The anticipation of finding out your baby’s gender is so exciting. It’s a like a guessing game with a 50 percent chance you’ll be right.
Before my husband and I got pregnant, we always pictured having a girl. We even had a name picked out for well over a year before actually getting pregnant.
But from pretty much the moment we discovered we were expecting, we started to have a feeling our baby was a boy and began calling it by an entirely different name.
Then a month or so before we actually did find out the sex, I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind we could be very surprised at the gender reveal. So basically, we had no idea what we were having.
OLD WIVES TALES: ACCURATE OR NOT?
Like many couples, we turned to some old wives tales to give us clues (if you can call them that) as to whether we are having a girl or a boy. Were they accurate? Here are the results.
SWEET VERSUS SALTY: Apparently, if you’re craving salty foods, it means you’re expecting a boy, while a sweet tooth signals a girl. I’ve always craved sweets (and still do), but since getting pregnant I’ve also found myself devouring salt and vinegar chips, pretzels and other savory foods like egg sandwiches.
Verdict? BOY
CHINESE GENDER PREDICTOR: The Chinese gender predictor test takes into account how old you are when you conceive, as well as the month you conceive. According to The Bump, this test is more than 300 years old and was used by the Qing Dynasty imperial family to ensure they would birth sons.
Verdict? BOY
MORNING SICKNESS: Excessive morning sickness is said to be a sign of a girl. I only felt nauseous early in pregnancy and never threw up once.
Verdict? BOY
PREGNANCY GLOW: Girls are said to zap your beauty while boys clear up your skin and make it glow. I would say my skin has gotten exponentially better since getting pregnant. Before, I was suffering from cystic acne. Now it’s all but disappeared (thank you baby).
Verdict? BOY
MOODY OR COOL AS A CUCUMBER? If you’re feeling a bit out of sorts emotionally, you’re said to be having a girl. I would say my demeanor has pretty much stayed the same, other than a few instances where I felt the need to have a good cry (and my husband can vouch for it staying even-keeled).
Verdict? BOY
BABY’S HEART RATE: If your baby’s heart rate is above 140 bpm, it’s said to be a girl, while a slower heartbeat is believed to coincide with boys. Our baby’s heart rate was on the higher end from the start.
Verdict? GIRL
HUSBAND’S WEIGHT GAIN: If your hubby is putting on a few pounds alongside you, it’s said that you’re having a girl. My hubby has gained some weight but that could also be due to all those cookies we ate over the holidays. hehe.
Verdict? GIRL
WEDDING RING TEST: This test involves hanging your wedding ring from a thread and then having your partner dangle it over your belly while you’re lying down. We used my hubby’s ring since it’s a simple round band. If the ring moves in a circular motion, it’s a girl. If it moves back and forth in a straight line, boy.
Verdict? MIXED RESULTS (BOY THE FIRST TIME AND GIRL THE SECOND)
So overall, I would say the old wives tales overwhelmingly pointed to us having a baby BOY.
THE WAITING GAME
Nowadays couples can find out the gender of their baby as early as nine weeks. Some find out through a specialized genetic test their doctor orders. Others find out on their own, through at-home kits like the SneakPeak Early Gender DNA Test.
My husband and I waited until our gender ultrasound to learn the sex of our baby, which usually happens around 18 to 20 weeks. Even then, we asked the ultrasound tech to write down the gender and put it in a sealed envelope, since we wanted to find out with our family just before Christmas.
For more than a week that envelope was burning a hole in my pocket, tempting us to open it. We ordered cupcakes and asked the baker to fill them with either pink or blue frosting, depending on the sex. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to dive in and see what secret they held.
While it’s been a few weeks since we pulled apart those cupcakes, we’ve been keeping somewhat mum on whether we’re expecting a boy or a girl.
I can’t say I haven’t let it slip to some people. I’ve referred to the baby as a “he” or “she” more than a few times. Oops.
But the reason we’ve been staying quiet is we’ve been waiting for a gender reveal party on the show I work for (CT Style on the Connecticut ABC affiliate WTNH).
THE BIG REVEAL
So what do you think? Boy or girl?
Well, here’s your answer…
