We’ve had a baby boom in the office lately – and how convenient that we work for Preggers! And as ladies tend to do, we’ve been talking a lot about the current pregnancies, as well as past ones. It’s inevitably moved into the realm of old wives’ tales and how much truth there is to them. And just for fun, we thought we’d explore this, because seriously, they’re wrong just as often as they’re right. And everyone has a ton of fun predicting! So, check out our old wives’ tales below and tell us your experiences. Did your babies prove them right or wrong?
Here is a breakdown of our Mama test subjects. 😊
Mama #1 – This mama has had 4 babies – 2 boys and 2 girls. She’ll be a great example when it comes to those gender predicting old wives’ tales!
Mama #2 – This mama has had 3 baby boys! It will be interesting to see how they differ and how they’re the same!
Mama #3 – This mama has had 2 boys and a girl – including the most recent new baby in the office. She kept the gender of each of her babies a surprise!
Mama #4 – This mama has had 1 baby boy and 1 baby girl!
Mama #5 – Our newest mama! Her first baby is due this January!
Prediction #1: Heartburn means a lot of hair
Tradition states that when a pregnant mom has heartburn, her new baby will have a lot of hair. Believe it or not, this one might actually have some truth to it. Johns Hopkins did a study of 64 pregnant women ranking the severity of their heartburn and then rating the hair volume of their newborns using photographs. The smart folks at JH actually had a complicated math formula and determined that there may actually be a correlation between the severity of heartburn and the amount of a newborn’s hair. Who knew!? We put this one to the test:
Mama #1 – She had heartburn with her first baby and he had no hair!! And she had no heartburn with the other three. All had hair – tons!
Mama #2 – This lucky mama had no heartburn with any of her babies . . . . and they all had hair!
Mama #3 – First pregnancy gave her a little bit of heartburn and baby definitely had hair. The second and third gave her bad heartburn – and funny, one had hair, the other didn’t.
Mama #4 – This mama had no heartburn with her first baby and he had a lot of hair. The second pregnancy gave her a lot of heartburn, and that baby also had a lot of hair, but slightly less than the first.
Mama #5 – This mama has had some heartburn, but not too bad. Only time will tell how much hair her baby has. 😉
Prediction #2: Dry vs. Oily Skin
The prediction on this one says that dry skin is an indicator that you’re having a boy, while oily skin signals a girl.
Mama #1 – This mama had dry skin with her first boy – score one for the old wives’ tale. But, she had normal skin with her other three – another boy and 2 girls.
Mama #2 – Mama #2 says she had normal skin with all three of her boys.
Mama #3 – This mama said she had oily skin with her first boy, and normal skin with her other two – a girl and a boy.
Mama #4 – Here’s a mama that had dry skin with her baby boy and oily skin with her baby girl.
Mama #5 – Our expectant mama says that her skin has been oily. Girl?
Prediction #3: Pregnancy Glow
Tradition states that a girl will steal her mama’s beauty, so the mama will get compliments on her “glow” with boys, but not with girls.
Mama #1 – Mama #1 got “glow” compliments with all four of her kids – 2 boys and 2 girls.
Mama #2 – This mama had the “glow” with her three boys.
Mama #3 – LOL! This mama had the opposite. She got “glow” compliments with her girl, but not as much with her two boys.
Mama #4 – This mama doesn’t remember “glowing” with either her boy or her girl.
Mama #5 – Sweet Mama #5 says she hasn’t gotten any “glowing” comments yet. Girl?
Prediction #4: The dreaded acne
Girls are said to give their mamas acne (makes sense with all that oily skin). Boys are kinder to their mamas in this regard.
Mama #1 – Poor Mama #1. She had acne with all four of her kids – didn’t matter the gender!
Mama #2 – Mama #2 had acne with her first BOY, but her other two boys were kinder and gave her none.
Mama #3 – This mama had acne with her first boy, but none with her girl or her second boy.
Mama #4 – This mama had no acne with her baby boy, and only a little bit with her baby girl.
Mama #5 – Finally, our expectant mama says she is experiencing a little more acne than normal. Girl?
Prediction #5: Hair – Thick and Glossy or Dull and Limp
Thick and glossy is said to indicate a boy, while dull and limp means you’re having a girl. (Seriously, girls!)
Mama #1 – Gender didn’t matter here. This mama found her hair thick and glossy every time.
Mama #2 – Three boys meant three times this mama had thick and glossy hair.
Mama #3 – Another instance of gender not being a factor. Mama #3 had thick and glossy hair every time.
Mama #4 – Mama #4 never noticed any change to her hair with her son, but did have thick and glossy hair with her daughter.
Mama #5 – Mama #5 finds that her hair is dull and limp. Girl?
Prediction #6: Cravings
Women can crave some crazy things when pregnant, but rumor has it that salty things foretell a boy, while sweet things predict a girl.
Mama #1 – This mama craved salty stuff with her youngest boy and sweet stuff with her girls. Her curve ball oldest boy gave her cravings of jalapenos. Spicy!
Mama #2 – This mama craved chicken sandwiches (salty) and whoppers candy (sweet) with her first. The other two only gave her ice cravings.
Mama #3 – This mama’s craved ice cream with peanuts with her first (sweet and salty). Her second gave her chocolate cravings, and her third it was fudgecicles. Sweet kids regardless of gender!
Mama #4 – This mama craved spicy foods and anything lemon-flavored with her boy and sour sweet tarts and iced tea with her girl.
Mama #5 – Our current Preggers mama tells us that she craves salty things, but also fruit. Boy?
Prediction #7: Nausea
This Old Wives’ Tale says that the more pregnancy nausea you have, the more likely a girl and the less nausea, more likely a boy.
Mama #1 – What a lucky mama! Four pregnancies and no nausea – with her boys or her girls!
Mama #2 – Another lucky mama! Three pregnancies and no nausea!
Mama #3 – Mama #3 had some nausea with her older son; very little nausea with her daughter; and the worst nausea with her youngest son.
Mama #4 – Mama #4 had a little bit of nausea with her son, but not too bad. Her daughter gave her more trips to the bathroom, but still nothing too awful.
Mama #5 – Our pregnant mama says she’s definitely been feeling the nausea bug. Girl?
Prediction #8: Cold feet
Boys are said to give their mamas super cold feet, while girls don’t have the same affect.
Mama #1 – Might be true. This mama says her boys gave her cold feet, while the girls did not.
Mama #2 – All three boys, all three cold feet!
Mama #3 – No cold feet for her girl or her oldest son, but cold feet for the younger son.
Mama #4 – Cold feet for her boy, but not for her girl.
Mama #5 – It’ll be hard to tell on this mama, as she’s a congenital double amputee! She has no feet to determine if her baby makes her feet cold. 😉
We are all excited to find out if Mama #5 is having a boy or a girl! Mama thinks a boy, but our Old Wives’ Tales lean toward girl! Tell us about Old Wives’ Tales that you know and whether or not they were accurate predictors of gender or amount of hair, etc.
Are You Preggers? 