h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

To get girls...... Hmm

1. Be a veggie (look at our own h2g2 Vegetarian forum for info)
2. After sex, the woman should lie with a pillow under her bottom (actually, I did hear that this increases the chances of pregnancy, since - not to be to delicate here - "it doesn't all dribble out") You could also try a headstand (after, not during, unless you're that way inclined)

I saw an article somewhere about "male" and "female" food. And usually it's the woman who is supposed to eat this stuff..... anyone who's into the Eastern stuff should be able to tell you, it's about the Yin and Yang thing (but I never remember which is which).

Sho
(veggie, pillow-sitting mother of 2 daughters)

Nothing to add, but I just thought it should be noted that "that way inclined" is a brilliant pun

In my mother's own delicate words - I was the last egg before the menopause (I grew up thinking that all women were neurotic, paranoid and prone to hot fushes). I have two sisters and mama really wanted a boy and she swore that conception in the morning was the key to getting a boy.

Bless her - ain't life unkind

Gee will bear that in mind. Although may be hard to discern which time any kids are going to be conceived.

I heard that morning was best for girls and evening for boys. But, hey, isn't it fun trying??
I have conceived each time in the morning, my due dates were all 27th of the month and both daughters were born on the 31st (which probably says more about my cycles than old wives tales) We used a pillow (not a headstand) afterwards and I'm a veggie.
The father of my children is a boxers man - and we only needed (much to his disgust) one try for every pregnancy!
I eat a lot of chocolate, maybe that has something to do with it.
That's all the old wives tales from here.

I always thought a baby's sex was determined by the males sperm count?
A high sperm count = a girl. Low = boy. Nothing to do with virility!
Although, that doesn't explain why I had a boy, 2 girls then another boy by the same man, he remarried & then had a daughter by his second wife...does sperm count fluctuate? As in *good days & bad days*?
I was also told that to conceive a girl, have sex at your most fertile time, and ONLY then...for a boy, have sex before {about 3 days} then abstain during fertile time...don't forget sperm lives for quite a few days inside the female...swimming all that way to fertilize the little egg...quite a marathon!

From what I recall, exactly half of a mans sperm contain Y chromosomes and half X chromosomes...this means that there is a 50% chance of having a boy regardless of where the pillows are and what time the conception occurs.

Of course, I don't actually recall being a zygote...but it is good to know I was one in a million once

back to the salt/sugar thing! (sorry, not been online in *so* long)

The mother-to-be should put a fine layer of extra salt/sugar until you are positively sure you are pregnant, and then stop taking any extra salt/sugar.

Though I do have to agree with Duncan, in that there is 50% chance of the baby being male or female. Although I believe it is possible for the weighting to change if the male is getting certain hormones in his diet, or something... Vague memories of this being said in an A-level biology class or something...

and it is not 50% it is more like 65% girls which incandentaly is why the population of the world is mostly female...that and we die erlyer but as I get older I try not to think about that

This definitely works. Without using salt / sugar the chances of having a boy versus a girl are one in two; if you use salt this is exactly reversed.

Actually, very slightly more boys than girls are born. It is something like 52% boys, 48% girls. But more boys die as babies so it evens out to almost exactly equal after about 2 years.

It is certainly true that in the world as a whole, there are slightly more women than men, since women tend to live longer. But this effect is not so noticeable since women started smoking. One contentious claim is that the only reason women ever lived longer is because they didn't smoke cigarettes.

and if you belive that, I'm liable to put you in a mental institution. Give me a break! Asprin, salt and suger, and dogs? When will everyone realize that you can't (and even if you could you shouldn't) change the way the baby looks and sex. BTW, in case you are wondering, when you watch tv and see babies born you shouldn't expect your baby to look that way when he/she is first born. The babies on tv are not newborns. Newborns will not look all sweet and angelic. They will be wet (because of that darn amniotic fluid) and very very upset.

They also generally tend to have a very lizard-like appearance at that point, which can be disconcerting. Do try to avoid pointing this fact out to the new parents, if you can help it.

A few things. Firstly, in the article it says * You can't get pregnant even if the man withdraws before orgasm

The "even" should be removed.

Secondly, male sperm are lighter than female sperm, because Y chromosomes are shorter than X. Therefore the pillow trick should work.

Thirdly, male sperm live longer but female sperm are quicker. This explains the reasoning for having sex earlier for boys.

I'm probably posting in the wrong topic or something, but somewhere I heard that, if a woman think she is pregnant, then if she drinks half a bottle of gin, and then has a *very* hot bath, the foetus will die off and her pregnancy won't continue.

Trouble is, you're my likely to get a scolded bum and still get pregnant if you try it.

Maybe this article is lacking on the subject of abortion (or is this detailed somewhere else?) - something about that could be a good addition.

acctualy, scientificaly it was provent that male sperm live slightly longer than female sperm, so if you have sex at the begining of your ovulation, or just before you ovulate, your chances of having a boy are increased. it worked for my parents, they had three girls before they read that and had my brother. or maybe its just coincidence

replying to st. brolin's comment about stress--

thereby creating more stress...

Oh, and don't forget that the heads of newborns are slightly elongated (think of baby coneheads!) b/c of being squeezed on the way out...