My friend Miss. A who is newly pregnant with a long awaited little one, has been posting various Old Wives Tales on Wednesday for figuring out if you are carrying a boy or a girl.  I've been having a good time reading them and guessing.  I thought I might look check out and see what mine say.

The Chinese birth calender takes your age when you concieved to tell you what you will have.  It was wrong for Britt, but right for Ruth.  (There's proof of the 50/50 odds there.)  For this one it says girl.

The Mayan birth calender says to take your age at conception and the year you conceived and if both are even or odd then you are having a girl, if they are opposites then you are having a boy.  It was wrong on both accounts for us.  For this one it says boy.

Apparently when you ask a pregnant woman to show you her hands the way she hands them to you indicates boy or girl.  Palms up means girl and palms down means boy.  Similarly there is a test where you lay a key in front of a pregnant woman and ask her to pick it up.  If she reaches for the rounded end it's a girl, and if you reach for the narrow end it's a boy.  I don't know about these two, since I read it before I tried it.  :)

If your hands are always dry and need lotion then you are supposedly carrying a boy.  If that's true then this is definitely a boy.  However, I'm thinking the wind of an Indiana winter has way more to do with my dry hands, face, and chapped lips.  I don't recall dry hands being a problem with the last two.

There's another old wife tale where you dangle your wedding ring or a needle by a string and depending on if it swings in circle or back and forth it tells you boy or girl.  The only problem with this, is that it's almost impossible to tell how it's actually swinging.  So don't ask me what my results have been. haha.

If you're broken out then you are supposedly carrying a girl.  The story is that a girl steals all your beauty.  But like the morning sickness predictor it might be related to higher hormone levels that are usually seen with women pregnant with girls.  I wouldn't know about this one, since I'm broke out all the time anyway... it's one of the perks of being a red head.  But I guess we'll say girl.

The next one is based on the heart rate during pregnancy.  If the fetal heart rate is above 140 it's suppose to be a girl, and if it's less it's suppose to be a boy.  Of course as my mother will point out, my heart rate was in the 130s her entire pregnancy, and the doctors assured her several times I would be a boy - that was pre-ultrasounds.  Britt's heart rates were almost always in the 160s and Ruth's were always in the 150s and 160s as well.  So that one is another 50/50.  This one has been in mostly in the 130s and low 140s, so I guess it could go either way, but we'll say boy

There are two tales about how you are carrying baby that indicates gender.  One is if you are carrying low it's a boy, and high it's a girl.  Or if your weight is mostly in front it's a boy and if it's more in the middle or spread around (think hips, backside, etc) it's a girl.  That one was more spot on for our two.  With Britt he sat lower and the weight was all out front.  With Ruth it was more spread around, and much higher than Britt.  With this one all my weight is low and out front.

Another old wife tale relates to your cravings.  If you crave sweet food then it's a girl, if you crave salty or sour stuff it's a boy.  I craved sweets with both of the other kids, but want nothing but salty tortilla chips with this one.  So it's another 50/50 predictor, but says boy this time.

Then of course there is the old morning sickness predictor.  More sever morning sickness indicates a girl.  I can say that was true with both of mine.  Britt I was only sick for the first 20 weeks, with Ruth I was sick the day she was born.  Not sure what to think about that this time around.  I had morning sickness about 12 weeks, then it went away.  Then it came back the third trimester, and I've had it off and on since.  Maybe since it's not been so bad, it means boy?

Finally there's the Drano test that alot of people swear by, and is actually based in some science.  I'm not going into the details with that though.  My aunt told me about it with our first, and she had never heard of anyone doing it, and getting the "wrong answer" of course I got girl with it for Britt, and didn't try it the last time.  To be most accurate you have to do it after 4 months but before 25 or 30 weeks.  So I'm not doing it this go round either.

According to the tally our chances are 6 for boy 2 for girl.  Gary has been guessing boy most of this pregnancy. Britt has waffled back and forth, but is currently saying brother.  Even over the last month Ruth has insisted that it's a "boy baby."  As much as I would like another boy, I'm still thinking girl, but then I thought the last two were girls.  I guess I won't have to wait too much longer to see how many of these are right this time around, since we only have 2 more weeks to go.  At today's appointment the heart rate was 136, and I was only up a half a pound (go me).  No dilation or effacement, so I feel MUCH, MUCH better about Gary being gone over the weekend to his interview.