Here’s a just for fun post.  With both of our kiddos, we didn’t find out whether we were having a boy or a girl until birth (here are all the reasons why!).  But I thought it would be fun to look back on my pregnancies with Henry and Claire and see if there was any validity to those Old Wives Tales about whether it’d be a girl or boy. 

gender 5

The Chinese Gender Predictor said that Henry would be a boy and that Claire would be a boy, too.  So – it was right 50% of the time. Hah.

gender

I thought I carried high with Henry, but in comparison to my second pregnancy, Henry was lower, which indicates boy.  I was pretty high with Claire, indicating a girl.  Most strangers who assessed my bellies thought that Henry would be a boy and Claire would be a girl!

gender 2

I never broke out with Henry or Claire.  I do think I looked “glowier” with Claire, though.

gender 3

Henry’s heart rate was usually over 140 BPM (which meant girl), and Claire’s was usually under 140 BPM (which meant boy).  So – this tale was opposite for me!  Henry was much more active in utero than Claire, so maybe that had something to do with the high and low heart rates.

gender 4

I craved sweet with Henry, which meant girl, and salty foods (GIMME ALL THE FRENCH FRIES) with Claire.  Again – opposite!

gender 7

I ended up with a long linea nigra (this dark line that appears on your tummy towards the end of pregnancy) with both.  So – there was no truth to this tale for me.

gender 6

I only had a few days of morning sickness with Henry and weeks of it with Claire. I never actually puked with Henry and puked a TON with Claire.  So – this tale was true!

gender 8

What about my “gut instinct?”  Well, I didn’t have a strong gut instinct with either kid, but if pressed, I would’ve said Henry was a girl (wrong) and Claire was a boy – no, a girl – no, a boy (wrong again).  I know many moms who say that they “KNEW!”  but I never felt really strongly either time.

 

Were the Old Wives Tales true for you?

{ 23 comments }

 

  • Sarah January 9, 2015, 3:14 pm

    Haha! So funny to read through these, I heard them all during my pregnancy! Only one that was accurate with my twin girls was their heart rates. They were both really high. Also, I had that gut instinct telling me girls!

  • Jennifer January 9, 2015, 3:16 pm

    I love this post! I think the old wives tales are so fun. I thought our first was a girl because I was SO sick, but I was wrong. Apparently that one isn’t true for me. The second time around I felt exactly the same and guessed that it was a boy again, and that time I was right. If boys make me that sick (THE ENTIRE PREGNANCY), I don’t want to see what a girl would do to me. 🙁

  • Amy @ Amy M4gic January 9, 2015, 3:32 pm

    So interesting! I’ve always wondered about these, especially the morning sickness one. Thanks for sharing.

  • Lee January 9, 2015, 3:32 pm

    I have a son and most of them were true. However, his heartbeat was faster than 140 bpm.

  • Anne January 9, 2015, 3:35 pm

    I’m 19 weeks and the anatomy scan is next. We’re not finding out though!! (I hope!) I think I’m half and half with these regarding boy/girl. Chinese say boy. Heartbeat says girl. Guess I’ll find out in June! Can’t wait to see what’s true!

  • Verna January 9, 2015, 3:40 pm

    I “knew” my first was a boy. My first instinct is usually right with my pregnancies. I talked myself into thinking the last one would be a girl, he’s very much a boy though. We’ll see about #4 though! 😉

  • Joey January 9, 2015, 4:03 pm

    This was fun, thanks for sharing!

  • Liz January 9, 2015, 5:19 pm

    I’m due March 1st with a girl. The Chinese Gender Predictor was right, but the rest mostly predicted boy! The only old wive’s tales that leaned girl were the skin prediction (I’ve had a ton of breakouts while pregnant) and the heartbeat. My gut instinct from about week 13 until we found out was girl, though 🙂

  • Tanya January 9, 2015, 5:27 pm

    Hadn’t heard some of these. Don’t believe any of them, but they’re kind of fun. Had to laugh at the morning sickness one. First child (boy): classic 3 months of morning sickness. Second child (girl): no morning sickness. Third child (boy): threw up 24 hours a day the whole nine months!

  • Catherine January 9, 2015, 6:28 pm

    I really thought Henry was a girl! We had due dates around the same time (mine was June 17) and on your updates, I thought your belly looked identical to mine the entire time. Similar symptoms, as well. I didn’t wait to find out the sex so I knew I was having a girl. My second baby was born in October 2013 and my pregnancies were almost identical… but it was a boy!

    However, one tale was true for me… horrible acne with my daughter, but perfectly clear skin with my son. I’m currently pregnant with #3 (due in August!) and I have mild acne. I guess it could go either way 😉

  • SarahF January 9, 2015, 7:24 pm

    These were so fun to read through. Interesting how varied they were!
    I think it’s amazing you waited for both. I honestly think I would just get too curious and want to know! But I guess it’s a bit like Christmas- you want to know what the presents are, but the anticipation makes Christmas morning that much better.

  • Breanne January 9, 2015, 8:18 pm

    So fun!! I don’t have kids, but I remember thinking my boss’ second child would be a boy because it was SO different from her first pregnancy (which was a girl) – nope another girl!!

    Everyone told my mom that I was a boy because my heart rate was low, but her gut said girl. She didn’t even pick a boy’s name. It turns out the umbilical cord was around my neck a few times causing my heart rate to be low.

  • Jen January 9, 2015, 8:40 pm

    Just a funny story – my wife (who carried our baby) and I were convinced waiting would be torture so we chose to find out at our anatomy scan. My wife swore it was a boy and “prepared” me for that because I really wanted a girl. At our anatomy scan we found out it was a girl! And completely shocked my wife! For the rest of the pregnancy we asked our OB (who did NOT do our anatomy scan), for confirmation 3 separate times, just to be sure. Yep, girl! Lucie’s nursery was painted and personalize and her wardrobe was purchased, washed, and put away. On delivery day, after a pretty hellish labor, our amazing WILLIAM was born! I think we will be waiting next time. 🙂 Congrats our your two precious little ones!

  • Julie January 9, 2015, 9:24 pm

    I love this post! We didn’t find out with my son who is actually a few months younger than your Henry, and I’m due again in a few weeks and also don’t know the sex of the baby this time around- and this time I’m completely 50/50 thinking boy vs girl! With my son I carried more like I was having a girl, and I broke out a lot more. This time around I’m carrying lower and have had better skin, so we’ll see in a few weeks!

  • Nikki January 10, 2015, 8:42 am

    I’m 7 months pregnant with my first and keep getting asked what my intuition “says.” It says baby lol. I have no idea! How am I supposed to know? My symptoms don’t point to one gender over the other, so we’ll see!

  • Erin January 10, 2015, 1:09 pm

    I love this post! I am 25 weeks with our first, and we are not finding out the sex either! I have been about 50:50 on boy/girl prediction tests… And the Chinese birth chart predicts boy with the due date and girl with conception date. I also have no gut instincts as to one or the other (so it makes me feel better to hear that other mothers are in the same “clueless” boat), but my friends are convinced it is a boy. We’ll see who is right in April! 🙂

  • Kinnereth January 10, 2015, 9:02 pm

    We just had our first, a girl. She is a week old now. The only one true for me was how I carried her. All the strangers said girl and I had no gut instinct. I did have two dreams: One was about having a baby boy and the second, twin baby girls (we knew it was only one).
    I LOVED not finding out the sex & recommend it to preggo friends 😉

  • Nikki January 11, 2015, 8:36 am

    Every single wives tale meant girl for me yet I delivered a boy this past June. I knew as soon as I got pregnant that it was a boy.

  • Suzy January 12, 2015, 10:57 am

    We also waited to find out what we were having. I think most of things pointed to me having a boy, which was what we had.

    Have you tried the necklace test? Place a necklace with a cross (or some sort of pendant) and if it swings in a circle it’s a girl, back and forth is a boy. It’ll also tell you how many kids you’ll have and their sex too. You keep lifting and see it swing till it stops. So far, it’s spot on for all the moms in my office and apparently I’ll have to kids, boy and girl. Hmmm, ha ha.

  • Sara January 12, 2015, 2:03 pm

    I had a boy and here are my stats: I carried low, craved salty, puked my guts out til week 21, Luke had a heart rate over 140 the whole time, linea nigra ran from pubic to belly button only. I was hoping for a girl (at the time) but I knew by the time we had our ultrasound that we’d be having a boy. Sure enough, boy! 🙂

  • Jillian @ Reshape Your Life January 12, 2015, 6:18 pm

    We didn’t find out what we were having, but I felt really early on it was a boy and as my pregnancy went on I felt VERY strongly it was a boy, to the point where I would get a little mad if people would refer to the baby as “her”. lol

    As for the wives tales, chinese birth chart said girl, I think I carried pretty low (boy), I broke out a lot but still think I had a glow (both), heartrate was in the 130’s pretty consistently (boy), I craved ALL THE FOODS lol, so both for that one, the line went all down my belly (boy), no real morning sickness (boy), gut said boy.

    It was in fact a boy 🙂

  • Alex @ True Femme January 12, 2015, 6:41 pm

    This was really fun to read! My family is Romanian and they have some weird traditions about telling if it’s a boy or girl. Like taking a strand of your hair and using your wedding ring as a pendulum over your baby bump. If it goes one way it’s a boy and another it’s a girl. It did correctly predict one of my cousin’s kids!

  • char eats greens January 14, 2015, 3:15 pm

    A lot of opposites for me too! We didn’t find out with our girl, but I got A LOT of boy comments near the end of pregnancy. Good thing I didn’t listen to any of them! I think you and I are very similar in a lot of ways (just read your previous post on why you decided not to find out!)

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