Looking for advice on girl sway

[FandJsmom]

hello! First of all, I have to say this site is amazing!!! I just discovered it about 3-4 months ago and wish I had known for years. I really appreciate the time women have put into helping one another!

Mom of 2 boys here and after researching girl sways for a few months now, I do realize I was definitely unintentionally swaying boy before. Just wanted to run my situation by you to see if sounds like a good plan for a girl sway. I do feel like I am “loosely” following a girl sway which is okay with me...I don’t want to stress myself out too much and let myself get competitive with it.

So I have a 4 year old and 1 year old. With both boys, I conceived in December and was on the heavier side of normal (5’3” 140lbs). I was not restricting myself and was eating breakfast every day and snacking throughout the day in addition to 3 meals. I’ve always been a runner/exerciser (including muscle building and weights) but I would make up for it by eating more calories.

Now, my lifestyle and eating habits are MUCH different! I breastfed my second son til about July and the baby weight came off fast and steady. After stopping breastfeeding and the mini pill, I lost another 8lbs bringing me down to 130lbs. I have sort of plateaued at 130. I basically skip breakfast everyday and just drink coffee. I have really limited my meat intake, especially red meat. For the most part I eat veggies and hummus, pita chips, pretzels, crackers/peanut butter, fruit bars, cheddar cheese/crackers, yogurt, apples. For dinners I have been making chicken or ground turkey meals with rice and pasta. I also like to make different soups. In general, everything is lower calorie and fat intake. I do let myself cheat here and there when we have pizza night and I let myself have dessert (ice cream, chocolate or cookies) when I’m craving it.

I continue to exercise as much as I can. I often run with my two boys in the jogging stroller or run on a treadmill. I’ve stopped all weight lifting exercises. Often my exercising is only about 30-40 minutes but we also do a lot of walking around the neighborhood so I’m not sure if that counts? Or am I falling more into the moderate range?

Lastly, I am taking saw palmetto and folic acid. I’ve used rephresh since July but not sure if it’s worth it? We have not been “trying” per say but also not preventing pregnancy so I’m concerned the rephresh might not be helping with conception (with my two boys I conceived immediately after stopping birth control).

So I am hoping this next cycle is the one! I haven’t been able to pin point my ovulation since my cycles have been a little longer than usual, but Should be ovulating sometime around 10/31. Do you think I should up the exercise even more? Try to lose a few more pounds before ovulation? Any advice you have to offer is much appreciated!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Hi and welcome!!

I think you've made a LOT of great changes. Just be sure you're getting at minimum 1500 cals, 40-50 g protein and 30-60 g fat daily. Sometimes when people just cut back they cut back TOO far and end up stopping ovulation.

It's best when at all possible to get to 60 minutes consecutively. Walking definitely counts, so if you went out for a walk of 15 min. then came back and hit it with 45 min. of exercise (with some time in between to give kids a snack, or whatever, but YOU don't eat anything in between) that is great. I do think you should continue exercise even if you can't get the full amount. We've had such good results with exercise I tend to err on the side of continuing it even when it isn't perfect.

I would have you wean off the saw palmetto now. It hasn't worked and may also be cutting odds of concepiton.

The RepHresh did not work at all (same number of boys and girls with and without it) and it does totally cut odds of conception by a ton.

Be cautious with pushing too much weight loss right before O, it can delay ovulation.

I suspect the saw palmetto is why your cycles are longer. How are you determining when to try?? Just NTNP???

[FandJsmom]

thank you for such a quick response!

Ok that sounds great, I will stop the SP and rephresh. I will also be sure that I’m getting enough calories and protein. I must say, I think some days I take in more calories than others...on busy days I just tend to eat less bc I’m running around so much. But I would guess I am within the recommended limits.

Forgot to mention, I am on synthroid for hypothyroidism...have been on it now for about 3 years and have gotten my levels very in control. Any chance synthroid sways? I was on it before and during my second son but not for my first. Not that there’s anything I can do about it... Just curious...

Yes, I would say we have been using the NTNP method. I’ve read on your site that when ovulation isn’t clear to try for E4D so I’ve been using that as a guide. But once again, haven’t been super stressed about it...I’m not typically a ”relaxed” person...very type A and love to be in control. But when it comes to this, I’m trying to do my best but stay relaxed and not drive myself crazy!

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh yes gosh for sure with the synthroid the SP needs to go.

We aren't sure how thyroid works with swaying but we have people who have both boys and girls on Synthroid so I don't think it sways, personally.

CAn you tell me how you're counting the e4d?

[FandJsmom]

Ohh ok, good to know!

My interpretation is to try for every 4-5 days starting the day after my period ends. Do I have that right?

[FandJsmom]

Just to give an example, this month the first try would’ve been Monday. So then I would try every Monday and Thursday/Friday.

[atomic sagebrush]

ok good yes that's right. You'd do Monday and then if you want best chance of conception, go again on Thursday (then Sunday, etc) and if you want a better chance of pink (possibly, tho the Mon/Thurs has gotten good results too) then do Mon/Fri.

[FandJsmom]

Sounds great! Thanks so much