Am I having a boy or a girl? A look at pregnancy 'old wives tales' (including some gender quizzes)

February 18, 9:50 AMEarly Childhood Parenting ExaminerAngele Sionna

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Ah, the wait to find out if that baby you're cooking in there has boy parts or girls parts. Gender prediction angst can seem long and mentally exhausting, especially if you're someone like me who is always thinking about it when ever you get a chance to sit down.

Some people are able to make the whole journey without finding out. Those people have more strength and patience than I'll ever have. I feel like I need to know, not just want to know. I need to be able to figure out the perfect name and start preparing for the baby. I need to make stuff for them, just for them - boy or girl.

For those of you like me, here's a look at some of the most popular 'old wives tales' that may help entertain you until the big 20 week (or so) ultrasound arrives.

• The big one people tend to believe even if they throw out all the other old wives tales is that boys have heart rates under 140 beats per minute, while girls are much faster. I hate to break it to you guys, but heart rate really doesn't say much at all. With my girls I had slow heart rates and fast heart rates, all depending on what the baby was up to at the time of the measurement. KidsHealth.org adds: "A baby girl's heart rate is usually faster than a boy's, but only after the onset of labor. There's no difference between fetal heart rates for boys and girls, but the rate does vary with the age of the fetus. By approximately the fifth week of pregnancy, the fetal heart rate is near the mother's — around 80 to 85 BPM. It continues to accelerate until early in the ninth week, when it reaches 170 to 200 BPM and then decelerates to an average of 120 to 160 BPM by the middle of the pregnancy. Normal fetal heart rate during labor ranges from 120 to 160 BPM for boys and girls."
• Another biggy is cravings. Desires of sweet stuff is supposed to mean girl, while salty or sour means boy.
• Here's a fun one that requires looking at the papa-to-be. If he's gaining weight that's supposed to mean you're having a girl.
• Is your face fuller or nose wider? That's also supposed to be a big girl indicator.
• What about the hair growth on your legs (and maybe face)? If you're getting fuzzier, that's supposed to mean you're baking up a little boy.
• Carrying the baby low supposedly means boy and high means girl. But really high tends to just mean a first pregnancy with strong stomach muscles.
• Here's one I've never heard of before from the UK site childbirthsolutions.com: "If young boys (pre-school age) show interest in you while you're pregnant, it will be a girl. If they ignore you, expect a boy."
• What do you think you're having? Apparently moms are pretty good guessers. According to pregnancy-info.net one study found moms who had no idea of the gender just guess correctly 71% of the time!
• More boy indicators at this iVillage.com article.
• More girl indicators at this iVillage.com article.

Here are some fun online quizzes you can take to predict if you're having a boy or a girl using old wives tales:

• childbirth.org (This one said I have a 65% chance of having a boy.)
• amazingpregnancy.com (This one said I have a 73% chance of a boy.)
• pregnancy-info.net (This one also says boy for me, but didn't give a percentage of chance.)

UPDATE: My 16 week ultrasound said that I'm having a baby boy, as did the quizes and they were correct! I seem to remember when I took these type of tests while pregnant with both of my girls they gave me 50% numbers but leaned towards girl.