We Have An Announcement....!!!

After much discussion, Nils and I have decided to begin trying for baby #2, hopefully a boy!!

I will be going off my oral contraceptives on February 11th (funny because not only is that the end of my pill pack, not including those placebo "reminder" pills, but also because it's our wedding anniversary!). We will be charting my fertility for a while...how long exactly, we haven't decided. We may begin actively trying straightaway or we might just hold off and continue charting for a few months to get a better look at my cycles to pinpoint ovulation. Sorry if I get too personal! Anyhow, we'd like to try the Shettles Method as we are wanting a boy.

It is the sperm that fertilizes the egg that will determine the sex of your baby. Some sperm carry the X-chromosome and some sperm carry the Y-chromosome. If an X-chromosome-carrying sperm fertilizes the egg, the baby will be a girl. If a Y-chromosome-carrying sperm fertilizes the egg, the baby will be a boy.

The idea behind the Shettles Method of sex selection is based on the premise that the X and Y chromosome carrying sperm have different characteristics and that under different circumstances either X- or Y-chromosome-carrying sperm will be more likely to fertilize the egg.


The Y-chromosome-carrying sperm are said to:

• be faster and smaller than the X-chromosome carrying sperm.
• die faster than the X-chromosome-carrying sperm.

The X-chromosome-carrying sperm are said to:

• be slower than the Y-chromosome carrying sperm.
• be better able to withstand the acidic cervical environment before fertile cervical fluid is produced.

Based on these premises, according to Shettles, you can time intercourse, choose a sexual position that favors conception of your preferred sex and influence the reproductive environment to increase the likelihood of conceiving your preferred sex, which of course, in our situation, would be a boy. Of course, God has the final say in what we have, when and if we have anything, but it certainly isn't gonna hurt to try, right?

Last night I went out and bought some prenatal vitamins (gonna get my body as healthy as possible from the start) and  a BBT thermometer which to me looks like a regular digital thermometer but came with a ovulation tracking chart. I am kinda familiar with fertility charting as I briefly begun charting when Nils and I were planning on having Shaylee. I signed up to receive lessons, 20 in all, emailed me directly from FertilityFriend.com, the site I am using for charting. You can learn more about charting by checking out these series of short educational videos which introduces you to the basics of fertility charting by clicking here.

So that's all for now. We will keep you posted with the updates on how we are doing as we begin this adventure!