It's pretty well known that a few days in your fertility cycle can greatly favor having a son or a boy baby. This seems straightforward, but it can be trickier than it sounds. Because predicting and then conceiving on the correct day is vital if you are trying to have one gender over another. Conceiving early in your cycle improves your chances of conceiving a girl, so if you are wrong about your ovulation, or try even a day early, you can throw the whole plan off. This article will discuss some of the methods used to monitor (and ultimately predict) ovulation to help you conceive a son or boy, and why I think that a few are better and more accurate than the others.
Basal Temperature Method:This is probably the oldest method and it was used by many of our grandmothers. The basics of this is that you take your basal temperature (there is a special thermometer for this) at the same time every day and chart it. You begin on the first day of your menstrual period and keep going until you begin to menstruate again. As you connect the dots, you'll see that there is one point (about three days in your cycle) where your resting temperature shoots up a bit higher and stay that way for about three days. This is the point in your cycle when you have ovulated. To have the best chance of conceiving a son, you'll need to have intercourse on the day of or following your ovulation. So, it's important you know when this is.
But, here's where I think the basal method is lacking. First, you have to take the temperate at the same time every day – even on weekends. Second, to get a real feel of when you ovulate – month after month – you need to give it at least three months. Many people don't want to wait this long to get started. Third, other factors besides ovulation can effect your temperature. And probably the most important, this allows you to see WHEN you've ovulated, but it doesn't necessarily predict it unless you ovulate on the same day every month (many women don't.)
Cervical Mucus Method:With this method, you're supposed to collect and chart the consistency of your cervical / vaginal mucus each day. At the beginning of your cycle, you'll find that it is thicker and white. But, as the day when your egg can be fertilized approaches, it gets thinner, clear in color, and sort of sticky. (It's said to look like a raw egg white.) But, here's the problem as I see it with this method. Again, it doesn't give you much of a head's up. Once your mucus turns thin and clear, you pretty much have to jump into action. Also, there are other factors that can cause changes in your mucus that have nothing to do with ovulation. And finally, many women have noted their mucus just doesn't change all that much from one day to the next – making this really just a guessing game.
Urine Ovulation Predictors:In my opinion, ovulation predictors are far superior to the other methods I have discussed. They can at least give you some warning that the time is coming. With urine predictors, you will urinate on a little stick (much the same as a pregnancy test) and the stick with give you a little plus sign if ovulation is very near and a negative if it is not. This leaves much less room for mistakes and frustration. But, if there are some drawbacks, it is these. You have to urinate (first morning urine) at approximately the same time. And, you aren't given many sticks in a package. So, many women will actually run out before they get the plus sign.
Saliva Ovulation Predictors:Of all the ways to monitor your ovulation, this to me is the absolute best. The idea is the same as the urine predictors, but instead of urinating on a stick, you actually spit (not as gross as it sounds) on a little slide. There is a little microscope built into the predictor and your saliva will look a certain way as ovulation is approaching (even small changes can give you a big heads up.) This may sound technical, but it really isn't. You are given a little chart that makes it pretty easy. In my opinion, the advantage of these is that they are cheap, they are reusable, and you can use them at any time. No first morning urine is needed and you don't have to worry about running out.
Conceive A Boy is a website I set up to make the process of having a son a bit easier. I've included tips, hints, and resources (saliva ovulation predictors, ways to alter your acidity and PH, etc) to help couples who wish to conceive a son using natural and inexpensive methods. Check it out at /
