Old Wives Tales

In India, predicting gender is against law. So the anticipation builds and the nursery-planning either has to be neutral or postponed. I had fun anticipating and debating with friends and relatives on what the gender would be.

Anyways, it is also considered bad as per Indian (my part of India) superstitions, to buy anything for the baby in advance. So not knowing the gender really doesn’t create much of planning problems.

There were many people, telling me many tales indicating to either a Baby Boy or a Baby Girl.

Now I am having fun realising that some of those tales were actually correct in my case.

1) Heartbeats: If it’s a girl, then the fetal heart rate will be above 140. A boy will have a heart rate below 140.

            -Bang on my little one always had a heartbeat above 140..149 to be precise. Always!

2) Weight Gain: This is funny! If your husband puts on weight during your pregnancy, then you will be having a girl. If he doesn’t put on a  pound, then you’re carrying a boy.

      -Erm! I think Bingo again. 😛

3) Acne: If you have acne while pregnant, it’s a girl.

– not much.. Myth I guess.

4) Cravings: If you crave for savoury (chatpatta) stuff then it’s a girl. If you like sweets during the pregnancy than it’s a boy.

–The only time i ever liked sweets is during my pregnancy..The amount of ‘kala jamuns’ I had was insane. But it wasn’t a boy and the girl doesn’t like sweets too! :O

5) Formula: Compare your age at conception with the year of conception. If both are even or odd, it will be a girl; if one is even and one is odd, it will be a boy

-Wow bingo! This was right. But I wonder how people have the patience to come up with such formulas. 😀

6) Morning Sickness: If you have morning sickness early in pregnancy, it’s sure to be a girl.

-Nah! I mean if early means 3rd month then maybe right!

7) Hair Color: If you get red highlights in your hair, you’ll have a girl.

-I don’t know how would anyone turn a red head while pregnant. But maybe true for some.

I guess there are many more but these are the ones that stuck! And it was really fun listening to these myths with wide eyes and believing in what I wanted to believe. 😀

Tell me some of the tales that you have heard during your pregnancy. I would love to hear and compare my case with it. 😀 Its fun!

An erstwhile Quality Analyst, Sirisha Achanta, is now a full-time mommy to an adorable 2-year-old girl and a part-time writer. 🙂  She loves to dance, dream and read a lot!