Hiya, anyone have any experience of 'shettles' or just a really good knowledge of womens cycles and fertility? I need help in my cycle...

[MrsKittylette]

Basically I wanted to TTC a girl and think I would have a good chance using the shettles method.

BUT its all based on ovulation and as I have just come off the pill I am not going to know when i ovulate for a good few months and then according to Dr Shettles once my cycle 'gets back to normal' then i have to have at least 3 months of 'practice cycles' where we use condoms but i chart my cycle.

I really havent got the patience for that!

So what I wanted to know was if you were in my sistuation and had just come off the pill and am on CD7 what would you do in terms of TTC?

I could just BD frequently and maybe get pregnant this cycle out of complete luck (and have a random chance of either sex) or wait till next month when its more likely to be a 'proper' cycle.

Im really confused now Ive read the shettles book because if i went by my normal cycle i should BD days 10,11,12 to try for a girl but if i do that this month and no other then theres every chance I wont OV any where near that.

I guess what Im saying is I think im going to have to just go for it and hope we are blessed with a girl!

Please dont take this as one of those 'id hate to have a boy posts' its not one of those, i just have 2 sons and would really like a daughter, but a son would be just as loved. I just thought it was worth a go.

Im just rambling here sorry.

shag like bunnies early in cycle
stop far enough before 'halfway' - before any of that ovulatory mucus stuff

me ditto, had two boys, wanted girl, got one.
also have you read hazel chesterman phillips "how to choose the sex of your baby the natural way"? i used this and the timing alone worked for us. i was a tad impatient but starting with straight after AF finished and working nearer to middle of cycle each time obv works. STOP at ovulation or you get another boy. 'male' sperm swim fast and die off quick, thus conception at or immediately after ovulation; 'female' sperm (IYSWIM) swim slower but live longer. we got dd by BD three days before ovulation.
this any help?

PS not an expert BTW...

Thanks,

so if im CD7 now what would you say?
Start tonight?

Finish when?

You see i finished my pill about 11 days ago, started period 7 days ago and finisged yesterday,

i usually have about a 29/30 day cycle.

but obviously would be really lucky if i was 'normal' this cycle because of pill.

Do you think i should BD from now until CD12 and then just stop until AF comes?

Cause if i carry on after that i might OV at anytime iykwim.

Then if i get PG then great at least i know it was early on in the cycle, and if i dont get PG this cycle then atleast next month ill have more chance of a normal cycle>

Does that sound OK?

Thanks for listening BTW, DH finds this incredibly boring and doesnt even attempt to listen! lol

sounds like a plan to me, just pick a date then stop / use condoms or whatever. wouldn't know much about stopping pill - it's about 15 years since i did, and even then i didn't want to be pg straight away (complicated tale so wont go there) Having said tht, i know people who have returned to 'normal' straight after coming off it

I've read the Hazel CP book (v similar to Shettles) . You are obviously a fertile couple with 2 x boys, in this case she says to start FIVE days before ov, then next month four, etc decreasing until you fall pregnant.
I've got pregnant first month off the pill - I temped this one cycle, it was really easy, using fertility friend, and very slightly wish I had been more patient, come off the pill earlier and known more about my cycle (we'd like a son, not necessarily this time but if I had a boy the pressure's off for next time!). But hey, the surprise is half the fun and obviously chuffed to bits with my BFP! Good luck!

Hiya sazza

but the problem with wanting a girl is tht if i temp this month and i start to get a rise meaning i will be ovulating soon then thats useless to me as i was supposed to have sex 3 days befor that for a girl!

If i were after a boy i would get a + on my OPK and just go for it,

but the problem with the girls is you need to know you are going to ovulate 5 days before you ovulate which is impossible with temping or OPKs,

the only way is months of charting my cycle and a cycle thats 'on time'.

And i dont want to wait months

I think im going to BD for the next 5 nights then stop till AF and just see how it goes!

What a kefuffle eh? lol

Yes, I understand... first cycle v unreliable and I ended up just BDing anyway and then got the OPK two days later, argh! They didn't work for me when I got pg with my daughter so I just assumed they weren't working again. Eventually I ovulated three days after the BD... perfect for a girl. We did more BDing at the right time too so I am in with a 50% chance - fancy that!!
Good luck, hope you get pg soon.

Inadvertently realised we'd used the shettles method to have a boy first time round, so without really telling dh, tried the method to get a girl (in terms of timing & adjusting diet for no 2) and dd duly born. I'm not saying it definitely worked but I saw no harm in trying to influence the outcome.

From end of period to the day of ovulation is the best time (I can tell when I ovulate as I get slight discomfort in the ovaries and the mucus changes - tmi sorry) & then no sex after ovulation.

Stopped pill and then immediately conceived ds1 & dd similarly.

Hi! I had planned to try the Shettles method for my second to try for a girl (I already have a boy), but got impatient and tried too close to my ovulation day and consequently had another boy who I absolutely ADORE I hasten to add!!!! and it gives me a great excuse to my hubbie to have another!! but do let me know how you get on as I will try to be more patient if we go for number 3!
My sister has 2 boys and stopped 4 days before ovulation 3rd time around and got a girl
Good luck!

So let me get this right. If you want a boy you need to BD when you OV?

I OV on or around CD17. We've already BD'd on days 10 & 11 this month. Planning to also BD on days 13, 15, 17 & 18 also. Will continue if no sign of OV though!

Would love a baby full stop, but would be extra happy to have a boy. Do you think BD'ing on the above days could work?

glastochick - you could, but if you were following shettles or Hazel or the like, you wouldn't BD so much, because (1) the earlier BDs from 13 onward will mean that there could be lots of gynesperm (girls) still alive when you OV (although you will have had more BD since then, the girls could be hanging round waiting for the egg) and (2) your man's sperm count will be slightly lowered by all the BDing and this also is more likely to lead to a girl. If you really want a boy, have weekly protected sex up to ovulation date and then do it 1-2 times. What you are doing will give you a random chance. And some people may argue that that is always going to be the case anyway! But BD-ing every other is the recommended quickest route to pregnancy if you're happy with blue or pink, I think!

Thanks SazzaK

I'd just like to get pregnant and would be happy either way. But it would be v. nice to have a boy. Aiming to get pregnant first and then have a baby at the end who is healthy and will be loved

Don't want to rain on anyone's parade but if Shettles/Hazel CP were correct all my boys should be girls! On ds1 and ds2 we were avoiding pregnancy so did the deed very early in my cycle. On ds3 I bought Hazel's book and followed it to the letter and got our 3rd boy. My friend had sex on ovulation twice and had 2 girls! You will always get people saying it "worked" for them but it does have roughly a 50:50 chance of working anyway.

True but the book does say how a very high (or low) sperm count can affect the result. So a man with a low sperm count may not have boys even if the baby is conceived at ovulation and a very fecund man could have androsperm living for days and days... but unless you have a count taken, you just can't tell. But who knows.

I bought that too slinki. But then I saw loads of cases in magazine articles where a man had a low sperm count and later went on to have a son and very fertile couples who have strings of girls. It just doesn't ring true for me any more and I have have loads of time to reflect on it!

i would really like a boy as well
as already have a beautiful girl

very interesting

Sorry to hijack thread -
I would like a girl, dh is not even sure about ttc.
I know nothing about ttc, because we never actually tried for ds, he happened so quicky, I think dh is very potent !
We had a miscarriage in Novemebr, baby was very wanted. Dh is not ready to talk about it yet. But I am 35.
I am sorry to sound so lazy. - I can't seem to get my head round all this charting, temperatures. Do I HAVE to do all of that ?
I do note down my periods - I always have done - they go - 27 days, 28 days, 30 days, 27, 27, 28 for e.g. - is that irregular / normal ?

I don't know which day I ovulate. Most people on say day 14/15/16, right. But many people say they found out they were day 19 or 20.
I don't have months to sit and log all of this. I said to dh that we need to talk about it becasue if we are going to have a second child we need to do it now.
Does finding out when you actually ovulate take months of logging ?

bump anyone - even though it was a hijack.

Hi Oblomov

to know exactly when you O you do need to chart for about 6 months but if you haven't got time 4 that maybe try looking at a Ovulation calender where you put in date of your last period and cycle length and it will give you a period of 5 days you should Ovulate around . Bd in that time and I think u have a high chance of conceiving!

sorry just seen how long ago that message was put on!

I am 13 weeks preg and i used clearblue digital ovulation sticks, they give you idiot proof happy faces of the best 2 days to conceive. We were trying for a boy and awaited until the 2nd day of the happy face just to ensure as close to ovulation as poss. So it's just a waiting game now - i have so far had a completely dif pregnancy and have heard that alot of people who use these sticks have boys ?maybe cos it's more accurate to your ovuation time than most tests - who knows - time will tell. Good luck!