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The Best Sex Life in My Dreams
As unusual as this may sound but being pregnant has given me the best sex life of my life. This isn’t a first time occurrence either. Every pregnancy I have had has triggered these fantastic hormones that have given rise to the best perk of being pregnant. The twist on what seems to be unusual in the first place is that this fantastic sex life is occurring in my dreams.
Everyone hears about teenage boys experiencing “wet dreams” but not a single person has ever mentioned to me that the same phenomena are experienced by pregnant women. So, I write this not to brag or to be some sort of voyeur rather I wanted other pregnant women out there to know that they are not alone. In fact, I thought I might be the only one until I had mentioned this to a girlfriend and she admitted that she herself had enjoyed this little benefit of being pregnant.
Men don’t think you are out in the cold on this equation. You can take advantage of your wife’s raging hormones too. Just don’t be afraid of her every changing form. Think of it as a new adventure for you both to experience.
Why are we so reluctant to talk about these wonderful dreams? Maybe it’s hard to think of ourselves as sexual beings while we are growing a baby in our belly? Maybe we don’t want to wound our husband’s fragile male ego? We happily talk about all the downsides to being pregnant so I would like to propose that we open up the forum to talk about the upsides as well. What perks has everyone else experienced?
Does sex matter? Conceiving a boy or girl
Why does sex really matter? Its something we all do when we first find out we are pregnant. We start imagining visions of pink or playing ball with our son. Outwardly we just say “we want a healthy baby” but deep down we do have a preference. We have a daughter and a son so since I am pregnant with our third and final baby you would think preference would not play into our thoughts and yet it still does.
My brother got himself in trouble recently when he proclaimed to the world that his 3rd child is going to be a boy. He made it clear that a girl wasn’t an option and in fact his wife didn’t even need to call and tell him what the results of the ultrasound was because he was 100% sure that it was a boy. It was as if he was daring God to deny him a second son and we all know what happens when you do that. IT’S A GIRL!
I am a planner; I love to think I have control in my life by setting aside a plan. We planned our first born; a girl. Then we decided to plan a second. Since we had a girl we decided to try for a boy. I did some research and found several good articles and suggestions. The information provided was so scientific and since there really wasn’t any down side to “trying” we followed the Shettles Method. Nine months later we gave birth to our son. Do I believe that this method really works? I believe you have a 50/50 shot at a boy or a girl and we would be silly to believe we have any control over this miracle than faith alone. I do believe there is a plan; we just aren’t the one’s doing the planning.
Basically, men produce two types of sperms, the X (female) and Y (male). According to Dr. Shettles‘ studies the y-sperms are smaller, weaker, but faster than their siblings x-sperms, which are bigger, stronger, but slower. Based on this fact, there are several things you can do to “favor” the conception of boys or girls:
(1) The most important aspect of all is timing of intercourse during the monthly cycle. The closer to ovulation you have sex, the better the chances to have a boy, because the y-sperms are faster and tend to get to the egg first. If you have sex 3 days or more before ovulation, the better your chances to conceive a girl, because the weaker y-sperms tend to die sooner and the x-sperms will be available in greater quantity whenever the egg is released. On the other hand, having sex from 2 days before ovulation, through a few days after ovulation, is better for conceiving a boy. Around the 2-day point — 48 hours before ovulation — seems to be the 50/50 mark.
(2) The pH of the women’s tract is also very important. A more acidic environment favors girls, since it will kill the weaker y-sperms first, leaving a greater quantity of x-sperms available to fertilize the egg. On the other hand, a more alkaline environment favors boys.
· Diet high in potassium and sodium for a boy.
· Diet high in calcium and magnesium for a girl.
Note: Some women are naturally very acidic and have a hard time conceiving boys.
(3) Position of intercourse and depth of penetration are important, partly because of pH. The closer to the entrance to the vagina, the more acidic the women’s tract is. Also, deep penetration places the sperm closer to the egg, and gives those aggressive boy sperms a head start :-). So, a shallow penetration will favor girls and a deeper will favor boys. Shettles recommends missionary-position for a girl, and rear-entry (dog-style) for a boy.
(4) Women’s orgasms can also be important. It also has to do with pH. When a woman has an orgasm, the body releases some kind of substance that makes the environment more alkaline, favoring boys. He recommends no orgasms when trying for girls!
(5) The sperm count is another factor. Obviously, a low sperm count to begin with doesn’t favor either sex. But a high sperm count favors boys. Shettles recommends three things:
(a) When trying for a boy, don’t have sex for 3- 4 days before you reach the target date a day or two before ovulation! For girls, have sex everyday from day=1 or day=5 (”cleaner” :-)), and stop 3 days before ovulation.
(b) Shettles recommends that for boys, the man wear loose underwear only — that is, men who usually wear briefs or other tight underwear should switch to boxers. The idea is the same as wearing boxers to increase overall fertility — the testicles need cooler temperatures for sperms to survive, and the Y-sperms, since they are weaker, will be helped more than the X-sperms by this method. However, Shettles does NOT recommend the opposite, that men wear briefs for a girl — this will just decrease overall fertility.
(c) Also, for a girl, the man is supposed to take a hot bath immediately before intercourse. “Room temperature” is fine for a boy. The idea is the same as the briefs versus boxers — give the X- sperms an advantage.
(6) Finally, in trying for a boy, Shettles recommends a nice cup of caffeinated coffee for the man, right before sex — he isn’t clear on how or why this works, but apparently it gives the Y-sperms a jolt!
Will it Be a Boy or a Girl? Predicting and Influencing Gender
http://www.ovulation-calculator.com/pregnancy/gender-prediction.htm
Tried, But Not Always True - Methods to Choose Baby’s Sex Range From
New Tech to Old Ideas
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/Living/gender_selection_methods_040419.html
Does the Shettles Method Really Work?
http://preconception.com/resources/articles/choosep2.htm
http://preconception.com/resources/articles/truth.htm
Ovulation Calendar
http://www.ovulation-calendar.com/
Fertility Calculator:
http://www.planbaby.com/fertilitycalculator.html
Boy or girl? 38 fun ways to guess your baby’s sex
http://www.parentsplace.com/pregnancy/getready/articles/0,,239007_432032,00.html
More Old Wives Tales and Folklore:
http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/preconception/gettingpregnant/7061.html
A Few Suggestions to help Induce Labor Naturally
Helping Baby on its Way.
OK, there is no sure fire way to coax baby out of the womb other than time. You can’t really blame baby for wanting to stay in a nice warm cozy place, where food comes on demand, mommy is readily available and of course no need for that uncomfortable diaper. PLUS, shortly after baby comes out you will be wishing the baby was still in.
- SEX. Yes, you are capable of this physically and logistically however, this may not seem all that appealing to you OR your partner. Believe me, when I mentioned to Rick that we may need to go down this path there was a certain amount of fear and apprehension when he agree.
- "Stripping membranes ." What your doctor is talking about is essentially just an aggressive pelvic exam in which he will feel around just inside your cervix where the membranes ("bag of water") are attached to its rim. By running an examining finger around the inside of your cervix, he can separate the amniotic sac from where it’s stuck there. Theoretically, this will allow the bridging molecules that stick the membranes to the inside rim of the cervix to break–all at a molecular level, mind you–and so be released and then converted into prostaglandins, which are powerful stimulants of labor. This DOES hurt or at the very least uncomfortable. It worked for me so it’s worth a shot if you are ready for baby.
- Pedicure. There is no really down side to trying this. You haven’t been able to touch your toes for month so they could probably use some TLC PLUS, when you are getting ready to push and the nurse comments on how nice your toes look you will know it was all worth while. Some people swear by this and I can say that just hours after I had a pedicure I gave birth to my son.
- Walking. Next to having sex this is second most action item you would rather not be doing. All this did for me was make my kankles grow to state-puff marshmallow-man proportion. Much like taking the dog for a walk my husband took this as an opportunity to get his work-out in. I waddled myself into a sweaty lather with not a lot of progress to show for it.
- Stimulating your nipples. Nope, not a joke and yes your doctor my recommend it. This ranks up there with walking and sex.
- Fresh pineapple. There are several different food sources that claim they will help start labor but since you will be eating any way this is rather painless.