To ask how to conceive a boy?

[ChickenLickenSticken]

At my 10 day check with dd my midwife said "well done getting a girl, they are harder to conceive... Next time if you want a boy, give me a shout and I'll tell you how"... She's got nearly 40 years mw experience so I kind of believe her, but am not going to ring the doctors surgery and ask them o ask her for me!!

Do any of you lot know what she banging on about?? Surely any tips are purely anecdotal?

I remember hearing that girl sperm and boy sperm survive/swim differently but can't remember what way round.

Day 3 of ewcm here and whilst we're not ttc for a couple of months it'd be interesting to know these things, even if they are all a bit pie in the sky??

So come one, tell me your experiences and tips of choosing your baby's gender?

DH really wanted a boy. I followed a diet rich in sodium and potassium (and slightly above my calorie needs) for 2 months before TTC, we had sex on the day I ovulated.
We now have a lovely 9 m.o. daughter!

I know some people go to desparate measures to get a certain sex. I remember listening to a radio prog once that said the more of one sex you have then the more likely it is that you will have the same sex again. I can't remember the science though. I had boy, boy, girl, girl, girl, boy.

desperate , even.

@ Tortington

Yes, have sex after ovulation for a boy - either use a ov test, take your temp (should be a slight rise ?), or have sex when you really fancy it ! (I heard thoroughly enjoying it is good for conceiving boys too )

Have sex before ovulation for a girl, and then have a gap - so yes, slightly more boring, routine type sex maybe ?

I have one of each, girl first after a year of TTC
DS (DC2) conceived soon after TTC again.

Maybe those with both have more variety in their sex life !

I like to think there are things you can do to help things along, especially timing wise.

And of course boys and girls are equally wonderful. Good luck to all whichever you'd like BTW I'd have been equally happy with a second girl, but love my boy too.

It's all down to your man...

There is no way to make sure you have a DS.

As Tee says, have sex, if you're lucky enough to conceive, you're blessed and have a 50/ 50 chance.

Sperm count apparently can affect the gender in addition to the timing, a higher sperm count is more likely to produce a boy and sex needs to be very close to ovulation. It's a theory and only likely to sway the odds ever so slightly. There are books on amazon all about it.

It is well hard to conceive a girl. I mean, look how rare they are. Like orchids.

I want some of what your midwife has been smoking.

My ex impregnated me with more than the usual amount of boys. He said he "knew how to put them up there" and it was God's will so I should just accept it. For further info on putting a boy up there see my ex.

Incidentally God then decided I should divorce him and he just had to accept that....

Four boys conceived here (1 successful pg though) all planned to the nth degree. DD was a total mistake conceived against medical advice whilst I underwent tests. Only pg to get to term!! Dunno if that helps but I'd say be grateful for ever single healthy baby that's born.

It's all a load of bollocks. You have sex, you get a 50-50 chance of conceiving a boy or girl, as most of the other posters say. It's also bollocks that families have some genetic predisposition to having mostly boys of girls; it really all is chance and coincidence, even if it doesn't appear that way.

Even if you do all the old wives tales stuff to help you conceive a particular sex, and you did conceive that sex, it won't be those things that did it, it will still be a coincidence.

And Juggling, I am, I don't doubt, one of a gazillion MNers who could tell you that they conceived a boy through sex before ovulation. The chance of conceiving after ovulation is about 5%. I imagine that most women who think they have conceived after it were actually wrong about the precise timing of that specific ovulation.

How dull would the world be without people like your MW OP?

have sex with any of the men who were the partners of women in my antenatal group when I had my first child?! 9 years later, as a random group of people, we have yet to produce a girl!

Anecdotally, I think there may be something in the theory that some women are more likely to conceive a certain sex. There are a lot of boys in my family, more than you'd expect, whereas my friend's family haven't produced a boy in several generations.

Dr Miriam Stoppard gives advicev in her pregnancy book about this subject so if the midwife is nuts so dr Miriam!

I'm not sure it is actually 50:50 - I think there are usually genetic factors at play - but I certainly don't think there is a surefire way to determine sex and it is incredibly unprofessional of the midwife to suggest there is.

I have heard the male sperm swim faster, girl sperm live longer thing.

We have four boys and one girl and didn't do anything different, and I have been asked by people if we did!

Anecdotally I also donated eggs and my recipient had twin boys, so maybe my eggs are more receptive to male sperm?

thetrack Dr Miriam Stoppard trained as a dermatologist so yes, probably nuts..

Hey OxfordBags I know it's not an exact science ! But boys may tend to be conceived closer to ovulation than girls (as apparently the XX for girls survives longer but is slower than the super speedy but more quickly exhausted XY sperm for a boy) No stamina these boys right from the off

I know it's mainly old wives stuff but I pretty much am an old wife these days, and I'm only chatting on an internet forum. But fair enough if slightly before ovulation is more likely to work for a boy (if that's what you want) than slightly afterwards.

My mum tried desperately to conceive a boy.

She tried diets, specialists who claimed to be able to help, positions, timing sex, just about everything.

She got girls continuously, one after the other.

It's like poker. You can put your lucky pants on and try any one of a number of techniques, but in the end it's down to luck.

Thanks all.

I've stocked up on strawberry lollipops, put fake tan on one leg, located an elm tree in the garden and perfected my bark. Just need that damn full moon and we should be cooking with boy gas.

Joking aside, we're starting to think about our second baby and will ultimately be delighted if I fall pregnant. The gender is irrelevant really. Either would be just super. Maybe I'll resurrect this thread if / when dc2 has arrived and let you all know!

I conceived dd by having sex about 5 days before I was due to ovulate. Was the only time that month we had sex. He does also come from a family of girls (4 sisters) so maybe just more likely. I do believe some what about the timing thing though

DH is one of 5 boys. His brothers have all had girls except one who had twin boy/girl so no rhyme or reason to that theory visualiseahorse

I heard that a girls heartbeat was faster and a boys slower so opposite to what you heard bogeyface and DD was 140bpm so we guessed she must be a girl and obviously she was but it may just be coincidence

You get what you're given and every baby is a miracle.

Oooh yes, I conceived DD 3 days before ovulation too so there could be some truth in it or it could just have been luck...