How to Guess the Gender of Your Baby

By Lillian Downey on January 4, 2011

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Belly position is commonly used to guess baby's gender.

Sometimes the ultrasound just can't quite pick up the sex of your baby on your first visit. Or maybe you're waiting to be surprised at the time of delivery. Either way, there are more old wives' tales about guessing the gender of your baby then there are babies, it seems. While most of these methods have no scientific merit, they're still fun to toss around with your family and friends to keep the excitement and suspense of your baby's arrival in full swing.

Step 1

Pay attention to your baby's heart rate at your next prenatal appointment. Myth has it that if your baby's hear rate gets higher than 140 beats per minute, you're having a girl.

Step 2

Think back to your first trimester. If you breezed through it, you could be that you're having a boy. If you felt like the morning after your 21st birthday party wouldn't end, you could be having a girl.

Step 3

Notice where you carry your belly. Myth has it that women carry girls up high, right under the rib cage and boys lower, toward the pelvis.

Step 4

Check where you put on your weight during pregnancy. If you beefed up your backside, you could be having a boy. If you're all belly and breasts, you could be having a girl.

Step 5

Blame a baby girl if you're having regular skin breakouts. Baby girls are said to steal their mother's beauty, according to the Parenting Magazine website.

Step 6

Use the Mayan numerology system to determine your baby's sex. If your age and the year you became pregnant are both even or both odd, the Mayans believe you will have a girl. If you have an even year and an odd year, the Mayans predict a boy.

Step 7

Watch your nipples during pregnancy. If they get darker, it could mean a boy. If they stay the same color, you could have a girl.

About the Author

Lillian Downey began writing professionally in 2008. She served as editor-in-chief of "Nexus Journal of Literature and Art" and as an assistant fiction editor at the prestigious "Antioch Review." She attended Wright State University, where she studied creative writing, women's studies, and health care.