Sex Prediction: Am I Having A Boy Or Girl
How ultrasounds offer the sex prediction for your unborn baby.
There are many methods of sex prediction out there for expecting parents, but the most commonly used is ultrasound.
Ultrasounds have a variety of purposes during pregnancy, but the use that often receives the most attention is its ability to reveal the sex of the baby.
Some parents-to-be can’t wait to find out whether they’re having a boy or a girl, while others choose to put off knowing the sex until birth. Either way, a sonogram the grainy, black-and-white image that results from an ultrasound scan will be the baby’s earliest picture and a couple’s first chance to see the developing fetus.
Ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to produce an image on a screen of the baby in the mother’s uterus. The scans are typically done twice during pregnancy, but the one done between 18 and 22 weeks is when the sonographer might identify the sex of the baby, if parents want to know, according to the U.S Food & Drug Administration .
However, “more and more people are telling us they want to wait until the baby arrives to find out the sex,” Carr said. “It’s the last great surprise left,” he noted.
Increasingly, Carr said, couples have asked him to write down the baby’s sex and place the answer in a sealed envelope. This is because some parents-to-be want to host a gender-reveal party for family and friends to share the news.
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When Will I Find Out If I’m Having A Boy Or A Girl For Sure
“It can be possible to identify male and female genitalia at the NHS 20-week scan or at a private scan from about 16 weeks of pregnancy,” says Dr Philippa Kaye, our expert family GP. “At most NHS hospitals, the sonographer will tell you the sex at the 20-week scan, if they can tell and you want to know. There are also some other antenatal tests which you may be offered, such as non-invasive prenatal testing , that can reveal the genetic sex of your baby. But this information may not be disclosed to you in an NHS hospital , although you can choose to be told if you have this test at a private clinic.”
Having Severe Morning Sickness
Because the girl produces more hormones, her mother will suffer from much terrible morning sickness.
Yes, severe morning sickness is a sign of carrying a baby girl. The truth is that the women can determine the sex of an unborn child based on her illness during pregnancy. According to the 2017 research case, those who get pregnant to a girl experience more inflammation as their immune systems were exposed to bacteria.
If you carry a girl, you may feel extremely unwell comparing to women conceiving a boy.
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When To Talk To Your Practitioner About Pregnancy Mood Swings
Some ups and downs during pregnancy are par for the course. But intense or persistent mood changes that interfere with daily life could be signs of pregnancy depression or anxiety.
Let your provider know if you experience symptoms like:
- Feeling very sad, irritable or angry out of nowhere
- Feeling restless or having trouble concentrating
- Feeling fearful or panicky
- Changes in your eating or sleeping habits
- Lack of interest in things you normally enjoy, or feeling like youre just going through the motions
- Feeling very anxious about becoming a mom or worrying about the baby
- Heart palpitations, rapid breathing or muscle tension
- Scary or intrusive thoughts that dont go away
If have any of the symptoms above or simply dont feel like yourself, tell your doctor or midwife right away. Taking steps to safeguard your mental health is important and will help you to have a more enjoyable pregnancy, not to mention give your baby the best possible start.
Your provider should also screen for mood and emotional well-being during the comprehensive postpartum visit, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists . If you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, make sure to tell your doctor so that you can both monitor your emotional well-being closely and with additional professional care if warranted.
The following resources offer more information and support if you or someone you know may be suffering from a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder:
Myths And Wives Tales
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Dads Can Show Signs Of Pregnancy
The verdict: True. We know weird, right? But men whose partners are pregnant can get pregnancy-related symptoms themselves. This is called sympathetic pregnancy or couvade syndrome and no one knows why it happens.
Men usually suffer from physical symptoms like nausea, heartburn, abdominal pain, cramps and backaches. They can also experience changes in sleeping patterns, anxiety, depression, reduced libido and restlessness .
Why Know The Sex Before Delivery
When you find out that youre pregnant, your top priority is of course to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. However, many people want to know their babys sex from the moment they get a positive pregnancy test!
Maybe youve been thinking about unisex baby names, or maybe discovering your babys sex could help you decide on a name and prepare for their arrival. Many parents use their childs biological sex to decide what color clothing and nursery decorations to buy.
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During Pregnancy Have You Been Particularly Moody
As a soon-to-be-mom, you may be experiencing a lot of feelings. In fact, it may sometimes feel like youre feeling all the feelings! Some say your pregnancy moods may be an indicator of your babys gender. Estrogensometimes known as the female hormone which can cause moodinessis the basis of this gender prediction method. According to this method, because girls naturally produce more estrogen than boys, the mother will have more mood swings. Moodier mom = baby girl. But here are the facts: estrogen levels are at their highest when youre pregnant, whether youre having a little boy or a girl. If you want to learn more about this theory or other gender prediction methods read our blog 5 Signs Youre Having a Girl!
The 3 Lines Or ‘potty Shot’ Method
Now, this is the scan sign that you can most confidently rely on. It’s the method used by NHS sonographers at your 20-week scan to see if you’re having a boy or a girl and private clinics tend to use it, too, when you book a ‘gender reveal’ scan from 16 weeks.
The reason it’s called the 3 lines method is that if, during you scan, the sonographer looks at your baby’s genitalia and can see 3 white lines , then that usually means your baby is a girl. If your baby is a boy, depending on how far you are on with your pregnancy and whether or not your baby’s in a position that allows the sonographer to view from underneath, it can be possible to see the clear outline of his genitalia.
This method is the most accurate method of predicting your baby’s sex. However, you won’t be given any cast-iron guarantees. As Nigel Thomson of the Society of Radiographers says, “Even if the 3 lines are identified, it is still only an opinion from the sonographer albeit a reasonably accurate one.”
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Free Cell Dna Blood Tests
You can now take a blood test as early as nine weeks into your pregnancy. This can reveal your babys sex.
Free cell DNA tests like Panorama work in pregnancy because your blood is carrying traces of your babys DNA. You give a blood sample, send it to the groups lab, and get your results in about 7 to 10 days.
But revealing the gender isnt the main goal of these tests. Theyre actually a first line of testing for Down syndrome and other genetically inherited conditions.
Learning the sex is just a bonus. As a result, these tests arent necessarily covered under insurance unless youre over age 35 or have a history that might warrant genetic investigation.
First Things First: When To See A Doctor
Before getting into the ways you can determine the sex of your baby, its good to review when you should first see your doctor if you think you are pregnant. If your home pregnancy test gives a positive result, schedule an appointment with your OB-GYN as soon as possible to confirm the results and start your journey towards a healthy pregnancy.
Prenatal visits offer you and your baby full support, which should be done once a month until the 28th week of pregnancy. After this, the frequency should change to twice a month until you are 36 weeks pregnant. At this point, you should schedule weekly visits until your baby arrives. Your doctor will perform regular checkups and fetal testing to monitor your and your babys progress and check for issues that require immediate attention. During these visits, you will also receive prenatal vitamins and pregnancy exercise recommendations.
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Youre Eating More During Your Pregnancy
Is it a boy or a girl? Your appetite may offer a clue. One study tracked the diets of moms-to-be and found that women who were pregnant with boys ate about 10 percent more calories than those who were pregnant with girls.
Why the greater appetite? Researchers suspect testosterone secreted by male fetuses could be sending their mothers a signal to eat more. And that could explain why baby boys tend to be bigger at birth than baby girls.
You Develop Gestational Diabetes
Some research has found that moms-to-be pregnant with sons are more likely to develop gestational diabetes a pregnancy condition characterized by higher-than-normal glucose in the blood than expectant moms who are pregnant with daughters.
Researchers arent sure why a boy fetus leads to greater pregnancy-associated metabolic changes than a girl fetus does, but these findings seem to be backed up by more than one study.
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What Is The Heart Rate Gender Prediction
There is one folktale, however, that scientists have studied and it has to do with whether fetal heart rate can predict gender.
Conventional wisdom holds that if the babys heart rate is less than 140 beats per minute, youre having a boy if its more than 140 beats per minute, youre having a girl.
Medical research has debunked this heart rate gender prediction theory. A 2018 study of nearly 10,000 pregnancies found that while the baseline fetal heart rate of girls was very slightly higher than for boys, any differences they noted were very small and essentially not meaningful in the big picture.
The truth is, a normal fetal heart rate fluctuates between 120 and 160 beats per minute. If you measure your babys heart rate at random intervals, its likely youll get a different reading each time.
The only time when there is an actual difference in heart rate between a boy and girl? Its during labor itself, when female babies seem to have faster heart rates than males, for reasons unknown.
Gender Predictor Quiz: Boy Or Girl
Published on February 24th, 2021 and Updated on June 30th, 2022
Check out SneakPeek Gender Test to find out your babys gender as early as 6 weeks6 weeks at 99.9% accuracy!
Curious if youre expecting a baby girl or boy? Wondering if theres a way to find out right now? Take our fun gender predictor quiz below to take a peek!
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Baby Sex Prediction Myth #: The Drano Test
Myth: Stir some Drano into your urine. If the mixture turns green, it’s a boy. Other color changes have been proposed for this myth, but green is one of the most common.
Reality: Mass doesn’t know of any medical reason why a Drano-urine mixture could predict a baby’s sex. “There’s no change in the acidity or alkalinity of a boy or girl chromosome,” she says.
The few studies that have been done on the subject also refute the claim. In the early 1980s, researchers at the University of Wyoming performed the test on 100 pregnant women and found it to be “roughly equivalent to flipping a coin” for predicting sex. A 1999 Canadian study yielded similar results.
Even if the technique did work, Drano is a caustic chemical — not something you want to be playing around with or breathing in while you’re pregnant, Beard says.
Sweet Or Savoury Cravings
Whether you’re craving strawberries or salt and vinegar crisps is said to be a clue as to whether you’re having a boy. Sweet stuff means you are having a girl and, if you crave salty food, it’s a boy. Not sure where it leaves you if you are craving coal or other non-edible items but, without a clinical evidence base, it’s all just guesswork.
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Baby: Boy Clumsier Than Usual
If you are starting to notice that you are becoming clumsier during your pregnancy, dont worry. This is a normal symptom. With everything thats going on in a pregnant womans body, being clumsy is among them. You will find it harder to hold onto items and you may even drop things to the ground by accident. You will also find yourself bumping into cabinets and door frames in your house. You are going to weigh more than normal. Many women gain around 35 pounds or more before giving birth, which is higher than the weight gain recommended for an average woman about 25-35 pounds. Most women gain more.
You will be temporarily a klutz while you are pregnant because of excess weight. Atop your weight gain, you will be clumsier because of what people call ‘ the pregnancy brain’, which makes it harder to concentrate. Your center of gravity will also change the result of the baby growing inside you adding to your clumsiness. If you remain a graceful mommy during pregnancy, then you are probably expecting a girl. If you find yourself falling over everything, or having unexpected accidents, then thank your unborn son for making you a klutz.
Baby Sex Prediction Myth #: Rhythm Of The Hear
Myth: If the baby’s heart beats faster than 140 beats per minute, it’s a girl.
Reality: This is a myth Mass says her patients ask her about on a daily basis, and there might actually be a wee bit of truth to it.
A 2006 study showed no sex-related differences in fetal heart rate during the first trimester, but Mass says that’s no surprise, considering that babies’ hearts beat faster in general during the first 28 to 30 weeks of pregnancy. It’s later in the pregnancy when the difference becomes apparent. A 1999 study showed that just before delivery, a female baby’s heart does beat faster than a male baby’s. Mass says she sees a similar trend in her own patients.
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Your Sense Of Smell And Taste Changes When Youre Pregnant
The verdict: True. One of the changes that you can notice during early pregnancy is that your senses are heightened. You might hate the idea of certain foods or drinks that you loved before. Some women even notice a strange metallic taste in their mouth and others have a much stronger sense of smell than normal .
Boy Or Girl Take Our Gender Predictor Quiz
05/27/2015 by Pregnancy Editors
If you cant wait a moment longer to learn the sex of your baby, were here to help! Sit back and spend just a few minutes with our fun gender predictor quiz to learn the sex of your new baby.
Relying on some of the most common old wives tales, weve put together a quick and easy quiz that will take the guesswork out of boy or girl?
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