Gender Prediction – Myth vs Reality??

Well, today is the day – this evening we will find out the gender of our second baby!! I am VERY VERY excited (and slightly terrified) about what the cake will reveal this evening! (See Gender Reveal Cake)

People keep asking me if I have a “gut instinct” of what I am having – and I have a couple of “feelings” one way or the other, but to be honest I will have a genuine surprise whichever colour is revealed this evening! I decided to read up on some of the gender prediction Old Wives Tails to see if any of them may accurately determine the sex of our baby!

1) Carrying High / Low

Rumour has it that if you are carrying your baby high, it is a girl, where as if you are carrying low, its more likely to be blue. Well this one isn’t much help, as I appear to be carrying slap bang in the middle. My bump seems to change shape on an almost daily basis, with one wriggly baby changing positions fairly regularly so not sure this is a very accurate tool for gender prediction! Verdict = INCONCLUSIVE.

2) The Ring Test

This ones been an old favourite, I remember even my mum did this with her family when she was pregnant with me! The story goes that if you tie your ring to a piece of string or ribbon and hold so it hangs over your belly it will move back and forth for a girl, or swing in a circle for a boy. As a gender prediction tool this one feels so random, but had a very clear outcome – it swung round and round in large circles! So much so that Mike was quite freaked out – “HOW IS IT DOING THAT?!” – Verdict = BOY

3) Heart Beat

The baby’s heart beat is also supposed to be a gender prediction tool. If your baby’s heart beat is less than 140 beats per minute then you are having a boy, whereas heart rates of faster than 140 beats per minute is more likely to be a girl. Our last heart beat reading was 155 beats per minute! Verdict = GIRL.

4) Chinese Birth Chart

The Chinese Birth chart uses the mothers age and the month of conception to predict gender. We conceived in December (Merry Christmas everyone!) and therefore I was aged 32. Verdict = BOY. However, I know this isn’t accurate based on Erin, as I was 29 and August with her, and this also says boy!

 

5) Morning Sickness

Morning sicknesss is another popular method of gender prediction – the myths suggest that if you get morning sickness early in your pregnancy you are having a girl, where as if sickness strikes a little later (after 12 weeks) you are more likely to be having a boy. My sickness was pretty much the same as with Erin, striking around the 10 week mark and easing around 19 weeks. It was mostly evening sickness and LOTS of dry heaving! (FUN!) – According to the myth, this would imply boy, however I was the same with Erin and she was a boy! – Verdict – INCONCLUSIVE as neither early nor late!

6) Cravings

Rumour has it that if you crave sweet things, you are having a girl, whereas if you crave salty and savory you are expecting a boy. I have only really craved Cod and Cottage pie (not together) and ate sweet and savory in equal measure, so no strong preference either way! 🙂 Verdict = INCONCLUSIVE

My personal view is that all of these gender prediction myths are complete codswollop lol 🙂 – but according to these results, a BOY is looking a little more likely! (UPDATE – It was a girl!)