Lovemaking Positions to Predict Gender

 

For centuries, people have been trying to figure out exactly what they should do in order to conceive a boy. Of course, this mattered a lot more in cultures where male offspring were preferred; in the case of famous royalty like Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, for example, it proved to be fatal.

Today, couples certainly like to try to predict their baby’s gender, and may simply prefer to have a boy or a girl. After all, if you’ve already got two daughters, it might be nice to have a son.

There are all sorts of things you can do to try to encourage your baby to be conceived either male or female, some of which work and most of which don’t. For example, there are old wives tales that tell you to eat dessert on the night of conception if you want a girl, but meat and salty foods if you want a boy.

Chinese gender selection charts will tell you that the actual date of conception has something to do with whether you have a boy or a girl. Obviously you can try to follow these, but there’s nothing in the way of scientific proof to back up the theory.

In the 1960s, Dr. Shettles proposed the idea that the timing and position of lovemaking could impact the gender of your baby. Dr. Shettles looked at the differences between boy-producing and girl-producing sperm, and ptu together techniques for conception based on those characteristics.

For example, Dr. Shettles suggested that boy-producing sperm is less hearty, and needs more help in getting to the cervix. Deeper penetration, then – such as occurs in missionary position or in man-behind position – would be more likely to conceive a boy. It’s also important in the Shettles method to have sex as near ovulation as possible, as that’s when the woman’s cervical mucus is most friendly to boy-producing sperm.

The good news is this: even if the method you use to try to conceive a child of a specific gender doesn’t have much in the way of scientific backing, you always have a 50% chance of conceiving the gender you’re hoping for. 

Needle or Wedding Ring Gender Prediction Method

Wedding Bands

This an easy baby gender prediction method to try. Take a pin, needle, or wedding ring and attach it to a thread or strand of hair. Hold the dangling item over mom to be’s belly while she is lying down. If the needle or wedding ring swings in a strong circular motion, you will be having a girl. If it moves in a to and fro motion like a pendulum, you will be having a boy.

An alternate version of this baby gender prediction method is to dangle the needle or wedding ring over the expectant mom’s wrist instead of belly.

More Myths about Baby’s Gender

If there’s anything for certain about pregnancy, it’s that myths abound. Whether it’s medical myths, nutritional myths or even myths about morning sickness, you have to be careful about what you do and don’t believe.

One of the most common areas of myth in pregnancy is knowing a baby’s gender. Of course, an ultrasound or even genetic testing can tell you your baby’s gender, but most of the other well-known methods of gender determination are completely false.

Here are a few of those myths. While they may not be accurate, they can be fun to think about:

  • If you are carrying your baby low, it’s going to be a boy. If you’re carrying high, it’ll be a girl.
  • If you tend to grow outward, it’s most likely a boy. If you grow in width, it’s a girl.
  • If you have morning sickness all day long, it’s a girl. Just at one time of day, it’s a boy.
  • If your baby’s heartbeat is greater than 140 beats per minute, it’s a girl. Lower, it’s a boy. This used to be commonly accepted, but we now know that a baby’s heart rate isn’t affected at all by its gender until after it is born.
  • You can hang your wedding ring over your belly with a strand of the father’s hair. If the ring swings back and forth, it’s a boy. If the ring makes a circular motion, it’s a girl.
  • Mix your urine with Drano. If it turns brown, it’s a boy. If it turns blue or green, it’s a girl. (Of course, be safe here and avoid the harsh fumes that can often accompany Drano.
  • What are you craving? If you crave chocolate, you’re having a sweet little girl. If you’re craving more sour or bitter foods, such as pickles or lemons, it’s from that sour little boy inside.
  • If your face is round and rosy, you’re going to have a girl. If not, you’ll have a boy.
  • If your husband gains weight during your pregnancy, it’s going to be a girl. If not, it’ll be a boy.

Morning Sickness and Gender

There are many different ways that people have used, in the past, to try to predict their baby’s gender. From the famous “Drano” test to looking at how your baby is carried, most of these techniques for determining gender, while they may be fun to discuss, aren’t going to necessarily be accurate. The fact of the matter is that any given method of predicting your baby’s gender has a 50% chance of being correct, as there are only two genders to pick from. One of the ways that people have used to try to determine their baby’s gender is to think about their morning sickness.

There are those who think that severe morning sickness indicates a boy, while less or no morning sickness would indicate that you are going to have a girl. The reasoning behind this is that boys tend to be more “difficult” or “sour” than girls, and thereby cause problems with the woman’s belly. Of course, there are also those on the other side of things that think that severe morning sickness means that you are going to have a girl. Even among the myths about gender, there isn’t exactly complete agreement.

There are other myths beyond morning sickness about how to determine your baby’s gender. For many years it was actually believed in the medical community that gender could be determined by the heart rate of your baby. If your baby’s heart rate was more than 140 beats per minute, it was thought that you were going to have a boy. Recent scientific studies, however, have proven that this just isn’t necessarily the case. There is not a measurable difference in the heart rate of boys or girls while still in the womb.

There is, really, one effective way to determine your baby’s gender, and that is with an ultrasound. By locating the genitals on an ultrasound, the ultrasound technician or health care provider can determine your baby’s gender. In this regard, it is important to know whether the person using the ultrasound actually sees the labia, if they believe it to be a girl. Not seeing a penis is not enough to be certain that your baby will be a boy.

Baby Gender Prediction: Scientific Methods

English: A sleeping male baby with his arm ext...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

There are literally dozens of different ways you can try to predict your baby’s gender. Keeping in mind that there are only two choices, any method you choose is going to be right half of the time. Before you go out to buy pink bows or blue elephants to decorate the nursery, however, you might want to wait until you have a verifiable, proven method of baby gender prediction.

There are, essentially, three scientific methods that will allow you to predict your baby’s gender with accuracy:

  1. Ultrasound. This is the way that most of us figure out whether we’re going to have a boy or a girl. The ultrasound at your regular prenatal appointment around 18 to 20 weeks should give you a good idea. As long as the baby cooperates  and the technician can get a view of the genital area, this method will be able to predict whether you’re going to have a boy or a girl in about 85% of cases. While there is some room for human error, it’s nowhere near the 50% of the unscientific methods.
  2.  

  3. Amniocentesis. Chances are you’re not going to have amniocentesis without another reason. It’s an invasive procedure, with a limited amount of risk to your baby. Usually, an amniocentesis and the accompanying CVS (chorionic villus sampling) are used to identify genetic disorders and chromosome abnormalities, including Down Syndrome. If you have an amniocentesis done, however, you can know your baby’s gender with around 99% accuracy.
  4.  

  5. Prenatal DNA testing. This is the costliest of the scientific methods of baby gender prediction. It actually tests a sample of the mother’s blood, which will contain certain DNA elements from her baby. The high cost generally prevents it from happening, and it is almost never used solely for baby gender prediction. This kind of testing is 100% accurate in terms of gender prediction.

So, there you have it. While dangling your wedding ring above your belly or looking at your belly to see if you’re carrying low or high can be fun ways to speculate about your baby’s gender, the only methods with any degree of certainty are the scientific methods.

 

Signs You Might Be Having a Girl

It's a Girl

 

If you’re like most parents-to-be, you just can’t wait for that 20-week ultrasound that will let you know, with almost certain accuracy, whether you’re having a boy or a girl. And, while Chinese gender prediction calendars and wedding ring tests might be fun to look at, there is, of course, no science behind them.

That doesn’t leave us with much, of course. There are a few factors that seem to be related to whether you’re having a girl that you can consider, however. Let’s take a look at some statistical reasons that suggest you might be more likely to conceive a girl:

  • You’re both 40 years old or over. Older couples are more likely to have a girl than a boy, by about a margin of 52% to 48%. It’s thought that this is because of changing hormones, and of the nature of female sperm and its ability to make the journey to fertilize an egg, which can be more difficult as we age.

  • You have severe morning sickness. This one sounds like an old wives’ tale, and to be sure the theory didn’t start in science. However, a review of several studies on hyperemesis gravidarum (severe morning sickness) showed that 55% of women who suffered from the condition had girls, while the rest had boys. This may be related to high levels of estrogen, which is thought to influence morning sickness.

  • You’re from a tropical climate and conceive your baby there. One study looked at birth data from around the world and showed that a greater percentage of girls are born in the region around the earth’s equator than anywhere else. Researchers aren’t sure, but this could be related to levels of melatonin or the temperature of the region altering the survival quality of male or female sperm.

  • The male partner’s job includes high stress. Several studies have looked at high stress jobs, including deep sea divers, professional drivers, submarine technicians and pilots and discovered that more girls are born to men who work in these professions.

Of course, the best way to know whether you’re having a girl is that faithful ultrasound. In the meantime, you can use some of these factors to try to make an educated baby gender prediction.

Drano / Draino Gender Prediction Method

This baby gender prediction method has been around for decades, and makes it’s rounds regularly on the web as a potential way to find out what gender your baby is.

The recipe to test this method is below, but it is NOT advisable that you try it as it produces very toxic fumes and the results are unreliable.

The drano / draino gender test should be performed after the 4 month of pregnancy.

This test must be performed outside in a glass / jar that holds can hold twice as much urine as you use as there is a bubbling, smelly, and caustic chemical reaction when you add your urine to the crystal drano.

What is needed for the Drano / Draino Gender Prediction Test:

  • Approximately 2 tablespoons of CRYSTAL Drano

  • Medium glass or glass jar. It is best to just throw the mixing glass away after performing this test.
  • Two to Three ounces of urine, preferably the first morning urine.

Take the test materials outside. Add your urine to the glass jar with the crystal drano in it. There will be a rapid chemical reaction and it is best to stay well away from the glass jar while the fumes are being produced.

When the reaction stops, observe the color of the test.

If the mixture darkens to a brownish color within the first 10 seconds – It is a boy.

If there is no darkening or color change after 10 – 15 seconds – It is a girl.

When you are done, you will need to carefully dispose of the mixture as it will have a very bad smell and still be very caustic.

The color results above are not very reliable as you will find many different variations of the colors in the results with people interpretting them all differently. This is not a reliable way to determine the gender of your baby, and could have serious side effects to the mom to be if the fumes are inhaled or the mixture gets on the skin. NOT RECOMMENDED as a baby gender prediction method.

History of Baby Gender Prediction

 

As long as there has been pregnancy, there have been parents who wanted to figure out their baby’s gender. While the story doesn’t expressly say so, you can almost picture Adam and Eve wondering whether their first baby would be a boy or a girl (spoiler: it’s a boy).

It kind of makes you wonder how long it took mankind to start trying to figure out ways of predicting babies’ gender. Until recent advances in ultrasound technology made gender prediction fairly accurate, it was impossible to know for sure whether you needed to buy pink paint or blue for the nursery. Still, that didn’t stop people from trying.

Was there some merit to ancient gender prediction methods, or were they all just old wives’ tales? We would be the first to acknowledge that they aren’t foolproof ways of predicting babies’ gender. Still, the fact that they have been believed by enough people for long enough to become part of our folklore would suggest that there is at least some merit to them. Even if there isn’t, it can be fun to use them to try to guess your baby’s gender.

Some of the more common wives’ tales used to predict babies’ genders are:

  • Examining how the baby sets. According to tradition, if you’re carrying your baby mostly in your hips, you are most likely having a girl. If you’re carrying more out front in the tummy, you’re likely having a boy.
  • Pendulum method. This method, which originated among gypsies, is likely superstition. Still, some believe that you can attach a ring, needle, or other pendulum to a thread and use it to predict gender. To do so, lie on your back and have someone hold the makeshift pendulum over your tummy. If it swings back and forth (like a typical pendulum), it’s a boy. If it swings in circles, it’s a girl.
  • Birth calendar. Chinese have traditionally believed that baby genders can be predicted using a birth calendar. These calendars (which can be readily found online) compare the mother’s age and the month of conception to determine your baby’s gender. Some claim as much as 90% accuracy. Of course, they generally also include a disclaimer stating that they are for entertainment purposes only.

Of course, if you want to know your baby’s gender for sure, your best bet these days is an ultrasound. Besides the fact that these are the most accurate at determining babies’ gender, they are generally provided as a normal part of prenatal care.