@doxiemoxie212 *TW My sister found out she was KU after a week of excessive tequila shots in Mexico and that pregnancy was totally fine and my niece is now 8 and normal and healthy. Then she quit everything and was super cautious with her 2nd pregnancy didn't do anything during the TWW and that turned into a CP. So I'm now an ardent supporter of drink till it's pink. Besides, after trying for 14 months if I had quit wine this whole time that period of sobriety would have been equivalent to the length of 1 and a half pregnancies.
@eggplantface TW my bfp with my last FET was like 6 days after the transfer end TW so I would maybe just take a test before the wedding? I definitely had wine right after my transfer!
I have way too many things to list in terms of supplements and whatnot, and none of them are super crazy since I'm hella old and would probably be best described as sub-fertility like @adirat. I do a lot of crap to try to improve egg quality because I have so few and for me it makes a huge difference (I hope!). But here is the weirder stuff:
- Hey @madspunk, I just ordered a dragon from Amazon to put on OH's night table! - I also got a rose quartz Buddha for mine...it's tiny and adorable! - The ladies on the IF thread know about my pomegranate for Feng Shui (although I haven't found a place for it yet) - Also got Feng Shui elephants, with their trunks down - Have been using the heated seats in my car in an attempt to keep my ute warm - Today after hearing more doctors essentially remind me that being old and TTC are diametrically opposed, I sat in my car and yelled at God that everything is bullshit (yes, at the time I was crying and upset, and I get to feel my feelings, but now I'm finding it ridiculous and amusing that I threw a toddler tantrum and cussed God out because it's not fucking fair...I mean, duh, of course it's not) - I wear Alex and Ani bracelets...a four leaf clover for luck, a Lotus flower and a grape charm as fertility symbols, and a hummingbird because I love them....for a while I felt like it was bad luck if I forgot to wear them for a day - I essentially stopped drinking in case it really does make a difference, although I've never been a huge drinker anyway
ETA - I've been trying to, instead of feeling a jealous rage around pregnant women, soak in their KU energy
Me: 45 OH: 42 Beloved SS: born 12/2011 TTC my bio #1/our #2 since January 2016 **TW** June 2016 had CP **end TW** August 2016 - dx with DOR Somewhere in here received recommendation to do IVF with donor eggs, elected not to; OH dx with Low T May 2017 - began freezing sperm June 2017 - OH began treatment for Low T July 2017 - began doing 1 IUI via a midwife and 1 at home insemination each cycle http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/6259ba July 2018 - exhausted frozen sperm, officially NTNP since OH is probably shooting blanks
@heatherdubrow That's probably a good idea! If all goes according to plan the wedding is 4dpt (if the day after transfer day is 1dpt).
Me: late 30s | H: early 30s TTC #1 since April 2015 RE Dx: Fibroids, surgery Jan 2016 IUI #1 and #2, Nov/Dec 2016, BFN IVF March 2017: ER - 5R/3M/3F, 1 PGS normal Polyp removed May 2017 FET May 2017 - BFP! Baby boy born 2/2/18
I'm in the not drinking around O or during TWW camp. Mainly because I watched a PBS documentary on Netflix called "9 months that made you" where they talk about long term research done in Africa showing that the nutrients the mother consumes at the time of conception determine whether certain genes like one that helps the immune system get switched on or stay off. It was mainly talking about the fact that the mothers there eat different nutrients during different seasons because the seasons there have dramatic weather and food changes. Obviously we can get better nutrition here and have access to PNVs, but on the theory that alcohol is something that might switch a gene on or off, I'm not going to risk it. At least at this point. I'm only 4 months in to my TTC journey. Also I rarely drink anyways so it's not that big of a deal to me, which helps.
@sunniegrly I have a strict diet and eat almost all organic, avoid aspartame/all synthetic sweeteners, corn syrup, BPA, soy, food coloring, meat with hormones in it, and 95% of the time white flour, which is more than a lot of other perfectly healthy moms do right before they get KU with their perfectly healthy kids. I drink 2-3 glasses of wine a few times a week. A lot of people will skip the wine and look at the long list of other shit I'm avoiding and say "that's so extreme--that would stress me out!" And that's the attitude I have about wine. Though obviously I would stop if KU, stopping completely now would stress me out, and stress isn't good for becoming or staying KU. We should all do whatever feels right to us, with the knowledge that in all likelihood very little of it will actually make a difference. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go call my sister and ask her to do another spell.
@sunniegrly, I understand your logic, but alcohol is not one of the dietary things that will change gene expression in utero. It doesn't work through these pathways. These gene expression changes (epigenetic changes) are regulated normally with a healthy, balanced diet. The most studied contributors (with some really cool mouse studies where the offspring coat color changes) are methyl donors, specifically in the form of methyl folate. This is one of the reasons folic acid supplements are important.
Me: 30 | DH: 31 Met: August 2006 Married: July 2012 TTC #1 since June 2016
FWIW (and probably it is worth very little) an OBGYN in a BuzzFeed video in which men had to do a pregnancy diet for a month (or was it a week?) said that it's probably worse to eat a box of poptarts in one day than it is to drink one cocktail one day while pregnant (not repetitively). Which is more disappointing for my poptart habit than anything else, tbh. But also good/affirmative news re: drinking during the TWW.
@vflux33 - I'm not at all fastidious about my diet (and by that I mean I eat wheat thins, lean cuisines, and the occasional chocolate truffle in addition to healthier stuff), so I guess I feel like not drinking is at least one thing I can do. Prob won't help but if I'm wearing relics around I figure why not give it a shot. I totally agree it's whatever is right for you.
@icecubeinthedesert - Thanks for the science!! I'm just a lawyer who watches PBS, so I bow down to your superior scientific knowledge. Good to know that it probably doesn't matter.
**TW pregnancy mentioned** FWIW a co-worker's wife got totally drunk before she knew she was KU and the baby was fine.
Mainly, it's just that I can live without the alcohol....at the moment. A few more months of this and I'll prob be drinking.
Oh good, this thread is still going. Can someone tell me what all this nonsense I found at Target is? An $80 sperm collector and some magic supplements that will completely regulate my hormones? No to the first, but wtf is the second? (Box because holy huge screen shots Batman)
@LoveInDC - Looks like something to facilitate at-home IVI (for lesbians with a friend donor or couples dealing with ejaculation problems). The supplements included aren't anything special.
Me: 29 | DH: 29
Married 12/2016 DSS born 01/2016 TTC since 01/2017 Letrozole + TI = BFP 01/30/2018 | EDD 10/11/2018
@LoveInDC Over the past few months one of the sponsored ads that I see keep popping up on Facebook is for that Stork kit. I think Facebook thought I must have been getting pretty desperate...
You guys, I know this wasn't the purpose of this thread, but my sister is totally going to do another spell for me now. I may or may not have asked this time. If I did ask, I definitely told her she wasn't allowed to tell MH.
For those of you who are curious, it involves a candle that she gets just for me (don't know what she does when she burns it), and then she is going to text me a pic of it to me, which I'm supposed to mediate on. Then there are stones that she has to purify in the sun and mail to me, which I'm supposed to take with me to my IUI.
@vflux33 fun story. In 8th grade, my friends and I decided we were wiccans. We didn't know anything about it, but we'd seen the movie The Craft, so like, we were going to be wiccans. We didn't do a lot of research, but we knew that a good symbol to show the world you're a wiccan is a five pointed star inside a circle. We drew these on our ankles and arms in sharpie, and we drew them very large on paper we taped to our lockers. What we didn't anticipate is that the symbol is much more closely associated with devil worship, which our school wasn't thrilled with. It was a fun week full of very fun parent teacher meetings. My poor mother.
@vflux33 I am so loving you and your sister! Also, you reminded me that I did try a spell, too. It's from a book a friend gave me years ago, called something like The Good Spells Book. I did one then to get a particular job, which I did get and was my favorite job ever. Anyway, I was supposed to burn one green, one yellow, and one red candle completely, and write on a bay leaf something to the effect of "I want to conceive a son" (the book didn't have a generic conception spell...there was one for a girl and one for a boy, and having to choose, I went with OH's slight preference) and put it under my pillow for my most fertile time. And while the candles were burning, I was supposed to picture a flower (I believe a rose) in my womb, growing and opening. It didn't work, but I blame that on the fact that the candles were pretty tall, and I couldn't just leave them going all night for fear of burning the house down. Oh, and I had to do it on a night OH wasn't home because he, too, would probably be pretty pissed since he believes in science and math and nothing else...
Yeah...
Me: 45 OH: 42 Beloved SS: born 12/2011 TTC my bio #1/our #2 since January 2016 **TW** June 2016 had CP **end TW** August 2016 - dx with DOR Somewhere in here received recommendation to do IVF with donor eggs, elected not to; OH dx with Low T May 2017 - began freezing sperm June 2017 - OH began treatment for Low T July 2017 - began doing 1 IUI via a midwife and 1 at home insemination each cycle http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/6259ba July 2018 - exhausted frozen sperm, officially NTNP since OH is probably shooting blanks
@vflux33 fun story. In 8th grade, my friends and I decided we were wiccans. We didn't know anything about it, but we'd seen the movie The Craft, so like, we were going to be wiccans. We didn't do a lot of research, but we knew that a good symbol to show the world you're a wiccan is a five pointed star inside a circle. We drew these on our ankles and arms in sharpie, and we drew them very large on paper we taped to our lockers. What we didn't anticipate is that the symbol is much more closely associated with devil worship, which our school wasn't thrilled with. It was a fun week full of very fun parent teacher meetings. My poor mother.
show of hands if you did this...
Me over here like...
Me: 31 DH: 32 Dating since: 11/17/2001 Married: 9/26/2009 TTC: June 2016
Oh yes, we had a coven of us four who happened to all have pretty interesting names, too... we mostly just snuck off to the woods to smoke weed and skinny dip in the river lol
I figured! but I shouldn't say bc they were all our real names, they were all just kind of unique not like suzie, cheryl, tiffany and anne. More like goddesses. That's right - we called ourselves the goddesses lol mine is not that rare really, but like I betcha if I put theirs this post would become top-page google content and my anonymity would be instantly 100% shot! Lol @pebbledam. I wish I could like make up something similar to give an idea... I just can't even lol
Maybe..."Wyland, Starla, Athena, Fantasia" - kinda like that but not quite??? I tried
@BertieMeetsGertie ...show of hands if you were too chicken to do that... I cried after I did an Ouiji board because I was sure I had opened a dark portal. After my friends talked me into doing Bloody Mary, I would snake an arm into the bathroom to turn the light on before I would go in and slept with the light (and not just some tiny nightlight) on for months until the bulb burned out.
My sister is wiccan and I'm normally pretty skeptical but "you do you" about it. When I told her we were doing fertility treatments she asked if I would be offended if she did a spell and I was 100% on board with all the juju I could get.
Beyond all the regularish stuff: the RRL tea, pineapple, Pom juice, boatload of supplements, acupuncture, Chinese herbs from acupuncturist, ISWTE stuff like further BPA reduction and phthalate-free products (I'm still looking for shampoo and conditioner that makes my hair look and feel like I wash it.)
My friend's mom is an energy healer (I kind of believe in her because when she came for their baby shower she said something about the dog that panned out. Plus she knew the day they ordered sperm without either one of them telling her.) When they were TTC, she showed up for a visit with a concrete yard frog that she said is a fertility frog. They loaned it to me and it lives in the hallway. I pat it and talk to it at least once a day.
She also brought them little white bunny figurines that live on my dresser. I pat them and leave my medication with them so they can work their magic on it.
As for caffeine, I cut the vast majority out when we started TTC. Because I was totally going to be KU and didn't want to cut all the things at once. Or have a sudden change in my coffee habits be what gave me away at work. I've since quit coffee completely at the suggestion of the acupuncturist. They cite alkaloids as the reason.
On the topic of RRL tea & Pom juice, all I know was that last cycle I did 3ish cups of RRL tea a day in WTO + glass of Pom juice at night during WTO and I had a nice lining.
I also follow the acupuncturist's recommendation not to do jarring exercise like running or exercise that squashes the abdomen (crunches, rowing) after O.
Alcohol: they're not hooked into your blood supply until... what was it? Something like seven weeks or later so while I would feel very weird drinking after a positive test, unless you're binging to where your body is having a complete disaster, you're most likely fine for even a few days more. But, because of where I'm at on this ride, I had previously cut back to five drinks a week and will probably cut back more after vacation. I love beer. It should help with money and direct calories and indirect calories, too. I'm not sure if it helps or just adds to my indignation at IF, though.
I'm also planning to get serious about diet after vacation. Maybe "better" foods specifically will help or losing a bit will help other things fall in place. I completely relate to the whole worry about doing anything that would give my body the notion that we're in a famine. I want it to know that food is plentiful! But I should be making better choices. I've been using it to make up for no coffee (goodbye black coffee, hello hot chocolate), reduced booze (can't have a beer? I'll have a cupcake!), and eating some feelings.
I'm also fully planning to copycat the new stuff I've read here. An elephant, a pomegranate, and a crystal or 12 can't hurt, right?
Edit: typo
Me: 34 DH: 38 Married: June 2011 TTC since Feb 2016 BFP#1: 7/7/16 MMC: 8/16/16 BFP#2: 5/8/17 - CP BFP#3: 6/27/17 EDD: 3/10/18
@kiki75 I will snap you a pic of what I've been using for shampoo/conditioner lately... I THINK it fits the bill??? Ingedient-wise? (Somebody please correct me if Im wrong) And my hair actually seems to like it just fine ;)
Nmd found it on Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/Renpure-Originals-Argan-Conditioner-Ounce/dp/B005I0JWEM
And I have been on the coconut shampoo... DH seems to like it too! https://www.amazon.com/Renpure-Coconut-Cream-Nourishing-Shampoo/dp/B00MBOLWVE
@kiki75 I love that your sister did a spell for you too! Was expecting to be alone on that one.
I also have shampoo/conditioner recs: paradise island shampoo from paradise island organics and silk 18 conditioner from maple holistics, both on Amazon. I know no one asked but I also LOVE soaps and lotions from Udder Delight. They use goats milk for everything and their products smell amazing.
I need someone to do a spell on me guys. Please tell them witandwhimsy on the TB needs this
Right now I'm just doing acupuncture once per week and taking TCM. First herbal component I take during AF (usually just during the heaviest days) and the other is a peony powder that I mix with water twice a day until AF starts again. Both are a very "earthy" taste.
It it will probably be dumb luck if I got KU this way, but it's helped tremendously with menstrual cramps, producing more CM and I'm Oing earlier in my cycle too.
Re: What are you (really) doing to get knocked up??
- Hey @madspunk, I just ordered a dragon from Amazon to put on OH's night table!
- I also got a rose quartz Buddha for mine...it's tiny and adorable!
- The ladies on the IF thread know about my pomegranate for Feng Shui (although I haven't found a place for it yet)
- Also got Feng Shui elephants, with their trunks down
- Have been using the heated seats in my car in an attempt to keep my ute warm
- Today after hearing more doctors essentially remind me that being old and TTC are diametrically opposed, I sat in my car and yelled at God that everything is bullshit (yes, at the time I was crying and upset, and I get to feel my feelings, but now I'm finding it ridiculous and amusing that I threw a toddler tantrum and cussed God out because it's not fucking fair...I mean, duh, of course it's not)
- I wear Alex and Ani bracelets...a four leaf clover for luck, a Lotus flower and a grape charm as fertility symbols, and a hummingbird because I love them....for a while I felt like it was bad luck if I forgot to wear them for a day
- I essentially stopped drinking in case it really does make a difference, although I've never been a huge drinker anyway
ETA
- I've been trying to, instead of feeling a jealous rage around pregnant women, soak in their KU energy
Beloved SS: born 12/2011
TTC my bio #1/our #2 since January 2016
**TW** June 2016 had CP **end TW**
August 2016 - dx with DOR
Somewhere in here received recommendation to do IVF with donor eggs, elected not to; OH dx with Low T
May 2017 - began freezing sperm
June 2017 - OH began treatment for Low T
July 2017 - began doing 1 IUI via a midwife and 1 at home insemination each cycle
http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/6259ba
July 2018 - exhausted frozen sperm, officially NTNP since OH is probably shooting blanks
TTC #1 since April 2015
RE Dx: Fibroids, surgery Jan 2016
IUI #1 and #2, Nov/Dec 2016, BFN
IVF March 2017: ER - 5R/3M/3F, 1 PGS normal
Polyp removed May 2017
FET May 2017 - BFP!
Baby boy born 2/2/18
Married: 2013
TTC #1: 2/2017
Dx: mild/borderline NIR PCOS
May TTGP Siggy Challenge - Awkward Prom Photos:
Me: 30 | DH: 31
Met: August 2006
Married: July 2012
TTC #1 since June 2016
***TW***
BFP: 7/12/16 | MC: 9/12/16
BFP: 1/18/17 | MMC: 2/13/17
BFP: 10/7/17 | EDD: 6/21/17
MTHFR: homozygous A1298C
@50Wife Spells all around!
@icecubeinthedesert - Thanks for the science!! I'm just a lawyer who watches PBS, so I bow down to your superior scientific knowledge. Good to know that it probably doesn't matter.
**TW pregnancy mentioned** FWIW a co-worker's wife got totally drunk before she knew she was KU and the baby was fine.
Mainly, it's just that I can live without the alcohol....at the moment. A few more months of this and I'll prob be drinking.
Married: 2013
TTC #1: 2/2017
Dx: mild/borderline NIR PCOS
May TTGP Siggy Challenge - Awkward Prom Photos:
Also, on the second package, I like that the purple lady who is pregnant with a plant has hair that is blowing in the wind.
TTC#1 10/2016
TTC/IF:included medicated cycles, IUIs and 2 rounds of IVF with 1 embryo each.
BFP finally in 12/2018
TTC#2 06/2021
planning FET
"Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks,
some doors are open, some roads are blocked"
DSS born 01/2016
TTC since 01/2017
Letrozole + TI = BFP 01/30/2018 | EDD 10/11/2018
Married 9/2015
TTC #1 6/2016
Dx Unexplained IF 6/2017
Clomid + Ovidrel + IUI 7/2017 - Cancelled (overstimulated)
Letrozole + Ovidrel + IUI #1 - BFN
Letrozole + Ovidrel + IUI #2 -BFN
Letrozole + Ovidrel + IUI#3 - BFP! EDD July 15 2018
Baby Girl H - July 22 2018
For those of you who are curious, it involves a candle that she gets just for me (don't know what she does when she burns it), and then she is going to text me a pic of it to me, which I'm supposed to mediate on. Then there are stones that she has to purify in the sun and mail to me, which I'm supposed to take with me to my IUI.
Married: 2013
TTC #1: 2/2017
Dx: mild/borderline NIR PCOS
May TTGP Siggy Challenge - Awkward Prom Photos:
Yeah...
Beloved SS: born 12/2011
TTC my bio #1/our #2 since January 2016
**TW** June 2016 had CP **end TW**
August 2016 - dx with DOR
Somewhere in here received recommendation to do IVF with donor eggs, elected not to; OH dx with Low T
May 2017 - began freezing sperm
June 2017 - OH began treatment for Low T
July 2017 - began doing 1 IUI via a midwife and 1 at home insemination each cycle
http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/6259ba
July 2018 - exhausted frozen sperm, officially NTNP since OH is probably shooting blanks
Married: 2013
TTC #1: 2/2017
Dx: mild/borderline NIR PCOS
May TTGP Siggy Challenge - Awkward Prom Photos:
Me over here like...
Dating since: 11/17/2001
Married: 9/26/2009
TTC: June 2016
EDD: 5/14/2018
Married: 2013
TTC #1: 2/2017
Dx: mild/borderline NIR PCOS
May TTGP Siggy Challenge - Awkward Prom Photos:
DSS born 01/2016
TTC since 01/2017
Letrozole + TI = BFP 01/30/2018 | EDD 10/11/2018
Maybe..."Wyland, Starla, Athena, Fantasia" - kinda like that but not quite??? I tried
I cried after I did an Ouiji board because I was sure I had opened a dark portal. After my friends talked me into doing Bloody Mary, I would snake an arm into the bathroom to turn the light on before I would go in and slept with the light (and not just some tiny nightlight) on for months until the bulb burned out.
My sister is wiccan and I'm normally pretty skeptical but "you do you" about it. When I told her we were doing fertility treatments she asked if I would be offended if she did a spell and I was 100% on board with all the juju I could get.
Beyond all the regularish stuff: the RRL tea, pineapple, Pom juice, boatload of supplements, acupuncture, Chinese herbs from acupuncturist, ISWTE stuff like further BPA reduction and phthalate-free products (I'm still looking for shampoo and conditioner that makes my hair look and feel like I wash it.)
My friend's mom is an energy healer (I kind of believe in her because when she came for their baby shower she said something about the dog that panned out. Plus she knew the day they ordered sperm without either one of them telling her.) When they were TTC, she showed up for a visit with a concrete yard frog that she said is a fertility frog. They loaned it to me and it lives in the hallway. I pat it and talk to it at least once a day.
She also brought them little white bunny figurines that live on my dresser. I pat them and leave my medication with them so they can work their magic on it.
As for caffeine, I cut the vast majority out when we started TTC. Because I was totally going to be KU and didn't want to cut all the things at once. Or have a sudden change in my coffee habits be what gave me away at work. I've since quit coffee completely at the suggestion of the acupuncturist. They cite alkaloids as the reason.
On the topic of RRL tea & Pom juice, all I know was that last cycle I did 3ish cups of RRL tea a day in WTO + glass of Pom juice at night during WTO and I had a nice lining.
I also follow the acupuncturist's recommendation not to do jarring exercise like running or exercise that squashes the abdomen (crunches, rowing) after O.
Alcohol: they're not hooked into your blood supply until... what was it? Something like seven weeks or later so while I would feel very weird drinking after a positive test, unless you're binging to where your body is having a complete disaster, you're most likely fine for even a few days more. But, because of where I'm at on this ride, I had previously cut back to five drinks a week and will probably cut back more after vacation. I love beer. It should help with money and direct calories and indirect calories, too. I'm not sure if it helps or just adds to my indignation at IF, though.
I'm also planning to get serious about diet after vacation. Maybe "better" foods specifically will help or losing a bit will help other things fall in place. I completely relate to the whole worry about doing anything that would give my body the notion that we're in a famine. I want it to know that food is plentiful! But I should be making better choices. I've been using it to make up for no coffee (goodbye black coffee, hello hot chocolate), reduced booze (can't have a beer? I'll have a cupcake!), and eating some feelings.
I'm also fully planning to copycat the new stuff I've read here. An elephant, a pomegranate, and a crystal or 12 can't hurt, right?
Edit: typo
Married: June 2011
TTC since Feb 2016
BFP#1: 7/7/16 MMC: 8/16/16
BFP#2: 5/8/17 - CP
BFP#3: 6/27/17 EDD: 3/10/18
Nmd found it on Amazon...
https://www.amazon.com/Renpure-Originals-Argan-Conditioner-Ounce/dp/B005I0JWEM
And I have been on the coconut shampoo... DH seems to like it too!
https://www.amazon.com/Renpure-Coconut-Cream-Nourishing-Shampoo/dp/B00MBOLWVE
I also have shampoo/conditioner recs: paradise island shampoo from paradise island organics and silk 18 conditioner from maple holistics, both on Amazon. I know no one asked but I also LOVE soaps and lotions from Udder Delight. They use goats milk for everything and their products smell amazing.
Right now I'm just doing acupuncture once per week and taking TCM. First herbal component I take during AF (usually just during the heaviest days) and the other is a peony powder that I mix with water twice a day until AF starts again. Both are a very "earthy" taste.
It it will probably be dumb luck if I got KU this way, but it's helped tremendously with menstrual cramps, producing more CM and I'm Oing earlier in my cycle too.