old wives tales

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Her Grace
04/08/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
I am convinced, and have been since I was small, that I will have twins. There are no twins in my family. I am trying to get around this by convincing my girlfriend to carry at the same time as me, but then I'm worried we'll end up with four babies, which is scary.

Hortense, will I have four babies?
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par3
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
is this baby photoshopped??? oh for the love of GOD.
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kaiwhakamarie
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
People have been telling me since I first got pregnant that I was having a boy because my morning sickness was so bad, I've got tons of aches and pains, bad heartburn, fatigue and because I've gained a bazillion pounds but it's all in my stomach. I always figured they were just guessing at old wives tales. I am having a boy, though...
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Kaehoku
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
I have two daughters, and both pregnancies were really easy. I'm now pregnant with a boy, and have experienced 5 months of total misery! I still have "morning" sickness, and keep getting a series of illnesses. I knew it was a boy long before the ultra sound told me...
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hello.kitty
04/07/09

@Kaehoku: Also with each successive pregnancy morning sickness gets worse.

Good luck, you're halfway there!
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Aesop's Foibles. YES.
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
I had a dream once where it was a flood, and I was swimming in this murky green water, and the houses around me were all partially submerged. So I'm swimming and along comes this baby, floating by. I caught it and swam to "my" house with it, and once we reached it, I unwrapped the baby from his swaddling and it was a boy. He was probably about three months old and he looked like me, light eyes and fine brown hair. My sister has a girl, and dreamt years ago that I'd have a boy. I'm not ashamed to say I really want boy babees. Of course, though, as long as any future babees are in good health, I'll be pleased either way. I just think it'd be neat to have a little boy. I guess I just like boys better.
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lollier
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
I call shenanigans on that baby in the picture. I don't think that amount of cuteness is physically possible. He is obviously a robot or something.
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podsypoodle
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
Has anyone ever used the Chinese Astrology method? I have always wondered if that was just a load of crap.
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hello.kitty
04/07/09

@podsypoodle: Poppycock.

There are actually many factors involved. Nonsense despite all the Chinese moms who are scheduling their c-sections.
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dirtybee
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
My abuelita says that if you can't tell someone is pregnant from looking at their back, they are having a boy. If you can, it's a girl. Something about the way the stomach gets its shaped - a wider stomach = girl, a "higher" stomach - boy.

Also, the other old wives tale is that if the mother is craving a lot of fruit, its a girl. If the mom is craving a lot of cheese and meat, its a boy. Mom says she couldn't put down the mangos when she was expecting me - they had to sneak in the good kind from Mexico for her.
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kerrington.steele
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
but ... it's the sperm that determines the baby's sex. right? so shouldn't the MAN eat the bananas if you want a boy -- to make those Y-chromosome sperm grow big and strong so they get the egg first?

I'm no biologist but it seems like the woman's eggs don't actually have anything to do with the sex of the child.
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Green Goth Brit Chick - AlternatEve
04/07/09

@kerrington.steele: As has been explained upthread, its to do with pH levels.
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wednesdayam
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
Dude, don't tell that crap to my BF's mom. She took care of business and didn't let anything like being pregnant keep her from keeping on with life while carrying all three of her sons. She said it was just like carrying around a little extra weight each time. (What's super-fun though is that while she was 8 and a half months along with the BF, she got a flat, and no one stopped to help her change the tire! She would tried changing it herself, but the belly got in the way too much... only problem she ran across. Had to walk to a service station and call the hubster for assistance.)
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hello.kitty
04/07/09

@wednesdayam: WHAT? No one stopped a preggers woman by the road? Did they think she was hiding a bomb?!
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wednesdayam
04/07/09

@hello.kitty: Nope. It was the 1970s in South Texas... while surprising to everyone involved, at the same time, it was also sadly not surprising.
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dirtybee
04/07/09

@wednesdayam: Oh, that explains it. I could be bleeding profusely on the side of a road in my hometown, and odds are no one would probably blink an eye.
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hello.kitty
04/07/09

@wednesdayam: That's dreadful.
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MissyMcCLung
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
I had a particularly brutal labour with my first, who's sex we didn't know. Half way through the nurse started referring to "the baby" as him, as in "get him out". My mom noticed this and the nurse said that when a labour is this bad it is almost always a boy.
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MissyMcCLung
04/07/09

@MissyMcCLung: I forgot to add - the nurse was right, he's certainly male.
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opalmarie
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
I don't have babies, so I don't know the protocol for this sort of thing, but in my massive family, whenever a female relative is pregnant she just says shes happy to have a boy or girl, as long as it's healthy. Even when prodded, all of my aunts and cousins won't admit to preferring one over the other. I thought that once ladies got pregnant, their desire for a healthy baby outweighed a desire for a son or daughter particularly.

Now that I'm at an age when some of my friends are having babies, it's amazing to hear people freely admit they prefer one over the other. It makes me feel pretty awkward, particularly when you're pregnant with the opposite. How have moms here felt? Did you really want one sex? What did you end up with?
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hello.kitty
04/07/09

@opalmarie: I think that when you're faced with parenthood you draw on your own likes/dislikes, personal experiences. It isn't so much having a preference, as forecasting/fantasizing about your future child. We project our own wishes onto our kids.
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lalaland13
04/07/09

@hello.kitty: I tend to agree. My brother has been a real jerk at times, and has really caused my mom a lot of heartache. I have too, but not like him. He was also jerky to me in a lot of ways.

So I think of what my mom went through, and want a girl. But I'm trying to get away from that kind of thinking.
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must.stop.lurking
04/07/09

@opalmarie: i was (half) joking with my bf one day that, if we did decide to have kids down the line, i only wanted girls. and then he responded that he only wanted boys. and it hurt - even though he was using the same line of thinking as me.
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LaFemme
04/07/09

@must.stop.lurking: I don't think I would care for the first, but I would for future children, and I am really cnoflicted. I have a sister, so I would want a girl to have a sister. But I also kind of want a boy. So I guess 3 kids? Seems like a lot to me. Plus it has to be balanced in that way0 I don't want just 3 boys I would have to try for a girl!

I find it SUCH a turnoff when a guy says they really want boys. I am kind of flexible, but I think the gender differences make a man saying he would be really really unhappy with 2 girls different than me saying "if I had 2 boys I would probably want a girl." It's like he thinks there are certain male things he can only do with boy kids?
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pinkyBella
04/07/09

@LaFemme: I know what you mean. I feel the same way about people saying they want boys. I don't want children, but if I ever have any, I want a girl because I still feel like society values boy babies over girl babies. I have heard so many people say they want boys first to pass on the family name and to protect future siblings. Ugh.
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jigglyball
04/07/09

@LaFemme: My boyfriend wants boys (I want girls, if I want children at all), and I think a lot of it stems from his own upbringing. His mother was mentally checked out for most of his childhood, and he was surrounded by other boys, with little female influence, so I think he's afraid he doesn't have the experience or credentials to raise a girl. That's what I would be there for, of course :)

My dad has three girls, and personally, I think he's lucky- I love watching sports and running with him, my sister shares his love of science, and at the same time, my dad has gotten to play dolls, go prom dress shopping, and learn a lot about the different pressures women face.
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Shamrockette
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
My mom had a very difficult labor and delivery with my older brother, which lasted almost 24 hours. He was over 9 pounds at birth with a huge head.

But when me and my twin brother were born, the labor and delivery was induced, but took no more than an hour. Granted, my mom was put on bedrest at 7 1/2 months with us, but me and my twin came out within 10 minutes of each other.
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hello.kitty
04/07/09

@SO I HERD U LIEK MUDKIPZ (formerly Shamrockette): Oh boy I do not know how women on bed rest survive the ordeal. Your mom--and Sophia Loren--deserve trophies.

Wait are you the older or younger? Fraternal or identical?
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Shamrockette
04/07/09

@hello.kitty: Me and my brother are obviously fraternal haha.

But he's the older one...by 10 minutes.
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hello.kitty
04/07/09

@SO I HERD U LIEK MUDKIPZ (formerly Shamrockette): Sorry I don't make assumptions about gender unless it's obvious in the thread.
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BrutallyHonestBabes (aka Mrs. Sarah.of.a.Lesser.Hobbit)
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
I find the biggest indicator of a male child is a penis.
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Crabby Cakes
04/07/09

@BrutallyHonestBabes (aka Mrs. Sarah.of.a.Lesser.Hobbit): More accurately, the biggest indicator is a DICK.
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SharonTaint
04/07/09

In reply to Difficult Pregnancy? It's A Boy... Or A Girl
gender is determined by male sperm though, so why would it matter what the woman eats?
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hello.kitty
04/07/09

@SharonTaint: It has to do with PH levels.
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Her Grace
04/08/09

@SharonTaint: You can make your uterus and eggs more hostile/welcoming to sperm based on what you eat. Male sperm carry less genetic information, because the Y chromosome is smaller, so they swim faster than female sperm, but female sperm live longer. I understand the proteins on the outside of each are also subtly different and can be attacked or not by your body chemistry.
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