One of the many fun parts of preparing for a baby is trying to predict your unborn baby's gender and the guessing game that arises on whether it'll be a little boy or girl. There are plenty of scientific ways for expectant parents to find out the sex of their baby, like noninvasive prenatal testing, ultrasounds, and even gender prediction kits that you can buy and administer at home. But there are also many, many unscientific ways that people have used throughout the ages to predict the gender of a baby. Yup, there are tons of wives' tales that claim to predict a child's sex that have nothing to do with science.
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Whether or not you are going to find out the gender of your baby ahead of time via your doctor, it can be fun to get yourself and others to predict the gender of your baby using what many abuelas and tías consider to be foolproof ways to figure out if you are carrying a boy or a girl. You can even turn it into a friendly competition to see who "guesses" correctly when the time comes. Check out some long-held gender prediction tools below, and try some of them out to see if they actually work.
Could your level of getting grossed out be a clue?
How grossed out you are by foods you used to enjoy before your pregnancy could indicate the gender of your baby. A Polish research study found that mommies carrying a boy were more likely to be disgusted in the first two trimesters than those carrying girls. Researchers explain that this higher level of squeamishness and saying yuck to more foods could be the body's way of protecting male embryos, which are more vulnerable than female ones.
Some say the shape of your belly can be an indicator of gender.
Paying attention to the belly could also provide clues to the baby's gender. If the mom is carrying high, it supposedly means she's having a girl. If the belly sits low, then signs point to it being a boy.
Have you heard of the needle test?
It's basically a pendulum test. A needle hanging from a thread is held over an expectant mom's belly to see which way it'll turn. If it spins clockwise, expect a girl. If it spins counterclockwise, expect a boy. If you accidentally prick her with the needle, expect to be kicked!
No needle, no problem!
This is a pendulum prediction variation. You use a ring on a string or chain and hold it over someone's pregnant belly. If it swings side to side, that means it's a boy. If it swings in a circular motion, that's means it's a girl.
Ask your doctor for the baby's heart rate.
There's a way of enlisting your doctor's help without having her give away the big secret: just ask what the baby's heart rate is. Apparently, a rate of 140 beats per minute could signal that a boy is on the way, while a higher heart rate means you might be having a girl.
Are you craving sweet foods or savory ones?
Check your cravings. It is said that women who are expecting a girl crave sweets, while moms carrying a boy are drawn to sour and salty foods. If you want both, then maybe you're just really hungry.
There's even a Drano test!
This one's a little crazy, but have you heard of the Drano test? We suggest staying away from the chemical and having your partner handle this bit, if you decide to try it. The test consists of adding a tablespoon of the liquid drain cleaner to a cup of your pee. If it turns green, congratulations! You're having a girl. And if it turns blue? Hooray! You're having a boy!
Forget about you. What's going on with the baby's daddy?
Is your baby daddy piling on the pounds? Then you might be having a girl. Whatever you do, though, don't point out the weight gain to him. You can just tell him you "have a feeling" you're having a girl, but don't tell him what gave you that feeling.
Pay attention to how much your bra size changes.
Because a mother's body requires more testosterone if she's carrying a male fetus, her breasts won't grow as much as they would if she were carrying a girl. But then again, are you supposed to know the difference if you've never carried a baby before?
The key test is interesting, but kind of rude.
If you have a friend who's expecting, trick her into revealing the baby's gender by "accidentally" dropping a key in front of her and asking her to pick it up. If she grabs it by the narrow end, then she'll be having a girl. If she picks it up by the round end, it's a boy. You do run the risk of looking like a jerk for asking a pregnant woman to pick up what you dropped, though.
Girls are blamed for stealing their mom's beauty.
Another old wives’ tale says that if the mom is breaking out during her pregnancy, she's carrying a girl who will go on to steal her mom's beauty. How catty is that one?! We don't like this one very much, because really, it's the hormones causing the breakouts.
Is your morning sickness intense?
Is your morning sickness making you miserable? Then blame it on your little girl, because a little son wouldn't cause you as much sickness. Or that's what some folks say. Seriously, can we stop blaming little girls in the womb for the effects of hormones? It just seems mean.
There's also a siblings test.
If the child's father has more siblings of a particular sex, then that could be an indicator that he'll have a child of the same sex. After all, it is the man who determines the sex of the baby. Women typically have XX chromosomes and males have XY chromosomes, so the sex is determined by the chromosome the male contributes.
There's a Chinese gender predictor chart you can use.
It's a birth calendar that has been in use for over 700 years. It takes your age and the month that you conceived into consideration to predict the sex of your baby. Some people even use it to try to conceive a particular gender. Like if they want a boy, they look to the calendar to tell them when to get busy procreating.
How far up does your linea nigra go?
During pregnancy, many women develop what is called a linea nigra, a line of darker pigmentation that runs vertically on the belly from the pubis. If that line goes up to your belly button, it is believed that you are having a girl. If the line of darker pigmentation on your belly goes past your belly button, it is believed you hare having a boy.
