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Soon-to-be parents spend a lot of time preparing for the arrival of the newest members of their families.
They want to choose the perfect names, clothes, toys, and nursery themes well in advance, not just so that their infants will feel welcome in their new homes and lives but also so they have an outlet for all that excitement.
For most parents, designing the perfect nursery requires more than just creativity and a DIY attitude.
Parents want to know whether they are expecting boys or girls before they break out the paint and start buying new furniture and accessories.
While it’s true that ultrasound imaging can offer a good idea of what to expect later in a woman’s pregnancy, there’s a solid four-month wait before new parents can find out whether they will be bringing home little girls or boys.
Thankfully, expecting mothers may be able to get some idea of what to expect based on their pregnancy symptoms.
Read on to find out about your pregnancy and what those signs say about whether the baby will be a boy or a girl to make nursery decoration a breeze.
Differentiating Between Myth and Science
People have been trying to guess the sexes of their babies for centuries, well before the invention of ultrasound technology.
Even now, most of the world does not get the chance to find out in advance what they are expecting.
This has led to all kinds of old wives’ tales, many of which are still believed today.
There’s nothing wrong with joining in the fun of trying to predict a baby’s sex based on random factors like where a woman is carrying a baby and what types of food she craves.
However, it’s important to differentiate between myth and science.
There are plenty of science-backed indicators that a mom-to-be is carrying a boy vs. a girl, but not every old wives’ tale holds weight.
Before moving on to discuss science-backed ways to take a more informed guess at a baby’s sex, let’s debunk a few of the most common myths.
1. Boys and Girls Have Different Heart Rates
One of the most common old wives’ tales regarding a baby’s sex focuses on fetal heart rates, stating that girls have faster heart rates than boys.
Studies don’t bare this out, though. Instead, researchers have found that fetal heart rate varies based on the age, health, and activity level of a fetus.
2. Women Carry Boys Differently From Girls
Boys tend to be a little heavier at birth than girls, which can affect the size of an expecting mother’s baby bump. However, it won’t affect the shape.
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Some people still claim that women carrying boys will have more outward-protruding tummies, but in fact, this is related to the baby’s position in the womb.
If the baby’s back is pushed up against the mother’s front, it will cause her tummy to protrude outwards more than if the baby’s positioned against the mother’s back.
3. Heartburn Is a Sign That a Woman Is Carrying a Girl
Heartburn is one of the most common complaints during pregnancy, and it occurs as a result of a woman’s growing uterus pushing against the stomach and causing stomach acid to travel up to the esophagus.
Interestingly enough, although there is no evidence that women carrying girls are more likely to experience heartburn, researchers have uncovered a connection between a mother’s heartburn and fetal hair growth.
4. A Mother’s Sleeping Position Can Predict Her Baby’s Sex
Yet another old wives’ tale states that if a woman prefers to sleep on her right side while pregnant, she is expecting a girl, and if she sleeps on her right her baby is a boy.
There is no evidence that this is the case. Doctors now recommend that pregnant women try to sleep on their left sides, regardless, since it increases blood circulation and nutrient flow to the fetus.
5. Women Expecting Girls Experience Different Food Cravings From Those Carrying Boys
Many women experience food cravings during pregnancy, although modern science has yet to explain why.
Some researchers believe that unusual food cravings occur as a result of varying hormone levels, while others explain them as the product of subtle nutritional deficiencies.
However, there’s no evidence at all that a pregnant woman’s cravings are related to the sex of her baby.
Science-Backed Predictions of a Baby-to-Be’s Sex
Modern science has debunked many myths about pregnancy symptoms and unborn babies’ biological sexes. However, researchers have also uncovered multiple signs that may point expecting parents in the right direction.
Signs A Woman Is Carrying a Girl
There’s nothing to the claims that women carrying girls have different skin quality, nor do they crave sweets more often than mothers-to-be who are expecting boys.
That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to any of the ages-old predictions, though. Here’s what women should know about carrying a girl:
- While most expecting mothers experience morning sickness, those who suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum are more likely to be carrying girls.
- Women who give birth to female babies tend to be more forgetful during pregnancy than moms-to-be who are carrying boys.
- Being under a lot of stress when conceiving a child really does increase the chances that the baby will be female because girls are less vulnerable to unfavorable conditions in the womb.
- Breech babies are more likely to be girls.
Signs A Woman Is Carrying a Boy
There are also distinct patterns when it comes to expecting mothers carrying male babies. They include:
- Eating a high-calorie diet at the time of conception.
- Eating more during pregnancy.
- Lots of food aversions.
- Developing gestational diabetes.
Is It Time to Start Planning?
Parents-to-be who want to get an early start on planning for their new babies’ arrivals have their work cut out for them.
Most parents simply wait until they know for sure whether they are expecting girls or boys to start picking out wallpaper and coming up with color palettes.
For those who aren’t willing to wait until an ultrasound offers definitive proof of the baby’s sex, the best solution may be to hedge bets and decorate nurseries in gender-neutral themes.
