Well, here I am again. 10 weeks until my due date of August 11th and I am still going strong as a member of Team Green! I'm proud of myself. For some reason, it has been much harder this time around not to look at the ultrasound techs, doctors, and my own grandparents (who are the only people who know the gender at this point) and beg to be let in on the secret! I have no idea why it is harder this time around, but I am very, very eager to meet my new little Mr. or Mrs. Not that I wasn't with Parker...it's just different this time around.
So, I figure what better way to pass the time than to continue on with the Gender Prediction Project, and invite others to do the same. After all, even if you know what you're having, you still have time to kill until they get here, right?
Rapunzel! Rapunzel!
You guessed it! This old wive's tale has to do with your hair. As the story goes, girls strip away all the good vitamins and minerals that your hair needs to become lush and full (Presumably so that their own locks will be gorgeous, of course. You know how vindictive those babies can be in the womb!), leaving you with dry limp locks void of all color and volume. Boys, apparently not worried about the state of their own hair, leave your hair alone and in fact cause it to become fuller and shinier! Every son is a Mommy's Boy at heart it seems, helping us to become more beautiful even before taking their first breaths!
Unfortunately, my own son appears to be rather vain, for he turned my hair into an absolute wreck! Granted, it was growing faster than weeds in the sunshine, but it also had the look and consistency of last falls old straw! I ended up cutting off about 12 inches after he was born to try to start over and salvage what I could, so this was oh so incorrect with my son! As scared as I was of it happening this time, my hair is just fine, and actually looks better than it usually does, though it isn't growing quite as fast as it did when I was pregnant with Bubba. I suppose that means I am predicted a boy again, though one who cares less about his hair apparently.
Oval or Heart?
Apparently it is our baby's gender, not the unexplainable way that every woman stores water and fat differently, that determines the shape of our face during pregnancy. Who knew? The saying goes that you are having a girl if you get more round and rosy during pregnancy. Is your face longer and more oval? Must be because you are having a little boy and not because you are one of the lucky ones that doesn't gain in your face during these long 9 months! (And here you were thinking it was all about your good genes!)
Believe it or not, this was correct with my son. Of course, it could also be the fact that I gained absolutely zero weight while pregnant (which of course meant that I was losing as he was gaining), but don't tell the hard core believers that. Let's just stick with it being because my little man was blessing my facial features, and based on that method of gender prediction I am predicted a boy this time around too!
To Key or Not To Key?
Sometimes I am sure it must be a man making these up instead of the poor old wife scapegoats. After all, what woman would assume that the manner in which you pick up a key has anything to do with the gender of your unborn baby? Still, that is exactly what this particular tale claims. Legend has it, if you pick up a single key by the fatter end or the top of the key you are having a little boy. If you pick it up by the narrow end or bottom of the key you'd better be ready for a girl in your future. To make it even more confusing, if you happen to pick up your key in the center you are expecting twins...or a very gender confused baby.
Here's another crazy tale that was never less correct with my son. I always pick up a key by the fat part. Anything else feels weird to me. I still don't see in any way shape or form what that has to do with the gender of my baby, but it is predicting a boy for me again this time. At least I already have a lot of the clothes...
Sweet or Sour?
Ah, cravings! Something every pregnant woman can appreciate! Some say that they are in our heads. Some say that they are our body's way of getting something essential that we are lacking in our pregnancy. Some, mostly husbands sent out to find an impossible snack at 2am, say they are a pain in the rear! This old wive's tale says they are a way of predicting the gender of your baby. If all you want are sweets then apparently a sweet and sugar little girl is headed your way! Craving lemons and other things that pucker your lips? Sounds like you're having a boy. I think I rather resent this manner of prediction, as it almost sounds as if it is being suggested that little girls are melt in your mouth sweethearts while boys are sour little things! Some old wife must have had a lot of daughters! (Or some horrible little boys!)
During my first pregnancy I craved fruits as though my life depended on them. Being that I was pregnant in the dead of winter in the middle of nowhere Idaho, these cravings were particularly inconvenient for both me and my husband. Have you ever tried to find ripe strawberries in December? It's not possible! Of course, this constant cravings for the sweetest of fruits means that this particular tale was incorrect with my son, who is certainly all boy, though a very sweet one if I do say so myself! This time around I also started off craving fruits very, very early in pregnancy...but with an added taste for the uber sour too! I will freely admit that I ate through an entire bag of Sour Patch Kids one night and then pitifully begged my husband to go out for more. In fact, there for several weeks I made sure to always have some kind of sour candy in the diaper bag, as it also seemed to help with some of my morning sickness. (And if it didn't help, it at least didn't taste horrible coming back up!) I have continued to enjoy sour things much more than I usually do when not pregnant, and so suppose that means I'm predicted a boy this time too...though perhaps it also means he'll be a little monster as so many people tell me the second child is. (I don't tend to believe it, but you know how everyone just knows everything when you are pregnant!)
The Gender Prediction Project is a meme of sorts of my own design. Both of my children have been surprises at birth, but that doesn't mean I don't spend 9 months wondering about every single old wive's tale and what they might be telling me about my baby's gender. I decided to make a little project out of it to keep me (and hopefully others) entertained during my pregnancy. I would love to see how other's results add up compared to the tales, so please feel free to grab the button and join in if you are pregnant or just want to give the results of your own prediction methods! It's not a meme done on any specific day of the week or for any set amount of time, just whenever you feel like adding to the project, do it!
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