The Gender Prediction Project

Part of what was so wonderful about having Bubba, apart of course from just becoming his Mommy, was that we waited to find out the gender until he burst spectacularly from my womb. In reality, there was nothing spectacular about his birth until his arrival. It was a horrible experience that I am going to go out of my way not to repeat this time around, made worth it by the amazing little person I now call my son. Having my husband look down at me, tears in his eyes, to tell me "It's a boy! It's a boy!" was easily one of the top 3 moments in my life, and one I wouldn't give up for anything. We have decided again to wait it out and see what this new little one will be whenever they choose to enter the outside world. It's driving people crazy, but we figure God gives us so few great surprises in life, why would we want to spoil this one by peeking early? Besides, I might need incentive to keep pushing if things get rough. :0)  It wasn't that long ago that mothers had nothing except their instincts to help predict the gender anyways. In the days before high tech ultrasounds (or any ultrasounds at all for that matter), a mother's instinct was considered the highest authority on whether or not the new addition to a family was going to be a boy or a girl. Or so we thought. I happen to be a part of a pregnancy message board and in an attempt to find out their babies genders before even the doctors can tell them, several mommies are desperately searching the internet for reliable gender prediction tests they can do early and in the safety of their own home. There are countless websites devoted to these "full proof" gender predictors of old. Is it possible all these years that our foremothers have been relying not only on their instinct, but on whether or not baking soda fizzes when they pee in it? 
So, I've decided to entertain myself with a fun blog project. Over the next weeks/months I too am going to scour the internet in search of gender prediction tests I can do here at home and share my results with you. I will keep track of them over the months to come and in August will share with you which of these at home gender predictors were dead on, and which fell short of the hype. I figured that since I have no interest one way or the other, this can just be a fun way to pass the time as I countdown to baby. 
I will not however be buying anything like the Intelligender test or some of it's less famous counterparts. It is fine for people who want to do that, and I happen to know of a couple of people it was correct for, but I know of far more people that got an incorrect reading and I can think of better things to waste $30 on. I will be testing all of those good old fashioned tests you can do with just things sitting around your house. 
If you have any tests you'd like me to try or have come across over the years, please share them. I've got a list waiting for me of things I've looked up and read about, but I know there is always more out there, and I figure we'd might as well have as much fun with this as possible!  I guess we should start with the easiest and, as far as I can tell, most accurate at home gender prediction method:

Mother's Instinct I didn't have any kind of instinct with my son until I was 25 or 30 weeks. I specifically remember going to my husband in tears and telling him that I was doomed to be a horrible mother because I had no idea what I was carrying. Once instinct did kick in however, I was sure that I was carrying a little man, despite my husband (who had never been wrong in almost 27 years of gender predicting) insisting we were expecting a little girl.  This time around I have been pretty positive from day one that we will be welcoming a little girl into our family come August. My son also says "gurl" or "sista" every time he is asked. My husband is declining to share his opinion. This method of gender determination was correct with my son, though I was a little later in having an opinion that most mothers I have spoken to.

Mayan Gender Test

The ancient Mayans developed a gender test which takes into account the year of conception and your age at the time you conceived. If both numbers are even/odd you will be having a little girl. For example, if a mother conceived in 2010 at the age of 24 she will be expecting a daughter. You would also be expecting a girl if you were 25 when you conceived in 2011. If one number is even and the other is odd you will be expecting a little boy. For instance, if you were 25 when you got pregnant in 2010 a little bundle of blue is on the way.

According to this predictor I will be welcoming another little boy into the household in about 25 weeks. I was 25 (odd) when I conceived our child in November of 2010 (even). This method of gender prediction was incorrect with my son, who I conceived in 2008 at the age of 24.


Heart Rate Gender Predictor

The heart rate prediction is really very simple. If the baby's heart rate beats 140bpm or faster, you are carrying a little girl. If it is slower than 140bmp, you are carrying a little boy. As far as I can gather from other mothers I have spoken to, this is another that is wrong more often than it is right. It was incorrect with my son, who never had a heart rate below 140 until the day I went into labor with him.

This time around the baby's heart rate was higher than Bubba's ever was at 189bpm at our 10 week ultrasound, but had dropped to around 120bpm when I was checked by doppler at 13 weeks 1 day. So, according to this predictor, I am welcoming a little girl and a little boy, though my 10 week ultrasound showed no sign of twins.  I guess we'll have to wait and see what Baby Legs heart rate is at our next appointment.


That's all for now, but I promise to post some more at home predictors ASAP! Remember, send me some ideas if you know of any fun prediction methods I can use!