How we got our boys 2!!!

[Cookies22]

Oh and I was quite stressed / obsessed over the whole TTC thing. I would scrutinise my BBT charts and worry about every little thing. Definitely a blue-friendly lifestyle!

[atomic sagebrush]

Hey, we've got a lot of newbies recently!! If you haven't shared your info in this thread, please chime in, we'd love to hear from you!!!!

[Throwaway_panther]

Oh and I was quite stressed / obsessed over the whole TTC thing. I would scrutinise my BBT charts and worry about every little thing. Definitely a blue-friendly lifestyle!

Ah, if only this lifestyle and personality was a surefire way to blue :P

[Sonshinemomx2]

Hi everyone! Mom of 2 boys, ages 6 and 9 here and after reading everything here it makes complete sense!! At the time I conceived my first son, my husband and I had been married about a year and were getting ready to make a big move 7 hours away from friends and family and building a new home in the city we were moving to so I was pretty stressed. I was doing a boot camp type work out a few times a week and eating low carb, high protein/healthy fats, ate lean red meat 2-3 times a week at least and always some type of meat at dinner and lunchtime. I worked as a nurse and went down to the cafeteria to get eggs for breakfast everyday and a small Cobb salad with sunflower seeds and ranch dressing for lunch. I also was a big snacker, eating something small every 2 hours or so but never any big meals. I took prenatal vitamins because we weren’t sure when we would ttc but weren’t preventing anything so my OB recommenced I did just in case. Not sure exactly how many attempts but I know it wasn’t 1. I drank Diet Coke some mornings but no coffee and alcohol only on the weekends. DS2 I wasn’t working out at all and the dieting was just low carb again but not very strict. We knew we weren’t going to wait a long time to have our second so I didn’t see the point! I never stopped the prenatal vitamins. Between kids I did start drinking coffee every morning and occasionally wine in the evening but maybe 3 times a week. Not sure how many attempts we had but he was a Shettles fail “opposite”. I didn’t know how to use OPKs right and ovulated the day after we DTD so I guess he’s technically not an opposite!! I also think the personality plays into it a lot, I’m pretty laid back unless it’s competition then I turn super competitive! DS1 was conceived during football season so we were going to games every Sat, watching games on TV Sun and I do love my football so that might have something to do with it! Sorry that was really long but I tried to include whatever I could think of! To sum it up I’d say snacking, never skipping breakfast, eating high protein, taking vitamins, drinking on weekends and sometimes during week but not nightly, competitive personality, weights with DS1 but not 2. ALL of my blue dust to you ladies swaying blue!!! Hope you get your sweet boys


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[LMSM]

Ah, if only this lifestyle and personality was a surefire way to blue :P

Ditto! :P If only..... I’d have a house full of blue!

[vehivle]

I have 2 sons. I wasnt going to post anything as im not usually the sort- but I found the 'how we made our girls' thread so incredibly helpful, I felt it was only right I return the effort.

I have to add the disclaimer that I have read a lot of things on here- which I will make reference to. I am conscious that it is very possible for people to read things on here, and then potentially 'over-remember' things they did when TTC to fit more perfectly with the sway narrative of the gender they got. Im especially skeptical when I see people remembering minute details from the day they conceived when their child's YOB was years ago. I am trying hard to not do that so that what I write here is as accurate as possible for you ladies wanting blue dust. Please feel free to send me your pink.

Firstly- must be said, having read the maternal hypothesis threads- I am a classic martha. I was raised christian and so am familiar with the bible story, but despite even Jesus himself saying that Martha was wrong and Mary was right- privately i still maintain that Martha was right lol! How else were things going to get done? Jokes aside- I micro manage my husband, I micro manage my work (luckily im not a manager of anyone). Im obsessively controlling over my own work and will pick it apart and feel very nervous or stressed when i feel it is spiralling out of my control. Also Im lucky I have a super chillax husband. I like planning everything- our week, our shopping trip, our days out, our home improvements- all to the tee. I love lists, ticking things off, feeling like I have a firm handle on things. I get down and frustrated when things dont go to plan- like the children or my husband make us leave the house late and so throw my entire planned day and times out the window. I know... im aware I sound like hard work lol. The fact I cannot control whether I have daughters causes me to feel sad and depressed and worried for a future without ever experiencing having a daughter of my own...When facing a stressful situation, I am one of those who googles like crazy to find all the WORST things that can happen and will catastrophise to ensure that a) I can do everything in my power to ensure the worst doesnt happen and b) so if it does happen, I will be mentally prepared for it! For example I was one of those who OBSESSIVELY tried to control how my births were going to go. Researched everything under the sky about giving birth and the things that could go wrong in the hope of ensuring NOTHING goes wrong, went to the hypnobirthing classes (hated them- cant stand meditation or yoga), wrote a two a4 page birth plan. All for it to go spiraling out of control on the actual day and it made me horribly depressed for a while. I genuinely felt (STILL FEEL) that had i been in more control, the birth would have gone better.

In stark contrast- i have zero control over my diet and exercise and dont care! Im a total couch potato. Very lazy indeed. We have a largish dog and so usually we walk once a day. But since my husband has begun working longer hours, usually i cant face going out in the cold with a large dog (who pulls), a stroller and a baby strapped to me. I can do it, and I have done it. But its easier for me to let my husband take the dog for a run when he comes home. I am hoping to try and change that to encourage my girl sway! Whenever I have exercised (really sporadically..), it has always been weights. This is purely because i cannot stand cardio and also my husband is a big fan of weight lifting since he is ex-military and so has always encouraged me in this direction.

My diet is basically pure indulgence. I eat whatever I want, whenever I want. No surprises I am overweight and have been since I was 18. My mother is oriental- so i grew up eating lots of white asian rice, soysauce. I was raised in the UK so we love our malt vinegar here - i have it every time i eat salad or chips. As a result- breakfast is usually a full english (bacon, fried eggs, beans, toast- sometimes sausages with fried toms and mushrooms- but usually i cant be assed to do those extras unless im really in the mood) or pancakes. Always eaten with a blob of butter, a pour of maple syrup and with squirty whipped cream. Or just breakfast cereal (which in the UK, a lot of breakfast cereals are fortified) swimming in full fat milk. I like A LOT of milk otherwise the cereal feels too dry. We never have anything less than full fat dairy in our house (this goes for milk, yoghurts, butter) because my husband doesnt like the skimmed versions and I've never seen reason to not eat anything else. Of course, again, i shall be buying all skimmed products for myself for when I do the girl sway.

Should also add we never eat white bread or sugar free. Everything is wholemeal/ whole foods. Never eat microwave meals. 90% of our meals are made from scratch. Im not snobby about white/lite foods and dont mind microwave/frozen meals, but my husband has never liked them and distrusts aspartame- so we've just never incorporated those foods in our daily diet.

I never skip breakfast. I will eat even if im not hungry because im oddly really afraid of feeling hungry. Like I hate the sensation so much, I will eat in advance to beat any tummy growls.

When I got pregnant and after my 1st son was born, we started (and continued) the habit of having porridge (oatmeal) made with full fat milk for breakfast as often as we could as i read it was great for gut health and so wanted to give my son healthy breakfasts. Had no idea it swayed blue...

Lunch is 90% a repeat of last nights dinner (i always cook double for dinner purposefully so we can have the left overs for lunch the next day). Dinner is ALWAYS a protein- so pork belly, steak, baked chicken, salmon fillet, tuna mayonaise, hamburgers, spag bol/ chili con carne(made with mince meat), pork/lamb roasted joint. WITH a carb- so boiled/mashed/fried/chips/ jacket/roast potato or pasta or asian white rice (sticky japanese kind). I eat tons of it too. LOVE carbs. I watched secret eaters once where the presenter was agawp because a man ate 11 roast potatoes at a carvary. I was surprised that was considered crazy- i think having just 4 is withholding/ you're on a diet. WITH a veg- so either roasted carrots, parsnips and onions or boiled green beans or a big green salad with lots of tomatoes and red onion.

For the odd days there are no left overs from lunch, then we do a quick lunch of a large rice bowl with tuna or bacon, a fried egg and salad. Or a chicken and bacon sandwich with brie and cranberry sauce, or pizza or ramen with frozen breaded chicken and fried egg. Basically lots and lots of protein. We eat meat at least twice a day, 7 days a week. I eat tomatoes DAILY. We also have soysauce daily. Being asian- i throw it on most things I eat and will add it as seasoning to most dishes i make. Including spag bol, carbonara, tuna pasta (the italians would hate me!). Same with garlic to be fair. Most dishes will have it in. Even the ones that dont call for it like a fried egg- i will sprinkle garlic granules on top for the flavour!

Snacks are plentiful. Im not a big crisp girl- but i LOVE my chocolate biscuits or just chocolate (dairy milk!) with a hot cup of tea. At work and at home- ill do this 2-3 times a day. At work I will eat a packet of crisps (or 2!) as they have them available for staff. But I dont eat them at home. Not a huge ice cream fan, but more of a cake and pudding girl in the evenings. Rice puddings or hot chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream. Crumble with double cream poured on top.

It was clear i was eating well over 2000 cals a day. Over Christmas it was easily 3000+ and both my sons were conceived after the christmas period.

TLDR- just be greedy.

First son- we conceived on first attempt. I was taking prenatals. I craved milk all my pregnancy. Son was 9.5lbs.

Second son- attempted to sway girl but ill-informed. Didnt diet. Didnt exercise. I didnt take pre-natals, instead took folic acid and cranberry, magnesium and calcium supplements. We tried to do a 3 day cut off, jump and dump, used rephresh and frequent release. Didnt fall pregnant for 4 months. I started to freak out as I thought i'd get pregnant right away. Last 2 months we decided to just go at it like rabbits during my predicted ovulation times (we were using the FLO app- which probably wasnt very accurate). Another month went by, didnt fall pregnant- i started taking pre-natals and then wham got pregnant. That pregnancy i held back on the drinking pints of milk a day like i did for my first pregnancy as I didnt want another large baby BUT he still came out 9.5lbs - exactly the same as the last one. Big babies run in my husbands family (hes white, im asian). Shame I have a small asian stature- I ripped with both babies.

Seems like my body knows I can grow and deliver large babies, and so not surprised it keeps giving me sons. Will be very interested to see how much my girls weigh.. if im ever lucky enough to have them.

I didnt have lasting gender disappointment (it was for maybe 30 mins at the scan, then i was over it) as we always wanted 2 of each anyway, and my second son is a total heart stealer so no regrets! I just hope our next 2 are girls! 4 children is our max so if we end up with 4 boys- I'll accept that maybe it was just meant to be that way for me. If our next is a boy- I feel confident i shall love him regardless. My second son has shown me that even though he is the same blood and gender as the first, he is so completely different in looks and personality- that a third one will be equally as exciting and unique and lovable as the first 2.

In hindsight, should have dieted, should have exercised, should have done one attempt (instead of like rabbits!) and shouldnt have taken the prenatal.

Info about husband for those who want it: He is ex-military (was for 8 years). Comes from a boy dominant family and probably has a lot of testoterone going by charateristics such as male patterned baldness, high sex drive and big wang (lol). Wears boxers, hates baths only showers, lifts weights- but is naturally quite skinny (everyone in his family is super skinny and he has to work hard to keep muscle so im assuming high metabolism). Now in the engineering field (STEM) so always in male dominated fields.

Neither of us smoke. He drinks a beer maybe once a week. I dont drink- i think alcohol tastes gross. I LOOOOVE coke (full fat- hate the diet flavour)- but as a result i ensure i only have it when i eat out as a rule. I dont have it in the house otherwise id just over indulge. I'm 5'2, 173lbs. Was 180 after christmas but have tried to cut calories and so have dropped. You can work out my BMI- my friend who is a dietitian always expresses how surprised she is that im not a diabetic

Hopefully the girl sway will give me a whole new outlook on food and i expect will challenge my fear of hunger (lol as i anticipate plenty of hungry times ahead!) and will help me get over it.

Side note- im also a tom boy in that nice clothes, nice hair, manicures etc- never have interested me. Im a leggings and hoodie kind of girl. I wear basic make up- mascara, concealer- but thats it. Im also quite tough with my parenting/ not maternal at all. I feel intolerant when my toddler tantrums/whines. In general im not a very affectionate or patient person. Dont like hugs and kisses etc. More of a hard personality and very competitive. From what I've read here- that's quite typical of "boy moms". Hopefully through this journey i shall become softer and more maternal and therefore be a better mum for my boys as well as my (FX) girls. And for my husband too lol- im sure he'd love more hugs and kisses too. Ha ha - as i type this i feel like god... Im lucky he stays with me really! From this text alone, i sound like i have a horrible lazy greedy personality and a flabby gross body to boot! lol! I can assure you, im not that bad honest!

[Pinkin2019]

Reading about everyone’s lifestyles/diets has been so eye-opening! I have a daughter and two sons. While pregnant with my daughter I started craving meat - previous to getting pregnant I had been a pescatarian for many years, only eating a bit of fish for protein - so I started adding chicken and then beef to my diet. I also added in full-cream milk, instead of rice milk, and stopped any exercise after she was born (I used to get probably 30 minutes or more 5 days a week walking to work.) My husband stopped cycling after she was born and started lifting weights and eating a shed-ton of protein. I’d also been on the pill before trying to get pregnant the first time, and I dropped it after that.
So I guess my diet has changed a lot since 6 years ago and it makes good sense why I’ve had my two boys with the lifestyle I have now.

[Throwaway_panther]

Info about husband for those who want it: He is ex-military (was for 8 years). Comes from a boy dominant family and probably has a lot of testoterone going by charateristics such as male patterned baldness, high sex drive and big wang (lol). Wears boxers, hates baths only showers, lifts weights- but is naturally quite skinny (everyone in his family is super skinny and he has to work hard to keep muscle so im assuming high metabolism). Now in the engineering field (STEM) so always in male dominated fields.

So we're married to the exact same man but now I have two girls... lol. I could cry.

[vehivle]

I love my sons and wouldn't be without them now of course - but prior to their birth if someone gave me the option of 2 sons or 2 daughters, I'd have gone for 2 daughters for sure. There is that saying "a son is a son til he gets a wife, but a daughter is a daughter for life". Plus I want to be the mother. Not always the mother in law. So fingers crossed I have 1 or 2 girls of my own someday! And you too for boys!

[Disneylover]

I want to add my experience to hopefully help someone and also so when next year I’m swaying pink I have this to compare to! My diet changed drastically about 6 months before I conceived DS. I found out I had CIN2 and was trying everything to fix that. So I cut dairy/gluten/diet soda from my diet (which I feel terribly about now since I feel beforehand I was almost textbook girl) anyways.. I ate tons of chicken/bacon/and spicy foods. Also LOTS of soy as most of the vegan substitutes contain soy. I ate fast food a lot especially fries and chips so very high sodium. I almost never drank-like seriously 3x in 6 months, cut back caffeine to about 2x. A week. I exercised 8x a week but it was al muscle building (I’m an aerialist) so no cardio unless I happen to spend a day walking around. DS was conceived after full moon and in winter with no ion help(if you believe in all that), in fact I never paint my nails, use blow dryer, mostly avoid rain, and always run the AC. DH are normally- lots of red meat, beer, cheese etc. finally got him to go vegan with me now but back then he was eating whatever. He works out minimally-yoga x2 week. We BD almost every day in my fertile window, sometimes even twice I think we only missed day before O and day after, and never had a period longer than 5 days of abstaining. DH also drank LOTs of caffeine back then. I was taking lots of supplements due to CIN like probiotic, fish oil, pre natal, zinc, DIM, I03 and b12 all for about 5 months straight prior to conceiving. I ate mostly low fiber and I was OBSESSED with charting, tempting, analyzing everything so I know stress like that usually leans blue. Anyway I hope that was helpful for some of you!