7 Ways to Predict Your Baby's Gender
But sometimes instead of asking that last question, people will go ahead and try to guess the gender of your unborn child using age-old methods, theories, and predictors they've relied on for years. They may not be the most scientific methods, but I know people who swear by them and honestly, it can be pretty fun (although I wouldn't recommend painting the nursery based on the results from any of these tests). Here are 7 of the funniest and most common methods I've heard to predict the gender of your baby.
1. The way you're carrying
The theory says that if you carry straight out in front and low, you're having a boy, but if you're carrying wide and high, it's a girl. Now I can attest that this is how I personally carried my first two, who were each a boy and a girl, but I also had a girlfriend who just gave birth to a girl and carried front and center the whole time. Almost everyone is predicting a boy with this pregnancy, so it will be interesting to see if the theory holds true with me!
Related: 10 tips for throwing a gender-neutral baby shower
2. Your glow factor
The myth goes something like this: Boys give beauty and girls steal it. So if you've got that radiant pregnancy glow, your hair has never looked better, your skin has never been brighter and clearer, then you're carrying a boy. But if you're bloated, have a case of pregnancy acne and your hair is thinning, you're carrying a girl.
3. How sick are you?
I've heard both sides of this theory, so I can't say with accuracy which one is correct, but it's usually said that girls make you sicker during the first trimester than boys do.
Related: 10 funny maternity tees to announce your pregnancy
4. Thread the needle
I've had complete strangers offer to give me the swinging thread and needle test to help determine the gender of this baby, even though I actually don't want to know! The theory goes that if a needle strung on a thread hung over a woman's pregnancy belly swings side to side it's a boy, but if it swings in a circle, it's a girl.
5. The heart-rate
Apparently that lovely whooshing sound you hear at each ultrasound can predict gender. Supposedly boys and girls in-utero have different heart rates, and depending on the average beats per minute will help you predict if you're carrying a boy or a girl.
Related: 10 unique nursery decorations you can make yourself
6. Timing
Because of the speed and distance male versus female sperm travel, if you get pregnant early on in your ovulation cycle will produce a girl, and later on will produce a boy. I don't think it's ever been scientifically proven with 100% accuracy, but many people swear by it, and complete strangers have asked when I conceived!
7. Add some Drano
This is by far the strangest method I've ever heard of for predicting gender, which I actually heard from a friend. And I do not recommend trying this at all since the fumes can be harmful! But apparently if you add Drano to your urine, depending on what color it turns indicates whether it's a boy or a girl. I can now say I've heard everything!
- By Andrea Howe
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