Let me start off by saying I know that old wives tales are generally a load of bollocks. I have absolutely no idea what the basis of the majority of them are or how they came about, and the only guaranteed way of telling what sex your baby will be is by having a scan after 16 weeks, or waiting until he or she is born. However, if you are eager to find out the sex, then waiting for your scan to find out can seem a long time (hence why we had a private gender one at Window To The Womb Ellesmere Port!) and it can be fun trying to guess.
Now weirdly, most of the old wives tales came true for us this time around. Again, that is more than likely pure coincidence, but I thought it would be interesting to look at some of the ones we read about.
Suffering from morning sickness is a sign of a girl
Ok, so this actually was the one that wasn’t quite true for us. It is said that if a mum-to-be suffers from terrible morning sickness, they are carrying a girl. While I have felt very nauseous at times and I have been sick maybe a dozen times, I suffered a lot more with the boys where I was sick pretty much every day the whole way through. Saying that I was more sick on an evening with the boys, and when I have been sick this time it has been mostly in the mornings. Perhaps there is something in that…?
If the dad gains weight, you’re carrying a girl.
This one was definitely true for us. In the almost sixteen years I’ve been with Graham, he has never ever put weight on. Ever. And suddenly, the last few months, he’s put a fair bit on – to the point he’s needed to move up a hole in his belt. He’s got a proper (cute!) little dad tum going on now!
If you sleep on your side right, you’re having a girl.
Again, true for me. Obviously, it is better for pregnant women to sleep on their left but I do generally favour the right-hand side. However, I do sleep on the right-hand side of the bed and I can’t stand Graham blowing little puffs of air on my face when he’s asleep if I face him, so that’s probably skewed that one!
Sweet cravings are girl, savoury are boys.
With all three boys, my biggest craving was milk. Ice cold milk. Oh, and raw stuffing mix with Harrison (you know the pack stuff? Mix that with water and eat straight away – proper lush!). This time around it was all about the fruit – blueberries and pears, orange juice, apples – it probably hasn’t helped my potential gestational diabetes diagnosis!
If your skin breaks out, you’re having a girl.
So so right! I’ve never had perfect skin but I’ve never suffered massively with spots but oh my god, my skin has been dreadful. I’ve had some huge breakouts that have been so sore, to the point I nearly went to the doctors about them. Thankfully, the worst of it seems to have passed but my skin is super sensitive at the moment.
If you’re carrying low it’s a boy, higher if it’s a girl.
I think this one is a hard one because what is high or low is quite subjective I think, and is something that is more apparent in the later stages of pregnancy. I have noticed that compared to pictures of the same point in pregnancy with Ben, my bump does seem to be higher. However, as this is baby number four, I do have an additional layer of fat (or four!) and everything inside has probably shifted about a bit so again, not one that I think you could rely on!
If your face fills out, it’s a girl
This has definitely been true for me. Before I had even read about that one, I had commented to Graham about how my face had gone fat! I don’t think I’ve put on a lot of weight yet but my face has really filled out.
Chinese gender prediction test
Now, this is one I was particularly fascinated with because the accuracy of this is said to be quite high, and for the three boys it was. It predicted we were having a girl…and we are having a girl! However – it was wrong for plenty of friends so obviously isn’t all that accurate!
Gut feeling
I read somewhere that the mums gut feeling is around 70% accurate. Other than for a few days before the scan, I had been convinced it was a girl from the beginning. It just felt different this time. Saying that – I had that feeling out Benjamin and nearly bought a gorgeous pink babygrow the day before my 20-week scan with him. I can categorically confirm my gut feelings were wrong that time!
Have you tried out any of the old wives tales? Which ones were true for you?
I always laugh when I hear this – my mum was a great believer
When a member of our family fell pregnant, my aunty used to take off her wedding ring, tie it to a piece of string and the hold it high over the bump. If the ring started to turn right it was a girl and left, a boy.