Gender predictions

        We have a little while still until we can find out the baby’s gender so I thought it would be fun to see what the old wives’ tales have to say about predicting this baby’s gender. I also compared them with my results from when we were trying to predict whether Owen was a girl or a boy. For your information, the majority of the gender predictors were wrong when it came to Owen.  We have our gender ultrasound on March 30, but until then, here are our guesses. You can vote too on the right side of the blog!

Highs and Lows

This one you can do just by looking south: if you're carrying high, break out the pink. If your bump is low, you're carrying a boy. 

It’s a little too early to tell, but I wanted to put this up on the blog a little while before we were able to find out the baby’s gender, so I can only guess how I think I'm going to continue showing. I feel like this time my bump might be a little higher than last time. With Owen, I definitely just had a little bump in my lower abdomen during my early pregnancy and this time I feel like my entire belly is getting big at the same time. This indicates a GIRL.

Be Still My Beating Heart

Next time your OB pulls out the Doppler to listen to baby's heartbeat, ask her to tell you what the heart rate is. According to legend, 140+ beats per minute indicates a girl, and below 140 a boy.

When we were trying to predict Owen's gender, his heartbeat was at 156 beats per minute. So I'm not sure how accurate heart rates are in predicting gender. His heart rate did seem to decrease throughout the pregnancy and was around the 140s for most of the rest of it. This baby's first heart rate was 174. At our 12 week appointment, it was 162 beats per minute. So for the time being, this old wives' tale is predicting a GIRL.

You're Getting Very Fizzy
According to one method of determining your baby's gender, you can mix a sample of your urine with baking soda to see what kind of chemical reaction results. If the combination fizzes, then you're supposed to have a boy. If there is no reaction, signs point to a girl. 

I tried this one because I thought what the heck and I have dealt with so many bodily fluids in the past two years, that pee isn't really a big deal for me. My combination didn't do anything for a second, but then a couple bubbles popped up and the top kind-of foamed over like the head of a glass of beer. So I'm guessing this means its a BOY.

Photo from Whattoexpect.com.

Sweet and Sour

Craving ice cream every single day? Some people believe this means it's a girl. If you have to have salty or sour stuff, then it's a boy.

I’ve mainly been craving fruit and sweet stuff, so that indicates a GIRL. I craved fruit a lot with Owen too, so I'm not too sure about the accuracy of this one. Though I have been craving more sweets this time. Particularly chocolate. 

Photo by Baby-gaga.com.

Chinese Birth Chart

Legend says that the gender chart is more than 700 years old and was discovered in a royal tomb. It predicts your baby's sex based on your Chinese lunar age at the time you got pregnant and the Chinese lunar month in which you conceived.

According to this, it should be a GIRL. Last time, with Owen, it was right in predicting that he would be a boy. And for anyone who may be interested, I filled out this chart using both our original and our new due date, and they both predicted a girl. 

Even and Odd

Legend has it that the Mayans determined a baby's sex by looking at the mother's age at conception and the year of conception. If both are even or odd, it's a girl. If one's even and one's odd, it's a boy.

I’m 27 and we conceived in 2012, so one is even and one is odd. That means it’s a BOY. The Mayans were right about Owen being a boy, but they weren't so accurate with that whole end-of-the-world thing on December 21, so I wouldn't put too much stock in this one. 

Unlocking the Mystery

This is one for a friend to try. Place a key in front of your friend and ask her to pick it up. If she grabs it by the narrow part, she's in for sugar and spice and all that. If she picks it up by the round part, it's snips and snails.

Last time, I did this before seeing what each side meant and without knowing which one meant what, I picked up the fatter part of the key, which means a boy. So it was right with Owen. This time since I knew which side was what, I put the key down sideways on the floor in front of Owen and asked him to pick it up. He picked it up by the skinny side of the key, which supposedly means a GIRL.

Photo from Flickr.

Spot On

If you're breaking out like crazy, blame it on your girl babe. The belief goes that girls steal their mother's beauty, hence, those annoying zits. Dry hands and cold feet indicate a boy. 

I haven't really been breaking out at all. So this indicates that we're expecting a BOY. With Owen, I broke out more so this predictor had us guessing girl last time. I have been having drier hands and cold feet, but it is winter so that's kind-of a given. Either way, another vote for BOY.

Intelligender Test
The Intelligender Test can be purchased at your drugstore or online and is said to predict the gender of your baby after 10 weeks. The company claims this product is 80 percent accurate if you perform the directions correctly. It uses urine and a mix of chemicals to predict the baby's gender. If the solution turns green, it indicates a boy and if it stays an orange-y color, that means a girl. 

I picked up this test at the drugstore just for fun. We had never done one before. The directions are simple enough, but telling the difference between orange and green is surprisingly more difficult than you would imagine. At first our test turned dark green really quickly so we immediately thought boy, but after a couple more minutes, the sediment began to settle and the liquid was more of a dark orange color. I e-mailed the company a description of how our test went and a photo and they confirmed that we had GIRL result. After doing some research on this test on the Internet, there are tons of people who swear by it and probably an equal number of people who think it's a hoax and a waste of money so maybe the results are more 50/50. Either way, we're not going to start buying ribbons and ruffles or anything and just had fun doing a little science experiment. 

Nice Ring to It

Pop off your wedding ring and tie it to a string. Hang it over your belly. If it swings in a circle, a little guy's in your future. If it goes back and forth, you've got a girl.

The ring very clearly went around and around in circles over my belly. That's another vote for BOY. Last time we did this test, the ring went back and forth so it was wrong with Owen. 

Nice Hairline

According to a Native American tradition, you can predict the gender of your second or subsequent children by looking at the hairline of the child born prior to the one you're pregnant with. If your child's hairline in the back goes straight across, your baby will be the same gender as your child. If your child's hairline in the back comes to a point, your baby will be the opposite gender of your firstborn. 

After taking a peek at Owen's hairline, this predictor is pointing toward a GIRL because his hair comes to a point (it's hard to see though because the hairdresser tried to trim it straight last time it was cut and now it's all weird) and that supposedly means the next baby will be the opposite gender. It's easier to see that it comes to a point when he's in the bath and his hair is wet. 

Queasy Does It

Sick as a dog during the first trimester-or still? Signs indicate you're having a girl. Little or no morning sickness points to a boy.

Absolutely no morning sickness at all, so signs point to a BOY. This predictor was right for Owen as well. Though I've known people with boys who had morning sickness as well as people with girls who didn't have morning sickness. My mom never had morning sickness with me so maybe it's a genetic thing? Maybe I will never have morning sickness regardless of the gender of the baby? Not sure what the explanation behind this predictor is. 

Photo from Baby-gaga.com.

You Drive Me Crazy

Some say that if you are feeling more emotional and moody, you are having a girl because of all the extra estrogen and other female hormones. 

I have been feeling a lot more emotional and moody than I was with Owen. This predictor points to a GIRL. 

Photo from Baby-gaga.com.

Sweet Dreams

One old wives' tale says that if you dream your baby is a boy, it will be a girl. And if you dream that you're having a girl, it will be a boy. Apparently, dreams show the opposite of what you're having. 

I have dreamed twice that the baby is a boy, so according to this, we're expecting a GIRL. When I was pregnant with Owen, I dreamed that the baby was a boy. So the idea of dreaming the opposite did not hold true for him. 

Name That Baby

Another old wives' tale says that if the couple can only agree on a baby name for one gender, they will have a baby of that gender. 

Tim and I agree more on girl names than boy names, so this predictor is indicating a GIRL. With Owen, we agreed on both a girl and a boy name, so while I don't believe this is an accurate way to guess anyway, I can't say whether it was right or wrong for our first pregnancy. 

So according to this:

BOY: 6

GIRL: 10

          The funny thing is that with Owen we had more old wives' tales predicting that he was a girl. So you can't put too much stock into these things. There's only one way to find out. So we'll have to wait for our ultrasound to know for sure. 

         According to statistics, the mom's intuition is right 71 percent of the time. I started off feeling like this baby was another boy, but after our most recent ultrasound I feel like the baby is a girl. What do you think? Leave your guess in our poll on the top right of the page!
         If you have kids, did you have a feeling about gender before you found out? Were you right?