Gender prediction - Boy or Girl?

We elected not to find out the gender of our baby - perhaps it's the traditionalist in us, but we wanted to wait until the moment of birth to have the midwife announce:

"It's a [insert gender here]!"

However, just for fun I thought I'd go through a few old wives' tales and see if they swung one way or another.

Baking soda test

For this one you pee in one cup and put 3 tablespoons of baking soda in a separate cup. Pour your urine into the cup with the baking soda. If it fizzes, it’s a boy. If there’s no fizzle-it is a girl.

No pictures of this one because... well... urine... But no fizzle.

Result: Girl

Wedding ring test

This is probably one of the best known ones. Tie a string around your wedding ring and then lay back. Dangle the ring right above your belly. If the ring swings in a back and forth like a pendulum, it's a boy. If it swings in a noticeable circular motion, it's a girl.

Result: Girl

Chinese calendar

This test is based on the Chinese lunar calendar. You take the mother's age at conception and the month of conception and then look at them on the chart. 

Image from Yahoo images

Result: Boy

Acne test

The saying behind this is that: Girl's steal their mother's beauty, boy's enhance it. I haven't had any spots so...

Result: Boy

The Mayan calendar

If both the age at conception and the year the baby was conceived are either even or odd, those kicks are coming from a girl. If one number is even and the other is odd, it's a boy.

Result: Boy

Nausea/Morning sickness

If you have horrendous morning sickness in the first trimester, it's a girl. If it's not so bad, it's a boy. I didn't have any at all so maybe I should call this one a dud?

Another popular one is cravings: if you crave salty/savoury/meat you're having a boy. If you crave sweet/fruit you're having a girl. Again, I didn't have any cravings, so I don't have a result for this one.

The scores:

Girl: 2
Boy: 3

Old wives' tales prediction: Boy

We actually had......

Boy!

Did you try out any old wives' tales? And were they accurate?

A New Beginning

I have a friend - a very good friend, despite our opposing life views. To her, my life is tedious. Her opinion is that men who are happy to live on the Isle of Wight are boring, that she is too young to get married, that women who have children are gluttons for punishment (and crazy to be willing to give birth - the pain! The mess! The horror!) and that women who chose boring men from the Isle of Wight, who get married, get a mortgage and embark on family life have settled for less, have no ambition and have boring lives.

A flattering opinion, when you think about it. I'm not sure if it's occurred to her whilst she's sat on my sofa, large wine glass in hand, pouring scorn onto this way of life that she's actually talking about my life.
I ignore her opinion and smile politely whilst offering her another top up.

I've no qualms with the direction I've chosen for my life - after all, it's my life not hers and I'm the one that has to live it.

Then there are days that truly set us apart, that almost make me pity her life view and the things that it causes her to miss out on. Days that Bilbo Baggins springs to mind:

"Yes to others our ways seem quaint but today of all days it is brought home to me it is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life"

In fact this very quote rattled through my head on the evening of May 16th.

After 40 weeks of pregnancy and 14 hours of labour our son arrived at 19:03, 7lbs 10oz, with a full head of hair and his Daddy's dark brown eyes.

I'm struggling between the desire to show off my beautiful baby boy and the need to protect his privacy, so for now I'll leave you with this photo, taken in the hospital when he was almost 12 hours old. (The curtains were drawn, that's why we're blue!)