The first step to understanding your ovulation is to determine how long your cycle is. This is the amount of days from the start of one menstrual period to first day of the next. You will want to keep a chart on this until you get an average idea of just how many days your cycle is. The average is 28 days but several woman have shorter, longer or even unpredictable cycles.
Once you have gathered an average of how long your cycle is it's time to determine your ovulation days. This is most commonly 14 days before the beginning of your next period, usually mid cycle. However, this can vary by woman. Luckily there are other ways to determine this date.
- You can keep a check on your cervical mucous. This is the normal discharge that you have when you are not having a period. You will notice changes in this mucous during the month. It will be change consistency . Once you are hitting the ovulation stage of your cycle your cervical mucous will more obvious, thinner and resemble egg whites. It should be stretchy as well. You can also determine the time of ovulation by monitoring your temperature. Your temperature will increase 1/2 to 1 degrees after you ovulate. Since you are most fertile 2-3 days before ovulation this is sometimes to late to start making a baby but can help you determine your cycles for next go around.
- If all else fails you can by test. These are available near the pregnancy test in stores. There even monitors available now but these are pricey.
It's important to remember that cycles vary with women and not all women ovulate each month.
So now that you know how to determine your ovulation how do you apply it to increasing the chances of determining the sex of your baby?
Well the sperm that makes baby girls can live longer inside a woman's body however they are slow swimmers. So to increase your chances of having a girl you should have intercourse a couple of days before you ovulate. Then should not have sex again until you are no longer fertile.
The sperm that makes baby boys has a shorter life span but are faster swimmers. So to increase your chances of having a baby boy you should have intercourse 12 - 24 hours before ovulation and not before.
This will increase your chances, however it will not officially determine the outcome.