LilSugar

Did You Have a Gut Feeling About Your Baby's Sex?

LilSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:00:16 -0800

Expectant women are full of anticipation before meeting their wee ones. One of the most suspenseful moments is when the gender is revealed - be it in the delivery room or the ultrasound. Before that moment arrives, some women believe they already know if their child is going to be a boy or girl. Be it mother's intuition, a gut feeling, or old wives' tales about gender, some mamas-to-be have a sixth sense when it comes to their babe. Do tell, did you guess your baby's gender correctly before you saw the evidence?

Mommy Dearest: How Should I Deal With Gender Issues?

babysugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:45:44 -0800

Mommy Dearest,

I have a 4-year-old little girl who seems to fit into the stereotypes surrounding children her age; she loves princesses, makeup, and playing with baby dolls. In an effort to get her to branch out, I have signed her up for soccer with other boys and girls her age. At first, the playtime was terrific - boys and girls running elbow to elbow. Then the coach decided to split them up by gender. Kids generally play with their own sex, so I understood his rationale for dividing them, but at this past practice he decided it was time for the boys to play football while the girls still kicked the ball around. When one of the girls asked the coach why the boys got to play football, he said, "The boys have gotten really good at soccer so we're letting them play football. You guys still need to work on your soccer." All of the mothers on the sideline gasped. While the coach may be right, he is already starting to pigeonhole them into the stereotypes that we moms are trying so hard to avoid. They are such an impressionable age and they are already starting to hear that boys are better than them. I would like to talk with the coach about it, but I don't seem to have the right words. Do you have any advice?

- Antistereotype Soccer Mom

To see Mommy Dearest's response, just read more.

Antistereotype Soccer Mom,

Parents are often conflicted with how to share a gender-divided world with their children. It is commendable that you are trying to take actions to show your girly daughter the other facets of life that don't include tutus and lip gloss, but you may find that not everyone is like minded. It seems the coach could use some, er, coaching in stereotyping. He is probably used to straight talk and may appreciate the candor of a sideline mommy. Rather than make a big issue out of it, I'd simply tell him you want the girls to have the same learning experience as the boys. The larger concern at hand would be how he manages to tell the girls about their routine. I would ask him to explain to the girls that they are equal to the boys and ready to roll with the flag-football punches.

- Mommy Dearest

Submit a question for this feature at the Mommy Dearest Group on our new community page.

Do You Know the Old Wives' Tales About Gender?

LilSugar — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:00:56 -0700

Expecting mamas love to try and determine the sex of their unborn child using old wives' tales, but how well do you know the legends? Take the quiz to find out.

Question 1 of 7

At your last OB appointment, your baby's heart rate was 150 BPM. According to the wives' tale, you'll be having a . . .

Heidi Klum and Seal Are Having a Baby Girl!

LilSugar — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:57:56 -0700

Heidi and Seal are thinking pink! When the singer and pop to Leni, 4, Henry, 3, and Johan, 2, appeared on Friday's Oprah show, Seal gave the queen of talk the nod to announce the sex of their impending babe. It's a girl! Looks like the sister/brother ratio in the Klum/Samuels clan will be even. And another lil supermodel is in the making!

Bauer-Griffin Online

Unisex Baby Names: Perfect Fits For Girls and Boys

babysugar — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Giving baby an unusual moniker seems to be the trend, especially in Hollywood. Parents trying to steer away from more traditional names, but not willing to go as far as Inspektor Pilot, Zuma or Bronx are turning to unisex labels for their babes. Names like Morgan, Charlie and Jordan are becoming increasingly popular to use for both lil ladies and lads. Riley took the number 16 spot for 2008's most popular girl's names while Dylan came in at number 26.

To see some other names that straddle the gender fence, read more.

Ryan
Casey
Chase
Devon
Michael
Jamie
Reagan
Andy
Campbell
Finley
Ashley
Taylor
Cameron
Sam

Unfortunately for the boy's camp, the exchange rate is poor. The female list of names continues to grow as more masculine titles have jumped ship to the feminine side with the ladies reciprocating very little. Just think, have you ever met a boy named Katherine or Elizabeth? Probably not, but chances are you've known a pretty Alex or Andy. Families looking for a unique alias for their son may turn to other sources of inspiration: family names, storybooks or vacation spots.

Want to Pick Your Babe's Gender? Try These Tricks

babysugar — Fri, 01 May 2009 07:00:43 -0700

A mother of two boys may decide to give it her all with one last pregnancy in hopes of fulfilling her life long dream of having a daughter to keep her company on shopping trips and spa days. Parents desperate to determine the gender of their baby often turn to old wives tales hoping to see the family jewels during an ultrasound. Some of these ideas sound ridiculous while others have an ounce of logical reasoning behind them. To see what some of the myths are, just read more.

Girls:

Timing: Plan ahead. The female sperm are said to live longer and swim slower so having sex a few days before ovulation may be beneficial as only the strong, I mean girls, survive.
Positioning: Since lady sperm can last longer, the goal is to get the goods to the egg without deep penetration as the boys will try to beat her out.
Diet: Consume foods and drinks rich in acid to raise the mama's Ph as boy sperm cannot tolerate the high levels.

Boys:

Timing: Since the male sperm are faster, parents aiming for a boy should try to have sex on the day of or day after ovulation occurs. These guys are straight and to the point and want to swim as fast as they can to get to that egg.
Positioning: Give the lil boy swimmers a head start by placing them as close to their destination as possible. Positions that offer deep release are preferable for boys.
Drinks: It has been said that drinking coffee will get those lil boys amped up for a swim to the promised land.
Diet: Some believe a high Ph level in the mother can kill off the boy sperm. Families trying to have a son sometimes monitor their diets and use douche solutions to lower the acidic level in the breeding ground.

Does any of this make sense? The girl sperm like to lollygag and take their time, perhaps primping and gossiping along the way. The boys want to get the job done as quickly as possible. In the end, there is no full proof way of picking a child's gender, but it can certainly be fun trying!
Source

Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me: Boy Pee

babysugar — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Clearly there are differences between boys and girls.The main one being - anatomy. Most every newborn christens their parents with a golden shower during early diaper changes. Girls simply create a puddle while boys are known to shoot straight up. Hence, the invention of the Pee-pee Teepee. I didn't invest in the tiny soakers so I tried to throw a washcloth on his family jewels after every diaper removal knowing for certain he would release a stream as soon as he felt the fresh air. To see what surprised me, read more.

Often enough, he kicked the cloth off almost immediately and made a yellow mess of his room. Unlike girls, the boy urine can end up all over the place. In one instance, he shot over his head hitting the clothes, aspirator and mirror on the dresser behind his changing table. Another time he aimed forward hitting a stack of clean diapers, wipes and burp cloths. I guess I should have assumed such rocket ship antics from my lil squirt.
Source

babysugar Diaries: Gender Difference

babysugar — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:00:43 -0700

Random people always want to take a guess at a baby-to-be's gender based on the expecting mother's girth, fullness of face, morning sickness, or other factors. There may be some truth to those pregnancy myths, but I decided to be surprised in the delivery room. Now that I'm on the other side, I can look back and see differences between my pregnancies.

My daughter gave me a tinge of morning sickness with bouts of nausea and waves of tiredness. My son, on the other hand, left me feeling completely normal. I was hungrier with him but had serious cravings with her. I swelled with edema during her pregnancy while maintaining skinny ankles throughout his nine months. And not too surprising, he started using his athletic legs early in the womb with karate chop jabs to my abdomen, while I think she may have been studying ayurvedic yoga in utero.

Did you have dissimilar pregnancies with opposite sex babies?
Source

How Far Would You Go to Select Your Baby's Gender?

LilSugar — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:00:26 -0800

There are near endless myths about ways to determine your baby's sex, but most of you seem skeptical about seriously trying to influence your baby's gender. That's not a universal truth - news from Britain says a growing number of couples are undergoing procedures at clinics overseas to determine the gender of their babies.

BBC recently captured footage of Londoners at a Turkish fertility clinic that guaranteed if pregnancy occurred it would be of the chosen sex. Doctors can determine the sex of a baby using IVF and a type of embryo screening called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Sex selection is illegal in Turkey and the UK, so the clinic in question is now under investigation.

Source

babysugar Diaries: It Was All Yellow

babysugar — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:00:34 -0700

There are many myths about predicting an unborn baby's gender. From dangling a ring above the belly to craving sweets or meats, I've tested almost all of them to guess my child's sex. Recently, a mom friend of mine asked me a list of questions hoping to gain insight into the boy versus girl world. Her last question threw me for a loop. She quizzed me, "Is your pee bright yellow?" Surprised by the query, I said, "Funny you should ask. . . just this morning I was surprised that it was almost Gatorade-like yellow!" She said, "BOY! I'm calling it now. It's a boy!"

She claimed that her son's pregnancy brought out a plethora of neon yellow fluids unlike her daughter. I thought maybe I was dehydrated and she agreed that was her initial reaction, too. But after months of it, she concluded it was the baby's sex. I guess we shall see in a couple of short months what the outcome is. But I'm dying to know, did any of you experience the "yellow" phenomenon?
Source