In terms of birth weight, summer was the best time to conceive. The team found that mothers who conceived from June through August gained more weight during their pregnancies and gave birth to infants who were, on average, about 8 grams heavier than in other months.
Understanding your menstrual cycle
You're most fertile at the time of ovulation (when an egg is released from your ovaries), which usually occurs 12 to 14 days before your next period starts. This is the time of the month when you're most likely to get pregnant.
If you want to get pregnant and you have regular periods, the best time to have sex is the day before you ovulate. You also have a good chance of conceiving in the five days leading up to as well as on the actual day of ovulation. Basically, the more often you have sex during this window, the better.
There is no absolutely "safe" time of the month when a woman can have sex without contraception and not risk becoming pregnant. However, there are times in the menstrual cycle when women may be most fertile and are most likely to conceive. The fertile days may last for up to 3-5 days after the end of your period.
your cervical mucus – you may notice wetter, clearer and more slippery mucus around the time of ovulation. your body temperature – there's a small rise in body temperature after ovulation takes place, which you may be able to detect with a thermometer.
If your menstrual cycle lasts 28 days and your period arrives like clockwork, it's likely that you'll ovulate on day 14. That's halfway through your cycle. Your fertile window begins on day 10. You're more likely to get pregnant if you have sex at least every other day between days 10 and 14 of a 28-day cycle.
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.
However, for a given pregnancy, only the mother's genetics matter. Fraternal twins happen when two eggs are simultaneously fertilized instead of just one. A father's genes can't make a woman release two eggs.
Women who are over age 30 — especially women in their late 30s — have a greater chance of having twins. That's because they're more likely to release more than one egg during ovulation than younger women. Mothers between ages 35 and 40 who already have given birth have an even higher chance of conceiving twins.
Everyone has the same chance of having identical twins: about 1 in 250. Identical twins do not run in families. But there are some factors that make having non-identical twins more likely: non-identical twins are more common in some ethnic groups, with the highest rate among Nigerians and the lowest among Japanese.
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.
Dr Michael Thomas MD (fertility specialist) actually advises that there are no methods to affect the sex of your child, including sexual position.
Boys' and girls' genitals develop along the same path with no outward sign of gender until about nine weeks. It's at that point that the genital tubercle begins to develop into a penis or clitoris. However, it's not until 14 or 15 weeks that you can clearly begin to see the differentiated genitalia.
Risk factors
There are also several factors that can affect fertility. These include: age – fertility declines with age. weight – being overweight or obese (having a BMI of 30 or over) reduces fertility; in women, being overweight or severely underweight can affect ovulation.
You might not be ovulating. Your male partner may be experiencing infertility. You may be experiencing age-related infertility. You may have blocked fallopian tubes.
It is possible to become pregnant during or after your period. This is because there can be irregularities in your menstrual cycle and ovulation days. As you get older, it becomes more difficult to pinpoint precisely when you are at your most fertile.
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…
It's all about Dad's genes
Let's return to the ultrasound discussion. When I tell patients there's about a 50/50 chance for either sex, I also tell them the father's genes determine the baby's sex since some of his sperm carries X chromosomes and some carries Y chromosomes.
Those born in September are, apparently, the smartest out of the entire year. According to Marie Claire, a study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research found that there's a clear correlation between the month during which you were born and how smart you are.
Older women generally have a higher chance of conceiving twins. A 35 year old woman is about 4 times more likely to have fraternal twins than a 15 year old! That is because they are experiencing some hormonal changes as they near menopause. This could encourage their body to release more than one egg during ovulation.
Factors that increase the chance of twins include: consuming high amounts of dairy foods, being over the age of 30, and conceiving while breastfeeding. Many fertility drugs including Clomid, Gonal-F, and Follistim also increase the odds of a twin pregnancy.