Second Sway Successful?

[tweedledeedum]

I am wondering how many people have had a successful second Sway?
After 2 lovely ds', I swayed for my dd in 2012. It was very hard but it worked! I haven't been around much since then but I'm now considering a second sway.
What has changed in the swaying world in the last couple years? Anything new I should research?

Edited for grammar

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, people have gone on to have second successful sways.

Give me a recap of what you did the last time and I can tell you if anything needs to be tweaked.

[tweedledeedum]

Here is my previous sway. I'm up about 30 lbs from my lowest now.

AGE: 31
DH'S AGE: 31
CHILDREN: 2 boys
NO. MONTHS TTC: 3

DIET:
I started with the IG diet for about 2 months then converted to a version of the LE diet. No red meat, chicken maybe once a month, low cal everything, no salt, tons of diet pepsi. I had no breakfast and sometimes skipped supper. I did have tea occasionally, no coffee. Switched from 2 % to skim milk. This is completely different from my high calorie, eat whatever I like, red meat heavy, typical boy mom diet.

I lost 20 pounds, the lowest I've been since before I had kids. BMI is now about 20.

DH - no diet but he did have less red meat as I cooked it much less. He is a big diet pop drinker too.

EXERCISE:
none.

POTIONS & PILLS:

I took Calcium for the 2 previous cycles but didn't on this last one.

Vitex – AF-O for 2 cycles.

Cranberry - AF to O

Antihistimines – used in previous months but not this month as I had no CM.

POTIONS & PILLS FOR YOUR MAN:

He took the occassional cranberry and calcium but not regularly.

TIMING:

We tried cut offs the prior two months with no luck. This month we ended up DTD twice close to O, on the morning and evening of day 12.

On day 12 my OPK was almost positive so I thought I wouldn't O for another day or so and I have never Oed earlier than day 13.

But my temp was up on day 13, so i think I Oed on day 12 this month.

THINGS IN YOUR VG:
I used Replens after AF finished on about day 9. I had no or very little Cm around O (which is partly why I didn't realize I was Oing).

Did you track your pH, if so, what was it before the attempt(s):

My Ph was between 4.0 and 4.5 before the attempt. I never checked DHs ph but the combined ph was something around 6-6.5. (I didn't check right after our successful attempt but this was the case in previous attempts)

OTHER:

I had a couple girl outfits under the bed, if that counts!

I was just recovered my fertility from breastfeeding when I got pregnant. In prior months I had problems with a short LP and spotting which I contribute to heavy breastfeeding combined with a bad low cal diet/losing weight. I think starting the vitex and eliminating night feedings allowed me to get pregnant this month.

UPDATE: IT'S A GIRL! (according to my 20 wk scan). I have had a horrible pregnancy and am still having sickness at over 20 weeks. It has been much harder than either of my boys, when I had no sickness whatsoever and felt great. We are just thrilled to have gotten a baby girl and while I have always been somewhat of a swaying skeptic, all of the swaying was so so worth it!

Edited to add that I found out during my pregnancy that I have low iron stores. I attribute this to swaying as I have never had iron issues in my previous pregnancies.

[atomic sagebrush]

bump this for me so I can answer tomorrow

[tweedledeedum]

Bump!

[maidentomother]

I would do LE diet + 60+ min cardio exercise daily, Vitex as you did before + 800mcg folate every day all cycle long, and after 3 months on diet/exercise/Vitex, start TTC, and BD every 4 days (CD6, CD10, CD14, etc). If you can't do exercise, do couch potato again.

[tweedledeedum]

Thanks for the input!

Is folate different from folic acid?

[maidentomother]

Yes, it is a more absorbable form of FA and also less toxic (there is some inconclusive research suggesting that FA, especially at high doses, might be toxic). Folate is definitely safe, but more expensive. Oh, and if you can't find 800mcg pills, it's okay to take 1000 or 1200mcg. I take 1000mcg myself as it's the closest dose I could find here in Germany.

Can I ask how Vitex affected you/your cycle, if at all? I take it too and am curious to see if others' experience match mine at all.

Some other, newer sway tactics you can consider are OLE (Olive Leaf Extract) and Licorice Root for DH, he can take either or both. OLE helps improve X sperm quality, we think, and LR we believe reduces sperm count. I haven't used them personally since I am using a sperm donor, but we've seen good results with both supps, especially OLE. LR can negatively affect libido and etecfile function in some men, so keep that in mind. Also, DH can do diet and exercise with you, and should drop his multivitamin if he takes one. Biking and running especially sway pink in men.

Both of you, but you in particular, could benefit from drinking alcohol in moderation, preferably lighter coloured (pale beer, white wine, clear liquor). Especially if you don't normally drink/didn't while TTC your boys, it seems to sway pink. If you're the obsessive type, it's extra-advised as staying relaxed when swaying pink is important.

The above are not nearly as crucial as diet, exercise, and 1 attempt, but if you want to go all out they're good options to consider adding.

[tweedledeedum]

Thank you so much for your insight.

I found vitex allowed my LP to Lengthen enough to achieve pregnancy. I was breastfeeding all night previously and it was suppressing my fertility. It also seemed to make me o earlier than usual, but not substantially so.

[maidentomother]

Ah yes, that's a good reason to take Vitex. I also have found it lengthens my short LP (always been short, I've not been BFing) but I'm not sure it helps bring O forward for me, if so only by a couple days at most. My first cycle after taking it for over a month my O is quite delayed, by 1-2 weeks, and my first month after I stop taking it O is delayed by a few days to a week. Very annoying as I O a bit on the late side naturally anyway, around CD17-18.

It raises my LP temps noticeably and gives me sore nipples right after O so I definitely think it affects my progesterone levels. It keeps my EWCM to a minimum which is good for pink, otherwise I have copious EWCM for a week up through/to O!