old wives tales ... gender

[squizita]

DH were chatting about this. Old wives tales like ... community.babycenter.com/post/a28444349/51_gender_prediction_wives_tales

Of course they don't really work, what I find funny is they "clash" so much e.g. for me:
Sickness (girl)
During which I ate salted crisps (boy)
Combination skin (boy and girl)
Carrying high (boy or girl depending on old wife it seems!)
Not hairier (girl)
Leg hair didn't vanish I wish (boy)
...and so on.
I am mid 30s and conceived Xmas ... Guessing 100s of women did just this so hold little store by the Chinese table. Especially as the convert-to-lunar one told me I was actually 4 years older in Chinese years... grrrrr!

What are your favourites? Just for fun!

[HermioneGranger38]

Take a hair from the head of the woman and tie her wedding ring to it (presuming they have one!). Then the husband dangles it above her stomach. If it swings in a circle then it is a girl and if it sways like a pendulum, it is a boy. Apparently my mother did that with me and thought I was male!!! I guess it's a 50-50 chance....

[tb]

Years ago Readers' Digest had an article about influencing the sex of a baby. It depended on conception either before or after ovulation and douching to affect the ph of the vagina to favour x or y chromosome carrying sperm. It was supposed to be more reliable than statistics would imply.

So, perhaps conception before, after or during ovulation is a strong predictor.

[Clawdy]

The wedding ring story was prevalent when I had my dc,but it was a piece of string,not hair! Oddly it often seemed to be right!

[NinjaLeprechaun]

The nurse who helped deliver my daughter apparently had never gotten the gender wrong based on heartbeat. Even the rest of the staff couldn't figure out how she was so accurate. It took the doctor two tries to get it right even after she was born.

I did only have dreams that I was having a girl when pregnant, never a boy - then again, I also had a dream that I gave birth to a cheeseburger. So obviously I was hungry that's not 100%. I also completely lost the ability to eat anything remotely sweet when I was pregnant, so that one was entirely wrong in my case.

[alita7]

tb do you mean when you have sex as opposed to fertilisation? cos before ovulation Is impossible.
not sure how that would work though as many people have sex before, during and after. And I can't see how where the egg is would influence which sperm reached it, unless acidity changes slightly and one gender sperm is more likely to die or succeed in certain acidities?

[coralanne]

Both my DC were due on the same date.

Both pregnancies were exactly the same. A small amount of morning sickness, not much weight gain.

I have one DS and one DD

[squizita]

The ovulation theory is based on 'female' sperm being slower but longer living, 'male' being faster to the egg but dying first. I know because DH read up on this to predict gender and predicted a boy, incorrectly
Unfortunately it has a few shortcomings:
-lack of reliable proof
-A 'slow' sperm is still pretty darn fast
-sperm don't have a satnav. That's why people don't conceive every month even if they're in good health! Sometimes they get lost regardless of speed.
-Male health. One man's 'slow and steady' is faster than another's fastest. One man's 'lives 5 days' is his best sperm- another, it's his weakest.
-Ovulation doesn't happen in 1 second after sex. They could take 24hr to meet, and if it happens too late, the egg could have degenerated to the point it will never implant/grow (especially maternal eggs in 35+ women).

The 'golden window' tends to cover the time when even with a textbook couple, both types of sperm would have the opportunity to meet the egg.
Bringing it back to 50/50 I guess...

There are some new theories about parental nutrition. I don't know how reliable they are...
More fats/oils less veg = more boys tend to be born (hunter, time of plenty, so fewer childbearing girls needed to maintain the tribe)
More veg/less fat and oil = more girls tend to be born (gatherer and more childbearers needed as lower calories can mean higher infant mortality).

[chemicalsister]

I had such a laugh with my second pregnancy with loads of people telling me stuff like this, e.g. low bump means a boy, really hungry means a girl.. ..etc .... etc, because I knew I was carrying boy girl twins!

[SteadyEddie]

In one of my favourite books 'Falls the Shadow', when one of the women gets pregnant, her maid pricks her finger and lets a drop of blood fall in water. If the drop sinks, its a boy.

[StarsInTheNightSky]

The only two I've found accurate are the red cabbage test and the baking soda test, both of which seem to be more popular in the USA. They were accurate for me, and for the other ten pregnant ladies I know who I forced to test them out .
Plus they're good for a laugh and great fun, DH and I had a whale of a time doing them, that being said, we are both scientists so the home chemistry aspect appealed

[adventureswithmyfamily]

Well as a mum who has had two boys followed by a girl I can say that for both boys I had a VERY obvious linea nigra but for my little girl I had nothing at all!

[NancyinCali]

I know what I'm having but according to the old wives I'm having…

Heart rate over 140bpm = girl
Beauty disappeared (spotty & dry skin in my case) = girl
Clumsy (I have loads of bruises) = boy
Side you prefer to lie on (right) = girl
Morning sickness = girl (mind you had none with DD1)
Hairy legs (no, it's stopped growing) = girl
Dry hands (yes) = boy
Carrying low (yes) = boy
Craved fruit (citrus especially) = girl
Craved salty foods (yup) = boy

Chinese predictor = girl (however apparently DD1 should have been a boy).

So I think we can conclude I'm having either a boy or a girl.

It's DD2 by the way

[pettyprudence]

I carried the same in both pregancies and had the same side effect - nausea, tiredness & fartiness (possibly more farty with pg2 ). I have ds and dd. Chinese gender prediction test was right both times. oh and dd is very farty like I was in pg

[GimmeDaBoobehz]

Old Wives Tale #25: History of Parents Kids
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #26: Time of Conception
Boy.

Old Wives Tale #27: Legs
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #28: Moodiness and a Little Pecker
Girl.

pregnancy-wives-talesOld Wives Tale #29: Bread
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #30: Chinese Gender Chart
*Girl."

Old Wives Tale #31: Moms Beauty
Never had it in the first place...

Old Wives Tale #32: Dream of Sex of Baby
I didn't have dreams either way, it was just a non gendered baby.

Old Wives Tale #33: Clumsy vs. Graceful
Boy.

Old Wives Tale #34: Toddlers
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #35: Side You Most Rest On
If this is to be believed well I skipped between the two.

Old Wives Tale #36: Hands
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #37: Dads Weight Gain
Girl

Old Wives Tale #38: Breast Test
Girl

Old Wives Tale #39: Necklace Over Hand
N/A

Old Wives Tale #40: What Do You Think?
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #41: Morning Sickness
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #42: Areolae
Boy.

Old Wives Tale #43: Protein
Girl.

old-wives-talesOld Wives Tale #44: Feet
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #45: Hair on Legs
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #46: Hands are Dry
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #47: Urine
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #48: Nose
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #49: Headaches
Boy.

Old Wives Tale #51: Baby Names
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #1: Heartburn

If a pregnant woman experiences heartburn throughout the 9 months of pregnancy, shell have a baby born with a full head of hair.
DD had hair, but not a large amount but I had mega heartburn.

Old Wives Tale #4: Heart Rate
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #12: Shape of Belly
Boy ish.

Old Wives Tale #14: Shape of Moms Face
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #16: Mayan Tale
Girl.

Old Wives Tale #18: Acne
Boy.

Old Wives Tale #19: Cravings
Girl.

old-wives-tales-pregnancyOld Wives Tale #20: Smell of Garlic
Boy.

So overwhelmingly girl.
I did actually have a girl. :)

[CaseyRossi]

Just realised i didn't report back,

It's a boy! so the Chinese (obvious really) and the leg hair and the heart beat (at 16wks) and craving fruit old wives tales were false.

[CaseyRossi]

oh and I forgot one, my linea nigra only goes up to my belly button as from about 14 wks and present now, this would suggest girl which is wrong.