Do you really want to know? Some couples choose to find out if they are having a boy or a girl from the moment they get pregnant, others know ahead of time that they want to be surprised. Other couples disagree, or don’t decide until the second trimester, when they are lying on the table having their ultrasound done and the technician asks, “Do you want to know the sex?”

The gender of your baby has much more importance than whether or not you are having a boy or a girl. In some cultures it is very important for there to be a son, and couples will try to have a son first. Some families have seconds and thirds, and want to have a boy so that they will have a fourth. Some families have an uneven number of boys and girls, so they hope to get the sex they need to even out their family.

Finding out ahead of time whether or not you are having a boy or a girl, helps the parents who are planning on doing a nursery and buying their child’s entire wardrobe prior to the birth of their baby. Newborn clothes primarily come in blue for boys and pinks for girls, with the occasional greens and purples mixed in. If you don’t know the sex it might be difficult to buy clothes as the choices for unisex clothes in greens, reds, yellows and oranges can be hard to find. Likewise there are a lot of nursery theme choices that cater to boys and girls, but fewer that can work for either sex. For the well organized parents, finding out the sex of their baby well before birth is the best way for them to plan for the arrival.

However, some parents choose to enjoy the element of surprise. They want to wait until the birth when their baby is laid on their belly where they can look between the legs and see the sex for themselves, or have the midwife or doctor announce loudly, “It’s a ….!” These parents buy the unisex clothes, although may choose to save money so that they can go on a big shopping spree after the baby is born, and only buy the clothes they will need in the first couple of weeks after birth. These parents will also choose to decorate their nursery in colors and patterns that can be utilized for either a boy or a girl baby.

There is no right or wrong answer to the question, “Do you want to know?” It is a personal choice made by each individual couple. It is often common for the answer to change several times, before that big day

by Jennifer Gove

I remember when my daughter was born. Visions of her and I dressed in pinks and purples sitting in her lacy pink room playing dolls danced threw my head. A year later my son was born ;My husbands vision of sports and trucks revved around like mad men threw his manly mind.

Those dreams were simply that dreams. Little did I know there are lessons for parents to learn about children’s toys and who are children will be.

My daughter plays with dolls. She plays with clay and gets her hands dirty. She plays in the dirt, climbs trees and races her trucks around ,he plays kick ball , base ball and can run as fast as any boy.

My son plays with trucks and builds with blocks, he colors and plays ps2 and he plays house with my girls rocking babies and feeding them.

There was a time my husband would bark to my son “Put down that doll!” until we came to the realization that play is really a child’s preparation for real life. Our daughter was learning sportsmanship and how to be a team player from all the sports she played. My son was learning compassion and parenting skills from those dolls. It’s amazing to me to watch my son now with his baby brother…I can see the compassion he has learned threw us and his play and I know some day he will be a good father I see my daughter line up her brothers and sister for a game of kick ball. And I see how she has learned to take the lead and take charge. I know some day in what ever she put her mind to see will be a success.

My message to parents is not to limit their child. Toys and sports are learning tools for life and they shouldn’t carry a gender.

By the way…my daughter and I play but its not dolls….many days you can find us all at the beach…covered in muddy sand driving our big Tonka’s™ .

© 2004-2005 Jennifer Gove
www.simplymoms.com

About The Author
Jennifer is a stay at home mother of eight.Living on the coast of Maine. To visit her parenting site that include more aticles, forums and chat go to www.simplymoms.com/forums. zjgim@hotmail.com

Also known as the Chinese Pregnancy Chart or Pregnancy Calendar, this chart is supposed to predict the sex of your baby based on how old you were in the month that you conceived.

As rumor has it, this chart was found buried in a royal tomb around the year 1000, and is on display at the Beijing Institute of Science in China. No one claims for it to be completely true and accurate so don’t base your attempts at trying to conceive on it, or decorate your nursery by the chart before the doctor tells you the sex of your baby.

It is fun, but how accurate is it really? Some people swear it has been correct for all their children. It was correct for my third son, but wrong on both of my first two children. It is a lot of fun guessing however at the sex of the baby and taking bets with family and friends on if the Chinese Conception Chart is accurate or not.

Month of Conception

Age Of Mother At Conception

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

18

F

M

F

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

19

M

F

M

F

F

M

M

F

M

M

F

F

20

F

M

F

M

M

M

M

M

M

F

M

M

21

M

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

22

F

M

M

F

M

F

F

M

F

F

F

F

23

M

M

M

F

M

M

F

F

F

M

M

F

24

M

F

F

M

M

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

25

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

M

M

26

M

M

M

M

M

F

M

F

F

M

F

F

27

F

F

M

M

F

M

F

F

M

F

M

M

28

M

M

M

F

F

M

F

M

F

F

M

F

29

F

M

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

F

F

30

M

M

F

M

F

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

31

M

M

M

M

F

F

M

F

M

F

F

F

32

M

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

M

F

M

33

F

M

M

F

F

M

F

M

F

M

M

F

34

M

M

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

F

F

35

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

36

M

F

M

M

M

F

M

M

F

F

F

F

37

F

F

M

F

F

F

M

F

F

M

M

M

38

M

M

F

F

M

F

F

M

F

F

M

F

39

F

F

M

F

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

40

M

M

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

F

M

41

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

F

M

F

M

F

42

M

F

F

M

M

M

M

M

F

M

F

M

43

F

M

F

F

M

M

M

F

F

F

M

M

44

M

F

F

F

M

F

M

M

F

M

F

M

45

F

M

F

M

F

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

]]> http://www.babiesonline.com/articles/ttc/chineseconceptionchart.asp/feed 4 http://www.babiesonline.com/articles/ttc/canyouchoosesex.asp http://www.babiesonline.com/articles/ttc/canyouchoosesex.asp#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:11:49 +0000 admin http://208.79.203.56/articles/ttc/canyouchoosesex.asp

Is it possible to plan having a baby in a way as to choose whether you will have a boy or a girl? Many experts say yes! There are some theories that make sense others which have been medically proven. Still some people believe it, others don’t.

Choosing the Sex of Your Baby
A popular book written by Landrum B. Shettles, and David M. Rorvik How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby goes over the basics of this popular idea. The ideas revolve around when you have intercourse, how you have intercourse, what the man drinks before having intercourse, the speed of sperm and more.

It is generally believed in the medical reproductive community that once an egg is released and enters the fallopian tube that it is able to be fertilized for approximately 24 hours. Research has shown that sperm also has a “shelf life”, however it is different for the male and female sperm. Female sperm swims slower but is stronger and lives longer, while male sperm is faster but weaker and will die earlier than female sperm.

Per Dr. Shettles theory, if the results of research is true and the female sperm lives longer but is slower moving than the male, then if a couple wants a girl they should have intercourse at 3-5 days prior to ovulation, but then stop till after the woman ovulates. This will increase the chance of ONLY female sperm being alive when the sperm comes in contact with the egg. On the other hand, if a couple wants to have a boy they should refrain from having intercourse until 2 days prior to ovulation and then have intercourse daily until ovulation has occurred. It has also been suggested that a man drink a big cup of caffeinated coffee or a big caffeinated soft drink before intercourse to help give the boy sperm an extra little push.

The position is also important as it is believed that deeper penetration will help the sperm reach the egg faster. It is suggested that if you are trying for a girl to have intercourse in the missionary (man on top) position and if you are trying for a boy to have intercourse doggie-style which will get the sperm there quicker. In relation, during an orgasm a woman’s body releases a substance that makes the environment more alkaline which favors boy sperm, so if you are trying for a girl the woman should refrain from orgasm’s during intercourse.

Sperm count also affects a woman’s conception of a boy or a girl. If a man has a low sperm count it doesn’t help the case for either the boy or girl, but if they have a high sperm count the chances lean more towards a boy than girl. There are some suggestions that you can do to help lower the sperm count a little helping out the girl sperm a little bit. If you want a girl have sex daily from the time your period ends until 4-5 days before ovulation. Another suggestion is for the man to sit in a hot bath prior to intercourse since the hot temperatures will kill off some of the weaker, male sperm leaving more female sperm.

Dr. Shettles only claims that the ideas in his book work 70-75% of the time for those trying to conceive a girl and 75-80% of the time for those trying to conceive a boy. Before you try it you should definitely buy the book to see all the tips, hints and suggestions the authors have for you.

Not everyone believes that the Shettles Method is the way to go, or at least that ALL of the ideas that Shettles has makes sense. However, most agree with the idea that the timing of ovulation and conception go hand in hand.

Some women do natural family planning where they focus on taking morning temps so that they know when they are going to ovulate, when they have already ovulated and can plan out the times that they will have intercourse. Doing this also helps a woman see a pattern in her cycle.

Other women focus on using an ovulation predictor kit where they pee on a stick and as they body starts getting closer to ovulation they will see a line that gets darker and darker. They use this stick to tell them when they are about to ovulate and when they are ovulating as to determine when to “do the deed” in hopes of having the boy or girl that they want.

There is no right or wrong way to have a baby. As a couple, if you are trying, it is important to remember to have fun and not make intercourse a “job” as you try to get pregnant. As long as you can be happy with whatever sex of baby you conceive, then it will be easy to enjoy the entire process.

by: Abigail Beal

Are you going to a baby shower? Gifts for babies are always so cute – here are some ideas to create gift wrapping that is just as adorable as the gift you are giving.

If you know the baby is expected to be a boy or a girl, sometimes it is fun to wrap a gift in “baby boy blue” or “baby girl pink” – but remember we have many other colors in the rainbow to choose from! Here are some other options to get your creative juices flowing.

Going to a shower and the mother is not sure if the baby is going to be a boy or a girl? Wrap the baby gift in white paper and tie the gift with two ribbons instead of one – use one pink and one blue. Tie the blue and pink ribbons together and tape to the back of the package. Then have the ribbon form a bow on the front of the package from the two colors of ribbon.

Want to add a cute topping to any baby shower package? Add a rattle, teething ring, baby mittens, hairbow, small picture frame, Christmas ornament or a small stuffed animal. All of these items can be fastened with the ribbon you tie the gift with – and these items can also be used by the baby.

Love teddy bears? Do a teddy bear gift wrap! Use gift wrap paper that has teddy bears on it, or a soft cocoa colored gift wrap paper. But a small teddy bear on the top of your package and tie with a brown or a white bow. You can often find teddy bear rattles or teething rings that have teddy bears on them.

Quack quack quack! Wrap with a duck theme! Use yellow paper or paper with ducks on it and tie with a large orange ribbon. Top your gift with a traditional yellow rubber duck.

For a pretty look for a spring baby shower consider a very floral look. Wrap a gift with floral or plain but colored paper. Use a green or purple ribbon and tie it in a bow. Top the package with some fresh spring flowers. Cut the stems of the flowers very short. Add the flowers the morning of the baby shower for best presentation.

Does the baby have an older sibling? Consider giving a small gift to this sibling. A new baby is often a hectic time and seeing their new brother or sister get so many gifts can sometimes be overwhelming, and leave many children feeling a little forgotten. Consider getting an older sibling a storybook or a stuffed animal as a special big brother/big sister gift.

About The Author
Abigail Beal © 2004 Abigail Beal a.k.a. “the Gift-wrap Goddess” teaches gift wrap in suburban New York. She is the author of 2 ezines: GiftWrapGoddessWraps and CreativeCraftsTeachers. To subscribe: groups.yahoo.com/group/CreativeCraftsTeachers/, groups.yahoocom/group/GiftWrapGoddessWraps/ contact: creativecraftsteachers@yahoo.com, giftwrapgoddess@yahoo.com

By Rebecca Johnson

There are many great options available when it comes to decorating a baby boy’s room. Whether you choose to use a theme or to just keep it neutral, you can create a great room for your new baby boy.

If it’s a theme you are interested in, here are some popular ones for a baby boy nursery:

Noah’s Ark – is a cute and popular nursery theme for a baby boy’s room. Animals in pairs and arks can be used to accessorize the room.