Position, pleasure, and gender selection

[psophia17]

A lady in an elevator at the doctor's office was talking to DS, and eventually we got to chatting about her kids. She starts in on how she had always wanted boys, and had used an assortment of tricks to make sure she had boys. It was wildly inappropriate from a stranger in an elevator, but could it still be accurate...so here goes :)

Supposedly male sperm swims faster, but runs out of gas sooner than female sperm, therefore:
-An O for the woman helps to cause boys because it draws sperm in further
-Doggy-style helps to cause boys because of the sperm is deposited deeper

Are there more tales (old wives tales? urban legends?) like this, and did they ring true for you?

[DebbieJ]

Wow, what a conversation for an evalator! LOL!

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[Elilly]

We used the Shettles (sp?) method of timing by charting temps and checking cervical mucus. We didn't really get into the specifics of positions. The timing worked for each of our kids. Of course we are selfish and wanted one of each and it worked out that way. When I had hoped to have one more, we were just going to let things happen but now with all of Graham's issues, I don't think that we will.

[TraciG]

Funny I just heard about doing it doggy style to have a boy ! Guess ina few months that's how i'll be doing it !!!!!!!!!!!

[buddyleebaby]

I heard that "male" sperm takes longer to produce than "female", so the percentage of female sperm grows higher with every male ejaculation, and you have a better chance of having a girl. (Providing you conceive on one of the later, um, batches.)
It sounds like something a man made up.

The following is TMI:

I have no idea if the above is true, but when we were TTC, we just "did it" at every opportunity for a week, and ended up with a beautiful little girl! So it might be.

[kellyotn]

The book "Taking Charge of your Fertility" (great book) has a chapter on trying to tip the scales with timing. Very interesting. It did "work" for us. Not that we were trying for any particular gender, but looking back on my chart etc, we got a girl when conception happened a couple days before ovulation and a boy when conception happened the day of ovulation. Also, if you use Ovulation Predictors, they are helpful for trying for a boy, but show a positive "too late" to try for a girl. :-)

[JBaxter]

I read that missionary w/ "O" will produce boys. On top without "O" produces girls and just before ovulation girls at or just after boys.
I have 3 boys :) We will have to pay attention before next baby LOL

[Melanie]

I don't know about the positional stuff, but I've read the same about the Y being faster and dying sooner than the X, and also the environment is more Y-friendly when the female has an orgasm. It has to do with Ph/acidity I think.

Anyway, as far as the timing aspect, that is what I have found to be true. I didn't even think I could get PG this time b/c it was so early before ovulation, but I did! Ds was right around/at ovulation.

[kijip]

I think Shettles reccomends sex 1-3 days prior to ovulation for girls (you have to stop having intercourse while you ovulate) and for boys to have sex during ovulation. I have no idea if this works or not. I have also heard that boys are aided by female orgasm.

[muskiesusan]

My very inappropriate Step MIL, who has no boundaries when talking to me about this kind of stuff, promptly asked me if I "came" when we announced we were pregnant with #1. Okay, so what am I going to say in the middle of the restaurant with my DH and FIL at the table, "um, no, Jimmy's not that good." She said if I did, we were having a boy, and she feels this is a fact as her mother hated sex and had 4 girls then three boys when she b/c more confortable with herself.

Just one of the many TMI stories she shares with me.

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[kransden]

ROTFLMAO!!!!!! That is too funny! Glad your FIL worked out for MIL ;)so you could marry her son.

As for us, we worked at it all week long :D and got the predicted results of a dd. On the other hand, I have a friend that had sex nearly every day for her married life (3 years or more - you go girl!) and she had a boy.


Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[ribbit1019]

LOL! That is something to talk over in a restaurant!
We didn't try anything fancy/plan. DH looked really appetizing and viola!

Christy
Maddy - walking finally!

http://lilypie.com/baby2/040609/3/4/0/-5/.png
http://lilypie.com/days/060301/4/0/0/-5/.png

[Momof3Labs]

Well, DS was the result of an intrauterine insemination, and I guarantee you that (a) there was no O involved on my part and (b) it most definitely was not doggy style!

I have heard, however, that the timing with respect to the timing of ovulation may influence your chances, under the same theory that the Y sperm swim faster.

[khakismom]

Each of my girls was conceived right at ovulation or right after, so you would think I should have 3 boys. Nope! :)

[kellij]

I conceived DS either the day before ovulation or the day of. We had been trying to get pregnant and I was charting. DH had been really busy at work and I ovulated really early (I could feel it so I called him and told him he better get home a little earlier that evening). The point is that we had not been having sex that week prior to the day right before ovulation. I also have a tilted uterus, so I had read that doggystyle helps in that situation, so I think that's prob how DS was conceived. I don't remember if there was an O or not, if so, it definitely wasn't at the same time as DH, or in that same, um position.

I'll take a baby whichever way I can get him/her, but I'm definitely going to try the couple of days before theory and position theory next time, at least until that doesn't work at all. :)

[kensjen]

There were a few ladies that I used to work with who swore this worked...it was a pH thing.

(OK, this is from memory, so don't try it without verifying, LOL LOL! But they used to talk about it all the freakin time so I think this is how it went...)

Supposedly male sperm prefer a more alkaline environment, so the woman should use a
baking soda douche prior to intercourse. And then female sperm prefer acidic, so the woman should use a white vinegar douche.

This is not anything I tried, and I don't think I would. And I'm sure it isn't a guarantee, it just helps your chances. Maybe if you combine all of these different "tricks"...you know, if you want a boy, get out the baking soda, do it doggy style, and have an orgasm...right around ovulation...LOL :)

Again, I am not sure how true this is although I swear it was in the shettles book that I was reading at the bookstore, hehe.

Oh what a thing to talk about for my 2000th POST!!!!! Weeeeeee!

[melbb]

One of my pregnancy books listed a bunch of tales/myths and everything seemed to cry boy. I even came across this gender predictor based on the Chinese lunar calendar, and it said it would be a boy. Well, guess what? It is a girl!!

[psophia17]

Congratulations on hitting 2000!!!!!!

Hmmm...with all that vinegar and baking soda, and with the other natural things I've learned on this board (yogurt, acidophilus, flax seed oil), we could all make one hell of a meal ;)

[essnce629]

Here's the information on the "Shettles Method" from the Fertility Friend website that I do my charting on:

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/Faqs/Gender_Selection_The_Shettles_Method.html

I'll copy and paste it:


I have heard that I can help determine the gender of my baby. How can I do this?

You are probably thinking of the Shettles Method which is based on the premise that sperm carrying the X and Y chromosomes have different characteristics and that you can influence the reproductive environment to favor one or the other. While there is some controversy surrounding both the credibility and the morality of the method, here's how the theory goes:

It is the sperm that fertilizes the egg that will determine the sex of your baby. Some sperm carry the X-chromosome and some sperm carry the Y-chromosome. If an X-chromosome-carrying sperm fertilizes the egg, the baby will be a girl. If a Y-chromosome-carrying sperm fertilizes the egg, the baby will be a boy.

The idea behind the Shettles Method of sex selection is based on the premise that the X and Y chromosome carrying sperm have different characteristics and that under different circumstances either X- or Y-chromosome-carrying sperm will be more likely to fertilize the egg.

The Y-chromosome-carrying sperm are said to:

* be faster and smaller than the X-chromosome carrying sperm.
* die faster than the X-chromosome-carrying sperm.

The X-chromosome-carrying sperm are said to:

* be slower than the Y-chromosome carrying sperm.
* be better able to withstand the acidic cervical environment before fertile cervical fluid is produced.

Based on these premises, according to Shettles, you can time intercourse, choose a sexual position that favors conception of your preferred sex and influence the reproductive environment to increase the likelihood of conceiving your preferred sex. These are the suggestions from Dr. Shettles:

To Get A Boy (According to Shettles):

* Time intercourse as close to ovulation as possible: The idea is that since the Y-chromosome sperm are faster than the X-chromosome sperm, there will be more Y-chromosome sperm who reach the egg, making it more likely that a Y-chromosome carrying sperm will fertilize the egg.
* Abstain from intercourse for four to five days prior to ovulation. Have intercourse only just at the time of ovulation and just before.
* Have intercourse that allows for deep penetration. Shettles recommends rear-entry (aka, “doggy-style�). The idea is that the sperm will be deposited closer to the cervix where cervical fluid is most friendly to the Y-chromosome sperm and where the “boy sperm� are more likely to survive since there is less distance to travel.
* Men avoid tight clothes: heat kills off both types of sperm, but will kill off the less protected, smaller Y-chromosome sperm faster, according to Shettles.
* Women have an orgasm: According to Shettles, female orgasm increases the alkaline secretions in the vagina that are favorable to the Y-chromosome carrying sperm. Shettles recommends having an orgasm before or at the same time as the male partner.

To Get a Girl (According to Shettles):

* Have intercourse 2-3 days before ovulation and avoid intercourse just before ovulation until 2 days after ovulation and when you have peak cervical fluid: The idea is that when you have sex a few days before ovulation, only the X-chromosome “girl sperm� will be left in the female reproductive tract waiting to fertilize the egg when it is released.
* Have intercourse with shallow penetration: Shettles recommends “missionary position�or any position that will deposit the sperm slightly away from the cervix, giving advantage to the longer living, but slower X-chromosome-carrying sperm.
* Women avoid orgasm: Shettles suggests women avoid orgasm because it makes the vaginal environment more alkaline, and less acidic and is disadvantageous to the X-chromosome “girl sperm�.



I wasn't trying to get pregnant (Conner was an oops!), but looking back I know that he was conceived on the day I ovulated and there was an orgasm involved! And all boy he is! I've always wanted a girl, so next time (whenever that is) I will definately use the Shettles method.


***Latia
Conner 8/19/03
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aug2003angel
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif 23 months & counting! http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/9870.gif

[mamaharsh]

Hmm, Nate was several days before O. This one was sex every day from 4 days right up until O. Both of those made girl a bit more likely (from the various above posts), but well, we have one boy and another boy on the way...

[lukkykatt]

One of my gf's has a husband who really wanted (wants) a boy. She got some kind of book (not sure which one) after their firstborn was a girl. They tried this method for #2 and got... another girl! The method seemed to involve more about timing than position, but that is all I know.

[jbowman]

One of my best friends really wanted a girl after she had twin boys. She also got some book, she and her DH tried the method (as she describes it does involve timing), and voila, they had a girl!

[g-mama]

Our first two sons were likely conceived on the day of ovulation. At the time, I didn't know about these "methods." We tried this time to time it earlier than ovulation, and tried for 3 months to get it right. It's easier to try for a boy because it seemed we were missing the window altogether by stopping too soon and all the sperm can die out before the egg is released. We got pregnant on the fourth month and thought we had timed it right for a girl, but nope, another boy! I have nothing to add as far as position; we just focused on timing.


I'm not sure if I believe in it anymore. My OB said it is really and truly 50/50 each and every time and nothing can really influence gender except the new method of "sperm spinning" that costs thousands of dollars, and even that is just 85-90%.



Kristen
Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
and a *THIRD BOY* coming in December '05

[bluej]

OMG (said in Janice's tone from Friends)! I would have loved to be sitting at the next table over to see the look on your face! If my MIL were to ever utter the word "came" (or any variation of the word) in a sentence to me I would absolutely die! Uh, but apparently, by her standards, you did :D I'm sure she's very proud of her son!