Relationships reporter, Gail Rosenblum is working on an article and would like to tap from our vast base of parents and their anecdotes.  The topic this time? Gender determination and wive’s tales -  here is Gail’s query:

When you were planning to get pregnant, what is the funniest thing someone told you about how to make sure you got the girl or boy you were hoping for? Was it something you should eat? A certain sexual position? And how accurate was that prediction? We might like to use your story in an upcoming Source article, so please include your full name, age, city of residence and a daytime email or phone number. Thank you!

You can reach Gail @ grosenblum@startribune.com
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Remember that silly animation of the dancing baby that was whizzing around everyone’s e-mail a few years ago?

Well, this’ll top it and it’s actually real. It’s a 3-D ultrasound of a baby wiggling in the womb - pretty incredible stuff and certainly more detail than I saw in the grainy black-and-white images my ultrasound technician produced (and which two years later, are still stuck to our refrigerator door).

Josephine Marcotty on our sister blog Bodytalk writes about the husband-and-wife team radiologists at Harvard who wrote the book “Your Developing Baby.”

Does a pregnant woman’s diet and appetite help determine the gender of their baby?  Studies say there may be a correlation. 

Read the article here.

Hmmm, I was pretty much hungry all the time with both pregnancies and I had one of each. Cereal (mmmm… Peanut Butter Bumpers) was my craving  for many a meal. Oh,  and meat.

Does the study ring true for you?

This isn’t an original idea. I believe I’m stealing it from our friends at SF Gate’s parenting blog “the Poop”.  I know I’ve seen it before,  but hey it’s Earth Day next week and I’m doing my part to re-use and recycle - both blog post ideas and baby names.

So.  Do you have a surplus of perfectly good names on your baby name list that may go unused? If you want to share them so someone else can use them or parts of them - go ahead and post them below. You may inspire some parents to be with names or combos they hadn’t considered.

I’ll start: Well,  our winners were - Benjamin Peter and Vivian Louise but here were some other options…

Boy: Elliot Finn, August (Gus) Owen or Andrew Owen

Girl:  Annika Lynn, Evelyn Rose, Lillian Anne.

Oh, while I’m at it why not throw in a dog name or two? We think we’re female dog people now. So here’s a male dog name I’ve had in my back pocket.  “Lars” especially for a Yellow Lab.

How about you? Throw some names in the hat!

When Dona Schwartz, a professer at the U of M, contacted Cribsheet to spread the word about her photography project, I jumped at the chance. Check out Dona’s photo gallery and see details of her project below.

Expecting your first baby? My name is Dona Schwartz and I am a full-time faculty member at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism. I am looking for expectant parents (married, partnered or single) who would like to participate in a photographic portrait project. There is no charge and you will receive a complimentary 8×10” photograph as a gift to thank you for being photographed. 

The portrait sessions are scheduled during the last trimester of  pregnancy, or, in the case of adoptions, when the baby will be  arriving soon. Parents-to-be are photographed where they live, in  their own homes.

As a photographer and sociologist I am very interested in important  moments in family life. The birth of a first child is one of the most important moments of all. I’m interested in how people approach this momentous event, and in how their beliefs, hopes, and dreams are embodied in the space they have prepared for their new baby. Diversity is crucial to the representation I am constructing. I think it’s extremely important to show a range of ages, ethnicities, races and cultures, because everyone experiences family and parenting, and there is no single template for bearing and nurturing children. Once we become parents our lives are  forever changed.

This is an ongoing project, so feel free to contact me at any time  during the pregnancy.

Please contact me via email at dona@umn.edu, or call 651-263-1200 for more information.