Pregnancy Wives Tales for Gender Prediction
Pregnancy Wives Tales for Gender Prediction
You did it – you're pregnant! Once the shock and disbelief abates, your mind will be excitedly racing with all that is in store over the next 9 months. Or more accurately, 18 years. When you're not trying at home gender prediction tests you're looking high and low for signs of the gender and hoping these pregnancy wives tales are accurate.
However cliche it may sound, when you down to it most folks just want a healthy baby. But most expectant parents still have a question invading their thoughts as they go through those first 16-20 weeks.
What am I having – a boy or girl? Gender determination is one of the many highlights of pregnancy that helps you to further connect with your unborn child and allow you to prepare for their arrival.
My first pregnancy, with Brady, I couldn't wait to find out the gender. I did all the online gender quizzes I could find, consulted the Chinese Gender Calendar, and otherwise (impatiently) bided my time.
With my almost one year old, Colby, I just couldn't sit around and wait. My husband wasn't on board for any expensive tests or extra ultrasounds so I took to the internet and started doing some at home gender tests.
As I'm preparing for Colby's first birthday party (it's been a year already?), I've been looking through all of my old mementos from pregnancy and not only wanted to share with you the At Home Gender Tests but also all of the wives tales about baby gender
that I did during that pregnancy along with the results so you can help decide your own stance on the accuracy of at home gender determination methods.
No two pregnancies are ever the same, so just because your symptoms suggested girl the first time it might not be true the next time.
9 Pregnancy Wives Tales
1. The Chinese Gender Calendar
is an insanely popular resource for expectant women to find out the sex of their unborn babies. And while it's not exactly a wives tale, it is a gender predictor that has been around for generations and claims to have a 90% accuracy rate.
2. How you carry the baby. If you carry the baby high, you're having a girl. If you carry your baby low, you're having a boy.
Determining the sex of the baby through position seems pretty far fetched to me as we all have different body types. But I did carry both of my girls high and out in front, so this wives tales proved true for me.
3. Constant cravings. You know the saying that little girls are sugar and spice and everything nice? Supposed what you yearn for is another way to determine gender and if you crave sweet things then it's a girl and salty things you'll be expecting a boy.
This wives tale was 50/50 for me. I craved loads of sweets (donuts, pie, cake, etc) with my oldest. However, with my youngest, I craved salty and spicy things – Philly cheesesteaks dripping with queso and jalapeños, cheese enchiladas, and spicy mac and cheese.
4. Ring gender test. If you place your wedding ring on a string above your bump, the way the ring swings is supposed to determine gender. Should the ring go from side to side, this means girl. If the ring spins in a circle, you're supposed to be expecting a boy. My ring went from side to side with both girls.
5. Draino test
. For this gender prediction test, you need to collect a sample of urine in a cup, then mix with Draino. The resulting color is purported to be a gender indicator. Green = girl, blue = boy.
This is the one wives tale about baby gender that I didn't do, so I don't have any experience with how accurate this method is. If you're not into mixing Draino up or trying to figure out the color (sometimes it's really hard to tell), you can also try Intelligender
.
You can check out my Intelligender test results here.
6. Headaches. Wives tales suggest that if you have headaches during pregnancy, this is a gender predictor you're expecting a boy. No brain pulsing is supposed to mean it's a girl. This was wrong for me – I had daily headaches during pregnancy with both of my girls.
7. Heart rate. If the baby's heart rate at your appointment was above 140 beats per minute, the wives tale says you're having a girl. And below 140 beats per minute, means you're sure to have a little boy.
This one was mostly true for both of my girls. Their heart rates, especially in the second trimester, were generally above 140. (I'm prone to worry so I invested in a doppler to check on the heartbeat and put my mind at ease between appointments.)
8. Morning sickness. If you threw up every morning and got nauseous during your first trimester, you're pregnant with a girl. Iron stomach? You're expecting a boy. Again, the opposite was true for me. I had zero morning sickness with either of my pregnancies.
9. First words from last pregnancy. This last wives tales is kind of unusual. It's only meant for those with more than one child because the first words of the child from your last pregnancy are said to determine the gender of your current baby.
I don't know if sibling intuition exists but saying mama first means there's a little girl in your future, while dada means boy. Here's another one that tested true for me, my oldest said mama first and I did have a girl next.
What's the accuracy of gender prediction tests? Of the nine wives tales about baby gender above, I tried or was able to use eight of the methods of determination.
Of those eight, five and a half of them were accurate (half a point on the craving one). As far fetched as some might sound, these wives tales to determine gender seem pretty accurate to me.
Have you tried any of these methods? What kind of results did you have? Did you try any pregnancy gender tests
that worked?!
Not pregnant yet? Make sure you check out my trying to conceive kit and pin this post for later!
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
February 21, 2013 at 9:33 amI’ve heard most of these, but a few were new to me. With both of my pregnancies I just knew that I was having a boy and sure enough, when I had my 20 week ultrasounds, they were both boys. My mother on the other hand was convinced my first one was a girl because I had no morning sickness at all – but she turned out to be wrong.
Alison says
February 21, 2013 at 10:55 amThe Chinese Calendar says I’m having a boy! I also crave mostly salty and have been starting to get headache (but I blame my acid reflux meds!). So far the baby’s heart rate has been settling into the 160s, so that’s NOT boy . . . I should do the ring test before we find out and see what it says! TWO MORE WEEKS!
I have talked to a lot of people who say the Chinese Calendar was correct, so I think I might be a believer in that . . .
Kelly @ Texas Type A Mom says
February 21, 2013 at 11:03 amI was thinking of you when I wrote this post! You need to try the Draino test – that’s the only one I didn’t do. We have a septic system and Draino would mess things up. I’m so excited for you to find out!
Donna says
February 21, 2013 at 4:20 pmNot sure of the accuracy, but they are fun either way. 🙂 I’m not familiar with the last one. But if I were able to have another child my son said, mama first, so I would have had a girl. 🙂
Anne - Mommy Has to Work says
February 22, 2013 at 9:04 amI never did try any of these, just waited it out…
Whitney @ It's Gravy, Baby! says
February 22, 2013 at 12:00 pmI did the Chinese calendar with both of my kids. It was right once and wrong the other time. We plan to stay team green with baby #3 so it will be fun to try these out and see which ones hold up when the baby comes!
Kathy says
February 22, 2013 at 1:08 pmThe Chinese calendar was right for my first one and wrong for the second. Even my doctor was wrong for the second.
Kelly says
February 22, 2013 at 3:38 pmI can’t even imagine if my doctor had gotten it wrong too. Agh!
Kelly says
February 22, 2013 at 3:38 pmI know my experience is only one and it could have easily swung either way but it was fun to try all of these out!
Meghan @JaMonkey says
February 22, 2013 at 8:48 pmI did all of these with my last and they all said I was having a boy…but I had a girl…lol
Shell Fruscione says
February 23, 2013 at 4:10 amWe did the ring gender test at my friend’s baby shower & she didn’t know the sex but the test said boy- and sure enough it was!
[email protected] says
February 23, 2013 at 11:47 amHow funny is it that there are so many old wives tales to predict gender?! We did the ring one and I can’t remember if it was right or not! haha!!
Elizabeth Atwood says
February 23, 2013 at 12:47 pmThe only thing I did with my pregnancy was the Chinese Gender Calender, and it was right about me having a boy. According to it a lot of people in their early 30’s mostly have a girl. I hope that’s right because that’s the age I’ll be the next time we try for a little one!
Jennifer The Quirky Momma says
February 23, 2013 at 5:44 pmI always knew that I would deliver boys, and low and behold, I did–TWICE! My other two children were adopted, so one more boy and one princess.
Rachel R. says
February 23, 2013 at 5:56 pmWell, some of the ones that were true for you weren’t for me. (For instance, I have carried all of my babies low. All three of the ones that have been born thus far are girls.)
Would you mind if I write a blog post like this, too? I think it’s so interesting to see how they correlate or don’t correlate for each person! I’d like back to you.
Kelly says
February 23, 2013 at 9:18 pmOf course, Rachel. It’s really interesting to see how different these tests work for different people and their accuracy. If I would have looked at each individual test I might have doubted, but looking at the nine tests all together and how many were right I definitely think there might be something there.
Jennifer H says
February 24, 2013 at 8:28 amI so tried all of these too! The chinese calendar & heartbeat were wrong on the 2nd baby for sure!
Rachel R. says
February 24, 2013 at 9:18 amThanks! And that should have said LINK to you.
nicole @nicky_olea says
February 24, 2013 at 7:04 pmThe Chinese prediction charts were both correct for me!
Jenn says
February 24, 2013 at 8:00 pmI’ve never heard these before, I have been out of the pregnancy game for too long! LOL
April Golightly says
February 25, 2013 at 6:40 amThis is hilarious! I find out tomorrow so I will give you an answer if these were true for me. 🙂
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
February 25, 2013 at 8:01 amI never tried any of them but I’ve heard of most. The headache one is new to me!
LyndaS says
February 25, 2013 at 1:23 pmI don’t think I did any of those. I did the one where you place a needle in an eraser, thread it, and hold it over the pregnant woman’s wrist. Then it is pretty much like #4.
I wonder how you determine the mother’s chinese age…
Maryann says
February 25, 2013 at 1:56 pmwell I carried low with all 3 and had boys.
Rachel says
February 25, 2013 at 2:19 pmThe only one that was true for me was the heartbeat. My son’s was considerably lower than my daughters.
Jennifer says
February 25, 2013 at 8:24 pmthe chinese calendar was actually correct for both my girls. That Gender stick thing said both my girls would be boys though
Maureen @ Wisconsin Mommy says
March 1, 2013 at 8:32 pmEvery single predictor said I was having a girl – but they were all wrong!!
Elaina- A Time Out for Mommy says
March 1, 2013 at 8:32 pmEvery wives tale indicated I was having a boy BOTH times. .. I even took two intelligenders with my second baby and both said boy.. I have two very girlie girls!
Katrina says
March 1, 2013 at 8:34 pmI tried almost all of these plus the baking soda test. All said boy and I had a girl. Maybe for me its backwards.
Jaci says
March 26, 2014 at 3:59 pmLol the first word thing cracks me up my current youngest said hat first & light second I doubt I’m having either of those!!
Andrea says
June 12, 2014 at 3:18 pmThe chinese calendar was right for me with my first two boys, and i’m currently 8 weeks pregnant and it’s saying GIRL!!!!! hopefully it’s right again. Also with my boys i craved lemons, vinegar, pickle & kool-aid, anything bitter and sour with no morning sickness, no symptoms at all. Now i crave chocolate, chocolate milk, oreos, nothing but sweets. If the old wives tales is right this one would be a girl.
Laura says
April 16, 2015 at 12:35 pmI have done the Ring test, BUT a little different. And was accurate, I had even done the ring test on my mother which she had (6) children, just to see if it was accurate. So, the way we done the ring test is pretty similiar, Put a ring (any) onto a necklace, then put your left palm up, You then dip the necklace w/ring 3 times into palm and then stop a few inches above Palm with steady hand and see which way the ring swings… If it swings in Circle, it determines GIRL. If it swings Front to back or Left to Right it determines BOY. I did this Ring test before I became pregnant with my first child, ring test determined Girl. I had a girl. I also did the ring test on my Husnand and also determined Girl. ☺️. Just to be a little more accurate, I did the ring test to my mother which she had already had all her 6 children, and the ring test determined every single one of us in the order we were born. So you dip the ring into Palm 3 times and wait for it to see how it swings, you continue to do it until it no longer swings. Therefore will it not only determine the gender, but how many children in total will u have. This was an old wives tale my grandmother talked to us about. Have fun and good luck!