Friday, August 10, 2012

Baby Gender?

There are lots of silly ways to predict the gender of an unborn baby, so I thought I'd try some out and share the details with you. I think most of these have about a 50% accuracy rate. Here are all of the tests I can find.

Chinese Gender Chart
Upon first glance, this chart is telling me it's a girl. However, leave it to the Chinese to have their own way of calculating age and month. Apparently in Chinese years I am 31, not 29 (c'mon, really? That's gotta be like the worst jump in ages I can think of.) And apparently, April 20th is actually in March according to the Chinese lunar month calendar. Which means... it's a boy... as is every child conceived to a 31-year old woman according to the Chinese calendar in the lunar month of March. Phew! Interestingly enough, when I remember looking at this chart for Penelope, it had told me she'd be a boy, but I hadn't realized that I didn't know my correct age or the lunar month. When I go back and calculate it according to the Chinese methods, it says girl for Penny.

Red Cabbage Test
For this one, you boil a head of red cabbage and then save the water you boiled it in. Mix equal parts cabbage water with urine of the pregnant woman. If the water turns pink or red, it's a boy. Blue/purple indicates a girl. Here are my results. Definitely pink/red, so boy.

Carrying high/low
I think this one gets the award for the stupidest gender test, and probably the most annoying because everyone seems to cite this one. If you're carrying high, it's supposed to be a girl and low for a boy. I don't know how I'm carrying. What do you guys think? Actually, please don't answer. I'm sure I will hear about it enough in the coming months. Inconclusive.

Heartbeat
Apparently if the heartbeat is above 140, it indicates girl and below 140 indicates boy. I know this one has pretty much been blown apart by science, but the heartbeat for bugabug was below 140. I think Penny's was right at 140. So boy on this one too.

Husband's weight gain
If hubs gains weight during the pregnancy, that indicates girl. I will have to double check with Josh, but I don't think he's put on any weight lately. Boy.

Cravings
Sweet is supposed to be girl, and sour is supposed to be a boy. I don't really crave anything, at least not anything that I didn't crave before I was pregnant. I have always had a sweet tooth, but I don't think that counts. Inconclusive.

Face shape
If mom's face gets round and full, it's supposed to be a girl. I think it's probably too early to tell on this one. I don't think my face looks any different, so boy for now?

Ring test
Suspend a ring on a string over the pregnant belly. If it swings back-and-forth, it's a boy, and if it swings in a circle, it's a girl. Mine swung back and forth in a line: boy.

Acne
If mom gets acne during pregnancy, it's supposed to be a girl. None so far: boy.

Key test
Ask preggo lady to pick up a key. If she picks it up by the thin end, it's a girl and the round end it's a boy. I can't really do this one now because you kind of need the element of surprise.

Mother's intuition
A study asked pregnant women with no knowledge of their baby's gender what they thought they were having, and 71% of the time the moms were correct. With Penny, I definitely had strong girl feelings. I think this baby is a boy, so we will see. Josh still thinks girl.

Well, if I'm not having a boy, something is seriously up with the universe. Every test predicts boy or is inconclusive. What do you all think? Any intuitive people out there having a gender feeling for me one way or the other? What about for your own pregnancies? Were your mama intuitions right?

1 comment:

  1. The Chinese chart, Acne, mothers intuition were correct for us.

    I carried high and craved nothing. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete