If you are an expectant parent you may be excited to learn the gender of the child you are anxiously awaiting. Some want to know the baby’s sex so they can paint the nursery appropriate colors, or register effectively for the upcoming baby shower. If you know the baby’s gender, you only have to come up with one name instead of figuring out two options.
It is important to note that you can only really learn the baby’s gender by having an amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling test. These are medically invasive tests that your doctor won’t do without having a sound medical reason other than gender prediction. Ultrasounds are typically done to check on the baby’s and mother’s health at a few points during the pregnancy and if you want to know the baby’s sex you can get a semi-accurate view of whether it’s a boy or a girl. But there have been incidents where even with ultrasound the wrong gender is predicted.
There are tests you can buy online for gender prediction, some of these are blood tests that you send off and wait for results. Just be careful and do some research. These tests can cost up to several hundred dollars and over the years some of them have turned out to be scams.
So if you want to know your baby’s gender and can’t wait until around the eighteenth week of your pregnancy, which is the best time to tell the sex of the child…then we have a few tried and well…not so true gender prediction methods to entertain you while you wait.
Gender Prediction – Generations of Prophesy
Mothers, grandmother, great-grandmothers, and old maiden aunts have been offering their predictions since the dawn of time. You know how it goes, you’re pregnant, showing, and all of a sudden you are swamped with lots of prophetic insight you really didn’t ask for.
Jane down the block says you’re carrying the baby low so it must be a boy, Grandma X says you’re craving chocolate so it must be a girl, and Cousin Fred…who has nine children and has seen it all, says you should mix your early morning urine with Drano, as that is the only true test. Okay, just ugh.
Before you go screaming out into the traffic to get away from Cousin Fred, he does have a point, or thinks he does. There is an “old wives tale” that many people believed, and it uses Drano.
The Really Disgusting Drano Test
While mixing Drano and urine may sound remotely scientific, it really isn’t. Supposedly you use a glass container, because…well Drano will just eat through plastic. Besides, you have to see the results. You put in a little Drano, add a little urine, and then use your stop watch to see how long it takes for the mixture to turn brown. Oh, wait…you can’t do this test until your fourth month of pregnancy.
Actually don’t bother, while you are timing the color change, it’s important to note that nothing in your urine will interact with Drano in a manner that would predict your baby’s gender. And the fumes can’t be good for a pregnant woman, which is why the “directions” for this test specify that it should be done outside. It also warns that there will be a bubbling reaction accompanied by a highly caustic odor when the urine and Drano are mixed.
Okay, we’ve come this far you may as well know the rest…If this caustic odor causing mixture turns “brownish” in color within ten seconds, congratulations you’re having a boy! If it doesn’t darken or change color for ten to fifteen seconds…you are having a girl. Except that just like many traditional gender predictions, this one really doesn’t work.
Chocolate or Pickles, What if It’s Both?
A slightly less disgusting gender prediction is that if you crave sweets like chocolate, sticky buns, or the entire bakery case at the local donut shop, then you will have a girl. The reverse of this predicts that you will have a boy because you crave pickles, lemons, or that really bad sour candy that distorts your face.
Question – what if you crave the traditional pickles and ice cream? Does that mean you’re having twins? Not really, while this can be a little fun, the truth is that a craving is your body and minds way of telling you that you need…something. And scientists have proven that pregnant women really do experience cravings.
It is important to note that most food cravings are harmless; however there are some women who have had cravings for things like dirt and soap. If you have a non-food craving you need to talk to your doctor right away.
Summary
There are more, there are always more…Like the wedding ring that you dangle from a string over your belly. If it circles – girl, side-to-side motion means a boy. If you glow and look fantastic while you are pregnant…girl, no…boy. If you look like a hag…girl, no..boy. Well, there are two versions of this one so I guess you can take your pick.
Actually if you have a minute there is an easier way to do this. You can find a fun online quiz that uses many of the myths to help you determine gender right here.