My great-grandmother was a lay midwife and delivered many babies. She said she could “tell” if a baby was a boy or a girl and claimed that her methods were incredibly accurate. Since I’ve had an ultrasound which made it very clear that our child is a boy, I thought I’d evaluate some of the tales I’ve heard to see how true they are.

Chinese Gender Chart
I found that there are actually several variations circulating. Most of the variations accurately predicted that our child was a boy.

Morning Sickness Method
Supposedly, you have more intense morning sickness if you are carrying a girl. My morning sickness is not as intense as it was with my girls, but yet, it is there and is more intense than it was with my first son. I don’t know what this means actually, except that I have morning sickness which still affects me 5 months into my pregnancy.

Heartbeat Method
According to this tale, if a child has a slow heartbeat, it’s a boy. If it has a fast heartbeat, it is a girl. The cut off is supposedly around 140. This child has a heartbeat of 150 consistently, so this myth didn’t accurately predict the gender of our child this pregnancy.

Out In Front Or All Around?
According to this myth, you can tell the gender of your child based upon how you are “carrying” the child. If you gain weight all over, your child is a girl. If your weight gain is all “out in front”, it’s a boy. For me, this has been true.

For this pregnancy, half of the myths of listed accurately predicted the gender of our child; half did not. This tells me that I had a 50/50 chance of guessing the gender of our child correctly! While the myths may not be of any real help in enlightening you as to your child’s gender, they are a fun way to pass time while waiting for your bundle of joy to show up.

I just got back from my “baby doctor” appointment.

The fourth month is a pretty routine visit.  They screen your urine for protein and sugar and take your vitals.  During the appointment, your doctor or midwife will go over your “symptoms” and ask if you have any concerns.  They will ask to make sure that you have no swelling in your face, hands, or feet.  They will also make sure that you aren’t having contractions, cramping or bleeding.  These symptoms can signal a serious complication.

Some  symptoms that have shown up for me in the past few weeks: nosebleeds and a stuffy nose.  I dislike the stuffy nose thing, but I’ve found that if I use nasal strips, it helps me to sleep better at night.  I also find that I get winded more easily than usual.

The midwife measured me and announced that I am large for my date. I am consistently measuring two weeks larger than I should measure she tells me.  They feel that perhaps my dates are off.  Wouldn’t that be nice to deliver earlier than expected?  Maybe….can I get everything done that I need to do two weeks earlier than planned?  We are remodeling to make a room for the baby.  I’m not sure if it will be done by August!

This baby does not like the doppler and flutters around to get away from it.  They had a hard time finding the heartbeat because of that.  The midwife finally found the heartbeat at the very top of my uterus near my belly button!

My next appointment is at the Maternal Fetal Medicine center locally because of my–ahem–advanced maternal age. They’ll be discussing risk factors and doing a level 2 ultrasound to check on the baby. I’m hoping that we might be able to see if our child is a boy or a girl!  My next regular appointment is two weeks after that.

I first heard this “myth” from my midwife while expecting one of my children. The heart rate was 155 beats per minute and she accurately predicted I was having a female child.

Being the curious type, I asked her for more information. If the heart rate is over 145 beats per minute she said, it most almost always indicated a girl. If it was under 145 beats per minute, it was a boy. You don’t say! It seemed a little crazy to me, but you know, this method did accurately predict the sexes of my children, and also my sister’s child.

For my girls, they all had heartbeats of over 150 beats per minute in utero. My son had a heartbeat of 130 beats per minute or around there most of the time. I say most of the time, because his heart rate(just like his sister’s heart rates) did increase with age. Therefore, I’d say from my experience, that the early heart rates should be used as a predictor if you are interested in trying out this method.

Of course, you won’t really know with 100% certainty until after the birth of you child, so it’s best to NOT get your hopes up. I’ve known people who really desired one gender over the other and were crushed when they discovered that the child they were carrying may not be the gender they wanted.

My sister has two children and was hoping for a male child with each pregnancy. As we were both pregnant at the same time with our 2nd and 5th children respectively, we decided to have some fun and try to figure out the gender of our unborn babies using many of the old wive’s tales we had heard during our childhood. Her child had a heartbeat of 160 beats per minute–a girl–according to this myth. My child had a heartbeat of 130 beats per minute–a boy. It should be noted that as they aged, her child’s heartbeat dropped, and my child’s heartbeat increased. She refused to accept anything other than the reality of a male child, and this caused her great stress and anxiety during her pregnancy.

Our children were born one month and one day apart last year. Her child was a girl and my child was a boy. I joke with her that it took me four girls to get that boy (truly, I didn’t have five children for that reason I assure you) and she should keep trying! She was not amused.

Have you ever used this method to determine if your baby was a boy or a girl? Did it work for you?