The first time we got pregnant we didn’t try to have a specific result of boy or girl; we were still new at the baby dancing game. The second time around we really wanted a boy, so I read a couple articles on the Shettles Method of gender selection and figured we’d give it a try.
The basic rules for increasing your chances of a boy:
• Time intercourse as close to ovulation as possible.
• Position yourselves so as to deposit sperm as close to the cervix as possible.
• Female orgasm helps provide “male” sperm the most favorable environment.
You can find more details about the method here and here. I had charted several cycles before we started the Shettles Method, so I was able to recognize a pattern of my waking temperature dropping about two days before it spiked up. This generally confirmed ovulation. With this in mind, we would wait until I saw the drop before we made love.
The practice was stressful since it was my responsibility to get this right. I knew the temp drop was my average cycle, so there was a lot of pressure on me to time things correctly. If I do ending trying the Shettles Method again, I might try using either ovulation strips or a prediction kit to take some of the stress out for me. Either way I think I’ll have more fun with the process when trying to conceive. I think making it a game each cycle to guess when I’ll ovulate and if I can get the timing right for either a boy or girl. “If we do it today I think it would be perfect for a girl” or “if we wait until Friday, it should be perfect for a boy.” It’s just another way charting can be fun.
By the way, we had a boy!
