A Shortened Luteal Equals A Longer Road Then I Imagined

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It’s been  some time since my last post. I had to take a break from gender selection and baby making.

I think I researched myself into exhaustion. Finally, I gave up on google and went to the closest resource I have. My husband, Hughan.

Here’s the quick recap. We decided we wanted to try for a third baby. My bright idea was to see if I could stack the deck in favor of a girl – since we already have two boys.

I tried Dr. Shettles method of timing sex on specific days prior to ovulation. I crossed that with the Chinese Lunar Calendar to determine which months would be the best to yield a girl. THEN I loaded up on calcium and magnesium to “make my environment more hostile” to male sperm.

I swear, I haven’t lost my mind.

And what did it get me? A lecture from my internal med doctor regarding my ridiculously high calcium levels and a lot of sideways glances from others who assumed I’d lost my mind. But no pregnancy.

So I opened my meticulous records and closely guarded charts to Hughan. After he got past the fact that I had written EVERYTHING down, he went into doctor mode.

“While the exact number of days are not scientifically proven,” he would qualify, “your issue may be that your luteal phase is just a day or so too short.”

Luteal Phase? Back to Google.

According to Wikipedia, “the luteal phase (or secretory phase) is the latter phase of the menstrual cycle (in humans and a few other animals) or the earlier phase of the estrous cycle (in other placental mammals). It begins with the formation of the corpus luteum and ends in either pregnancy or luteolysis. The main hormone associated with this stage is progesterone, which is significantly higher during the luteal phase than other phases of the cycle.”

Ok, Dr. Frederick – What does that mean to me? 

“Typically, there should be 14 days from ovulation to the start of a woman’s period. Not all the time, but generally speaking.”

Mine is only 10. This wasn’t the case with either of my first two babies so I was immediately concerned. It means that my body is not producing enough progesterone to carry a lining for the full two weeks. If I were to get pregnant, my body wouldn’t be able to keep the fertilized egg long enough before it was able to produce its own necessary hormones. Essentially, I would have a miscarriage every time – before I even knew I was pregnant.

 My eyes grew wide and my throat went dry.

Then Dr. Frederick talked me off the ledge.

“It’s a general guideline. Let’s try you on a progesterone pill a few days after ovulation and see if that helps,” he said.

So of course, I have to consult my friends. They suggested creams, fruits, etc…all to which my husband said no. They aren’t strong enough for the task.

With pill bottle in hand we tried again…on just the right month.

Can I Use The Chinese Lunar Calendar As An Effective Method of Gender Selection?

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 I told my girlfriend that I wasn’t going to try to conceive this month. She, of course, asked why.

“Because according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, I would have a boy if I got pregnant in October.”

There was a pause on the phone. I knew it was coming.

“You are a complete nut job!” she laughed. “You are serious! Do you know how many eggs you’re wasting?”

Yes. I am serious.

Let’s take a look at the Chinese for a moment. Excuse me if I may be offensive but history says they were in the natural gender selection business for many generations. Boys reigned supreme whether they needed soldiers, farmers, etc… Why not adopt their ancient practice to try and have a girl?

The Chinese Calendar is based on lunar patterns; the new month begins on the darkest day of the new moon. It’s reportedly been around since sometime before Jesus came to earth. I have read that the gender selection chart was discovered in a royal tomb about 700 years ago by a Chinese scientist.
I know, I know it sounds ridiculous but it certainly couldn’t hurt anything to give it a try. Right?
How it works?
You can find several variations of the calendar on many sites all over the web. You are required to enter your age at the time of conception as well as the month you conceived. Based on this info, it will show you the gender of your baby.
Now, I have seen some people say it has a 50% accuracy rate – which would mean it doesn’t work at all. Others have said 80%. I entered in the info for each of my two children and sure enough it predicted both of them would be boys. That means in my household, it was shown to be 100% accurate.
Here is the problem – and you know there always is one.
Different calendars give you different results. I think the reason is because some require you to enter your “Chinese” age while others do that calculation for you. It’s hard to know, however, whether the chart you are using is taking any considerations into account.
After looking at several, I am leaning toward this one:
This site has a wealth of information about the history of the calendar and how it works. Some of the theory is opposite of what modern, western medicine feeds us.
How will I use the knowledge?
I plan to still use the Shettles method, but only try to conceive on months where the calendar says I would have a girl…It’s SO simple!!!
Clearly, I’m laughing.

It’s Time To Become More Hostile!

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In my last post I discussed Dr. Shettles method of picking your baby’s gender. It seemed simple, right? For a girl, I am going to pinpoint my ovulation and have sex everyday from the end of my period to at least three days prior to ovulation.

It’s totally easy.

Yeah right!!! Dr. Shettles forgot to add “real life” into that equation.

We have been running around like crazy. You guys already know, Hughan is BUSY! One night he got home until well after I’ve passed out – even though I tried to stay awake. One night, I was up until 1 am but had to leave as soon as he got home to help a friend in the hospital. Yet another night he had to spend the night at Emory Johns Creek hospital. Needless to say, we had to get creative (and quiet) in order to not miss the week entirely. The original plan was to stop three days before ovulation. But we didn’t really even see each other that day so I threw in a safety the following day – only two days before. Risky move, I know.

But in typical fashion, I’m not going to rely on just one method to get us to our desired outcome.

I am tripling up; Dr. Shettles method, an herbal diet and the Chinese lunar calendar.

So let’s talk the herbal diet.

The Research

According to science, the female environment naturally becomes less acidic during the ovulation process. This allows the sperm to gain easier access to the egg.

Now, remembering that the female sperm is heavier, people hypothesize that she is stronger. Taking that into account,  Dr. Shettles suggests the female sperm is more likely to survive a more acidic environment then the male sperm.  So one can assume, if you increase your body’s acidic level then you can give the female sperm an advantage.

It just sounds so ruthless! Let’s give it a shot.

How to make your environment more hostile to boys

It’s simple. Increase your calcium and magnesium intake. That is, consume more dairy such as milk, cheese, eggs and leafy green vegetables like lettuce, kale and spinach. I’ve seen canned meat as another suppliment.

Here’s my problem. This is my diet on a daily basis. How much extra do I need to eat? When will I get it all in?

There’s no real science to this so there are no real answers. Just elixirs. I found all sorts of stuff that claims to change your environment. Including Lydia Pinkham’s Tonic for Conceiving a Girl. But why not just keep it simple.

I found an easy answer – a calcium and magnesium vitamin. It has 600mg of calcium and 300mg of magnesium. I started taking the recommended daily dosage immediately. I can feel my insides becoming mean and nasty. No really, I think it might be tying me up. LOL!

Cycle 1:

LH Surge: I missed my LH surge because I stopped peeing on the stick too soon.

Ovulation: Day 16

Period: Day 25

Cycle 2:

LH Surge: Day 13

Ovulation: Day 15

Period: Day 25

Cycle 3:

LH Surge: Day 13 (last day for deposit)

Ovulation: Day 15

Period: Not known yet

Can Dr. Shettles keep me from walking the Ann Romney path of motherhood?

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Ann Romney gave the speech of her life at the Republican National Convention. You know what stuck with me? The fact that they have five boys. FIVE boys. Of all the statistics thrown around during the RNC, my brain kept tossing that nice little figure back and forth. Clearly they are happy and proud for each and every one of them. But five?

Seriously people, there has to be a low-cost way to stack the odds in one’s favor. My boys are so much fun. I love spending crazy days with them but it would be nice to have another dynamic added to our mix. Does Dr. Shettles have the solution?

Most doctors agree that the sex of a child is determined by the type of sperm that gets to the egg first; an X sperm (female) or a Y sperm (male). They say the X-bearing sperm (female) has a heavier molecular density. In my terms, that means slow and strong. Meanwhile the Y sperm (male) is lighter – meaning fast but weaker. From what I see, this sounds about right. LOL!

Dr. Shettles theory, in the simplest form, is based on “deposit” timing. Have intercourse before you ovulate if you want a girl or during ovulation if you want a boy.

How does that work?

Let’s say I will ovulate on Sept. 5. For a girl, I would have intercourse on September 1 or 2. In theory, all the Y sperm will peter out before I drop and egg. This would leave only X sperm left hanging around at the meet-up point to fertilize the egg. It would be the exact opposite for a boy. I would have sex during ovulation so the faster boys would get to my tube first and meet and egg there – not have to try and hold out for an egg to come. Boys just aren’t that patient.

With this information in mind, what’s my plan?

For the past two 45 days, I have been tracking my cycle. The entire timing method is based on knowing exactly when you ovulate. Dr. Shettles suggests checking and charting your cervical mucus from day to day.

I pulled out a notebook and pen but was quickly derailed by my husband who felt the mucus is easy to misread and an antiquated system.

There is also the Basal Body Temperature plan.

That just seemed time-intensive. You have to take your temperature with a special thermometer FIRST thing in the morning before ANY moving about. I’ve got two kids who will inevitably call my attention away EVERY morning before I can get a proper reading. So that’s out.

That leaves relying on mittlesmertz cross-checked with an ovulation predictor kit.

But now it gets tricky – and I’m horrible at math.

Up until a couple of months ago, I was on the pill for approximately three years. I was concerned about my system needing time to regulate itself being off the pill. Clearly for good reason.

Cycle 1:

LH Surge: I missed my LH surge because I stopped peeing on the stick too soon.

Ovulation: Day 16.

Period: Day 25

Cycle 2:

LH Surge: Day 13

Ovulation: Day 15

Period: Not known yet.

Hopefully it will either be Day 25  or Day 28. If it’s 25 – then that’s my system. It doesn’t leave me 14 days between ovulation and a period but it’s consistent. If it works out to Day 28, then that’s a normal, average cycle. Either way, I’d feel confident in then moving forward to actually predict a good time to make a deposit.

But of course, it’s not that simple…

 

Can We Choose the Sex of Our Baby?

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It’s not really a secret. Dr. Frederick and I are going to try for a third baby. We have been blessed with two ridiculously active boys who are also caring, kind and a riot to be around. So the discussion came up to try and add one more to the mix – but can we have a healthy…girl?

Let the research begin!

I started by polling my friends including parents, doctors and others in women’s healthcare. I ordered the book, “How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby,” which details Dr. Shettles method of gender selection. I went online and read about additional methods and how they may work together. I talked to my husband as a way to cross-check all the “facts” I found. It turns out, aside from IVF or other scientific methods, there is no 99% accuracy rate BUT there is no harm in trying these other resources.

I have friends in various cities that have asked me about what I have found, which method I will use and of course, want to know how it all turns out so they can try for themselves. Therefore, I decided to just write it down so I can keep an accurate account and share more easily.

Getting Started.

I began by tracking my cycle. I’ve been on the pill since the birth of our second child so I was concerned about the regularity of my system. And for good reason. I am in the middle of my second cycle now and I have ovulated two days earlier then I did last time.

Now we just have to wait and see the total length of the cycle then I’ll do the math (and use and ovulation calculator) to predict my next ovulation date. You know the equation: most women have their period 14 days after they ovulate thus starting a new cycle.

Luckily (and unfortunately) I experience mittelschmerz so I have an exact record of my ovulation. I am all about checking and double checking so I used an ovulation predictor kit from the drug store to track my LH surge. That lets me know that my body will drop the egg within 24-48 hours. The trick with the kits, according to Dr. Shettles, is that if you are only going to test once a day, you do the test somewhere between 11-3 pm. Not first thing in the morning as the box suggests. This way, you will be more likely to catch the surge if it happens during the day and not overnight. Last cycle I tested around 7:00 am, once each day. I missed predicting the surge. This time, I tested at 10:30 am and hit it dead on.

By the end of this month, I should have a good idea of my cycle. The harder part is deciding what to do with the information.

In the next post, I’ll go into more detail on the actual research I’ve compiled and how I’ll use it.