This is a guest post by my friend Andi, who has previously written on her breastfeeding woes. If you have a guest post you’d like to submit for consideration, please email us at submissions@hellobee.com.

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Before my husband and I got married, I had always imagined us having three kids – 2 girls, and 1 boy – in that order.  I wanted to have a boy last because I knew I only wanted one boy, but I wanted him to be spoiled and loved by his sisters.  Five years later, I sit here with two boys and no girl… yet.

I love my boys so much.  They are obviously the cutest things on earth to me.  But these days, I find myself playing with cars, trains and watching superheroes, like The Incredible Hulk, way more than I would like.  My older son who is almost 4, thinks it’s hilarious to fart and burp.  He cracks himself up and then does it again just to see my reaction.  And when my younger son is a little older, I am sure he will follow in his brother’s footsteps.  I am so not looking forward to that.

As we think about adding a third child to the mix, I find myself wondering… “how far am I willing to go to have a girl?”  I don’t know if I’m capable of handling three farting boys (four, if you count my husband).  Or maybe I can.  But I feel like I’d be missing out on raising a girl, and helping her become a confident, successful, and smart woman.  Maybe I just need to play tea party once in a while and buy little girl clothes.  But I do really want a girl,  mostly for the fact that I feel like I will miss out on a lot of my children and grandchildren’s lives when my sons get married.

At one point, I considered gender selection as an option.  I found a clinical trial where sperm sorting was used to increase your chances of having the sex you wanted.  And since I have two boys, I would fall under the category of “family balancing.”  IVF clinics can also guarantee the desired sex – before they implant an embryo, they can do genetic testing and only implant the desired sex.  I’m not sure how many doctors would do this for their patients, as genetic testing is usually reserved for those with a great chance of genetic disorders that they do not want to pass onto their children.  Of course, these options fall into the “extreme” category. They are costly and very hard on your body, especially if you don’t need fertility treatments to get pregnant.

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So what other options are left?

There is always the Chinese Gender calendar.  According to this chart, I can get pregnant anytime between April and November of this year and I will have a girl!

There are also the old wives’ tales that you can find all over the internet.  Some of which include the following:

For girls:

  • Moms and Dads to be – Eat fish
  • Moms and Dads to be – Eat more vegetables
  • Moms to be – Eat chocolate
  • Missionary position
  • Moms to be – Have intercourse with you on top
  • Moms to be – reach orgasm first
  • Moms to be – be the seducer, chances of having a girl are greater when the woman suggests the baby making.
  • Have intercourse on a full moon
  • Have intercourse in the afternoon
  • Have intercourse on even days of the month.

So according to this list, if I have sex on a full moon in the afternoon that falls on an even day, and I seduce my husband by taking him to eat fish, vegetables and a chocolate dessert, then I should have a girl, right?

There is also a scientific fact to consider when trying for a girl.  The Y-sperm (boy sperm) tend to swim faster and reach their goal faster, however, they also die faster.  The X-sperm (girl sperm) swim a bit slower, but they also live longer.  Therefore, if you have sex a day or two before ovulation, then the chances of having more X-sperm hanging around by your fallopian tubes is greater than having sex on the day of ovulation.

Do I believe in any of this stuff?  Maybe. I will probably try the Chinese calendar, and timing it with my ovulation. But if I get pregnant with a boy, I will be just as happy because he will be my last child and I will love him and baby him to death (he will probably turn into a mama’s boy).

What lengths would you go to increase your chances of conceiving a boy or girl?