If you’ve known me for any length of time, I’m sure it comes as no surprise that we are once again signing up to not find out the sex of our baby. I’m predictably stubborn, & I think it’s fun to see what our friends, family, & internet strangers think. There are lots of passionate opinions on the who, what, where, when in the baby world!
Once again, we’ve also decided to make a game of this whole thing and take bets. Nothing like a little game or competition to make things more exciting, and it works great in our still mostly virtual world.
So, I’ve set up an online pool on Baby Bookie. It’s free to place a bet, but we’re open to setting up some more serious gambling too if there’s enough interest. In order to help you make your decision, I’ve combed through a bunch of Old Wives Tales & compiled my answers. Let’s break it down!
Chinese Gender Prediction Chart
There are two different charts you can use. Lucky for me, both the Chinese Lunar Calendar & the Ancient Chinese Gender Chart say girl. This chart is supposed to be the more accurate of the two though, if you’re looking for results yourself. (With Annika, both of these also predicted girl.)
RAMZI Method
I read somewhere that this one is said to be 95% accurate. It’s based on an early ultrasound. The idea is that you can tell the gender based on what side the placenta is forming on. I used my 8 week transvaginal ultrasound. Story goes that if baby is on the right, it’s a boy and if it’s on the left it’s a girl. (It will be reversed for an abdominal ultrasound, from what I’ve read.) From what I could tell, baby is a boy. (With Annika, boy was also predicted, but I used an abdominal ultrasound instead of transvaginal.)
Skin Changes
There are a few different predictions here. Firstly, boys are said to give you dry skin, whereas girls bring out the oil in your skin. My skin has been drier than dry all winter (like everyone’s this winter in Calgary, I suspect) so we’ve got another vote for boy. They also say that if you’re getting a lot of compliments that you’re glowing, you’re having a boy. No comments? Girl. I can’t think of any comments of this nature, so another girl vote. Lastly, girls are said to “steal your beauty”, leading to more breakouts. I’ve definitely had a lot more breakouts than normal (I generally have pretty clear skin, aside from psoriasis). So there’s a girl vote again. (This is essentially the exact same as with Annika, so all the votes are pretty much the same!)
Linea Negra
Some moms get a dark line that runs down the center of their baby bellies. Both this time & last, this didn’t appear for me until I was in the third trimester. Both last time & this time the line continues above my belly button, which is supposed to mean we can expect a boy.
Hair
If your hair is thick and glossy, they say you’re having a boy. If it’s dull and limp, it’s a girl. I have seen no real change in my hair, aside from it growing slightly faster than normal since I started taking prenatal vitamins & having very few hair cuts in the last year (yay scraggly ends!). I’m not sure I can attribute any change to pregnancy though, so I guess we’re having another puppy according to this one. 😉 Neither. (This was the same last time. I think I just have a lot of hair.)
Baking Soda Test
This is another test that boasts a pretty high level of accuracy: 80%! I’m not the biggest fan of this one since mixing my own urine with something else isn’t the most appealing, but I once again axed the cabbage test so we’re keeping this one.You take 2 tablespoons of baking soda and mix it with your urine. If it fizzes, you’re having a boy. If it remains flat, you’re having a girl. Mine fizzed: BOY. (It fizzed last time too.)
Body Hair
Yeah, I know, a few of these are maybe a little TMI. I’m sure the Internet doesn’t really need to know about this. Too late now! Lucky for me, my body hair is growing normal, which is supposed to mean girl. (Same as last time!)
Weight Gain
If you are carrying all your weight out front (like you’re smuggling a basketball), baby is likely a boy. If the weight piles on all over, it might be a daughter. I decided not to use my own judgment on this one, since my own weight gain seems significantly more noticeable to me than it does to anyone else. Everyone I asked said I seemed to be all bump so far. Maybe they were just being nice, but we’re going with it. Boy. (Same as last time. I think you’re all just nice, but thanks!)
Baby’s Heart Rate
Many people swear by this one. It’s said that girls have faster heart rates than boys. The normal range is between 120 bpm and 180 bpm, but over 140 bpm is supposed to signal a baby girl. Baby Fish’s heart rate has averaged in the 140 bpm range, & has never been below 140 bpm so far. Girl. (The same as last time….once again.)
Cravings
The good ol’ salty vs sweet. Sweet foods are supposedly linked to girls and salty to boys. I’ve always had a major preference for salty foods. Even the sweet treats I enjoy best err on the side of salty (salted caramel all day every day!). That is until I was pregnant with Anni. Suddenly, I was always craving candy, ice cream, chocolate…basically all things sweet. It was a bizarre change for me. Some of this newfound love of sweets stuck around after I had Anni, but I mostly went back to my preference for savoury treats. As soon as I got pregnant again though, this craving came back in full force. It’s really throwing N off (he wasn’t around as much for it with Anni). I guess we’re predicting girl again thanks to this one.
Headaches
Extreme headaches are said to signal a baby boy, while no headaches are said to mean girl. I’m happy to have been relatively headache free throughout my pregnancy so here’s another girl vote. (Same as last time!)
Sickness
Baby girls supposedly trigger nausea with vomiting whereas a boy will only cause nausea. Again, I was really lucky to have very minimal nausea. I was mostly able to control it by eating regularly, which I don’t generally have a problem with. 😉 BOY.
Clumsy vs Graceful
I would never describe myself as graceful; however, I saw no real change in my level of clumsiness since getting pregnant. Supposedly that means we’re having a girl.
Wedding Ring Test
I think everyone is pretty familiar with this one. You’re supposed to dangle your wedding band over your belly on a string and wait for it to start moving. Back and forth means boy & in a circle means it’s a girl. I read somewhere else that it’s supposed to be with mom’s hair, so we added that to the mix this time instead of a string. It was back & forth again, so I guess we have another vote for boy. (Boy last time too.)
Sibling Intuition
I don’t think this is on any old wives tale list, but we asked Anni to weigh in on whether she thinks she’s getting a brother or sister. Honestly, this changes by the minute, but when we officially asked, she said boy.
TL; DR
We’ve got 8 votes for boy, 8 for girl, & 1 for neither. As far as the two supposed most accurate tests, they both predict we’re having a boy. You can decide if you believe they have more merit.
Our pool will also allow you to predict Baby Fish’s birthdate (& weight, length, etc). My due date is officially June 7, 2021. I was induced due to hypertension at 41 weeks with Ans. It was pretty quick once we got things started, so she was born 8 days after my due date.
& that’s all I have for you! Check the site, place your bets, & let us know if you bought into any old wives tales!
You can follow along with the rest of my pregnancy bumpdates here.
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