What You Need to Know Before You Conceive

The road to conception can be very smooth for some couples, while others find that it can take years before they are able to become pregnant. While there are many factors that can affect successful conception, understanding some basic things can make your journey easier. If you are trying to conceive, here are a few things to keep in mind.
1. Know Your Monthly Cycle. One of the best ways to increase your chances of becoming pregnant is to understand how your monthly cycle works. Every woman is different and in some cases, every cycle is different. Before you conceive, take a few months to chart your cycle from beginning to end. Keep track of the first day of your period and when you ovulate.
This information will help you determine when you are most fertile and when you should be scheduling intercourse. It may not be very romantic to schedule it in, but if you do want to conceive, you have to be able to take advantage of that window of opportunity when it arrives.
2. Predict Your Monthly Ovulation. In order to find that window of opportunity, you have to know when you ovulate. There is a period of five days within each cycle that you are at your most fertile. The three days preceeding ovulation and the day following ovulation. Once you know when this occurs, you can greatly increase the likelihood of fertilization.
Remember that once an egg is released from an ovary, it only has a period of 24 hours when it remains viable. It is vital to make sure that you are having intercourse as close to the date that you ovulate as possible. While you can become pregnant at any time during those five days, it is best to try to time your ovulation and intercourse as closely as possible.
3. Get Healthy Ahead of Time. In order to be at your most fertile, you need to take care of yourself. Start taking prenatal vitamins ahead of time and have yourself looked over by a doctor. If you have noticed any irregularities with your monthly cycles, talk to them about it now. If you have questions about ovulation or learning more about your body, it is important to have these questions answered ahead of time.

Get plenty of rest and practice a healthy lifestyle. Try to remove stress from your life and take good care of your body. You'll be asking it to undergo a great task over the next nine months and you owe it to yourself and your future child to be as healthy as possible.
Successful conception doesn't have to be difficult. Although it can take a healthy couple a year to conceive naturally, by paying attention to this advice, you can increase your chances of becoming pregnant in less time. Remember, if you don't conceive right away, don't get disheartened. Just keep trying and barring any fertility issues you should be able to conceive a happy and healthy baby.

Selecting the Gender of Your Future Child

While there are many debates over how ethical it is to choose the gender of your child before they are born, the fact remains that there are some natural methods you can use that will increase the likelihood of having a child of a specific gender. The ethics of it are up to you and while no method is 100% accurate, there are a few things that you can try that will help you increase your chances for having either a boy or a girl.
These methods are centered around the fact that the sperm who carry Y chromosomes (which are necessary for a boy) are very different from the sperm that carry the X chromosome (which are necessary for a girl). By understanding these differences, and choosing the right methods,  you are creating an environment where one type of sperm can outshine the other and reach the main destination first. Let's take a look at what you can do.
The Right Diet
Y sperm require an enivornment that is alkalai in nature, while X sperm need more acid. The PH levels of your body determine how thick the cervical discharge is and whether or not the desired sperm will be able to get through successfully. In order to have a girl, you need to eat a diet that is rich in calcium and magnesium. In order to have a boy, a diet rich in potassium and sodium is required.
The Right Time
The timing of when you have intercourse can greatly affect the gender of your child. Because the Y sperm need to reach the egg as quickly as possible, it is necessary to time intercourse to the day that you ovulate to increase your chances of having a boy. They will be able to reach the egg while it and they are still viable.
But in order to have a girl, you need to give the Y sperm time to die off, leaving the more durable X sperm behind. This means that you will need to time intercourse to approximately two to three days before ovulation. This gives the X sperm more than enough time to reach the egg.
The Right Position
The position you choose for intercourse can also determine the sex of your child. Once again, we fall back to the differences between sperm. The Y sperm need to reach their destination in as little time as possible. This means that they need to be released as close to the cervix as possible, shortening the trip they must take to the egg. Positions that allow for deep penetration are ideal.
In order to have a girl, you need to make it more difficult for the Y sperm to reach their target on time. This means that positions where shallow penetration is achieved are necessary. The sperm will be deposited further away from the cervix, giving the X sperm the chance they need to reach the egg, and allowing the Y sperm to die off.