Read an Excerpt
Introduction
After I discovered I was pregnant with my first child, I was always asked: “What do you think it will be, a boy or a girl?” I became curious and started collecting old wives’ tales that predict whether you’re going to have a boy or a girl baby.
All you need to do is take out a piece of paper and number it 1 through 50, making two columns (one for boy, one for girl). As you take the “tests,” record your results and total your score.
And there you are, all the folklore evidence you need to tell your friends whether you’re going to have a baby boy or a baby girl!
CHAPTER ONE
Mom’s Body
Giving birth to either a girl or a boy is an event almost beyond imagination. Each of us is a miracle. But we still have that overwhelming curiosity about which sex is on the way. This first chapter tells what’s happening to your body from head to toe.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall …
This old German tale checks not whether you are the fairest mother of all, but what your eyes say. Stare into the mirror for at least one minute, but not more than three.
Mom, do your eyes dilate?
If yes, a boy.
They don’t? A girl.
Eye Can Tell
Pull your lower eyelids down and look at the whites of your eyes. Do you see a broken blood vessel in the shape of a “V”?
If that “V” is in the lower half of your right eye, count on a boy.
There’s a girl coming if the “V”-shaped broken blood vessel is in your left eye.
What Your Hair Reveals
Stay at the mirror, Mom, and comb your hair for a bit.
Is your hair getting thinner and stringier with each day of pregnancy? It is if you are pregnant with a girl child. Swedish folklore says so.
Or is your hair becoming more shiny and full-bodied? If so, the Swedes say it’s a boy.
From Hair to There
While we’re on the subject of hair, take a look at the hair on your legs.
If your leg hair is growing faster now, a boy is on the way. If your hair growth, legwise, is the same as before your pregnancy, you should be getting ready for a girl.
Another Leg Tale
French tale tellers look to Mom’s legs for their clue. It’s true that legs can put on weight during pregnancy.
Are your legs beginning to resemble “tree trunks”? A sure sign of a boy.
If your legs are just as trim as they were before you became pregnant, look for a girl at delivery time.