, it might just work again! Or not. Every cycle only has a 15-20% chance of conceiving anyway. But I *am* enjoying this HE diet. I had steak for dinner last night with blistered shishito peppers dusted in sea salt, and a ham, egg and gruyere crepe for brunch. Not to mention the delicious, creamy full fat milk....yummmm! And atm I'm doing it all guilt free (hey, anything for the Team Blue cause, right?) Not that I really want to gain *that* much weight, but I definitely don't think a few pounds would hurt. ;-)

[ELP]

My thoughts about the mc swaying pink are (no science behind this btw lol) are basically, nature-your body wants to hold on to a pregnancy and girl pregnancies m/c less than boys, so your body itself will sway itself pink with the m/c signal. I had a girl amongst 3 boys the month after m/c so was my m/c a boy amongst boys during a blue spell??!! I had a clear lifestyle change for my run of pinks later on so I wonder
Plus I was just reading through an excellent blue sway update which yielded pink and by coincidence it was the month after chemical But as you know with your little man running around! Its def no guarantee but just posting my thoughts on m/c it is all so interesting isnt it!!!

[atomic sagebrush]

There is more than one way to think about "fertility" - while overall naturally it means "more likely to get pg" it's actually made up of different aspects that while interconnected, are actually different things.

1)Better eggs/more released - first cycle after a miscarriage ~may~ help with this and thus could be considered to "boost fertility" but that has nothing to do with gender swaying, at least as far as we know. No advantage to either.

2)Better quality CM/health of cervical crypts - first cycle after a miscarriage often affects this negatively because Mother Nature doesn't necessarily WANT you getting pg right away. A miscarriage is really a pretty big deal and can actually be risky to health and so our bodies have mechanisms whereby we don't get pg after a miscarriage, even tho fertilty ~may~ be better in ~some~ ways (and I'm not entirely sure this is the case anyway) at the same time our body is taking steps to prevent it happening. Higher levels of progesterone makes our CM less fertile and inhibits the growth of special cells that do nothing but make alkaline fluids in our cervix, tubes, and uterus that helps sperm surivive and make it to the egg. Fewer sperm at egg seems to = more girls for reasons we do not totally understand. Advantage = pink

3)Ability of fertilized egg to implant and our lining to sustain pg - this one can go either way, ~maybe~ the egg might have a better shot of survival after a loss (but again this is not at all proven) but at the same time ~maybe~ the lining is less than good, even with a normal conception. Toss up.

4)Ability of body to sustain pregnancy - your body has used up nutrients with the first pregnancy and loss and may not have enough to sustain a pregnancy and could end up losing a second conception, and this is especially true of boy conceptions because they need more nutrients from the time of conception all through pregnancy. Advantage = pink.

5)Weird cycles tend to sway pink and people often have weird cycles after a loss. Advantage = pink.

6)Aside from what the body is doing, I personally believe that more women get pg after a miscarriage at least in part because they are highly motivated to do so and at least some of the seeming "more fertile after a miscarriage" is because some people are trying harder and have added tactics to increase their odds of conception. So the entire idea that miscarriage increases fertility, may not even be true anyway.

7)in our pink sway stats people who conceived the cycle after a miscarriage got girls 71% of the time. THis is higher than the % success rate of the average sway and so the miscarriage is likely doing something to sway all on its own.

EPO is fine before ovulation, but not safe after ovulation. It's fine for you to take it, but in months you are going to attempt you shouldn't take it after ov.

[NYC_CNM]

Hmmm, good reasoning, Atomic. And those stats seem pretty convincing. Maybe I should wait this cycle and try again next cycle or the cycle after. Not helped by the fact that I am starting to show signs of fertile cervical mucus today, CD8, which is way early for me, so maybe this is proof that I'm going to have a weird cycle this month post mc, and should wait a few cycles to even out. Much to consider now. TY!