Shettles method after coming off pill

[iliketobecosy]

Please don't flame me, I want a child and would be happy with either, but equally I can't help but have a preference. I am going to come off my pill mid December and I am so excited about it, it's something we've spoke about for so long and the time is finally nearly here and we are ready.

So, I've read a bit about the shettles method i.e having sex around 4 days before ovulation if trying for a girl etc. My question is, as we are going to try soon as I come off the pill, is how will I know I'm 4 days prior to ovulation during first month? I'm going to order some OPK's which will hopefully tell me when I'm ovulating but how will I know I'm around 4 days away if that makes sense? I could come off my pill this month and not have sex when I'm fertile until next month, if that would be a better idea? Sorry if this is a fact question, hopefully someone can help clear it up.

Shettles has been debunked I'm afraid. His idea that male sperm is a different shape/speed to female sperm isn't actually true and further studies have not showed any weight to this theory. There is no real way to "sway" for a particular sex. There are some diets which purport to help conceive either a boy or girl but nothing has been backed by scientific study.

I knew the method wouldn't be guaranteed in any way however I thought it would be worth a try as I've heard and read so much about it. Either way it would be helpful to know if possible how I would know when a few days before ovulation when we first start trying

Unsure about this but in regards to coming off the pill, your first bleed will be a withdrawal bleed and not a period so you'll likely not ovulate and lose that month of trying. Not always the case but with me it was lol I bled for 17 days when I came off the pill 🙈😅

If you download an app to track your cycle and put in your last period etc it should give you a rough estimate of when you're going to ovulate and the window before it, Flo is good

I’d have come off the pill a few months before trying personally and monitored your cycles so you know when you actually ovulate. It might take a few months for your body to settle back into it’s natural cycle anyway. I’m not convinced your method works even if you knew exactly when you ovulate and are as regular as clockwork. I think I’d focus on just trying to get pregnant, have sex every other day when you come off the pill and use opk, when it starts to get dark do it once a day until it fades, then carry on every other day for a couple more days. I’ve made a girl and a boy via this method, got pregnant first try too (I came off the pill about 8 months before trying though).

@dreams01 in that case I may stop taking my pill in a few days when I finish this pack and will then have the withdrawal bleed, and use other protection for this month only, just so I can get some idea of my cycles, I've just downloaded flo, so as the first bleed will be a withdrawal bleed I can't class that on the app as first day of period, I will have to wait until actual period to enter that? I've been on the pill for that long that I can't remember what my periods used to be like beforehand and whether they were regular or not!

@dinosaurr cross posted, I think you're right, although I have read I. Here before lots of people are very fertile as soon as they come off the pill, we can only have sex on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday's as OH works away during the week, which is a bit of a worry

Have sex lots and lots, then there will be 'girl' sperm waiting for the egg... My first was a girl, my second, who was conceived after 2 shags during ovulation is a boy.
Keep a feel on the position of your cervix to predict ovulation, back and tucked away will become forward and down, plus changes in discharge, libido and sleeping patterns, I'm warmer than the surface of the sun during ovulation, to the point where I can't sleep.

Saying that, he does have 2 weeks off over Christmas so if by any chance my next period after after withdrawal bleed (finish pill in a few days) is 28 days, then ovulation around 2 weeks later, he will be off then so plenty of time for lots of sex then. I do understand this could well not be the case though

From what I’ve heard of the shettles method (I looked into it after seeing someone talk about it on this morning once, not something I’d try) but it’s careful logging of when you ovulate. Probably slightly easier to try for a boy with this method as you have to have sex on ovulation whereas with a girl it’s a few days before, so ideally you’d need to know what day of your cycle you ovulate. I’ve heard it makes conceiving less likely (if trying for a girl) as you’re limiting how much you have sex in your fertile days.

I would use OPKs to do find out when ovulation occurs.

As Pp said, this theory has been debunked so I wouldn’t get your hopes up, but I suppose there’s no harm trying to sway, as long as you’ll be happy if you don’t get what you’re swaying for!

Just to say it is possible to get straight back into a regular cycle straight after coming off the pill.

I conceived two weeks after my withdrawal bleed with baby #1 and judging by dates of positive tests I did it again when we were trying for baby 4 (sadly the pregnancy wasn’t successful). I guess it depends how desperate you are to try Shettles. You could just start having sex 10 days after you stop the pill on the assumption that you have a 28 day cycle which will regulate immediately - but I may be the only woman in the world that happens to!

I’m not going to flame you, OP, but I am gently going to suggest that it isn’t terribly healthy to begin TTC with attempts to micro-manage the process. Come off your pill and get to know your body’s natural cycle. Hopefully you will conceive quickly.

It might be worth thinking over your preference for one sex over the other. I certainly had a massive fear in my second pregnancy that by replicating the shape of my own childhood sibling pattern I would somehow be risking the abuse that we suffered. I'd wake up crying.
I'd never judge a woman for having a preference for the sex of her babies.