Gender old wives tales

firsttimemama630

Unfortunately the lab my doctor sent my genetic bloodwork to messed up and I had to redo so I won't know the gender for another week. What are some of the fun/ proven ways you guys have guessed the gender of your bundles? First time mom here. 

jengibre_zorro

I heard one - If you step outside and see your shadow, it’s a boy, and if you don’t, it’s a girl.  

cjx95

Lol so like groundhogs day? 6 more weeks of winter!! 
If you're carrying low it's a boy, high it's a girl

cdepperschmidt

I think they’re all dumb. BUT the best one I saw was if you left boob gets bigger it’s a boy and if your right boob gets bigger it’s a girl. 

nasalot188

Oh I've heard so many and while they can be fun, they r totally useless ha!

The ring over the belly, craving salty or sweet, carrying high/low, the angle of the dangle, acne or glowing, all belly vs gaining all over...

I will say the ONE that my doctor gave some merit to was the heart rate theory. She told me not to hang any bets on it but in her experience girls do tend to have a slightly higher heart rate, especially in the 3rd trimester. 

But again, anecdotal from my one doctor and only 'slightly higher'.

spartan4life

@nasalot188 “The angle of the dangle” I’m intrigued...I don’t think I have heard that one before...

HoosOnFirst

I used to believe the heart rate theory but my first was a girl and this one is a boy and the boy had the same heart rate as the first, at least at the first appointment.

nmadjeski

@cdepperschmidt I agree I think they are all dumb. However yours seems to hold true for me with both pregnancies! Haha

sunnyknightsarah

I don’t put any stock in them but they are fun games to play.

My best friend who lives far away made me do the string test and send her a pic of my belly before she would guess on what I was having lmao 

The heart rate one I heard a lot. We actually had an appt yesterday and our Mat21 results were in so the doctor read them and we’re having a girl But then he measured heart rate and said, “see it’s 142 so I would have guess boy by the old wives tale, so that just goes to show they aren’t accurate.” haha

also a crazy old wives tale I just heard about was Drain-O Test. People are told to put a tablespoon of Drain-O in a cup and pee into it. If the mixture turns green you are having a girl. If it turns blue you are having a boy. Supposedly there is something in the moms’ urine that mixes with the Drain-O causing it to change color and determine the baby’s sex. 

DunkinDecaf

Sex, not gender. Also, that totally sucks about your blood work getting messed up. I’d be so annoyed. There are no “proven” old wives tales though, and tbh I’m not a fan of any of the guesswork stuff. 

SweetSweetTooth

I have a list of most of these that I started almost right away and am keeping track based on my symptoms, HR, etc right now it is split about 50/50. Go figure, right? I hold no truth to pretty much any of them but thought it would be fun to post at a shower (if anyone throws one) for all the wives tale people to see. 

cdepperschmidt

@nmadjeski I LOL’d because my left boob is naturally way bigger.

ohmotherofboys

My boys heart rates were both in the 140’s first appointment (I don’t be remember if they went up) and this pregnancy at my first appointment the heart rate was 164. Even though it’s just an old wives tale it still makes me wonder. 

When I was talking about old wives tales with SO he stopped me and said “did you just say old WIVES tale?... don’t you mean old WISE tale?” He thought I had it all wrong but a quick google proved me right. 

hellopartyof5

I've heard the nub theory (also known as the angle of the dangle) can be a good predicter, but there's so many variables so human error can definitely occur. (For instance at this babies 12 week scan I couldn't even find the nub) then it has to be less than 30 degrees for a girl, so I'm sure people have trouble measuring that. It was accurate for DD. (So that means it MUST be right. Ha!) kind of fun to look at, but yea wouldn't be buying any baby clothes based on it. 

nasalot188

@spartan4life haha angle of the dangle is just another way of saying nub theory.

Some believe at the 12 week scan the 'nub' will be angled upward or downward indicating boy/girl.

With both pregnancies I couldn't even see a nub on the scan.

jomama1618

@ohmotherofboys That's funny! Also Ds's hr was in the 170s-160s til I want to say sometime in the 2nd tri before dropping to 140s-150s where it mostly stayed. This one has been the same, (11/12 week app it was 162)  so I'm interested to see. 

DunkinDecaf

My girls’ HRs were both consistently in the 140s. I call shenanigans.

princessandthegator

I loved doing the tests with my first. And she was pretty spot on: sweet cravings, morning sickness, growth in the hips and not stomach, ring over the belly, high heart rate. 

With this one ALL signs pointed to girl (including the ring test and a super high heart rate). But there's no mistaking that Y chromosome lol. Now the old people were all right (every grandmother was like "it's for sure a boy"...but they had a 50% chance of being correct soooo)

arome2311

I always think the old wives tales are fun, even if they aren't accurate/reliable.  The one that my midwife said was the only somewhat "accurate" sign she is aware of is the linea nigra and only with your first pregnancy.  She said that if you have a dark, predominant linea nigra, then the baby is almost always a girl in her experience and research. This is apparently only accurate in the first pregnancy because if you have it in an earlier pregnancy it will show up in subsequent pregnancies.  She also stated that if you don't have one it does not mean you are having a boy, but if it's there you can guess girl.  I don't know if this is accurate as I didn't have one with my previous pregnancy and he ended up being a boy. Thought it would be fun to share.  

amama3

@arome2311 That was accurate for me, my line got very dark when I was pregnant with my my daughter. Curious to see what I am having this time around and if it darkens again.

hellopartyof5

@arome2311 that was not accurate for me. 

sparklingwhit

DS’ heartbeat was like 140, Chinese gender calendar said boy, ring test said boy, my left boob is ALWAYS bigger, so there’s that, I craved food in general but hated chicken and hummus, I was also sick for exactly 14 weeks and then felt fab during the second tri. I don’t understand the dangle crap. 

This time HR has been consistently over 170 and I am craving sweets like whoa. Everything else points to boy. 

My grandmother says that girls steal your beauty while you’re pregnant with them. But I feel like I’ve looked like a hot mess cow with both of mine. I definitely don’t “glow”.

Basically, I think they’re all silly, but I participate because it is fun to do it. 

DunkinDecaf

I had a linea negra with DD1 but not with DD2 or this baby (a boy). Nope.

linssears4

This isn't a gender/sex one but I have been getting the "heartburn = lots of hair" one a lot because well..... I STILL have relentless heartburn all the time.  Based on the tale, I'll be giving birth to an ape.  

nasalot188

@linssears4 that one was actually true for me! Haha so much heartburn. DS had full head of beautiful hair 

britvahok

@linssears4 I had heartburn really bad with both my boys and they were born with a head full of hair. They usually get mistaken for girls for the first few weeks. Last week someone thought my 8 month old was a girl.

DunkinDecaf

@linssears4 haha I’ve actually heard there’s some truth to that one. I never had heartburn and I had two bald babies, so... maybe!

SawyerRichardson

I had intense heartburn with DD and she had some hair, but not as much as I was expecting! 

pajamstagrams

@linssears4 my mom didn't have bad heartburn with me and I had A LOT of hair when I was born (fairly long too). Like as much hair as a 2 year old. So far, mine has been pretty minimal, so I'm curious to see how much hair my baby will be born with!

jengibre_zorro

I had like, debilitating heartburn with my son, and that kid is almost two and still lacking in the hair game.  

arome2311

@linssears4 I've actually heard there is some medical evidence of that one.  I haven't researched it myself, but I've seen that before lol. 

linssears4

It will definitely be interesting to see!!  Intense heartburn was actually my first indicator that I was pregnant.  I had it the weekend before PPT and it has not let up since.  Taking meds that somewhat help... but yes, if this theory is true, I'll be expecting one hairy little monkey!  

sparklingwhit

I had horrible heartburn with my son and he came out bald as an egg.

sparklingwhit

I had horrible heartburn with my son and he came out bald as an egg.

sparklingwhit

I had horrible heartburn with my son and he came out bald as an egg.

tinattt23

No heartburn with DS and he had a decent amount of hair. He’s still regularly referred to as a girl at 16 months. Whatever. Long hair, don’t care. 

nmadjeski

I had terrible heartburn from beginning to end with DS and he came out with a full head of hair. This time one of the first signs I was pregnant was heartburn buts its definitely lessened over the last couple weeks. Hopefully it stays that way! Lol 

momoflogan20

I had the worst heartburn toward the end and DS had the most hair id ever seen on a baby. I think its a myth and mostly depends on genetics. Boyfriend and I had a ton of hair when we came out.

jomama1618

My mom had severe heartburn with all of us. We were all as bald as could be! Mine wasn't a whole lot worse than normal (I have GERD, so it's pretty much my norm) and Ds had a decent amount of hair. So much so, that the on call ob gave him a mohawk as he was crowning This time is about the same, so hopefully this one has hair as well. 
On the possible genetic part of it, DH did have a decent amount of hair at birth, as well. So maybe *shrug*

Mylitta

I've heard the heartburn thing is more accurate - as in 80/20 rather than 50/50. So even if you have heartburn you're still only 80% likely to have a baby with hair. No heartburn for DS and he had little hair, but H and I both had a bunch at birth. So eh.

I read somewhere the heart rate thing was statistically accurate - for labor. That girls' heart rates go up in labor and boys' tend to go down more. At that point just wait a bit and know for sure.

Other than that they're all pretty much a 50/50 wash. But it's fun to read what people tried/thought before we could tell with US. Though to be fair, they've been wrong too. Less so recently, but still I heard about wrong the other day. So yeah...

sammierose464

Saw this today. I'm having a boy and no heart burn yet. Sooooo