My Current Quest for baby #2

Let me tell you about what I have been doing for the past couple of months.....Tracking my ovulation.

Now, let me tell you why I have been tracking my ovulation for the past couple of months......To try and increase my chances at conceiving a girl.

When I tell people this I usually get the same responses. A) That's crazy, how will tracking your ovulation help your chances of having a girl, B) Why would you want a girl, so much drama, I would love to have all boys, C) Just be happy with whatever you get.

Let me address each one of those responses here:

A) By pinpointing the exact day of ovulation you increase your chance of conceiving, this applies to anyone trying to conceive regardless of gender preference. There are many different ways to track ovulation and I have only chosen to do a few. The first is a Basal Body Thermometer (BBT). You take your temperature at the same time every morning and over a few cycles, you'll see patterns that indicate when ovulation typically takes place for you. The other way I help pinpoint ovulation is through Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPK's). These are much like pregnancy tests except they test the monthly LH surge- the sudden increase in luteinizing hormone present in your urine just before you ovulate. The presence of the positive ovulation test indicates that you will likely ovulate within 12 to 36 hours. If you are trying to have a girl, you'll need to begin timing sex during the period at least 2 to 3 days before you anticipate ovulation to take place. This method favors the slower but larger and more resilient X-chromosome sperm (girls). Intercourse further away from ovulation favors the larger slower moving X (girl) sperm. The weaker Y (boy) sperm will die more quickly in the more acidic preovulatory vaginal / cervical secretions and by the time of ovulation there will be a much larger concentration of X (girl) sperm available to fertilize the egg. Hence, your chances of conceiving a girl are greatly increased. At least according to this theory of thinking known as the Shettles Method.

B) I'm glad that you would be happy with all boys but we are different and that's ok. Please don't judge my desire to have a daughter. And since when did having a girl automatically invoke people to say things like "Drama and Way more work than boys?" I'm here to tell you that I have a son and OMG he is a lot of work. I just think that boys and girls have different issues than each other, not to say that either are more or less easier to deal with on the whole parenting spectrum, just different. I also want a daughter for things like bows, pink, purple, glitter, dresses, accessories, shoes, dress up, shopping, girly movies, prom dress shopping, wedding planning, being a mother to my daughter when she is pregnant one day, long talks about boys and what all the celebrities are doing, this list could go on and on forever. And Yes, I am aware that not all girls are into all of these things but the likelihood that a girl would be more into some of these things over a boy is pretty high. I already have a son and know I will get to enjoy all the absolutely fabulous things usually associated with having a boy that you may not get to experience with a girl. So why wouldn't I want the same thing with a girl? Sorry I'm coming off so defensive but I have quite frankly been shocked at the response I have gotten to my desire to have a girl. You never hear the same reactions I have received when you hear a father express the desire to have a boy. It just kinda seems skewed to me. 

C) This response bugs me a lot. Of course I will be happy with whatever God decides to give us. But don't look at me like I just told you I'm going to steal the lady next to me on the OB floors baby girl when I tell you that I'm trying to increase my odds of having a girl by tracking ovulation. Seriously, it's not that big of a deal. Yes, I know that many people are desperate to have a child regardless of gender at all. I feel for these people (some of which are some of my readers) so badly and I can not imagine having to go through all the things that you have had to go through mentally and physically just to try and conceive at all. But I also think that it is OK to desire a child of a certain gender and not to be judged because of it.

So, that's my rant for the day. Thanks for listening. I'll try not to drive you all crazy as we begin this wild ride again into parenthood for the second time with all my bodily functions, mental ups and downs and just plain ole' TMI that seems to take over many women when they are trying to conceive and especially when they get pregnant. That could be a whole other post entirely. =)

Things I am currently obsessed with….

• Having a garage sale. I have never had one before and I can promise you this will be the last one I ever have! We have been trying to get everything together to have it for the past three weekends and it just hasn't worked out. But this weekend it has to happen. We borrowed tables from people and they must be returned.

• Blogging!!! I could spend hours reading about how to add blinkies, buttons, templates, backgrounds, headers and a million other things that I'm sure I haven't even discovered yet.

• Figuring out how to track ovulation, it's not as easy as I thought it would be. You need all sorts of things: Basal body thermometer, ovulation tests, charts, calendars, books to figure it all out and TIME!

 

• Letting go of things that are taking up too much space in our ever shrinking house. Everything has some sort of sentimental value to me. If it weren't for my husband I would probably end up on that show, Hoarders. 

• Couponing!!! Love saving money!

• Two songs that I swear if I play one more time my husband may kill me. The first is, The House That Built Me, by Miranda Lambert! The second is, American Honey, by Lady Antebellum! Click on the song name and you can read the lyrics. I must be in a place of nostalgia because both of these songs deal with a remembrance and a longing for the past. They also make me think about the life, values and stability I hope I'm providing to my children through our home and the memories they'll always carry with them.

  

• The Real Housewives of New Jersey and New York on Bravo. I seriously can't get enough of these crazy women. They are completely "Off the Rails" as Bethany from the RHONY would say. 

• My iPhone! I love everything about it. I've had it for about a year and it's still not old yet. My husband says he became an iPhone widow the day I brought it home.

• Homemade Beef Stroganoff. I made it for the first time about two months ago and OMG, it's delicious and I just can't stop making it!

• The weather at this exact moment. As I sit here typing this, the weather outside is getting bad. The tornado sirens just started going off! Better save this and turn computer off. OK…..I'm back, that was a crazy storm that kind of freaked me out. Gotta love storm season in Oklahoma.

The Wordy Owl Syllabus

Remember the syllabus they handed out the first day of class in college to give you a guide as to what would be covered? I’ve decided to do that also since I couldn’t come up with a good tagline for my header. One of the first tips many professional bloggers give newbie’s, like myself, is to have a memorable phrase that sums up the tone and premise of what your blog is about and whether you will have topics that will interest the reader. Like my first post stated, I like to talk a lot, so for me to have to sum up my whole blog in about 5 words or less is like torture. So after days of trying to come up with something clever and witty to describe the type of blog this will be I decided to make a list of things we may discuss.

First, let me welcome you all to class. Please sit anywhere you like. Each of you should have a syllabus below that will give you an idea of what we will cover. I hope that you find topics that interest you and will become a participating member of the class. Please feel free to let me know any additional topics you would like to discuss and we’ll see what we can do.

·         Motherhood in general

·         Being a first time mom

·         Trying to conceive for a second time

·         Crazy and maybe not so crazy ways to try and conceive a girl

·         Explanation as to why it is “OK” to hope for a child of a certain sex

·         Tracking ovulation

·         Pregnancy

·         Raising a toddler

·         All the things nobody mentions regarding pregnancy, birth   and parenthood that would be really helpful to know in advance

·         Marriage

·         Becoming a stay at home mommy

·         Trying to still have a sense of self after becoming a wife and 
   mommy

·         Cooking and Recipes

·         Coupons and money saving deals

·         Rants and Raves on products, places and people

·         Anything else that happens to strike my fancy for the moment