…We should be finding out whether we’re having a girl-peanut or a boy-peanut. Soon I’ll be able to use actual pronouns when talking about the baby – “he” or “she” instead of “it.” Soon I’ll be planning a cute little girl or boy nursery and buying little dresses or tiny button-downs. I can’t wait.
(Of course, this all depends on whether the baby decides to cooperate. During our last ultrasound back in April, it was pretty obstreporous – we almost had to reschedule. So we’ll see how this one goes…)
As the day gets closer, our family and friends have been placing their bets and almost all are voting “girl.” (I don’t know why. Wishful thinking? Most of these people haven’t seen me at all for the entire pregnancy, so they have no idea how I’m carrying or what I’m craving or about any of those other old wives’ tales.) Fortunately, I know that all anyone really wants is for the baby to be healthy and happy, so I’m not too worried that there will be legions of disappointed people if it turns out to be a boy.
And me personally? I was shocked at how many people have asked me if I “have a preference” or if I’m “hoping for one or the other.” And also at how many people, in response to my “Nope, I couldn’t care less as long as it’s healthy,” have winked and elbowed me and said “Yeaaaaaah, of course, but really, if you could choose… what do you want? Boy or girl?” (Pregnant Chicken says that I should respond with: “Actually, I’m hoping for a kitten that can burp glitter.” Maybe the next pregnancy.)
Really, REALLY, I’ll be thrilled no matter what, and so will hubby. We’ve waited a long time for this baby, and we’re going to be equally ecstatic whether it’s a boy or a girl. No disappointment here, no matter what! (Well, I’ll be a little bummed if the baby is shy during the ultrasound and won’t show us one way or the other what to expect. Come on, baby, you’ve got a host of grandparents who want to start planning!) In fact, I don’t even have a vision in my head about the baby – boy or girl, who it will look like (oh, let’s be real – it’s going to look like hubby; his genes are so powerful that I don’t stand a chance) or anything. I haven’t even really dreamt about the baby, although hubby has (interestingly, in his dream the baby was a boy, even though he’s convinced it’s a girl). Now that the big ultrasound is approaching, I’m getting more and more excited to know one way or the other – not because I have a preference, but just so I can start imagining my peanut as a little boy or a little girl.
But… just because it’s fun… here’s how some of the old wives’ tales shake out:
–How I’m carrying: It’s sort of hard to tell, but so far I seem to be carrying pretty low and out in front. BOY.
–Cravings: Mainly dairy, which doesn’t mean anything except that the baby wants plenty of calcium for strong bones so it can kick me harder. But I’m also all about fruit and have been since the beginning, and for awhile I was a bit of a chocoholic. (That’s over, thank goodness.) GIRL.
–Chinese gender predictor: I tried it out as soon as I got my positive pregnancy test back in February and it said unequivocally BOY.
–Baby’s heart rate: It’s never been below 158, which sounds like a GIRL.
–Morning sickness: I never had any to speak of. (Relief!) My mom never did either, with me or my brother, so my doctor thinks my good luck is hereditary. But the old wives say that lack of morning sickness means BOY.
Yeah, the old wives’ tales mean nothing at all. But it’s kind of amusing to see which way they go. And if all goes well tomorrow, we’ll be finding out one way or the other which of those old wives’ tales held true for me… of course, you know I’ll share it with you when we do find out.
covered in flour 
Brad’s family always looks like their fathers, so I thought I had no chance either. Boy was I wrong! Only now is Kari really starting to resemble her dad. It even was at the point that when we were out to dinner with our friends and a male friend was holding her, they associated her with that guy and me (because I look like her mom or just because of the diaper bag, I’m not sure). This has happened more than once with different guy friends. Needless to say, Brad’s pretty happy with the increasing resemblance! Can’t wait to learn what you’re having!
LOL, that’s hilarious! I hope I get something in there, but I’m basically resigned to looking nothing like the baby. Steve’s family all look SO similar (and he’s the spitting image of his dad at his age) that people comment all the time. When my parents met them, the first thing they said was “Wow, Steve’s family all look identical!” Heh. Add those powerful genes to the fact that I’m basically one big walking recessive gene (blonde hair, green eyes…) and I don’t stand a chance with this kid. I’ll have to just cling to the diaper bag!
I once had a conversation with a lady at my old job who said all of her kids came out the spitting image of her husband. She was mad about it! She was all, “I did all that work, I carried them for nine months, I pushed them out, and then I get NOTHIN!” It was hysterical, she was totally irate.
Oh, I didn’t consider most of the old wives’ tales (kinda wish I had). I did carry high and was mildly nauseous the first trimester (but only sick once), but her heart rate I believe was usually around 140 and I craved spinach and Brussels sprouts. Apparently the most accurate early gender predictor is actually placental positioning, which is pretty interesting, but obviously not something regularly noted during ultrasounds.
The old wives’ tales are pretty much completely meaningless, but good for a laugh! I swear people are just voting “girl” for mine because the grandmas want a little doll to play with. What’s the placental positioning indicator? I’ve never heard of that one and now I’m intrigued! Even though it’s too late for me since (knock wood) I’ll know the answer to the big question tomorrow morning…
It’s called Ramzi’s Method. There is quite a bit of chat about it on baby community sites and blogs. Here’s a more scholarly-type article: http://hcp.obgyn.net/fetal-monitoring/content/article/1760982/1878451. Basically, 97.2% of the male fetuses had a chorionic villi/placenta location on the right side of the uterus and 97.5% of female fetuses had a chorionic villi/placenta location to the left of the uterus. (I guess what’s difficult is verifying the orientation of the scan, because that can affect the directionality of a picture and therefore the reading.) It would still be interesting to go back and look at early ultrasounds and see if it’s right!
Fun! I’m going to check this out. I have to go back for a follow-up ultrasound in a month so I’ll ask them then… this is so interesting! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I take it the little one was uncooperative? Just have to hang in suspense a little longer!
Hee hee, nope, the little one behaved and we got as confident of an answer from the tech and the doctor as we’re going to get! We’re crazy excited (although that’s no clue, since we’d have been thrilled with either). I was out of town on Friday and didn’t get the post up – boo. It’s scheduled to go up Tuesday morning. 🙂
Wow.. all this is so exciting. Makes me want to have a baby now. 😛
Hope the ultrasound went off well, and you found out the child’s sex. It’s great that all you and your family want is a happy, healthy child and are not really bothered what the sex is. In India, sex determination tests are banned – as a lot of people choose not to go ahead with the pregnancy if it is a girl. Sad, but true.
The old wives’ tales are really fun. BTW my mom never had morning sickness when she was carrying me, except for one or two days, and she had me – a girl! So, you can’t really say. 🙂
That’s really fascinating – I’ve heard that about China, but not India. Sad, but interesting.
Here people generally won’t terminate based on the sex of the baby (at least, I’ve never heard of it happening). Doctors here recommend that everyone have an ultrasound “anatomy scan” between 20-23 weeks to check all the limbs and many internal organs, so most women do them. The purpose isn’t to find out the baby’s sex, but you generally can if you want to, provided they get a good look. (We did find out, but I only just returned from the test and we haven’t told our families yet! I will post about it either Friday or Tuesday, after all the grandparents and aunts/uncles know, so that no family members find out via blog. We’re really excited about what we’re having, but that’s no clue, since we would have been excited no matter what!)