The Old Wives Myths....

Updated on October 07, 2010
N.S. asks from Conover, NC
13 answers

Is it really possible to determine the sex of your baby by where your belly starts to tighten first or by how much you feel sick?

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B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

'Old Wives' always seem to have a lot of time on their hands and I swear it seems like they just make this stuff up!
For us the sonogram said it was a good chance it was a boy,
but the amnio is what really cofirmed it really was a boy.
My 'baby boy' is 12 yrs now and driving me crazy with school projects.

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C.W.

answers from Lynchburg on

N.-

I would NOT trust an ultra sound for sex of baby...My eldest was born in germany...they did ultra sounds EVERY visit...and consistently said it was a girl. I smuggled in a whole girls wardrobe as then hubby did not want to know the sex.

When I woke up from emergency c section, I could NOT wait to get his diaper off to make sure he was not a 'little' boy...lol

I have 7 kids...with the 4 boys...always felt/looked great during pregnancy. With the girls (one a singleton...one pair twins) I was very nauseous for the first half of pregnancy...

best of luck!
michele/cat

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E.S.

answers from Asheville on

Nothing to do with the sex of baby, but interesting none-the-less: A study was done at Duke University to proove incorrcect the old wives tale that said heartburn while pregnant meant baby would have a head full of hair.
Much to their surprise, they determined that if the mother has a lot of heartburn during pregnancy, the baby has an 80% chance of having a head full of hair.
I ate 3 very large bottles of Tums while pregnant and had twins with tons of hair. The raven headed one's hair fell out at 2-3 months and grew back in brunette and has continuously gotten lighter. The platinum blond (with curls) kept it all and it grows fast!

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S.W.

answers from Pocatello on

Never worked with any of mine.. all were supposed to be girls and I have 4 boys!!

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M.R.

answers from Chicago on

Well, you have a 50% chance of being right. Is the myth correct or did someone just get lucky?

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B.M.

answers from Chicago on

Yes - you'll be completely correct 1/2 the time!

No. You can have an ultrasound at 20 weeks or an amio. Or wait until the lil bugger comes out :-)

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B.

answers from Augusta on

I dunno , but with my daughter I was sick for 6-7 months , gained weight everywhere and carried high ( she would routinely shove her feet up into my ribs).
With my son, sick almost none , weight was all out front and carried low.

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J.B.

answers from Atlanta on

No. Both of my pregnancies should have been girls according to the old wives' tales of "how I carried." I was also sick as a dog with both and heard from numerous people that it meant it was a boy and from just as many that meant it was a girl! I have two boys!

The only definitive, absolute way to tell if the gender is to have CVS or Amnio testing. If you're over 35, this will be suggested for chromosomal defect purposes, but not if you're under, and your insurance won't pay if you're under 35 either. Ultrasounds are great, and have a very high accuracy rate, but they're not 100%. Mine were correct, and I think if you had a 3D ultrasound at one of those specialty places where you could actually see the genital region like a photograph in later pregnancy, then that would obviously tell you.

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S.G.

answers from Oklahoma City on

nope, i carried my DAUGHTER where son's are normally carried and like my mom carried my brother

the gender is determined at conception and just like EVERY person, EVERY pregnancy is different

Have you heard the myth "don't raise your hands above your head when pg, if you do the umbelical cord will wrap aroud the baby's neck" OMG!! my ex's grandma used to YELL at me when reaching high.....well, my kid is now healthy and almsot 8

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M.R.

answers from Columbus on

No, but they are fine for entertainment, and passing the time while you wait for delivery!

M.

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J.M.

answers from Boston on

I don't believe any of it- how you look, how you feel etc. Look at patterns in your husband's family- did his father and brothers have boys/girls........

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K.P.

answers from Memphis on

Nope! :-)

These things are probably more related to the individual woman, and her (or others') perception of things. Same thing for carrying high/low, speed of the baby's heartbeat, etc., etc., etc.

I have two boys, and my first had a "fast" heartbeat so my sisters thought "girl" -- wrong! I also did the "ring" trick with him, and it swung "girl," but was obviously wrong. Also, I would have people come up to me while shopping and say, "Oh, you're carrying high - you're going to have a boy!" and the next person would tell me that I was carrying *low*... which meant that I was going to have a boy. And the next day, strangers would tell me I was carrying both high and low, and that meant I was going to have a girl! Just smile and go on. :-)

My sisters weren't sick with any of their pregnancies, and they had both boys and girls; I was a little sick (mostly in response to specific food smells), but nothing major; one of my friends gets pretty bad sick, but it may be partially due to the baby's blood type being incompatible with her own (the pregnancies she's felt the best were those that had her type [A], whereas she nearly was hospitalized in her first pregnancy, with a type B baby, due to the vomiting she had; it wasn't so bad with her AB baby, but worse than with her Type A babies); and another friend has hyperemesis gravidarum, even though both babies are of a compatible blood type. So, go figure!

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D.D.

answers from New York on

Nope. And how high or low you carry, what you crave, rings on strings dangling over your belly don't work either.

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