Pink Sway - Questions about LE Diet and Exercise

[atomic sagebrush]

Also, has your husband ever had a sperm analysis?? Sometimes when people have inexplicably not conceived, it turned out to be male factor infertility so we may want to rule that out. This can happen even if you've had kids already.

[Lanini]

Thank you for your reply.

We will definitely do the e4D for longer next cycle. It can't do any harm ;-). But I thought I was really safe this cycle, since our last attempt was on CD 24, I had EWCM on CD 21 last, BBT was rising on CD 21, OPK was positive on CD 18 and 19. The next attempt would then be on CD 27, do you think that would still have been relevant?

My weight fluctuates between 49 kg and 51 kg. That is a BMI between 19.6 and 20.4. I've been keeping the weight within this range for several cycles now. I stick to the limits. I eat about 1600-1700 calories a day. But I also burn a lot through the exercises.

I don't do anything physical, what is cutting sperm count or making it harder for sperm to survive. No jump and dump, no shallow release, no lubricant jellies, no frequent release and no hot baths. We only did it in the first cycle, the last 5 cycles we didn't do any more of it. After the attempt, I lie down for a while, on my stomach and on my back, as you recommended.

My husband doesn't even ride his bike at the moment (because of the winter weather), but he will start again soon because it's his hobby and he loves it.

OK, I'm not going to supplement iron and vitamin D. That's the problem for me right now: I'm torn between taking steps to increase fertility to even get pregnant, which sways blue, and wanting a girl. It's a difficult dilemma.

My husband never had a sperm analysis. But that's what we wanted to do anyway. We will now make an appointment. I'm a bit scared of the result because if it's bad we'll probably need insemination (ICSI or something) and gender selection isn't allowed in Germany and going to another country isn't an option for financial reasons. I should also mention that my husband already has a child from a previous relationship (a girl, of course). However, that was 16 years ago, he was still very young at that time and it wasn't planned, but it happened right away. It was also the first attempt where I was getting pregnant with my son. That was 4.5 years ago. But of course I know that fertility can also decrease over time.

I've been sick with Covid since yesterday and can't do any exercises for the next few days, maybe 1-2 weeks. Do you think this might ruin my sway for the upcoming cycle?

I will let you know if I have any new information from my blood test or my husband's sperm test.

Thank you so much!

[atomic sagebrush]

It doesn't matter if it would have been relevant last month. It absolutely COULD be relevant in future months. This may just not have been the month. The month I think you missed ovulation was the month where you thought had a 17 day LP (which is very unlikely). I just don't want that to happen in the future and so you need to be sure to continue ovulation even WITH a temp rise because we are seeing temp rises be less of a guarantee than some people hope that it is.

ok great keep at that level of weight and be sure you're getting at least 40 g fat a day (and more like 50-60 is probably better)

It's ok to take steps to boost fertility (and going to e4d plus one more attempt at positive OPK IS doing that.) But it's important that you don't "take steps to boost fertility" that you do not even need, such as taking supplements when your levels are in normal range!!! Even people in below normal range do not see low iron and Vit. D levels hurting their fertility until they're quite low. It doesn't make any sense that this is the reason you haven't conceived yet, and so I hate to see you treat a problem that is not THE problem.

Yes the next step regardless (even if he had had 10 kids already!) is the sperm analysis. We just need to be sure he's got enough swimmers to get the job done. Don't worry, there are many things we can do naturally without IUI and certainly without doing ICSI!

No, you won't have your sway ruined by a little time off exercise. Just pick it up again when you're able to. Sorry to hear you're sick, and I hope you feel better soon!

[atomic sagebrush]

So Lanini, I went back and reread your old posts and I just wanted to remind you that at the start, you were taking vitex, saw palmetto, and myoinosotol that you did not need to take. This led to your LP being short in September. You were also taking antihistamine at that point which can cut odds of conception, and baby aspirin, which may harm chances of implantation for some people. So I'm not sure you can count that as a true attempt because your odds of conceptiont hat month were probably pretty low.

[atomic sagebrush]

I got another BFN. I'm really sad. We did e4D + one Attempt at positive OPK. We had really good timing. I stayed on my stomach and back for a long time after BD. We didn't use lubes. No FR or something like that. My husband didn't ride a bike. It was now the fourth cycle where it didn't work and the third cycle with Femara. I'm starting to worry whether something is wrong with us in terms of health.

I only have one cycle left on Femara. I'm not sure if I can still get Femara afterwards. But I think after 4 months with Femara I should take a break anyway? Or can I safely take Femara longer?

This cycle my ovulation came very early. Positive OPK on CD 11, BBT was rising on CD 14. We had attempts on CD 7, 10, 11, 13, 16. Everything was perfect. But still BFN. Really worried I won't get pregnant at all. The daily exercises are very hard for me, I don't know how many cycles I can still do that strict sway. I want a girl so much, but I think maybe I should focus on getting pregnant. The age gap to my son is getting bigger and bigger (my son will soon be 4 years old). I'm torn between wanting a girl and the fear that I won't get pregnant and should try everything.

In this cycle, because you had such a long LP (17 or more days, but that is all but certainly not the case) you ovulated later than you thought and missed ovulation. Again, this month really doesn't "count" against you. I know it feels like it does, but you did not have a chance of conceiving if you didn't have sex when you ovulated.

[atomic sagebrush]

My point in mentioning those things is that sometimes when we look back and see "ok, there were two months in there where I really did have quite low chances of conceiving" it doesn't feel as scary as looking back and thinking you've tried so many months without success. At least two of those months was very low chances. We should absolutely proceed with the sperm analysis but that's just something you can keep in mind.

[Lanini]

Good morning dear Atomic!

Thank you so so much for all your replies. It helps me incredibly much! You are really a great help with your tips and mental support. I am so thankful to you.

AF arrived tonight. Hello cycle number 7. Even though I know I haven't had a good chance of conceiving in some cycles, it's been a long time hoping to conceive and especially a long time doing the sway with exercise and diet and alcohol and so on. That's really tiring. But I will continue. The desire to get pregnant with a girl is so huge. I don't really think that exercise or alcohol or anything like that is the reason why I haven't been pregnant yet. So I'll keep doing these things while I still have some strength left. But I find that it's getting harder for me to stick to all of these things with each cycle. I long to finally be able to live "free" again, to eat as much as I like and without being forced to exercise every day. I hope so much to be pregnant soon and to experience this again!

My husband has an appointment to see the doctor in two weeks. After that, the doctor will hopefully carry out a sperm analysis. I'm a little excited and afraid of the result. I would prefer if I was the cause and not my husband.

[atomic sagebrush]

Ok!! I hope you guys get good news and it's nothing of concern.

Let me know how I can help - I understand how frustrating it feels even when there may be some reason for it.

[Lanini]

Cycle number 7 is now over and of course I didn't get pregnant again. I took half the dose of Femara, my BBT curve was perfect, my doctor saw a beautiful follicle, my uterine lining was perfect, I had a luteal phase of 14 days, but unfortunately I didn't get pregnant.

OPK were positive from the evening of CD 12 to the morning of CD 13. In the ultrasound on CD 14, my doctor saw that I had already ovulated. BBT was rising on CD 15. We had attempts on CD 8, 11, 13, 14, 17.

I now have the values ​​of my hormone analysis. I will upload the analysis as an image. I don't know if it's understandable for non-German speaking people, if you want to know anything feel free to ask me. My doctor didn't say much about it. All she said was that the hormone levels were in the normal range. Not perfect, but okay enough that I can get pregnant with it without any problems. She said we should just keep trying.

My husband has his sperm analysis today. I'm a little afraid of the result. I'll get in touch when we know more.

Now cycle 8 starts. I continue the Sway as usual. Coffee, alcohol, exercise, no breakfast, diet (not so strict for the last 2-3 weeks, I've had a few cheat days, the discipline is slowly fading, but I haven't gained any weight). I will not be using Femara this cycle (I used it in cycle 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 but not in cycle 1, 6 and now cycle 8). I probably won't do any OPK or measure BBT either. I need some rest and distance. Since we are waiting for the sperm analysis anyway and a pregnancy this cycle would be a Christmas baby, we are taking it easy this time. We're going to do e4D without any BBT and OPK and stuff like that. I don't think I'll just get pregnant like that anymore.

[atomic sagebrush]

Your testosterone and Vit. D are a bit low (which is probably from swaying) but other than that it really does look otherwise great. Your iron is low normal.

I would just do exactly what you're suggesting, stay the course, drop the OPK and BBT, don't worry about the cheats. We can go to e4d plus one more attempt at first pos when you want to, but if I were you I'd probably just keep doing e4d for at least another month or two.

Keep me posted on the sperm analysis!