All about conception

I received a message this morning from a friend who had read this blog, and pointed out that I seemed so sure that I would get pregnant. She asked how I knew, when some couples would struggle and struggle to conceive.

I wrote a fairly lengthy reply, and felt it would be useful to post the information here too.

I think my research really first started when I was looking up natural contraception methods (ie no condoms, no pills).

http://www.medicinenet.com/natural_methods_of_birth_control/article.htm outlines some of the methods, but they all boil down to the same principle.
A woman is fertile around the point of ovulation.
Sperm tend to live no more than 5 days, so sex must not be engaged in less than 5 days before ovulation.
After ovulation, the egg only ‘lives’ for so long.
After that point, conception is not possible.

In my views, charting my Basal Body Temperatue worked best (this is you at-rest temperature, taken at the same time (+ or – 10 minutes usually worked for me) every morning).

I found a pattern emerge which fascinated me.
My temperature would drop when my period started and hover between 97.5 and 97.7 deg F.
The morning of the day in which I would ovulate, my temperature would drop down to around 97.3deg F … and then the next morning, it would have jumped bewteen around 97.7 and 97.9deg F.
The second day after ovulation would usually come in at around 98.2deg F, where it would stay until I started my period, when it would drop back down to 97.5-97.7deg F!

Charting my temperature for a few months allowed me to work out the average day on which I would ovulate.

Biology classes tell you that a woman’s average menstrual cycle is 28 days, with ovulation on day 14.
My cycle was more like 31-33 days, with ovulation around day 18!

I figured that there would be no sex (unless man-made contraceptives were used) between days 12 and 22.
The rest of the time, it was very very unlikely that ‘unprotected’ sex would lead to conceiving.

Click here to view my temperature chart, so you can see an example of the shifts.

When we first started seriously thinking about babies, I started to research conception and gender planning.
I read a book titled ‘How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby’.

This wonderful book explained that the male produce two types of sperm: a larger, heavier, slower-moving ‘female’ sperm, and a smaller, lighter, faster-moving ‘male’ sperm.
The female sperm live up to 5 days, and the male sperm normally live no longer than 3 days.

The theory was that if you wanted a baby girl, you should have sex no closer than a few days BEFORE ovulation so that the male sperm died before the egg was released, leaving only female sperm.
If you wanted a baby boy, you should only have sex on the actual day of ovulation, because the male sperm travel faster than the female sperm, and would get to the already-produced egg quicker.

We timed everything VERY precisely, to give the genders equal chances.

The only way that we wouldn’t have succeeded, would have been if there were fertility problems with either of us, or if I would have misscarried.

Some people trying to conceive have sex at all but the ‘right’ times.
Some people think they’re having sex on the ‘right’ day by thinking that they ovulate on day 14 (the ‘average’ day) … when in fact, their cycle is longer or shorter …

I’d say that the key is to know yourself and your cycle.