“It’s a girl!†were three little words which hadn’t been uttered to new mums in the Lawrie family for 200 years until Hannah Lawrie broke the family’s long-held record. The 26-year-old gave birth to the first girl in her husband Mark’s family since 1809 when she had baby Myla. Midwife Hannah had wanted a daughter, but when she met her future husband, he broke the news to her that she would only be having sons. The last girl born was his great-great aunt Bessie, who was born 200 years ago - the same year as Charles Darwin. However, after their son Mason came along three years ago, the couple, who live in Loose, Maidstone, decided to try for another baby, and this time aim for a girl. Their success didn’t come as a complete surprise, however, as during her midwifery training, she had learnt that it was possible to increase the chances of conceiving a girl by having intercourse before ovulation, rather than during. A self-confessed girlie girl who likes shopping, dancing and getting her nails done, she said: “I have always wanted a girl. Me and my mum have a really close relationship and I thought if I had boys I’d never have that mother/daughter relationship that we have. I thought it would be lovely to have that and I thought I was never going to have that. “I always said I wanted to experience both worlds.†She decided to put the theory into practise. “I said to him “if we are going to plan to have another baby we may just give it a go.†My husband and his brother were 100% positive that they would only have boys. But he always said that he wanted a little daddy’s girl.†During her pregnancy, she had a number of scans which each confirmed the news. But when baby Myla was born by emergency caesarean in October, it was still a burning question. “The first thing I said - after “is everything OK?†- was “is it definitely a girl?†Then I just cried,†she said.
