Conference moira::parenting_v3

Too bad we can't try this one retroactively . . . 

--bonnie

    My co-worker here just became a father last week. He mentioned
    his wife tried the test and it predicted a boy. Well, they
    are the proud parents of a baby girl......
    
    I personally won't believe any results of any test until I see the little
    critter personally! 8-)
    
    Monica

    And then there's my friend who, from several ultra-sounds for both
    babies was told that they were both healthy little girls.
    
    Both her SONS are doing well...!

    My sister tried this test twice while pregnant.  Both times she had
    "girl" results, but she tried not to get to excited, cause she already
    has two boys and didn't want to be disappointed.  She had a GIRL!
    
    Roberta

    Here's another crazy test for determining baby's sex.  The gentleman
    who performed the test says it's 100% effective, but I took it with a
    grain of salt.
    
    Here 'tis.  Thread a needle with string around 8-10 inches long.
    Have someone hold the hanging needle about an inch from your open palm
    (up).  If the needle rotates around it's a girl, if it goes back and
    forth, it's a boy.
     The baby's pulse supposedly makes the needle sway.  According to him,
    I'm having a girl, and we don't know the sex results from the amnio.
    
    I'd like to find out if this test worked correctly for you, should you
    happen to know your baby's sex. 
    
    Any takers?
    Kath
    

    My mother-in-law gave me the pencil test.  But....she gave it 
    to me before I was pregnant.  When my husband and I were 
    engaged - she said it was a test to see how many children and
    what sex.  My test came out girl, boy, girl, boy - crazy 
    enough - my husbands came out to be the same thing.
    
    Well, once we conceived (in October) she gave the test again
    as you described, and it said I was having a girl.  I will let
    you know in July (around the 21st) it the test is true or not!!
    
    Kara

    I too had the pencil test when I was engaged.  The results were the
    same for both of us:  Girl, Girl, Boy.  I have since had a girl (3yrs old)
    and am pregnant with my second (15wks), which I "feel" is a girl.  I will 
    have a sonagram in three weeks and will see if they can tell what sex it
    is.  
    
    It should be interesting to see the results.  I have girlfriends that
    swear by the pencil test.
               
    Angie 

    What is the pencil test??

    
    I have a question that's kind of related to this topic...it's not a
    test on guessing my baby's sex, but rather 'symptoms' (if any) a woman
    experiences in determining your baby's sex.
    
    My sister and several friends of mine all had boys...their skin
    and hair were DRY....I have never had more 'zits' in my life
    (even during puberty) and oily hair...I've had several dreams
    that my baby is a girl....I guess I'm grasping at straws here
    but has anyone else noticed complexion or symptoms that
    related to the sex of their baby?   (I would love to hear
    that someone else had oily skin and had a boy! 8*)  I'm
    2 months along now...
    
    Thanks for any clues....
    
    Kristen  
    
    
    

    Kristen,
    
    >I would love to hear that someone else had oily skin and had a
    >boy! 8*
    
    Boy, are you in luck -- not once but twice I had pimples and a
    boy.  I also had terrible acne problems during the pregnancy that
    turned out to be a girl.
    
    So with me there wasn't any connection.
    
    --bonnie

    	I know that this has been covered in several topics but I'd say
    listen to your dreams. When I first got pregnant, Marc and I had dreams
    about sexless babies, slowly those dreams turned into dreams about
    little boys and boy babies. Neither of us had any real preference for
    either sex, (we just wanted a healthy baby).

    	One night, I had a very clear dream that I was having an ultrasound
    and that we saw very clearly on the screen that it was a boy. This was
    odd because I was not scheduled for an ultrasound and everything
    appeared to be going well. We figured that we wouldn't know the sex of
    the baby until birth.

    	Three days later I was in for an emergency ultrasound and sure
    enough, we saw very clearly that it was a boy. (the scene was just like
    my dream).

    	What is interesting to note is that the technician asked *me* what
    I thought it was before she even looked. I told her that I thought it
    was a boy based on my dreams, she said that in her experience she has
    found that more often than not, the mother *knows* on some level what
    the baby is. 

    	But then there are always stories about women who are so sure that
    they are having a boy/girl that they paint the nursery blue/pink and
    then have to redo it after the baby is born.

    	I tend to have very clear dreams and was paying attention to them
    all along to see if they held any clues for me.

    			Wendy

    Speaking of dreams...I had a dream just before I got married that I was
    going to have a boy with light hair and blue eyes.  Sure enough!  I
    always felt my first pregnancy was a boy - there was never any question
    in my mind.
    
    Now when the second one was "incubating" I would have sowrn it was a
    girl.  I think more because I wanted a girl than I felt it was a girl.
    Well, another boy (who is more precious than any girl could have been
    for me) - and I even thought the doctor was teasing me when he said it
    was a boy!!!
    
    -sandy
    

    Growing up, I always had great skin - even in high school, if you
    can believe it.  But when I got pregnant it was a different story.
    It was horrible!  I also used to have dreams that my baby was a
    girl, but nonetheless, I was convinced I was having a boy.  Guess
    I should've listened to those dreams.  I had a wonderful baby girl
    and the nine months of bad skin was definately worth it.  A friend
    of mine told me that girl babies bring bad skin.  And another friend
    was pregnant the same time I was and her skin was perfect.  Yes, she
    had a boy.  She also had dreams that her baby was a boy.
    
    - Kathryn
    

    .9 - I was thinking about asking this question for a while now.
         
    With my first (boy) I had very clear skin the whole time compared to 
    my usual occassional zit.  I also had a form of migraine that stopped
    when I was pregnant (not the usual killer kind most people get, mine
    was a jab in the side of the head every so often, but these stopped).
    Naseau also stopped completely around week 12.
    
    This time I am getting those occassional zits, my migraines come around 
    when I'm feeling stressed, and at 25 weeks my naseau still comes in waves 
    from time to time.  I was wondering if this might mean that this time
    I'm having a girl.
    
    My dreams have included one beautiful baby where I didn't know
    the sex, and one boy.
    
    My first pregnancy I think the whole first half consisted of dreams
    I was having a girl and the second half was dreams about a boy,
    so that didn't work for me.
    
    Oh yea, one last thing.  I'm carrying exactly like I did last time.
    Everyone told me I was having a boy then and they were right.  
    Personally I don't believe there's any connect around the way one
    carries and the sex of their baby.  I'm skinny, I've always been
    skinny, and not even a baby girl is going to make me wide all
    around.
     
    Donna
    

    re. .11 and .12
    
    When I was pregnant, I had dreams that our baby was a boy.  We had
    originally wanted a girl, but by this time, we were expecting a boy.
    It really didn't matter.  Well, our beautiful daughter was quite
    a surprise to me when I awoke from general anesthesia!  It took me
    about a month to really believe we had a girl!  

    Ultrasound = baby boy.  I'm in my 25th week and my hair and skin
    seem to be very dry.  My first pregnancy I gained weight all over and
    had a baby girl.  This time I feel like I am carrying around a
    basketball.

    I had very oily skin and hair while I was pregnant.  I also "knew" that
    I was having a boy.  Many times I had dreams that I was holding or
    watching a baby and it was a boy but never felt motherly towards the
    child.  When I was about 8 months pregnant, I dreamed that I went to 
    the hospital to pick up my baby and I saw this little blond haired girl 
    who I "knew" was mine.  After that dream I was convinced that I was having 
    a girl.
    
    I did have a blond haired little girl and my skin finally did clear
    up.

    I generally suffer from a very bad complexion (darnit all, I'm 32;
    why should I still have teenage skin problems?!?). When I was 
    pregnant I had wonderous skin, soft and smooth; no pimples at all (!)
    The baby was a boy.
    
    As for dreams; I NEVER had any dreams about babies one way or another
    though the whole pregnancy --- perhaps that was fore-shadowing in
    itself......
    
    Monica
    

    I never had dreams about what the sex was ..... I have noticed though
    (and please correct me if you've experienced otherwise!) that of all
    the women that I know that get morning sickness and/or are ill for the
    1st 3 mos ALWAYS seem to have girls.
    
    I never had 'morning sickness' and have 2 boys.
    
    Patty

    Well I had morning sickness all day for 3 months and had a boy.
    
    I think an informal survey was done on this in Parenting_v2.  I
    think it was pretty inconclusive.  
    
    Oh well...
    Donna
    

    
    
    	wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.
    
    	I puked more in the first three months of my pregnancy (see the
    note about gagging when you brush your teeth) than I have in my entire
    life and all ultrasound indications point to me having a boy.
    
    	Next time, I'm gonna have me a puppy.
    
    			Wendy

>    	Next time, I'm gonna have me a puppy.

    But, Wendy, it's not possible to have *a* puppy - they come in litters.
    You'll have to have at least a half dozen.  And you'll probably get a
    craving for dog food and chasing cars.  Still think it's a good idea?
    :)  :)  :)

		cheryl

    Patty,
    
    I was *violently* morning sick and had a son! ;-)
    
    and I dreamed he was a boy later on, I was callling my stomach
    "Michael" by the 6th month.
    
    Bonnie

    During my first pregnancy I had no morning sickness, my skin and hair
    were *REAL* oily, and I dreamed I had a boy kitten.  I had a healthy
    baby girl.
    
    This time I have had a lot of nausea, but my skin and hair aren't oily
    at all.  I just recently had a dream that I had another girl, so maybe
    that means this one is a boy.  We won't know for certain until
    December.
    
    -Joy
    

    I had morning sickness from the second through the fifth month.  After
    that, some things would make me nauseous and I would vomit.  This
    lasted until my baby was born.  I had a girl. 

    My first pregnancy I had no morning sickness, gained weight "all" over,
    had beautiful skin and had dreams of sexless babies.  I had a girl.
    
    This pregnancy I still had no morning sickness, gained a basketball
    only so far, have oily skin and still no dreams.
    
    Oh yes, I was totally convinced that my first was a boy.  I was
    overjoyed with a girl.  My mother "whom is frequently to always wrong"
    was so sure I was going to have a boy she made the nurse unwrap that
    baby in the hall to prove her sex.  
    
    This time is am convinced I am having a girl (so is my mom).  I wonder
    if I could be wrong again.  I'll find out in November.  I had a
    sonagram this week but the baby was transverse breech and would not
    spread its legs for the technician.
    
    Angie      

    I brought up the question about skin condition = sex of baby...
    
    Well, I hardly have morning sickness.....just waves of nausea
    now and then (especially around dinner time). 
    
    As far as my dreams, I guess I've been wondering what sex it is
    so much that it has travelled to my subconscious....I came to
    the conclusion it's a girl based on the time and circumstances
    when I conceived...I understand that the Y sperm do not live
    as long as the X..(unless my calculations are wrong...)
    
    I would love to have a boy and am happy to hear that other people
    experience oily skin and boys but I will be just as happy if it is
    a girl...I guess with only growing up with sisters you're kind of
    anxious to have a boy....I'll find out in August (hopefully)
    
    Kristen
    
    

    
    I'm just hitting 5 mos, and so far no oily skin or hair...
    (for oily skin try Noxema every day, I keep it in the shower)
    
    I'm gaining all over....
    
    Have a *feeling* its a girl...but through calculations like the last
    noter, it should be a boy (I thought we hit the exact day..?)...
    
    Find out in October!
    Chris
    (another one with all sisters/girls in my family)
    
    

    
    I threw up every morning for the first 4 months of all 3 of my
    pregnancies .... and they were all boys.  My skin was very smooth and
    my hair was dry too.  Also...my hair on my body stopped growing!  I
    didn't have to shave my legs for 8 months!  It was WONDERFUL!
    
    p.s.  All 3 pregnancies were carried like basketballs, nothing in back.
    
    -dorothy

no morning sickness, no change in skin, very tired the first trimester, 
*lots* more hair, and a daughter

(But - very early on I dreamed I had triplets - all boys, all blond.  Thank
heavens it didn't come true...)

    I did the test with crystal Draino and it said a boy.  Then I did the
    pin test on the string and that said a girl.  So now what that told me
    the same thing that the lab tech. told me I cant tell 50% chance girl
    50% chance boy.  Oh well I guess I was meant not to now this time.
    
    By the way no my husband thinks I crazy for doing those tests.
    
    Della
    
    

Re: .32

No, you're having twins!  :-)

		Steve

    Re: .33
    
    Wrong answer try again
    
    
    Della

Re: .34

A hermaphrodite, then?  Makes as much sense as these tests do....

		Steve

    I love this discussion, it's so animated in so many ways!
    
    But from a sense of reality, the nausea amounts, according to my OB,
    are in direct porportion of the level of progesterone your body is
    carrying.
    
    From my experience, I had zits both times but seemed worse the first
    time (it was a girl), and was nauseas and ill just about from
    conception through delivery.
    
    With the boy I had minimal nausea, less zits, but both times extremely
    oily skin.
    
    I carried the girl all around, the boy was in front and quite high into
    my ribcage.
    
    Lyn
    

    Lyn... I was the exact opposite of you!
    
    My son I was sick for 7 1/2 months, prego all around, almost no stretch
    marks
    
    My daughter I was sick for a few months, prego up high right under the
    boobs.... and stretch marks that are STILL there, after almost 16 years
    
    M-L

    I guess this would be the best topic in which to make my request...
    
    What I am trying to do is compile a list of all the folklore/old wives
    tales possible about determining the sex of an unborn child. I already
    have the following :
    
    Heartbeat Rate
    Pendulum / Pencil Test
    Everything already in this note !
    The Chinese chart in note 542.36
    
    Does anyone know any more they can tell me about ?
    
    Thanks in advance.
    
    /Angela.

    A twist on the complexion issue:
    
    Each of my first two pregnancies left me with a mark (like a freckle)
    on my face.  My neighbor told me that her "little old grandmother"
    would have said: "Ah!  A girl! She's stealing your beauty!"
    
    Debbie's "little old grandmother" would have been right.
    
    My son did not cause a mark on my face...but boy, was I nauseous for
    three months...
    
    
    And, the only other "old wives tale" I know:  My second daughter has
    a dimple on her chin.  I was pushing her proudly through the super-
    market one day, when an older woman approached to ogle and coo, and
    drew back.  She looked at me, shook her finger, and said: "This
    one will keep you busy.  'A dimple on the chin - a devil within'".
    
    She was right.  Cait is a "devil" - as in imp, dickens, monkey.
    
    Pat MilliganAbber

    well I did the drano test and so did another woman that I work with and
    her's came out saying she was having a girl and mine said boy.
    
    Results:
    
    I had a baby boy and she had an ultrasound and there is no doubt that
    she is having a girl.
    
    Della