Old Wives Tales

James and I should be able to find out the gender of our baby today.Well, that is if it's not shy. But how could our child be shy? James loves to be the center of attention, and I was always rather precocious.

We're so excited to see if I need to stock up on tutus (and James a shotgun), or if our lives will be filled with robots, dinosaurs, and cowboys. James is defiantly hoping to see blue, but I'm rather excited to have a little girl to buy things for. Either way, we're SO excited to know.

We've waited so long to find the gender that we started doing some of the old wives tales to predict what the baby may be. Before we get the ultimate result, here are the preliminaries.

Old Wives Tale #1: Heartburn

This is the one that they say actually has some truth to it. The same hormones that stimulate heartburn seem to stimulate baby's hair growth. By the amount of heartburn I've had, this baby will have much more hair than James.

Old Wives Tale #2: Heart Rate
They say if the baby's heart rate is over140 beats per minute that the baby is a girl. Every time we've checked the heartbeat, it's been over 150bpm. Does that mean there's pink in our future?

Old Wives Tale #3: Chinese Calendar

I've found this one depends on the Chinese Calendar you look at. I did two of the, one said a boy, the other a girl. I'm going with the girl one because it had me calculate my age according to Chinese tradition. This means it has to be more correct, right?

Old Wives Tale #4:Acne

The myth is that if you have a lot of acne it's a girl, very little, it's a boy. This is supposed to be because of the added hormones from a little girl. I haven't a lot (more than usual, but still not a lot), so according to this one, a little boy it is.

Old Wives Tale #5: Cravings
People believe that if you are craving salty foods while pregnant, you can count on having a boy. If you crave sweets, fruit, and orange juice, you are having a little girl. Since all I ever want are citrusey smoothies, according to this one, a girl it is.

Old Wives Tale #6: Clumsiness
If the pregnant woman is graceful throughout her pregnancy, she’s having a girl.  If she becomes clumsy, she’s having a boy.  Clumsy has become my middle name. Boy it is.

Old Wives Tale #7: Side you sleep on
If a pregnant woman prefers to lay on her left side, she’s having a boy. If she prefers resting on her right side, she’s having a girl. I prefer my right side lately. Hmm.

Old Wives Tale #8: Dad's weight gain
If the dad-to-be gains weight while you are pregnant, it’s a girl.  If he doesn’t gain weight, you’re having a boy.  James has gained more than me so far this pregnancy (I'm sure it has nothing to do with his surgery and not walking everyday at work). Little Girl Land, here we come.

Old Wives Tale #9: Morning Sickness

If you had a smooth pregnancy with no morning sickness, it’s a boy.  If you were sick or felt really nauseous during your pregnancy, count on a girl. Since morning sickness is what clued me in on being pregnant in the first place, I think it's safe to say that this one points to a girl.

Old Wives Tale #10: Names

It is said that when you can only think of specific names for a boy or a girl, you will have that particularly baby. We can only agree on girls names, so we’ll see how accurate this one is.

Old Wives Tale #11: Store bought gender test

This was supposed to measure the level of testosterone in your body and tell you if you're carrying a boy or a girl. I took the test, read the results and it said boy. Then I looked on the side of the cup for a girl and that one said it was a girl. I even had James come in and verify that I wasn't crazy. So we spent $30.00 to be told that we're either having a boy or a girl.

Well, it looks like the consensus of Old Wives Tales tell us we're having a girl. That will be a disappointment to my nephew, Dodge, and to my mother (who wants to see a little James), but I'd be thrilled with a girl. Hopefully by the end of the day, this conundrum is solved.