Ann Romney gave the speech of her life at the Republican National Convention. You know what stuck with me? The fact that they have five boys. FIVE boys. Of all the statistics thrown around during the RNC, my brain kept tossing that nice little figure back and forth. Clearly they are happy and proud for each and every one of them. But five?
Seriously people, there has to be a low-cost way to stack the odds in one’s favor. My boys are so much fun. I love spending crazy days with them but it would be nice to have another dynamic added to our mix. Does Dr. Shettles have the solution?
Most doctors agree that the sex of a child is determined by the type of sperm that gets to the egg first; an X sperm (female) or a Y sperm (male). They say the X-bearing sperm (female) has a heavier molecular density. In my terms, that means slow and strong. Meanwhile the Y sperm (male) is lighter – meaning fast but weaker. From what I see, this sounds about right. LOL!
Dr. Shettles theory, in the simplest form, is based on “deposit” timing. Have intercourse before you ovulate if you want a girl or during ovulation if you want a boy.
How does that work?
Let’s say I will ovulate on Sept. 5. For a girl, I would have intercourse on September 1 or 2. In theory, all the Y sperm will peter out before I drop and egg. This would leave only X sperm left hanging around at the meet-up point to fertilize the egg. It would be the exact opposite for a boy. I would have sex during ovulation so the faster boys would get to my tube first and meet and egg there – not have to try and hold out for an egg to come. Boys just aren’t that patient.
With this information in mind, what’s my plan?
For the past two 45 days, I have been tracking my cycle. The entire timing method is based on knowing exactly when you ovulate. Dr. Shettles suggests checking and charting your cervical mucus from day to day.
I pulled out a notebook and pen but was quickly derailed by my husband who felt the mucus is easy to misread and an antiquated system.
There is also the Basal Body Temperature plan.
That just seemed time-intensive. You have to take your temperature with a special thermometer FIRST thing in the morning before ANY moving about. I’ve got two kids who will inevitably call my attention away EVERY morning before I can get a proper reading. So that’s out.
That leaves relying on mittlesmertz cross-checked with an ovulation predictor kit.
But now it gets tricky – and I’m horrible at math.
Up until a couple of months ago, I was on the pill for approximately three years. I was concerned about my system needing time to regulate itself being off the pill. Clearly for good reason.
Cycle 1:
LH Surge: I missed my LH surge because I stopped peeing on the stick too soon.
Ovulation: Day 16.
Period: Day 25
Cycle 2:
LH Surge: Day 13
Ovulation: Day 15
Period: Not known yet.
Hopefully it will either be Day 25 or Day 28. If it’s 25 – then that’s my system. It doesn’t leave me 14 days between ovulation and a period but it’s consistent. If it works out to Day 28, then that’s a normal, average cycle. Either way, I’d feel confident in then moving forward to actually predict a good time to make a deposit.
But of course, it’s not that simple…
