Hello there ... 40 year old, two boys, Vasectomy Reversal ahead of us.

[Sweetplum]

I would reduce the prenatals to 3x a week if you can't bear to give them up. Same with Omega 3.

At 40, the rules are different for you than others. I would not use pep tea for you at all, cuts odds of conception too far.

I do not recomend cranberry for ANYONE due to safety. I'd give hubby olive leaf extract but wait til after surgery and recovery to begin with that.

Calcium has been proven to contribute to cardiovascular disease and I think it sways blue anyway. I usually leave it to the individual to decide on that, but over 40 it makes me nervous due to the heart disease aspect of it all.

Rasp. tea I am on the fence about. It may sway blue, and it may mess up your cycle too for some people so unless you think you really need it, I'd skip it.

VERY IMPORTANT - do not have a 4 day cutoff. Timing doesn't work and that would cut odds of conception to virtually nil with your age and after the reversal. I would have you do every 4 days plus one more attempt at positive OPK (or the day before you expect to ovulate)

Thank you atomic. I appreciate the feedback.
What would your insights be on this revised sway for me:
1. No prenatals/omega 3 (until BFP)
2. lots of exercise (as much as I can fit in)
3. low calories (will try to lose about 10 lbs which would be very very thin for me as I'm at my lowest weight since my wedding day which was THIN).
4. no restriction on caffeine
5. no restriction on alcohol
6. only supplements : folate and coq10 in doeses you mention (I will meet with my OB next week and discuss the safety of these with her just for my own piece of mind).
7. breakfast : will try to skip but this is a hard one for me. How important is this truly? I'll buckle down if I have to.
8. I don't plan to go crazy with logging my food - ultimately I plan to just leave this up to the universe and come to terms with the fact that ultimately what is meant to be will be. I read your amazing piece on Maternal Dominance Hypothesis and Privileged Daughter Hypothesis and I could identify with "Martha" as a younger woman...but I feel as I've gotten older and gone through some struggles recently I'm settling into a more "Mary" Psyche and as I move into this potential sway I plan to approach it this way.
9. Lastly - BD every four days from period. I feel strange doing it on OV day since this is when I conceived both boys. What about every four days then 24 hours after OV? I would like to risk it for a few months and if it's not working I could switch to OV day? Thoughts on this?

Thank you!

[Sweetplum]

atomic. PS>
what about pregnitude? Should I do this? Seems like good results from the spreadsheets but no idea....
what about salt? avoid or no?
Thanks!

[atomic sagebrush]

Pregnitude is not suitable for everyone. It's for people with moderate to severe PCOS and may make it harder for you to conceive.

Please keep in mind that doctors are not up to speed on supplements. They will not know what you're talking about, most likely, and will tell you to take minimal doses but that is because they are not informed on the safety and research into these supplements. They will also just tell you to take a prenatal. Do what you feel the need to do of course but my guidelines for those things are based on tons of research that indicates that higher than normal folate intake before concepiton may help to prevent chromosomal abnormalities in addition to neural tube defects. And Coq10 is recommended by reproductive endocrinologists nationwide like Dr. Potter and many others to boost egg health in actually higher doses than what I recommended to you. I just hate to see you guys giving the rather uninformed opinions of the average doctor too much credit when really they may not be informed about these things at all.

Most of us have totally given up on the salt restriction. It makes it way easier to stick to the diet when you don't limit it and our results have only gone up since we gave up on it.

If you can't skip breakfast, just try pushing it back a little. That's fine. Just something that may help a bit.

I am concerned since you're already quite thin, that not tracking food, eating "low calorie" and trying to lose 10 pounds will be disasterous for your cycle. The reason I emphasize tracking food is only nominally for the sway. It's really much more so that you can continue to eat a safe, healthy diet and continue your ovulation. You should not drop below 1500-1800 cals a day (and many have to go up to 1800-2000) 40-50 g protein, 30-60 g fat. The LE Diet is not and never has been a "low calorie" starvation diet, it's just the lower limit of a normal diet that is safe prepregnancy. Dont' cut down beyond those lower limits please.

Timing doesn't sway. If you want to include it, that's totally fine, up to you. But part of the benefit of the e4d is that you aren't worrying over this day or that day and trying to figure out this complicated thing where you're having attempts on a certain day. It's supposed to be effortless so you don't really need to think about it. Having sex 24 hours after ovulation is pointless and gains you nothing. O+12 does not work and it has caused more heartbreak than any other method out there, by rendering women infertile and unable to conceive, and the older you are, the worse it works as our eggs do not live long enough. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/tryi...9-no-12-a.html There has never been a medically confirmed pregnancy the day after ovulation, in dozens of studies. AT 40, time is not our friend here. If you don't want to do attempt at positive OPK (which is really 36 hours before ovulation and not O day anyway) then I'd just do an attempt on O-3 and O-2 if you must and hope that your cycle stays regular. In that case it's even more important to not cut back too far on the diet.

[Sweetplum]

Pregnitude is not suitable for everyone. It's for people with moderate to severe PCOS and may make it harder for you to conceive.

Please keep in mind that doctors are not up to speed on supplements. They will not know what you're talking about, most likely, and will tell you to take minimal doses but that is because they are not informed on the safety and research into these supplements. They will also just tell you to take a prenatal. Do what you feel the need to do of course but my guidelines for those things are based on tons of research that indicates that higher than normal folate intake before concepiton may help to prevent chromosomal abnormalities in addition to neural tube defects. And Coq10 is recommended by reproductive endocrinologists nationwide like Dr. Potter and many others to boost egg health in actually higher doses than what I recommended to you. I just hate to see you guys giving the rather uninformed opinions of the average doctor too much credit when really they may not be informed about these things at all.

Most of us have totally given up on the salt restriction. It makes it way easier to stick to the diet when you don't limit it and our results have only gone up since we gave up on it.

If you can't skip breakfast, just try pushing it back a little. That's fine. Just something that may help a bit.

I am concerned since you're already quite thin, that not tracking food, eating "low calorie" and trying to lose 10 pounds will be disasterous for your cycle. The reason I emphasize tracking food is only nominally for the sway. It's really much more so that you can continue to eat a safe, healthy diet and continue your ovulation. You should not drop below 1500-1800 cals a day (and many have to go up to 1800-2000) 40-50 g protein, 30-60 g fat. The LE Diet is not and never has been a "low calorie" starvation diet, it's just the lower limit of a normal diet that is safe prepregnancy. Dont' cut down beyond those lower limits please.

Timing doesn't sway. If you want to include it, that's totally fine, up to you. But part of the benefit of the e4d is that you aren't worrying over this day or that day and trying to figure out this complicated thing where you're having attempts on a certain day. It's supposed to be effortless so you don't really need to think about it. Having sex 24 hours after ovulation is pointless and gains you nothing. O+12 does not work and it has caused more heartbreak than any other method out there, by rendering women infertile and unable to conceive, and the older you are, the worse it works as our eggs do not live long enough. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/tryi...9-no-12-a.html There has never been a medically confirmed pregnancy the day after ovulation, in dozens of studies. AT 40, time is not our friend here. If you don't want to do attempt at positive OPK (which is really 36 hours before ovulation and not O day anyway) then I'd just do an attempt on O-3 and O-2 if you must and hope that your cycle stays regular. In that case it's even more important to not cut back too far on the diet.

Atomic. Thank you!
My comments…what do you think?
No pregnitude. Got it.
I still want to ask my doctor but I hear you on the supplements.
I won’t worry about salt – will just not add it as much as I used to
Will try to eat breakfast around 9-10 instead of 6-7…should be fine with this.
I’m not super duper ‘thin’ I’m just a very athletic frame and I can’t get down below a certain number without TONS of effort. Eating less than 1800 calories a day would make me miserable physically and emotionally. I also used to be anorexic many years ago so I tend to get anxious when I’m counting calories. It’s better for me to eat healthy and not very restrictive so I’ll just use my very deep knowledge of nutrition to just tone things down to the lower end of a healthy pre-preg diet. I can do that for sure. I still would love to lose 10 lbs for summer so even if we decide not to do the reversal this diet is something I plan to doing but not killing myself!
Sounds good on the timing! I love the idea of not stressing. I do log my temp in Fertility Friend so I have a rough idea of ovulation and I’ll just go with the flow on this and follow your reco.

A few follow up questions:
1. Sweets? Good or Bad or doesn’t matter? Ie. Can I eat donuts at 10am for breakfast  Chocolate?
2. Dairy? Normal I’m guessing, not a ton and not a tiny bit….
3. PH? I have PH strips…do these work? Should I see if I can get down to below 5? Thoughts on this?
4. Douching with lemon and jump and dump for me?
5. Hot shower for hubby? OK or not.

[Sweetplum]

Atomic...I have to compliment you on the amazing amount of time and research you have put into this site. It's incredibly thorough and deep. Regardless of what we decide to do I'm finding this site so interesting to read. You've helped so many moms make dreams come true too

[atomic sagebrush]

Atomic...I have to compliment you on the amazing amount of time and research you have put into this site. It's incredibly thorough and deep. Regardless of what we decide to do I'm finding this site so interesting to read. You've helped so many moms make dreams come true too

Thank you - I just want you to understand I"m not mentioning the jazz about the doctors and the folic/coq because i'm offended or need my bal-s buttered LOL - it's because they will scare you into not taking stuff that can really help you get and stay pregnant. They know more than me on about 99.9% of stuff, this is just one thing I believe I know better on.

[atomic sagebrush]

Am i missing a question????

if you have a history of eating disorders you absolutely shouldn't count - I just want you to be sure you're getting enough, because many of the people who don't count end up eating less and less and less over time without realizing it.

sweets - not the greatest for egg quality but if you don't have PCOS or IR and egg health is ok, they are fine. I ate sweets in my successful sway and I was 41 so age alone does not mean you can't have them. People with PCOS/IR should avoid or limit them.

dairy - exactly. Just let your own taste be your guideline, dairy is handy for getting protein and fat.

Most of us have given up on pH. Soooo many pH opposites (including mine) that I find it impossible to believe any more. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...ph-pickle.html I got my daughter without checking pH at all, after getting my 4th son with them, and pH of 4.5-5 range that never went up till after I was already pregnant.

No douching or j and d at 40. If you want to do j and d do it only after 5 min. at least and not right away. ya never know when it may be the last fresh egg in the carton and you have to be there with a shot of conception.

I wouldn't bother with the hot shower for hubby, may not help anyway (no real data) and does seem to cut odds of conception.

[Sweetplum]

Thank you - I just want you to understand I"m not mentioning the jazz about the doctors and the folic/coq because i'm offended or need my bal-s buttered LOL - it's because they will scare you into not taking stuff that can really help you get and stay pregnant. They know more than me on about 99.9% of stuff, this is just one thing I believe I know better on.

I hear you 100%.

[Sweetplum]

Am i missing a question????

if you have a history of eating disorders you absolutely shouldn't count - I just want you to be sure you're getting enough, because many of the people who don't count end up eating less and less and less over time without realizing it.

sweets - not the greatest for egg quality but if you don't have PCOS or IR and egg health is ok, they are fine. I ate sweets in my successful sway and I was 41 so age alone does not mean you can't have them. People with PCOS/IR should avoid or limit them.

dairy - exactly. Just let your own taste be your guideline, dairy is handy for getting protein and fat.

Most of us have given up on pH. Soooo many pH opposites (including mine) that I find it impossible to believe any more. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...ph-pickle.html I got my daughter without checking pH at all, after getting my 4th son with them, and pH of 4.5-5 range that never went up till after I was already pregnant.

No douching or j and d at 40. If you want to do j and d do it only after 5 min. at least and not right away. ya never know when it may be the last fresh egg in the carton and you have to be there with a shot of conception.

I wouldn't bother with the hot shower for hubby, may not help anyway (no real data) and does seem to cut odds of conception.

Thank you. I've decided if we do move forward with this I'd do a personalized plan. Seems appropriate since I'm such a lost cause LOL.

[Sweetplum]

PS ATOMIC > Did you sway for a girl at age 41? Or was it a boy? Can't remember.