Did Your Child Debunk Any "Old Wives" Tales Regarding Gender?

My nephew had a "girl" heartbeat. My daughter and son both had heart beats in the same range. And my son was supposed to be a daughter according to the Chinese calendar!

The Chinese calendar perdicted a Girl. I carried low and his heart rate was always dead on for the Boy that he is.

With my 1st child everything said it would be a girl. We did not have an ultrasound. Well it was a boy when he was born and only had girl names picked out.

My husband and I chose not to find out the gender before birth with either of our kids - personal preference.

But, we had fun with the old wives tales - never did the Drano test, but our OB/GYN practice would make guesses based upon heart rate, how I was carrying, etc. If the heart rate had been a predictor, it would have been wrong both times.

In the end, my instincts proved to be correct both times. Boy first, girl second time around, but I was really wishy-washy.

Well, I have 4 kids...2 girls and 2 boys, and I was nauseous with all of them and they all had heartrates in the "girl" range. I also had heartburn with the last 2, but they were just as bald as the first 2, so I think the "old wives" tales are just that...tales. Sometimes they are true, and sometimes they aren't!

i carried my oldest son high which is supposed to be a girl. my gyno even swore it was going to be a girl by the heartrate. so I debunked 2 of them.

Both of my kids heart rate was in the 130's they said from that I should have a boy... 2 girls later I am happy to anounce that ALL the old wives tales people told me were wrong! I am actually happy about it, I wanted to girls first! Good luck (oh and ultra sound was wrong for my friend she was supposed to have a little girl! Turns out her gut was right she now has a sweet little boy).

I LOVE these!!

I am currently pregnant with #3 and we chose not to find out...but here are the wives tales debunked from my first 2 (both boys)...

Both had heart rates in the 140's...supposed to be boys (this one was "correct"), this time around it is also in the 140's...but heart rate is just like ours, if the baby is active, then the heart rate will be higher, sleeping then it will be lower.

With my first, no morning sickness...with my 2nd, I was so unbelievably sick...everyone said he was "for sure" a girl because my pregnancies were so different. Nope..boy again! This one, I didn't "get" sick as much as I felt like I had a hangover for 3 months...I have people stumped on this one!

Carrying...I was only in my belly with my first and got a little more pregnant all over with #2 (should have been a girl). This time I am feeling wider, so according to the wives tales, this should be a girl (unless you go with the heart rate haha).

Also with foods, I could not stand to look at sweets with either pregnancy until the very end (made apple crisp weekly with #2 for the last month or so...I think that's supposed to be a girl trait too).

I love the hair ones...with both pregnancies, the hair on my head grew like crazy and the hair on my legs slowed down. Same thing this time around (another boy??).

I really love hearing what people think. I have 4 more months to listen to them.

Best of luck with these great stories!!
B.

There is no scientific proof of the HR. As there are many factors that affect both maternal and infant HR. Caffeine will raise both maternal and fetal HR and will stay elevated in the fetus up 100 hrs after consumption. Cigarettes also increases HR. My doc has also said this is not true. I am expecting my second and the HR has varied from 130's - 170's...my first I was 150's-170's (and had a girl...)

The only wives tale I've heard of is the heartburn and hairy head. They did a very small study back in 2005/2006 on 30 women and found 28 of them who had heartburn had babies born with hair. (I did have heartburn with my first, born w hair, I have heartburn now and ultrasound is showing a baby with hair!)

Studies also show that mom's instincts was 95% right, kicks in right away!

As far as carrying high and low...well, I am carrying my second baby and carrying much different...I don't know what we are having, but was full and high with my first, and had a girl...now I am all belly...I'll soon find out if this is a boy...instincts has been telling me so. :)

Good Luck,
J. MPH
Maternal and Infant Health Educator
National Pregnancy Health Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/x-29454-Pregnancy-Health-Examiner

My 3 boys all started in the 160's, then in the last month or so, went to the 130's. My daughter was the exact opposite, started in the 130's, in theast month went up to the 160's.
So, they started out opposite of the old wives tale, but in the end, it was right on.

I'm currently 32 weeks pregnant with a girl (confirmed by ultrasound - solidly. She was positioned in such a way that it was plain as day), but at my last 2 doctors visits the heart rate was in the boy range. In fact, at the visit at 28 weeks, the doctor actually said something like "oh, that's a great boy beat." Scared me to death, but he hadn't looked at the chart yet to see the ultrasound result. (He followed up by saying it's not very uncommon for the heartbeat not to follow the "customary" rates for a gender. Trust the ultrasound result)

But I guess I'll know for sure in 8 weeks or so!

Well, it was ME that debunked one old wives tale ... My mom's OB told her over and over again that I was a boy due to my lower heart rate. Apparently, it was on the very, very low end of normal (which it still is, btw). I guess there were a couple of other small things that backed this up, so the doctor went with it. Based on this, my parents had only picked out a boy's name, but as they were wheeling towards the delivery room, they thought maybe a girl's name would be a good idea and thought of what is now my name quickly (maybe that panic should've been a clue...).

As I made my appearance to the chest, the doctor remarked at my strong "linebacker" shoulders (which I also still have, btw. haha). When I completed my entrance to the world, I guess the doctor turned fire engine red and apologized profusely. To this day, my mom says that she doubts that doctor EVER made a guess about a baby's sex again.

However, I have a 100% success rate on predicting the sex of a baby when I see a mom in person (with over 60 predictions, to date), based solely on physical characteristics. And I have found that the needle on a string test is quite accurate for me as well, with 11/12 being correct (the odd one went against what I said it was, too). Interestingly, the needle/string result is opposite in horses in 7 attempts (not included in the above 12), probably due to hanging the string over the back or along the side...

i did the draino test. it proved right both times around.it was green with my daughter and blue with my son.i think thats how it goes.it really does work.just dont use fresh morning pee.use night time pee.lol
and i carried high with her and low with him.it really does work for some people:)

My son's heartbeat was always above 150 - my Dr kept telling me it was going to be a girl - boy was he wrong!

My Chinese calendar predicted a girl, but I ended up with twin boys!

mine were right on i carried high up under my ribs with my first one and was told it was going to be a girl i chose not to find out and it was a girl my second one i carried low and in the front and started having to pee like every 30 mins early on so i knew from jump street it was a boy and yep he was and is all boy and i did this with a few friends one was carring under the ribs and i told her early it was going to be a girl and when they had the ultra sound done guess what....... it was and then another one said she was carring low and in the front i told her she was going to have a boy and thats what she had but i still think its a 50/50 chance

I carried both my children as if I were having a boy - all belly and out in the front. I had a girl with my first and a boy with my second. I will say the only thing that has been accurate so far was that crazy chinese pregnancy calendar :)

I carried mine completely differently was told my second would definitely be a boy-I have 2 girls!

For my 1st EVERYTHING indicated a boy. I carried low, low heart rate, no morning sickness at all! The sonogram picture in the baby book (just for laughs, we kept it) even has a little arrow pointing to the umbilical cord with the text saying "It's a boy!" We painted the nursery blue, bought all boy things, had the perfect name picked out ... and guess what ... in the delivery room the doctor yelled "IT'S A GIRL!"
So needless to say, I was a little unsure about #2 and #3 - even after the Doc told me the gender, I had a hard time buying anything that was gender neutral, just in case!!!!!

Both my boys heart rates were in the 160's. With my first I gained almost 50 lbs and was wide all around. With my second I only gained 28 lbs and carried all in the front(so people were sure I was having a girl bc I carried so different). As our ob said you have a 50% chance of being right with the old wives tales...haha.

The heartrate old wives tale was right on the money for me. My girls were always around 145-150 and my son in the 130's. Also with my girls my hair growth slowed and I craved OJ and chocolate like they say. My son I got hairer and craved salt and sour. I was also much sicker with my son then my girls. I KNEW my 3rd was a girl, even though I didn't find out via ultrasound because the pregnancy was just as it was with my other daughter. I saw a test at Target, the intelligender, thats a pee on test I think and its supposed to be pretty accurate. Also worth noting, the baby's heartrate will be higher in the beginning of the pregnancy and settle lower as you progress.

Yes - I have 2 girls and the first one was "supposed" to be a boy based upon heart rate! And she's the girliest girl ever.

And then the second one was "supposed" to be a boy because I was carrying her all in front like a little basketball. And she's a girl.

My doc said it was b.s. but hers was lower than his (I think, whichever way the wives tale goes is how it was with our son and daughter). They both sat the same so that meant nothing to me. I was more nautious with him and couldn't eat lemon heads or anything sweet/sour. With her I could so that was a sign for me. (doc said each pregnancy is different and could be both boys). My big thing was that with my son my psoriasis when away 100%, it was heaven. With my daughter it hardly changed. The doc again said it could come and go with either sex. I kept on my hope and those significant differences between them and sure enough our second was a girl.

The only one that consistently works out is the mom heartburn--hairy child connection. All signs predicted a boy for me and I got a beautiful baby girl. While some were laughable (a daughter steals your looks) others seemed valid (slower heart rate is common for boys). I've never heard anything about how you carry would determine gender but I carried low. My co-worker, who also had a girl 3 weeks before me, carried so high it looked as if it hurt.

With today's sonograms, wouldn't that be the best indicator if you want to be more sure?

Yup. My accupuncturist thought my son was a girl based on heart rate. And so did I. But, the erection during the ultrasound was pretty decisive.

My son's heartrate was almost equal to one of my girls, about 160. My other girl was about 150. This last one ran about 163, was a girl. Supposedly if you crave sweets, you are having a girl. I could not stand anything sweet with either of my pregnancies. I slept on my left side (left is supposed to be a boy). And I always carried up front, which is suppoed to be a boy. And I had no morning sickness either time. Having a girl is supposed to increase this. I do know friends though that had ms worse with their girls.

my son had a high heart rate and so does the current baby (it is a mystery) one old wives tale that seems to hold more truth then others is the spoon adn the knife one. leave the room and have someone else put a spoon under one pillow knife under the other and then you go pick a pillow knife is boy, spoon is girl

Well, my baby girl was born with a wig of dark hair. everyone asked if I suffered from heart burn during pregnancy as the saying goes, "heart burn= a child born with a ton of hair." well, I never had heartburn!!!!!!

My two girls had low heart rates and my son that Im prego for has high heart rates!

I had an acupuncturist who told me I was having a boy. He was right.

With my daughter I carried so low, people on the street would say "when is your son due" I of course had a daughter. I also had zero morning sickness and she had a consistent heart rate in the 130's! So all of the wives tales were wrong for me. :)

My son was solidly in the range for a girl as far as heartbeat. As for the way you carry them- I had people tell me about half the time, 'oh, its a boy because it's all in front and high up' and then the other half of the time people would say 'oh, it's a girl because it's all in front and high up' So I could never even figure out what that old wives tale was. Everyone seems to have heard something different there. Personally, I just think I have a short torso so of course I am gonna stick out far and be up high. The kid was up under my ribs for 6 months. I could never keep the other ones straight, but I craved sugar and fruit with my son, and carbs like crazy. I don't know which gender that was supposed to fall under. But the heartbeat was definitely wrong.

Wives tales have a 50/50 shot at being right every time. :)

Yep...my 4th child.

The heart rate was in the hight 170s consistantly (which usually indicates a girl). I also did the wedding ring on a string thing and it said girl. Surprise surprise he was a 9 pound boy!