Vegan girl sway?

[manicorganics]

Hello I'm finding googling swaying to be overwhelming so I'm hoping to get some real support here!

I'm a 33 year old vegan with hypogonadism & hypothyroidism. I've never been pregnant, I've actually dealt with amenorrhea most of my life after never going through puberty. I've been on 2 courses of hormone replacement therapy, I'm currently on estradiol with monthly progesterone for the past 6 months. I just got a period for the first time in those 6 months this month. My doctor just gave me a prescription for clomid to see if it'll induce ovulation. Fingers crossed!

My husband is a 30 year old vegan with a huge appetite and no health problems.

I am not a good eater. I'm gluten-free because I have to be. As a child I ate too much and mostly fast food. As an adult I'm much more like my mother, I am rarely hungry and on an average day get between 1000-1500 calories. I'm tracking calories and trying to get 1750 a day now which is going well and may be why I finally got a period. I don't eat a lot of variety, I kind of have to force myself to eat, though I'm overweight. I use Orgain vegan protein shake a lot, oatmeal with walnuts, avocado, carrots, broccoli, rice, oranges, raisins, almonds, chia, tofu, tart cherries, spinach, kale. I eat as much organic and natural as possible. I do love dark chocolate. I take a bunch of supplements including calcium/magnesium, vitamin D, glucosamine, vitamin E, evening primrose, bromelain, and guggul. I drink pretty much nothing but reverse osmosis alkalinized water and plenty of it.

I'm not expecting conceiving will be easy so I desperately want to try for a girl. I lost my mom in my 20s and so badly want to create a relationship with a daughter like I had with my mom.

So, what should I be doing?

[atomic sagebrush]

Being a vegan (and having vegan DH) are great for pink. So is Clomid.

The rules HAVE to be different for you. Please do not try to replicate what others are doing. I would have you do your diet as it is working for you. Do not change ANYTHING to be more in line with the LE Diet that is on this site, it is not going to work for you.

Is the protein shake highly fortified?? If so I'd probably drop it and try to get protein from some other source.

Have you talked to your doc about the tofu?? Some people with thyroid problems are not able to eat soy so just want to make sure that's ok for you.

Do you need all those supplements or are you taking them for swaying?? You are going to HAVE to get off the guggul as it is not safe for pregnancy and no one knows how long the effects last so I'd have you drop it sooner rather than later. EPO may interfere with Clomid so I'd come off that as well.

Vitamin D has been a strong blue sway for us and unless you ahve a deficiency I'd probably drop that.

If you've been a vegan for more than a few months you will need to be on B12 for TTC/pregnancy (I"m sure you are knowledgeable about that already) so I'd get the lowest dose you can find and take 3x a week. Taking it daily is not necessary and may sway blue.

I would also have you drop the Vit. E as I do not believe it's as safe as they make it out to be and it also may sway blue when taken as a supplement. You're getting plenty via your walnuts in a form that is much better for your body to use.

I do not have enough data on bromelain or glucosamine to have a feel for how they sway.

Cal-mag is at your discretion. I got boys while taking them and my girl without it, but I understand this is something very difficult for people to give up.

[squigglepink]

I took glucosamine sulphate (not for swaying). Made me bloat so much i stopped it.

[manicorganics]

Thank you SO MUCH for the reply!

The protein shake is not fortified. I have been mixing with water instead of fortified non-dairy milk lately because my rep endo is testing for MTHFR defect due to me having high B12. I had to stop taking my DEVA vegan prenatal for the same reason until I get test results.

The shake contains: pea protein, brown rice protein, chia seeds, hemp seeds, acacia gum, sunflower oil, inulin, rice dextrins, rice bran, rosemary, erythritol, cocoa, salt, guar gum, stevia, and monkfruit. Calories 150, Fat 4g, Potassium 185mg, Sodium 180mg, Carbs 13g, Fiber 5g, Sugar 1g, Protein 21g, Calcium 4%, Iron 15%.

Because I'm not a good eater I think my doctors sort of let me eat tofu and cruciferous veggies despite the thyroid. But I've only ever been borderline hypo, never far out of the accepted range. They're about to up my Tirosint though since I'm TTC.

I take all the supplements basically because I'm not a good eater. I have high B12 but low D, and because I have hypogonadism I developed osteoporosis so calcium is a concern. I've been trying to get out in the sun for more natural D lately. Is it just D3 that sways boy or D2 also? I'm thinking maybe I should take a break from the supplements while TTC and then talking to my doctor about vitamins once I conceive to support a healthy pregnancy.

So you think I don't need to change my diet? I'm just concerned that while yes I'm vegan and low calorie, I'm also overweight and doesn't that change pH? Would you mind commenting on my food choices as to whether or not I should keep eating or stop?

(everything organic, natural)

Snacks:
-air popped popcorn with nutritional yeast
-unsweetened raisins
-unsweetened applesauce
-raw nuts (soaked then dried), mostly walnuts & almonds but some cashews, macadamia, pecans, hazelnuts
-sweetened chocolate hazelnut butter
-hemp seeds
-chia seeds
-veggies like corn niblets, green beans, spinach, kale, peas
-homemade hummus (chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic)
-tart cherries
-homemade fruit leather (strawberries/blueberries/raspberries)

Meals:
-Orgain chocolate protein shake
-gluten-free Rudi's tortillas with pinto beans
-gluten-free brown rice lasagna filled with cultured almondmilk ricotta
-Sushi (white rice, nori seaweed, avocado, carrot) with tamari soy sauce
-stirfry (brown rice noodles, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers) in peanut sauce + baked plain tifu
-brown rice spaghetti + salt/oil/sugar-free tomato sauce
-brown rice wrapper spring rolls (lettuce, carrots, jicama, tofu) in peanut sauce
-hempfu (hemp tofu) breakfast scramble with nutritional yeast, turmeric, garlic, black salt
-kidney bean & tomato chili with celery & pepper
-coconut curry (potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, yellow curry, coconut milk)
-gluten-free pizza crust + sauce/Daiya vegan cheese/artichoke/sun-dried tomato

Is my home reverse osmosis water OK? It tests at a pH of 6-6.5. It's the 7 stage system from 123filter.com, so it's supposed to be alkaline and I think it might add minerals back in after removing them. I usually add lemon juice to my first 8oz of water in the morning, and a splash of unsweetened cranberry juice to each glass of water throughout the day.

I do have a precision pH testing kit with strips for a range from 4.5 to 9.0. I tested my vaginal pH at the very low end around 4.5 and saliva around 6.5. Are these good?

Do I need to worry about douching? And my husband's diet - being vegan should be enough for him? His saliva tests more alkaline than mine but he gets a lot more nutrition than I do and is thin and very healthy.

Sorry for so much detail, but I'm sure you can understand I want to do everything I can! Infertility sucks, so I'm going to give it my best!

[atomic sagebrush]

OK this is a little long, can you please give me a bump on this??? Sorry I'm at the end of my day and a little brainfried.

[manicorganics]

OK this is a little long, can you please give me a bump on this??? Sorry I'm at the end of my day and a little brainfried.

Forgive me for being new at this, but what do you mean about giving you a bump?

[The Anchor]

You just bumped LOL. Tacking a new message on so it gets highlighted as a new post...

[manicorganics]

Oh and I'm wondering beyond food, what are good girl sway eating habits? Like I said I'm not a good eater. I hate breakfast foods and eating in the morning feels unnatural. I usually have a protein shake or occasionally oatmeal+walnuts/maple syrup/cinnamon about an hour or two after waking at the earliest. Then I might have a small meal 4-5 hours later, and another 4-5 hours after that. I'm not crazy about food but I do love chocolate!

Today.. . Shake about 2 hours after getting up/10am. Dark chocolate peanut butter cups as a treat. 1pm 1/2 package vegan gluten-free mac & "cheese" with soy hot dog. Dark chocolate coconut bar as a treat. Dinner/8pm about one cup of white rice with tamari, and avocado-carrot sushi with sesame seeds and tamari. So far 8 8oz glasses of water, one had lemon juice and several had a splash of cranberry juice. That's a good "big" eating day for me!

[manicorganics]

Sorry one more thing but it's probably important. I got blood work results today that found I have an MTHFR genetic mutation. So far all I know is I can't have synthetic vitamins like those in most multivitamins, and I can't eat fortified foods like breads, cereals, non-dairy milks, etc. Not sure what this means for my girl sway!

[essnce629]

I have the MTHFR mutation (homozygous) as well plus high vitamin B12 levels. Concerning your sway, it puts you at increased risk for repeat miscarriages. My first two pregnancies (boys) were oopsies in my 20's with zero issues (home births). My 3rd pregnancy after swaying girl ended in miscarriage at age 33. I found out about my MTHFR mutation after that. So now I don't take any synthetic B vitamins and switch from folic acid to methyl folate. The MTHFR mutation also puts you at increased risk for blood clots, which can cause implantation and pregnancy problems, so I'm now taking baby aspirin 3 times a week. I tried taking it daily but I got too much bruising. Most people with the MTHFR mutation have to continue taking baby aspirin and/or other blood thinners during their entire pregnancy. Also, lots of people with thyroid problems and vegans have low ferritin (iron stores). I've always been a meat eater but my ferritin was extremely low and I've been working on getting it normal for the past 17 months! It's a simple blood test so ask to be tested. Low iron can cause poor egg quality, so may have played a role in my miscarriage. My level was 8, and ideal is 70-90! I've been on prescription iron 3 times a day since I found out and at my last blood test my ferritin was only at 46! My best friend is a vegetarian an hers was low too.

Also, my mom has thyroid problems and soy is a big no no.

I'm also gluten-free and grain-free for the most part which keeps me from eating foods fortified with synthetic folic acid.