Below are some of the highlights that occur during the embryonic stage. Nervous system. This is one of the first things to develop. It includes the formation of your baby's brain, spinal cord, and nerves.
Just four weeks after conception, the neural tube along your baby's back is closing. The baby's brain and spinal cord will develop from the neural tube. The heart and other organs also are starting to form. Structures necessary to the formation of the eyes and ears develop.
Your baby's gender is determined at the moment of conception – when the sperm contributed a Y chromosome, which creates a boy, or an X chromosome, which creates a girl. Boys' and girls' genitals develop along the same path with no outward sign of gender until about nine weeks.
Uterus: A muscular organ in the female pelvis. During pregnancy, this organ holds and nourishes the fetus. Also called the womb.
The brain grows quickest at first, which is why babies have such large heads. Muscles and bones grow later on. The rate of growth slows down during childhood, but shoots up again at puberty.
Incredibly, by mid-pregnancy your stomach has swung upward by almost 45 degrees to hang out on the same level as your intestines, adding fuel to the heartburn fire you know all too well. The tool also outlines the journey of the placenta, which goes through a lot in 40 short weeks.
Sexual positions
Deep penetration, for example doggy style, means the male sperm that can swim faster start their race closer to the cervix and are more likely to reach the egg first, resulting in a boy. To try and conceive a girl, Shettles suggested avoiding deep penetration, favouring the missionary position.
Hands and feet are the first to expand. Needing new shoes is the first sign of trouble. Next, arms and legs grow longer, and even here the 'outside-in' rule applies. The shin bones lengthen before the thigh, and the forearm before the upper arm.
Children's legs tend to grow before their torsos do. In fact, leg length and sitting height (aka torso length) can be used to predict the age at which your child will hit peak height velocity, according to the University of Saskatchewan.
As puberty progresses, the growth plates mature, and at the end of puberty they fuse and stop growing. The whole of the skeleton does not stop growing at the same time; hands and feet stop first, then arms and legs, with the last area of growth being the spine.
They found that the most fertile months for conceiving a boy were from September to November, while the lowest fertile period was from March to May.
One study, published in 2001 in the journal Human Fetal and Neonatal Movement Patterns, found that boys may move around more in the womb than girls. The average number of leg movements was much higher in the boys compared to the girls at 20, 34 and 37 weeks, that study found.
The key to conceiving a boy is to do “the deed” close to your ovulation. As Dr Shettles points out, male-producing sperm (Y-chromosome) move faster than female sperm. Male sperm also dies pretty fast, while female-producing sperm (X-chromosome) can stick it out and take their time hooking up with the egg.
Fertility treatment
Some fertility drugs work by stimulating a woman's ovaries, which can sometimes cause them to release more than one egg. If sperm fertilizes both of these eggs, this can result in twins. In vitro fertilization (IVF) can also increase the chance of conceiving twins.
There are many ideas about ways to influence baby's sex and how to conceive a boy or a girl, but these are mostly myths or "old wives' tales" that aren't supported by modern science. The only reliable way to choose a baby's sex is by using IVF with genetic testing.
After tracking your basal body temperature (when your body is at rest) for a few months to learn when you ovulate, the Whelan Method states you should have sex four to six days before ovulation if you want a boy.
A baby's genetic sex is established at conception, based on the sex chromosomes. The mother's egg contains an X chromosome, and the father's sperm contains either an X or a Y chromosome. A baby who inherits the X chromosome from the father is a genetic female (two X chromosomes).
So how do you make a baby, exactly? If your egg meets up with a healthy sperm on its way to the uterus, the two can join and begin the process of creating a new life. If not, the egg ends its journey at the uterus, where it either dissolves or is absorbed by the body.
The ratio of male to female births, called the sex ratio, is about 105 to 100, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Depending on your stage of pregnancy, your body type, and even the time of day, sometimes your belly will feel soft and other times it will feel tight and hard. The reality is, there's no normal to compare yourself with. Pregnant bellies come in all shapes, sizes, and firmness.
A hard spot on your abdomen during the early part of the second trimester is likely to be your fundus, which is the top of your uterus.
First-time mothers can expect a noticeable belly expansion between 12 and 16 weeks. Your pregnancy symptoms may include bloating and constipation, causing your waistband to feel tight even before 12 weeks. People who have been pregnant before tend to show earlier, as their abdominal wall has already stretched.
A new study has revealed that people born in April are the sexiest - and having a birthday in April myself, I'm obviously completely sold on the theory…