If you ever needed proof that children come from God, try getting pregnant. I know there are those women who just sneeze and boom, they have conceived. I would place school girls as the majority in this category.
But for most women, especially in our 30s, wanting a baby girl or even a boy is one thing. Getting it is another. Before I conceived my first baby, I was on the pill for about a year. In July I came off the pill hoping that in August I would pee on a stick and see pink. But all I got was my period, heavy and painful, without the relief that the pill brought.
Come September and it was the same story. When I felt those tell-tale cramps and saw the pink flow, I got seriously depressed. In October I started period stalking, wondering whether the heavy boobs, moodiness and nausea were PMS or the earliest signs of pregnancy. Aunt Flo once again showed up and with her an aching emptiness. Thank God November brought good tidings.
The second time around, I tried for a baby girl without exactly saying I was trying. But it meant making sure my fertile days don’t go wasted. Especially the days before ovulation as Dr Google told me to maximize on these to making a baby girl. Apparently, boy swimmers are fast and furious, get tired quickly and give up the chase. This leaves the resilient girl swimmers to make the tedious journey to the fallopian tubes. Here they wait for the egg and a wonderful kaleidoscopic union.
Dr Google healthy living tips advised me that to increase my chances of getting a girl I should stop eating bananas and salt. Instead I should eat lots of nuts, oranges, tomatoes, spinach and milk. Who knew?
Apparently the boys hate an acidic body pH. If I wanted to conceive a baby girl I was also not supposed to get the big Oh! As if getting pregnant by itself is not hard enough, here I was putting myself under the pressure of gender specificity. I was nuts!
Science says that for baby to be formed a viable sperm has to meet a viable egg. The egg once released in the Fallopian tubes has a life span of between 12-24 hours. The sperm on the other hand can stay in the woman’s body for up to six days, although most die in one or two days after they are released. Factor in the long journey that the little swimmers make to get to the egg, and you can see why I personally believe that getting pregnant takes a divine hand.
Editor’s note: For tips and professional resources on Conception, see our Info Centre.
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