Got a sixpack, seven could be heaven, but eight would be great!

on the spot

Sixpack — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:16:00 GMT

so I thought we would have a week of experiments since dh needed to "clean his pipes" every day before our actual attempt, and of course a week is plenty of time to get it figured out right?! Yeah, that is if you don't ovulate a week early!!

So the night I ovulated we tried GDC again. The sperm in the centrifuge never seperated and where dead 60mins later.

We *think* the problem with the spinners where that the semen was too thick so next attempt will be adding canola oil to the semen before spinning.

Next attempt was the following afternoon....

seperated the sample to do both swim up and GDC

added canola oil to semen prior to spinning, they still didn't seperate and they all died. We think it's possible that spinning on high was too much stress, but still don't know why they didn't seperate.

the other sample went for swim up, the semen didn't seperate and they all died

The problem with the swim up was that the eggs were the same ph as the semen and the incubator may have been too hot. DH's normal temp is 97.8 so keeping the incubator at 100.1 may have been too much

Third and final attempt was the same night and we only did swim up.

This time the eggs were 9 the sample was 8. Incubator temp was 98-99 and I put a cake pan full of boiling water to keep the humidity up.

There was definate swim up, but it appeared everything swam up, there was nothing in the bottom but egg white. The swimmers where still swimming!

So as a last ditch effort we took the top half of the semen and discarded and then added lime to the rest (which was also egg whites) till ph reached 5. It didn't appear any swimmers survived the lime but I instered anyway... an hour before did a lime douch and right before did a canola dip. I had intended to take it out (diva cup) in half and hour and check ph but fell asleep. 4hrs later woke up and checked diva cup ph and it was 6 left it out. 6 hours later vaginal ph was still 6.

I doubt this attempt was succesful but not sure where to go from here... and praying hard anyway!

GDC take 2

Sixpack — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 03:07:00 GMT

we tried the GDC experiments again.

Semen ph was 9, 6 drops of lime brought it to 6, and killed nearly half of the swimmers.

we did the GDC on low for 20 min, no seperation, on high for 15 min very little seperation, all swimmers were dead.

Dh wants to try on high for 20 min as he thinks that the length of time was what went against us for the life of the sperm as that on high in the centrifuge it would have seperated.

I'm not sure what plan b is

Moving TTC to November

Sixpack — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 13:49:00 GMT

The baby fever is killing me, but so is the girl diet!!

I had a 40 day anovulatory cycle so I'm going to wait and see what this next cycle looks like. Though right now if I stay with a 40 day cycle I would O Nov. 8th which puts me in the day before a new moon and the girl sign of Scorpio!!

I still need to run the GDC experiment again and Red gave me and idea of using Canola oil to aid motility of those that are left. I want to see what it looks like under the scope.

Experiment 1 GDC

Sixpack — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:27:00 GMT

We tried the gradient density centrifuge method which can be found here: http://www.in-gender.com/CS/forums/thread/34880.aspx

None of the sperm survived the 20min spin. However, we realized after the fact that the test tube was improperly placed and was rubbing on the cover. So it's possible the friction created too much heat and killed them.

On a side note, I've discovered my ph is a 9 and dh's is a 7

To cut off or not to cut off that is the question....

Sixpack — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:55:00 GMT

I can't make a decision on this... it's the part hanging me up the most.

I really wish I had several pregnancies left to really try this all out and see how it works best...

I think the first thing will be to see what the sperm look like after I've messed with them. If there are a ton of swimmers I'll do the 2 day cut off. Otherwise I'll go for O day.

I actually plan on only doing one TBM attempt per cycle, just for the sake of science. So the first attempt will depend on what the spermies look like but then I'll try O+12 if I don't get pg with one of those 3 attempts then I'll try all three in one cycle, of course that looses the whole scientific aspect of which part of the cycle is better, but I really don't want to be trying into Christmas.

My shopping list

Sixpack — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 02:44:00 GMT

I already order the Salt rock lamps I still need to get

~~OPKs~~

~~Preg. tests~~

~~PH strips~~

~~centrifuge~~

~~Basal Body Thermometer~~

~~needless syringes~~

~~droppers~~

~~slide covers and slides~~

~~Calcium~~

~~Magnesium~~

~~Cranberry~~

~~Polyurethane condoms~~

I need to update my ~~Ovusoft program~~, I think the upgrades will be helpful in keeping track of my attempts

Clomid

Condoms!

Sixpack — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:34:00 GMT

Non-latex, Non-spermicidal, Non-lubricated.... near impossible to find!

I plan to use condoms to collect the sample so dh doesn't have to DTD in a cup. He's being REALLY supportive of this whole idea and I think that asking him to use a cup might be pushing it.

Medical type collection condoms are made from polyurethane and un-lubricated etc. but they are EXPENSIVE we're talking $8 for ONE! that's just insane!

I'll update if I find a source for condoms.

Well, it seems there isn't a non-spermicidal, non-latex, non-lubricated condom on the market! But Reddcin tells me that the lubrication is on the outside and if we use the rught ph lube it will change the lube on the condom and all will be well!

it appears Amazon has the best prices

Amazon seems to have the best price. Avanti by durex is non-spermicidal and polyurethane. The 3 packs of 6 are $19 wich makes them just over a buck each.
http://tinyurl.com/yq6rzu

Trojan also has a brand Supra they are sligghtly more expensive with 18 for $24
http://tinyurl.com/26u36t

Clomid

Sixpack — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 00:20:00 GMT

in researching it seems Clomid can increase your twin chances anywhere from 5-10% (depending on the study) I'm heavily leaning towards this as part of my plan.

Dh is concerned about the mood swing side effects. I already have sever depression, though I'm hoping to have that resolved soon. So he's worried that the hormones in Clomid are going to push me over the edge. He has a valid concern, but my desire for twins is so great that I'm willing to chance it. I'm not comfortable going behind my husbands back so I think I'll continue to try to talk him into it, perhaps after I see the endocrinologist for my other hormone issues. He might be more open if my hormones are easily straightened out.

I was directed to SunDrugstore.com as a reputable source for Clomid, it's fairly cheap.

If I could I would get the FSH shot, but it appears that is something I really would need an Rx for and I doubt that will be easy to come by, plus I'm not so keen on all the monitoring required for that.

Diet

Sixpack — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 01:04:00 GMT

There is lots of talk about girl/boy diet,. For TTC a girl it's said you should increase your calcium, reduce your salt annd potassium and try to eat more acidifying foods. But it doesn't seem that this holds true for everybody and IMO the girl diet is fairly unhealthy.

So first decision: No girl diet. I will reduce my salt intake and avoid higher potassium foods like potatoes and bananas. I will take folic acid, calcium, magnesium, and vit D supplements. I will also be drinking cows milk, it's not only recommend for the girl diet but those with hormones are suppose to increase your odds of having twins. I really don't like the idea because I hate putting that stuff in my body, but to be honest, I'm desperate for a girl.

milk study http://multiples.about.com/od/howtohavetwins/qt/howtohavetwinso.htm

In my reading about the Yuroba tribe which leads the world in twinning. It seems the cause is from the oestrogenic properties of the skin of the yams which their diet is high in. At least that is the theory. This makes sense to me since I believe that Clomid's primary function is to increase estrogen which can hyper stimulate the follicle production. So my mission now is to find which herbs I can take that are oestrogenic.

In the beginning....

Sixpack — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:28:00 GMT

So here I am with six great kids. I have an 11.5yr boy a 9yr girl and then 6, 4, 2 and 10m boys. It is my dream to have twins girls. I've been carrying this dreams forever, since I was a little girl. Now my daughter is also desperately dreaming for a sister and I soooo want to be able to give that to her. As a only child I wanted a sister so bad. I just hope that even though there will be ten years between them they can share a special bond.

We'll be TTC in Oct. This will be my first *planned* pregnancy and I plan to do all I can to sway for twin girls. The whole processes is fairly overwhelming for me. There are just so many possible factors. Not too many definitives and it's not like I get multiple chances to get it right! This will be our last pregnancy and if God sees fit for us to have a boy despite all my trying so be it, I know I'll him regardless.

So the idea was presented that I need to write down my plan. That's what I'll be doing here. I think I'll go through each option one at a time and make a decision and write about why I chose that decision. I think this will help me not only form a plan but explain it to my dh.