Predictions

A week from today we find out the gender of Baby Irish - that is if our active little one decides to cooperate. So for fun, we decided to take a few gender prediction quizes online as well as debunk a few old wive's tales to see if we can acurately predict what is (or isn't) hiding between baby's legs.

First, here are the results of five of the online gender predictor quizes. I randomly googled "gender predictor quizes" and took the first five that came up. The results are exactly as they appeared on the screen:

Parents.com quiz: It's a boy!

Babyzone.com: It could be a girl.

Childbirth.org: You have a 72% chance of having a girl.

Justmommies.com: 67% chance of having a girl.

Babygenderpredition.com: 60% chance of having a boy.

And just for fun, thebump.com's chinese gender predictor says we're having a boy.

So, based on the predictor quizes, we're having a girl but if you add in that chinese gender predictor we're even. Perhaps breaking down some of the common old wives tales will yield a different result.

Carrying High, Carrying Low: According to this old wive's tale, we're expecting a boy because it appears I'm carrying low. But science says that how you carry is based on muscle and the position of the baby.

Heartbeats: The story goes, if the heartbeat is above 140 it's a girl and under is a boy. At our 16 week appointment baby's heartbeat was still a strong 155. Prior to that it was up in the 170's. This old wive's tale would indicate we're having a girl.

Craving Something?: Sweets mean a girl, sour or salty foods indicate a boy. Given the massive amounts of chocolate I've ingested lately, I'd say my cravings are sweets-centered. Another point for a little girl.

Time to Shave: They say if the hair on your legs is growing faster during pregnancy then you're having a boy. Given that I'm grabbing for the razor on a daily basis, I think it's safe to say this tale points to a boy.

Green at the Gills: Morning sickness early in pregnancy indicates a girl. Unfortunately, I had plenty of morning, noon, and night sickness early in pregnancy (and even today) so we're giving another point to the girl tally.

Meat or Fruit?: Craving meat usually points to a boy, according to the old tales while craving fruit indicates a girl. Given my strong dislike of meat throughout this pregnancy, I'm going with fruit on this one. I wonder if there's a prediction for fruit causing heartburn because that's certainly happening lots these days. Another girl point.

Mirror, Mirror: Story goes, baby girls steal their mother's looks during pregnancy. While Dave will tell you I'm looking good during pregnancy (thanks, love), I beg to differ. Hormones have caused my skin to break out and I always look tired. I'm still waiting for the pregnancy glow to kick in.

Mmmm, bread: If there was an old wive's tale about bread, it was made for me and my bread cravings. This one has to do with the heel of the loaf of bread. If you eat it, you're having a boy and if you refuse to eat it, it's a girl. While I love bread these days, I'd only eat the heel if it was the absolute last piece and I couldn't get to the store fast enough. I'll give the point to the girl side.

Tally up those points and you get six old wive's tales that indicate a girl and two that indicate a boy. Put it all together and you'd think we're having a girl. But we aren't totally convinced. Everyone we talk to says we're having a girl except for my mom who is still sticking with her dream that we had a baby boy. Dave and I are torn. Some days I think we're having a boy simply because I can't settle on a boy's nursery theme. Other days I think it's a girl because we can't seem to settle on just one girl's name (while our boy's name has been settled since day one). Luckily, we'd be thrilled with either and are praying for a healthy baby with ten fingers and ten toes.

Stay tuned... next week we'll see how accurate those predictor tests and old wives tales were!