TTC a Girl Sway Attempt
Gender Result: BOY
DW Age: 32
DH Age: 34
Current Children's Gender(s) Boy, 6 1/2
Boy, 3
Number of Months TTC 3
Did you purchase and follow a GD Personalized Plan? Yes
DIET
Did you follow a diet plan? Yes
If yes to diet, which one did you most follow?
Comments regarding DW's diet changes- I feel like I need to give a bit of history about my diet in previous years since I believe it is relevant. From the ages of 14-19, I suffered from anorexia and was very low in weight. At the lowest, I was 86 pounds, but after getting treatment at the age of 19, I have been taking very good care of myself and body. When I look back at my diet when I was in the process of TTC both of my sons, here’s what it looked like: I ate every 2 hours and it was always a protein/carb combo (ie protein and crackers). I was easily eating 2000-2500 calories a day, and eliminated caffeine. I took prenatals for months before TTC. I quit all medications (allergy medicine, ect). I also ate 2-3 servings of cereal a day. I LOVE cereal. When I conceived the boys, I was 120-130 pounds with both boys. I ate a LOT of real cheese, fruit/vegetables, pasta, nuts, yogurt.
Therefore, when swaying for girl, I followed LE diet as best as I could. I really tried to skip breakfast, but I am a teacher who begins my day at 7 am with show choir, so I truly needed energy to get me through until lunch. I maybe skipped 2 times a week but got very lightheaded and weak when I did. Therefore, I tried to only have 100 calories—either special-K breakfast bar or 2 belvita bars. For lunch, I had 300-400 calories, usually soup and crackers, and a fun size candy bar. Then I did not snack until 5 pm. THIS WAS TORTURE!!!! I always snack through the afternoon, so this was very hard. 5 pm meal was usually plain pasta and green beans, or baked potato and yogurt, or 2 egg whites on a bagel thin. I completely eliminated meat and always stayed under the protein guidelines. I am not a big red meat eater to begin with, but I love fish and chicken, which I missed quite a bit. Then I had a pop tart at 8 pm (with some chocolate or sugary sweets). My average calorie intake was 1200-1500.
If diet was used, length of time before attempt? I began my diet October 1, 2012, knowing our first attempt would be in January. This was really early and it was a long time for me to be on it. The holidays were awful. There were so many things I didn’t get to eat. But I did it. 5 months on the LE diet.
Did you skip breakfast regularly? No
Did DH change his diet with you? Yes
Comments regarding DH's diet- DH was totally on board and wanted to do whatever he could. He gave up red meat, and even gave up a lot of chicken that he usually eats, too. It definitely wasn’t as strict as me, but he did make some changes to his diet. He also tried to not eat as much cheese and eggs as before. Bacon was hard for him to give up.
DId you consume alcohol?
DId you try to limit caffeine? No, I drink caffeine regularly
Any Diet Details? I kind of just tried to have a different mindset when TTC this one. For example, I cut out caffeience when I was TTC my boys, so this time, I didn't limit at all (1-2 cups coffee & 1-2 pops a day). I used to snack all the time, this time I stuck to certain times of day to eat. I ate a lot of empty calories, but still tried to eat a few fruit/veggies a day just to feel some sort of normalcy.
Any Diet Comments/Additional Info? -
WEIGHT AND EXERCISE
What did you weigh/BMI do leading up to O? I was down to 107 pounds. I am 5'4, I think BMI is 18.5. The lowest I've been for a long time.
Any Weight/Exercise related additional info/comments? It was hard for me to decide what to do exercise wise. When I was TTC my first son, I read a lot of information about how intense cardio did not help fertility, so I stopped running/aerobics and was just walking 30 minutes a day when I conceived him (no weights). When I was TTC my 2nd son, I cut back on the cardio but did keep lifting weights to help muscle tone. When deciding what to do this time around, I just didn’t feel in my gut that being a couch potato was going to work for me. Therefore, I opted to do the 60 minutes intense cardio 6x a week. I did Zumba 3x a week, and then ran or did aerobics on the other days. Most of the time it was okay, but there were many days that I had such low energy from the LE diet that it was hard. My muscle tone completely changed since I gave up weights about 7 months before my sway. However, with the weight I lost and the muscle I lost, I looked pretty thin by the end.
I'm glad I went with the exercise route. Being a couch potato probably would have changed my conditions more, but my sister conceived a girl and does a lot of cardio so I figured that would go my way.
THINGS in VG and CONCEPTION DATE(CD) INFO
pH Before Starting a Sway Program, if known -
Any VG potions used?
CM pH at attempt Unknown
DH pH Unknown
How many BD attempts did you make for the BFP cycle? 3
BD Dates according to Ovulation- 5 Days Before O
- 3 Days Before O
- O Day
Any additional comments? I never got a positive opk--those darn things make me so mad! My temp dip was on CD 19, and we BD that night, so I am assuming that's when it happened. My progesterone at CD 22 was 10.6, so it definitely happened. On my previous cycles, I also never got a positive opk test, so I wonder if the Clomid somehow masks it for me.
THE DEED INFO
DH Info about Swimmers
BD Position Missionary
Did you Jump and Dump?
Any relevant attempt details? I did not have the big O, shallow missionary, and DH was very sick on that night--he had a fever of 102 and was like a furnace laying on top of me! TMI, sorry! I felt bad for the poor guy.
SUPPLEMENTS USED
DW Supplements- Clomid
- Baby asprin
- folic acid
- acidophiles
- Antihistamine
DH Supplements
Any additional supplement info? -
Did you do anything with Ions? Used lavendar lotion/massage oil, had fan blowing in our room constantly, painted fingernails a few times the week before ovulation.
Moon Phase during conception? Waning Gibbous
Did you use any Old Wives Tales? Put a pink onesie under the mattress.
When I shared the news with DH, I wrapped up the onesie and gave it to him. :)
Things that make me feel great about my sway: I am hoping that I was on the diet long enough (5 months) to make a big change in my body. I definitely felt run down, low energy, tired, and I swear it lowered my testosterone because many times I truly did not feel competitive like I normally do on a daily basis. I honestly just tried to create a different environment in my body than when I conceived my boys, so I hope that goes my way as well!
DH was really sick (bronchitis) when we made our attempt (on ovulation day), so I am hoping that also helps.
Things that make me nervous about my sway: I had cheats once I ovulated. I just had the mindset that “ooh, I might be getting pregnant,” so wanted to start eating normally once I did. I feel guilty about it, but mentally, I was very tired of being on the diet. I snacked quite a bit in the 2WW and had a few days where I ate 2000-2500 calories again.
I also just feel that because I want a girl so bad, I am somehow destined to have 3 boys. I hope you guys don’t think I’m crazy, but I fully believe that because of the history of my disordered eating, I feel God has given me 2 boys so I wouldn’t have to deal with having a girl that would, God forbid, have same issues as me. I have prayed over and over to God, asking him to entrust me with a girl, but that if he doesn’t, I know it’s for a reason. I hope that makes sense.
As hard as I’ve tried the past few months to sway, I believe from the bottom of my heart that we are meant to get what we get. It doesn’t make seeing baby girls any easier, but just have to remind myself of that.
Things worth mentioning: I know many think that Clomid is a magic bullet, but my previous 2 boys were conceived on Clomid. However, I stopped my allergy medication and took Robitussin with both boys, so I am hoping the Zyrtec and absence of Robitussin this time around will help our chances!
