Old Wives Tales

Disclaimer: I'm a pretty scientifically minded person, and I KNOW old wives tales are mostly ridiculous and have absolutely no meaning what so ever, so this is just for fun :)

Now that we have that out of the way... During that 20 week wait to find out baby's gender (drove me crazy, no idea how some people wait 40!!) people had a lot to say about what THEY thought the baby was.  So, now that we know our little jelly bean is a girl, I thought I would see how this pregnancy measures up to all the gender old wives tales that are floating around out there!

 

• Heart Rate: The very first prediction I got was just after my first doctor's appointment.  Baby's heart rate was 160 bpm (and has been pretty much since then!) and apparently a high heart rate (over 140) means it's a girl :)

•  Nausea: This Old Wives Tale says that if you're really sick first trimester (and/or beyond), then you can expect a girl!  I would say I was pretty DARN sick at the beginning of this pregnancy so I guess that's another point for the old wives!

• Sweet Cravings:  Ok, seriously, ALL I want to eat with this little girl is SUGAR (can you say, Gestational Diabetes?)!! I constantly crave candy, pop, fruit, juice, cake, cookies, chocolate... basically, anything sweet!  We've decided that baby knows what she likes and has a fit if I don't give it to her (One day I got up and just ate some fresh cucumbers and tomatoes... and they promptly came back up again). The old wives say that sweet cravings mean a girl vs. salty and sour cravings that mean a boy :)  

• Citrus Cravings: A random one that I actually had never heard before is that craving citrus means a girl, which is really interesting because about the only thing I wanted to eat for the first few months was oranges!

• Carrying Baby: I'm pretty sure this is one of the best known gender myths: carrying low, round and in front (basketball) means a boy, carrying wide, and high (football) means a girl.  I don't totally get this one, but I would say I'm carrying pretty high, although I think that's because my torso is so short that baby has no where else to be but high!  Also, I guess she's kind of widening my middle a bit, but once again, I think that has way more to do with my body shape than anything! 

• Weight Gain: Another one I believe I've heard is that girls make you gain weight in your hips, thighs, and butt, and I will sadly admit that is the case (no stretch marks on my belly yet, but my dang hips aren't faring so well!).

• Mood: Girls are supposed to make you more moody and emotional than boys.  I know it sounds crazy, but I actually feel like I've been way more emotionally stable since I've been pregnant!  Sorry, old wives...

• Graceful or Clumsy: If you feel more graceful, that means you'll have a baby girl, feeling clumsy means a boy.  Maybe it's just that I'm ALWAYS clumsy, but I feel like I've done nothing but trip over things, run into things, and drop things lately :/

• Zits!: This one says that girlies "steal your beauty" and therefore if you're having a girl you'll have a bad complexion while you're pregnant.  The state of my face hasn't really changed since I've been pregnant, so I'm really hoping that doesn't mean I'm going to have an ugly girl, haha!

So, it looks like the old wives were eerily right on some things, lol!  What are the chances?